Unlike the Spaniards, Portugal was still racking their brains to get a way to Timbuktu. Although the gold capital of Timbuktu is closer to Europe and the Portuguese seem to have taken advantage, in reality it is much more difficult to obtain Timbuktu than Zimbabwe.

At this time, Zimbabwe's national strength was not strong, and there was little contact with the outside world. The Spaniards had access to Zimbabwe as long as they passed through coastal Mozambique and followed the Savei River inland. As for the capture of Zimbabwe, as long as the Spaniards open the road, it will not be a problem. Because, the military level of southern Africa at this time was very backward.

Marin had read history books in his previous life, which introduced the rise of the Zulu kingdom. It is said that the black people of southern Africa, the early weapons of warfare were mainly javelins. When a war starts, black warriors on both sides throw javelins at each other. Whoever hits more enemies wins. Moreover, if the defeated side drops its weapon when retreating, it will sign surrender, and the victorious side will not chase after it. Then, the tribe of the losing side will leave their original station and move farther away. Often, after a battle, there are not many casualties at all, and the tragedy cannot catch up with the gangsters cutting each other.

Later, in the early 19th century, the Zulu leader Chaka reformed this very 2 tactic, allowing the warriors to switch to short spears and shields. The shield is made of wood, and the shelf is covered with cowhide, and the defense is very weak, and neither the bow nor the bullet can resist it. However, it is mainly used to fend off the wooden javelins of weak chicken opponents, and it is definitely sufficient.

During the battle, Chaka had his men use their cowhide shields to fend off the enemy's wooden javelin throws, then rushed in front of his opponent and stabbed them with short spears. As a result, the enemy's casualties increased dramatically...... Relying on this move, Chaka founded the Zulu Kingdom and reigned supreme in eastern South Africa.

Of course, the Zulu kingdom was born at an inopportune time. Because, they met the British Empire, which had already adopted rear-loading rifled rifles. In the face of modern rifles, which have an extremely powerful rate of fire and power, the Zulus have to kneel even if they are outnumbered......

At this time, the Zimbabwean Empire, like the old black tribes before King Chaka, also used javelin throwing tactics mainly in the army. At most, because of trade with Arab merchants, there were a little more metal spear heads. However, once there are more casualties, it is easy to collapse.

In the event of a Spanish encounter, the defeat of the Zimbabwean army is almost a certainty. So, Marin believed that as long as the Spanish army entered the Zimbabwe area, it would be able to control it. Provided, of course, that the Spaniards have energy. The Italian War was about to begin, which would certainly affect the course of the Spanish conquest of Zimbabwe......

……

On the Portuguese side, it was much more difficult to conquer Timbuktu. Because, the Songhai Empire, which currently controls Timbuktu, is very powerful.

Through the trade of Timbuktu, the Songhai Empire exchanged many war horses from the Arabs in North Africa. For this purpose, the Songhai Empire had a cavalry force of several thousand people. In many cases, it exceeds the scale of 10,000 people. In addition, there are infantry with spears and co-construction, and the strength is generally more than 10,000 people.

Moreover, the current emperor of the Songhai Empire is the Ming Emperor Muhammad. Durr is not some mediocre monarch. It was very difficult for the Portuguese to defeat such an Empire of Songhai.

If it is replaced by Spain, perhaps the elite Spanish infantry can be used to destroy Songhai. It can be replaced with Portugal, a land slag......

What's more, if Portugal wants to enter Timbuktu now, it will first have to face not the Songhai Empire, but the Mali Empire, which has lost Timbuktu.

Although the Mali Empire was defeated by the Songhai Empire, it did not fall, but retreated to the southwestern part of Mali, and ruled over the southwestern part of the Republic of Mali, most of Senegal, and Guinea. If it was a war, the already declining Mali Empire would be able to raise tens of thousands of troops.

The Portuguese currently occupy only the coastal areas of Guinea, although on the coastal plains, the Portuguese repelled the armies of the Malian Empire. However, after going further inland, the Portuguese were immediately confused......

