In its heyday, Spain was really strong, not only did they have an invincible arma at sea, but the army also ranked first in Europe, and after Philip IV succeeded to the throne, Spain's maritime power was still quite strong.

In order to defeat the anti-Habsburg coalition powers, he once used all his forces to expand his army frantically, and the Spanish army even exceeded 300,000 troops in its heyday!

At the beginning of the European hegemony war, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire controlled by the Habsburgs actually had an absolute advantage, because at that time, the anti-Habsburg alliance only had Denmark, Sweden and France, and France still held the idea of competing for profit from the snipe and the clam for profit, and instigated Denmark and Sweden to send troops, but they themselves did not take action.

Although Denmark and Sweden were considered powerful at the time, they still had a certain gap with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire alone could hold both of them.

At this time, France finally made a move, not only did he do it himself, but also gathered Britain and the Netherlands to attack at the same time, both on land and sea, Britain and Holland began to intercept the Spanish treasure ships in the Atlantic, and France began to fight with Spain on land.

In this way, Spain suddenly couldn't resist, under the joint blow of sea and land, the Spanish economy began to decline seriously, Philip IV had to increase taxes, which caused the Catalan uprising, France took the opportunity to send troops to assist, Spain suddenly fell into trouble, and Portugal also took the opportunity to get rid of Spanish rule.

This European hegemony war has been fought for nearly 30 years, and the Spanish Army has not even reached 150,000 from the 300,000 at the beginning of the war to the current 150,000, and the morale is extremely low, and the anti-Habsburg coalition is fighting more and more, and the morale is booming.

Thinking of this, Philip IV sighed: "Now that the anti-Habsburg coalition led by France has reached Catalonia, they are united with the local rebel army, which is quite difficult to deal with. ”

Zhang Bin didn't know that this battle had already been fought like this, and he couldn't help frowning when he heard this: "How many army do you still have?" ”

Philip IV made no secret of it: "Our army is less than 150,000. ”

Zhang Bin frowned again and asked, "What about the anti-Habsburg coalition?" ”

Philip IV estimated: "They must have at least 200,000, and the rebel army in Catalonia is estimated at least 250,000." ”

This is a bit of a disparity, the number of enemy troops is almost twice as large as theirs, no wonder Spain doesn't even have time to clean up the thousands of Portuguese miscellaneous troops, they are all at a critical juncture, if they are not careful, they may be beaten to Madrid!

Now, Zhang Bin finally fully understands Philip IV's feelings, if he doesn't come again, this guy is estimated to have to surrender!

No, we have to help Spain reverse the current decline, otherwise they probably won't be able to carry it for long.

Zhang Bin thought for a while, and then said solemnly: "Your Majesty, can you bring me the latest map for my reference." ”

When Philip IV heard this, he did not hesitate to have a map and personally explained the current situation to Zhang Bin.

Zhang Bin asked carefully about the map, and his brows couldn't help frowning deeper, judging from the current situation, if he didn't send troops to help, Spain wouldn't be able to resist it at all!

The Spanish forces were already smaller than the anti-Habsburg coalition, but they had to disperse to encircle the Catalan region, because the enemy could not break through from any direction, and Spain could be defeated.

Less than 150,000 horses to surround the 200,000 troops, this situation can be imagined, the siege is actually equivalent to no encirclement, because as long as people concentrate their forces to break through from one point, all of you can't do it, not to mention that your less than 150,000 horses are still scattered on a front of nearly 1,000 miles.

Zhang Bin frowned and pondered for a while, then pointed to Zaragoza between Madrid and Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, and said: "If the anti-Habsburg coalition forces attack, it is most likely to attack here, right?" ”

This is obvious, because there is a big road between Madrid and Barcelona, and Zaragoza is stuck on this big road, and the 200,000 troops of the anti-Habsburg coalition will definitely choose this place if they really want to launch an offensive.

Because the other directions are far from the road, they have to go over mountains and mountains, and they are all small roads, they will have problems transporting grain and grass, and more importantly, if they want to force Spain to surrender, they have to threaten Madrid, and it does not make much sense to attack other directions from a strategic point of view.

Philip IV nodded cautiously and said, "That's right, if they launch a general attack, they will definitely take Zaragoza first." ”

Zhang Bin then asked, "How many troops have you deployed in Zaragoza?" ”

Philip IV said helplessly: "Our remaining 50,000 elites are deployed there, but if the anti-Habsburg coalition launches an attack, these 50,000 elites will be difficult to resist." ”

It sounds a bit ridiculous that 50,000 elites could not withstand the attack of 200,000 enemy troops in the city, and Spain's weapons and equipment were not much different from those of the anti-Habsburg League, so why was Philip IV so unconfident?

The reason is very simple, because the European continent does not have a city wall like the Ming Dynasty, they basically build a fortress, build a fortress on the high part of a city to defend, and in other places, there is basically no city wall!

A city like Zaragoza, which only has a fortress and no city walls, 50,000 Spanish elites can't hold it, but the 50,000 elites of the Fuguang army will definitely hold it, because the weapons and equipment of the Fuguang army are stronger than the armies of all countries in Europe now, and if the Fuguang army is just defending one place, it can also be properly equipped with more than 1,000 catties of Francophone cannons to make them more combative.

Zhang Bin thought for a while, and then said solemnly: "Your Majesty, if you believe in our Ming Empire, please hand over Zaragoza to us to defend, your 50,000 elites can be transferred to Huesca in the northwest, and if you transfer the super battleship to Tarragona to assist in the defense, it will be difficult for the anti-Habsburg coalition to break through your defensive line." ”

The Ming Empire's willingness to send troops to help is naturally the best, the question is that our 50,000 elites can't withstand it, can you 50,000 elites withstand it?

Philip IV was a little skeptical and said, "Your Royal Highness, are you sure that your 50,000 people can withstand the 200,000 coalition army?" ”

Zhang Bin said confidently: "Of course there is no problem, our Ming Empire's 50,000 elite standard field artillery has 2,000, and I can also transfer at least 100 heavy artillery from the navy to the highland fortress in Zaragoza as fire support, if the enemy does not have more than 100 heavy artillery, it is impossible to break through our defense line." ”

Is there artillery in the anti-Habsburgs?

Of course there is, but the European continent countries have not yet been equipped with field artillery, and the army is basically still dominated by muskets, with more than 2,000 artillery pieces of various types, enough to bombard the 200,000 anti-Habsburg coalition troops who can't find the north!

Now it's okay, with the 50,000 elites of the Ming Empire to help them defend Zaragoza, the tide of the war will be reversed in an instant, and they don't have to worry about the anti-Habsburg coalition army hitting Madrid, the more Philip IV thinks about it, the more excited he becomes, he has even begun to think about how to counterattack and defeat the anti-Habsburg alliance!