Wealth and poverty, one is the mother of luxury and laziness, the other is the mother of meanness and malice, and both are sources of uncontentment. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

- Plato (one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of Western culture)

The Kingdom of Spain, as the oldest owner of the Iberian Peninsula, is the undisputed owner of the Iberian Peninsula; Its roots can be traced back hundreds of years to the time of the Spanish tribes, when the Spaniards were already the masters of the Iberian Peninsula.

Later, with the development of the situation in the Iberian Peninsula and the invasion of external forces, the Kingdom of Spain gradually lost control of the entire Iberian Peninsula; This led to the Hannibal family's occupation of the province of Betica.

In fact, the Numantia tribe, one of the seven great tribes of the Gallic barbarians, was a group of Gallic barbarians who invaded the Iberian Peninsula and occupied the province of Canterbury in the Kingdom of Spain.

In other words, the Kingdom of Spain, as the master of the Iberian Peninsula, gradually lost two provinces on the Iberian Peninsula in the process of ruling the Iberian Peninsula; This is also a kind of sorrow in the Kingdom of Spain.

Even so, the Spanish kingdom still ruled over four provinces, which was an advantage that ordinary powers could not match, and it was also the basis of the strength on which the Spanish kingdom depended to survive.

Although the Spanish kingdom did not perform well in the war with the Hannibal family, the emergence of Joan of Arc and a group of fierce generals under her command seems to prove that the Spanish kingdom is definitely not as weak as it seems.

In addition to Joan of Arc, the Duke of Denoy and Botrecott were also very capable; Coupled with the two generals left by Joan of Arc, Jean de Mes and Bertrand de Prangi, the comprehensive strength of the Kingdom of Spain is still very strong.

Nor was the Kingdom of Spain weaker than any other power in the standing armies of the state; The entire kingdom of Spain, without any war, maintained a regular army of 25,000 and a garrison of 19,000.

In this way, the standing forces of the entire Kingdom of Spain were kept at about forty-three thousand; Don't underestimate the 43,000 army, you must know that the powerful Roman Republic only maintained a standing army of about 20,000 in peacetime.

Of course, this direct comparison in numbers doesn't mean anything; After all, the standing army of the Kingdom of Spain was very different from the army of the Roman Republic in terms of weapons and equipment.

Coupled with the gap in generals and tactical thinking, the combat effectiveness of the army of the Kingdom of Spain is still not comparable to that of the army of the Roman Republic; It is no exaggeration to say that 20,000 Roman troops defeated 40,000 Spanish troops, which was not a difficult task.

Thankfully, the enemies that the Spanish kingdom had encountered before were either from the tribal armies of the Gallic barbarians or from the House of Hannibal of the Kingdom of Carthage; The weapons and equipment of these two sides are not advanced, and the gap is naturally not obvious.

Especially the former, the armies of the Gallic barbarians were even inferior to those of the Kingdom of Spain; However, the army of the Gallic barbarians, with their own fearlessness, still carved out their own niche in the Iberian Peninsula.

As for the Hannibal family, if it were not for the birth of a Joan of Arc in the Kingdom of Spain, supplemented by the help of the Duke of Dinoy and the generals of Botricott; The Kingdom of Spain may have become an independent kingdom of the House of Hannibal.

Admittedly, the ruling class of the Kingdom of Spain was not utterly incompetent; The reason why they maintained a large standing army was to prevent another invasion by the Hannibals and the Gallic barbarians.

Regardless of the final outcome of the war, the Hannibals and the Gallic barbarians left a lasting lesson for the Kingdom of Spain; How could the Kingdom of Spain let its guard down while these two great enemies were still there?

Among the 19,000 garrisons of the Kingdom of Spain, Lusitania, as the capital province, was naturally the most powerful; The entire province of Lusitania had a garrison of 6,000 troops, including 2,000 elite round shield cavalry and 4,000 javelinmen.

The provinces of Tarragonanis and Galicia, which were close to the Numantian tribe, one of the seven tribes of Gaul, had a garrison of 4,000 and 5,000 respectively; Of these, the standing army of 4,000 in Tarragonanis consisted of 1,000 elite round shield cavalry and 1,000 javelinmen, as well as 2,000 Spanish militiamen.

The garrison of 5,000 in the province of Galicia was much more elite, consisting of 2,000 elite round shield cavalry and 2,000 shield men, as well as 1,000 javelinmen; It was also the second largest garrison in Lusitania Province.

The key to this situation lies in the special geographical location of the province of Galicia; It is important to know that the province of Galicia is not only adjacent to the Numantian tribe of the seven tribes of Gaul, but also to the province of Betica, which was occupied by the Hannibal family.