The interior of Guinea is a vast tropical rainforest in which the Portuguese soldiers are greatly reduced in combat effectiveness, as well as plagued by poisonous insects and a hot and humid climate. On the contrary, the soldiers of the Mali Empire were very well adapted to such an environment.

So, while the Spaniards had successfully reached the Zimbabwean Empire, the Portuguese were still hiding from the soldiers of the Malian Empire in the rainforests of Guinea. Not to mention that it has just gone head-to-head with the Songhai Empire, and the Mali Empire has not been cleaned up......

In short, the Portuguese are infinitely sad. Although Timbuktu had more gold, Portugal had to defeat the two West African empires of Songhai and Mali in order to take it. Anyway, in Marin's opinion, this difficulty is a bit against the sky. Even, when he proposed to return Timbuktu to Portugal, he was not at ease. Because, he calculated the weakness of the Portuguese army. If you want to capture Timbuktu, even if Portugal consumes the strength of the whole country, it may not be able to do it. On the other hand, Spain, which has a much stronger army, is easier to do. To this end, Marin deliberately gave Portugal the difficult task of conquering Timbuktu and sent Spain to find the Zimbabwean Empire, which had much less gold.

……

Information about the Spanish contact with the Zimbabwean Empire was soon transmitted back to Orich through spies planted in Spain by the North Sea State. When he learned that the Spaniards had used a convoy of elephants to wade through the rainforests of Mozambique, Marin was upset.

Originally, Marin was counting on the harsh environment of the African rainforest to hold back Spain for longer. Unexpectedly, the other party had an idea and actually came up with a way to transport elephants.

The benefits of elephant transport are very numerous, in addition to the large volume of cargo, there is enough deterrence. In the face of the elephant convoy, the old blacks in the jungle are a little weak.

Although, it's not like those old blacks haven't hunted elephants. Normally, however, they would not dare to provoke a herd of elephants. Moreover, elephant skin is very thick, ordinary wood-tipped javelins and stone javelins have no effect at all, and only iron javelins can hunt elephants. And the elephants, which were already difficult to deal with, together with the Spanish colonizers, were even more difficult to deal with. As a result, the Spaniards were able to deter the local troublemakers in Mozambique and successfully connect with the Zimbabweans.

Marin could already anticipate that once the Spaniards had developed this route thoroughly, it would be time for Spain to destroy the Zimbabwean Empire......

But alas, now the Spaniards probably don't have much energy. Because, the French are already going to deal with them......

In order to facilitate the French to conquer the Kingdom of Naples, Marin sent a secret letter to the Pope's father-in-law. In the secret letter, Marin asked the Pope's father-in-law not to block the movement of the French, but to make it convenient for the French to let the French go south without hindrance, so as not to delay the French fighters.

As for the Spaniards will hold the Holy See accountable? Inexistent. After all, the Holy See is now the spiritual pillar of Europe, and no one dares to offend it easily. What's more, in the face of 60,000 French troops, it is natural that the Holy See does not dare to stop it......

The Papal States are now in great power, and have also acquired two wealthy republics, Florence and Siena. If the Papal States sent troops to stop the French army, although it could not be stopped, it would be able to stop the French army for a long time. Once the French army was held back by the Papal States troops, the Spaniards had enough time to prepare their ammunition. In this way, the difficulty of the French occupying the Kingdom of Naples was greatly increased......

After Marin's secret letter was sent to Rome, it was not long before the reply came from Rome. Pope Julius II used an urgent message from carrier pigeons to ask Marin why he was biased towards France. In Julius II's view, neither France nor Spain was a good thing, and it was best to block both sides.

Marin wrote back to explain that if the Spaniards were prepared, it would be difficult for the French to conquer Naples. Without taking Naples, the French could not get bogged down in war......

After receiving Marin's reply, Julius II hesitated for a long time, but finally agreed with Marin's opinion, and decided to declare neutrality at that time, and let the French army pass through the territory of the Papal States and attack Naples......