In fact, for the current North Sea State, the conflict with the Habsburgs is secondary. The most important thing is actually the contradiction with Portugal.

After all, the contradictions with the Habsburgs do not necessarily need to meet each other, but the contradictions with Portugal, if one is not handled well, they really need to meet each other.

Therefore, while playing a double reed with the Habsburgs, Marin is also actively preparing for a secret contest with the grapes.

While there was widespread concern about rumors of feud between Marin and the Habsburgs, 5,000 soldiers and horses of the North Sea Kingdom had quietly boarded the ship and landed in the port of A Coruña.

In order to prevent the Portuguese from blocking him, Marin dispatched most of the ships this time, quietly transporting 5,000 people to the port of A Coruña at once. By the time the Portuguese got the news, 5,000 men had already set up camp outside A Coruña.

Upon hearing this news, the atmosphere in the royal palace of Lisbon, Portugal was solemn. Obviously, what they feared most had happened - Marin knew that he would attack Portugal by means of Spain.

This is not counting, the most unacceptable thing for them is that Spain so readily agreed to let the army of the North Sea Kingdom land. Manuel I angrily confronted Juan III in the name of Queen Maria, but Juan III calmly stated that Lao Tzu owed Marin a life, and letting the North Sea army land in Spain once or twice was just to pay off the debt of favors. Besides, Spain was confident that it would prevent the armies of the North Sea States from harming Spain......

Yes, Spain has this self-confidence. After all, people dare to be a strong country in France, and they have the confidence to say this. What's more, the people sent by the Beihai Kingdom are only 5,000, which is really not taken seriously by the Spaniards.

The Portuguese, however, were uncomfortable. Even with only 5,000 soldiers, it was enough to terrify the Portuguese. Because, Portugal, like England later, really sucks in the army. Moreover, the later English lobster soldiers were actually not bad, but they could not be compared with the first-class armies of Germany and France, and they could be regarded as second-rate. But Portugal's army is not even second-rate. You must know that in the "War of the Three Kings" in 1578, Portugal dispatched an army of 25,000 troops, but was defeated by Morocco, which was still technically nomadic, and the king was killed in battle...... Then, Spain was given the opportunity to annex Portugal......

Moreover, the 5,000 people sent by the Beihai Kingdom were all elite soldiers selected by the First Army Corps, which was famous in the Beihai Kingdom and had never lost a battle. With such an army, even if Portugal sent 20,000 troops, it would not have the confidence to fight against it, and could only guarantee that it could hold a few fortified cities with superior forces......

Yes, defend the city with superior forces! This is the sorrow of a weak army, in the face of the threat of invasion from Spain, what Portugal can do is only to concentrate superior forces to defend Lisbon and other large cities, and dare not face Spain.

Historically, in the war of Spain's annexation of Portugal, only 20,000 troops were dispatched on land, and they annexed Portugal like a bamboo, and ruled Portugal for 60 years. If Spain had not died in the "Thirty Years' War" and suffered successive defeats, giving Portugal the opportunity to regain its independence, Portugal would have been ruled by Spain.

And now, the reason why Spain did not annex Portugal was that in addition to the fact that it was more laborious to besiege several fortresses in Portugal, the French would not sit idly by, which was also an important reason.

In 1580, France had just been pressed to the ground by Charles V for decades, and the country was in decline. Moreover, there is a religious war going on in the country - the Hugono War. At that time, France could not afford to attack Spain from behind in order to force Spain to defend itself. Therefore, the then king of Spain, Philip II, was relieved to send a large army to annex Portugal.

But now it is different, and now France is not at a disadvantage in the face of Spain. Although Spain has a lot of money, France has a thick foundation and a lot of elite soldiers. When the two sides fight, as long as they don't play long with short hits and give full play to their own advantages, they can still fight with Spain.

At this time, if Spain wanted to send 20,000 or 30,000 troops to besiege Portugal, its domestic strength would definitely be inferior to France. As long as France took the opportunity to send a large army to attack the back of Spain, Spain would have to withdraw its army.