With such a special geographical location, it was natural for the Kingdom of Spain to strengthen the garrison of the Galician provinces; Otherwise, in the event of war, how could the Galician province be able to defend itself?

The garrisons of these three provinces were already as high as fifteen thousand, and the remaining Iberian provinces had only four thousand garrisons; The garrison of 4,000 consisted of 1,000 shield men and 1,000 javelinmen, and 2,000 militiamen.

Judging only from the distribution of troops and the division of troops, the garrison of the Iberian province is significantly weaker than the garrison of the other three provinces; However, the combat effectiveness of the provincial garrisons is the opposite, and the garrisons of the Iberian provinces are the strongest garrisons!

Although the Iberian provincial garrison was only 4,000 men, it was composed of no cavalry; However, the combat effectiveness of these 4,000 garrisons was extremely strong, thanks to Joan of Arc, the savior of the former Kingdom of Spain.

When Joan of Arc was roaming the Iberian Peninsula, it was natural that she had an army loyal to her; Although the size of this army has not been very large, its actual combat effectiveness is extremely strong, and it is not inferior to the elite of the Hannibal family.

Coupled with the fact that Joan of Arc still has some civilian-born but brave generals to follow, how can the combat effectiveness of the army under her command not be strong? It's just that the special status of this army still makes its weapons and equipment extremely rudimentary, even inferior to the garrison.

Later, with the capture of Joan of Arc and the armistice between the Kingdom of Spain and the House of Hannibal, this loyal army became a thorn in the side of the ruling class represented by Charles VII.

In any case, this army was a brave army that fought fearlessly for the Kingdom of Spain, and it was impossible for Charles VII to really ban this army; In order to buy hearts and minds, Charles VII eventually split the army in two.

Among them, the more elite 5,000 troops were issued with brand-new weapons and equipment, and were assigned to the command of the Duke of Dinoy; The remaining 2,000 troops were incorporated into the garrison of the Iberian province and suppressed and divided into militias.

A male lion is a male lion after all, and even if he lives in a flock of sheep, he is a male lion and not a sheep; These old tribes of Joan of Arc, who succumbed to the Iberian provincial garrison, have made a name for themselves as militiamen, and this is the real warrior!

In addition to the garrisons of the four provinces of the Kingdom of Spain, the 25,000 regular troops of the Kingdom of Spain were led by the Duke of Dinoit and Beautracott respectively; Among them, the large army led by Botricott was more numerous.

From the point of view of establishment, the 15,000-strong army under the command of Botricott was composed of 2,000 bull warriors, 3,000 long shield cavalry, 4,000 Spanish zealots, and 6,000 shield soldiers; The combat power is the highest in the Kingdom of Spain!

The 10,000-strong army of the Duke of Dinoir consisted of 3,000 Iberian infantry, 2,000 shield soldiers, 2,000 Spanish zealots, and 3,000 round shield cavalry; The combat effectiveness is extremely strong, but the weapons and equipment are inferior to the Botracott Legion.

The reason for the difference between the Dynoir Legion and the Beautricott Legion is also very simple, that is, the special status of the Duke of Dinoir determines that it is impossible for King Charles VII of the Kingdom of Spain to really delegate power to the Duke of Dinoir.

Duke of Dinoir, himself a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Spain; That is to say, the Duke of Dinoir himself also has the possibility of succession to the throne, which is always a small threat to Charles VII and cannot be ignored.

In addition to this, the relationship between the Duke of Dinoy and Joan of Arc in the past was still too close; After Joan of Arc was killed, if it weren't for the Duke of Dinnoy, the army that followed Joan of Arc might even have defected.

This was the key to why Charles VII wanted to put the 5,000 troops in Joan of Arc's old army under the command of the Duke of Dinoy; At the same time, this is also an unacceptable reality for Charles VII, which dooms the Duke of Denoir to be truly reused.

The strength of the Kingdom of Spain was generally like this, and the strength of the Kingdom of Spain was simply not enough to wage war against the province of Betica; However, with the support of the Roman powers, Charles VII immediately began a war of expansion of the Spanish kingdom.

The 30,000 men from the Julius family were used by Charles VII to form three new legions, each of which was fully staffed with 10,000 men, and the generals were all generals of the Kingdom of Spain who had been honed in previous wars.

After the formation of a new legion, Charles VII began to prepare for an attack on the province of Betika, the House of Augustus; In addition to the three newly formed legions, the regiments of Botricott were also moved to the vicinity of the province of Betica, while the Duke of Dinoy, who opposed the attack on the House of Augustus, was sent to garrison the border areas adjacent to the Numantian tribes. (To be continued.) )