Therefore, at the moment, Portugal is still not too worried about Spain annexing itself, but it will still remain cautious.

But the North Sea Kingdom is different, this country does not share a border with France, which is controlled by Spain, England and the Habsburgs. If the North Sea State sent a large army to attack Portugal through Spain, it would be difficult for France to do so. After all, if the North Sea Kingdom was provoked, and the North Sea Kingdom was determined to join forces with Spain, England, and the Habsburgs to besiege France, France would not be able to bear it.

Moreover, the army of the North Sea State did not need to capture Portugal. They only need to burn, kill, loot and wreak havoc all over Portugal to make Portugal unable to eat and walk around.

And Portugal did not have the ability to invade the mainland of the North Sea State, and at most attacked the sea power of the North Sea State. But the army of the North Sea State, with the 5,000 elites of A Coruña, can make waves in Portugal and bring great losses to Portugal.

No matter how you calculate it, Portugal suffers. Therefore, the previous idea of attacking the port of Emden and burning the ships of the North Sea State is also difficult to implement.

Besides, this time, in the end, it was Rui. Silva's stupid thing to provoke. Afterwards, the Beihai Kingdom did not make too drastic moves, but only snatched the spices to make up for their losses, and sent troops to rescue their people, without any drastic actions. The only additional loss was probably the deliberate destruction on the islands of São Miguel and São Jorge when luring the ships of Angra do Heroísmo away from the port.

Originally, the Portuguese government and the opposition wanted to breathe a sigh of relief and take the prestige of the Beihai State. However, unexpectedly, Beihai Country is still a difficult opponent to deal with. If you really take the other party's prestige, you will also be dominated by the other party. In particular, the damned Spain actually agreed to the landing of the North Sea Army......

After all the calculations, the Portuguese government and the opposition feel that this matter is very unfavorable. So, I can only give up with hatred.

……

At the same time, in England, Marin took advantage of this conflict with the Portuguese to openly recruit sailors in England, saying that he wanted to form a "North Sea Fleet" to protect the security of the coastal areas of the North Sea Country......

Since the great development of the wool industry in England, the enclosure movement has risen, and there are two or three hundred thousand displaced people who have nowhere to settle all year round. Marin recruited sailors among these homeless people this time, which can be regarded as giving them a way to live.

Previously, considering that there was no excuse, Marin also specially withdrew from the measure of taking out loans to buy fishing boats, encouraging these homeless people to go to the sea to fish, and then pull into his own navy after training.

But this conflict with the Portuguese gave Marin an excuse to fight, and Marin simply did not beat around the bush, and told Edward Ming about his grievances with Portugal, asking for 5,000 sailors to be recruited in England.

Edward was very unhappy in his heart, because the stronger Marin's military strength, the greater the threat to him. Originally, England still had maritime superiority, and even if the North Sea Kingdom had a strong army, if it could not cross the sea, it would not be able to threaten England itself.

However, if the North Sea State had 5,000 sailors and a strong fleet, England would lose its superiority at sea. If the North Sea States were allowed to transport troops to land without any scruples, England would have no power to resist.

However, he also heard about the conflict between the North Sea Kingdom and Portugal. Moreover, Marin's attitude was sincere and well-founded, and Edward could not find an excuse to refuse. Therefore, he could only reluctantly accept, and only asked that the 5,000 sailors must be stationed in the North Sea country, not in England.

Marin naturally agreed, he couldn't make trouble with Edward in this matter. When these 5,000 sailors are trained, they still don't want to go wherever they want?

You must know that a 500-ton warship, with a crew of only 180 people, 5,000 people, can control 28 warships, and it is completely possible to form a powerful fleet.

Upon learning of Marin's recruitment of 5,000 sailors in England, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, proudly said to his friends:

"Look, am I right? Marin was planning to do it in England. The new fleet created by these 5,000 sailors is clearly to cover the landing of the 10,000-strong army in England to participate in the war! ”

"Lord Frederick is wise...... the princes slapped their asses......