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The Hispano-Portuguese War of Union and the Dawn of the Spanish-German Alliance.

Background
On the 17th of January 1876, King Leopold II of Spain and King Luís I of Portugal signed an alliance and a deal of reducing tariffs for both nations. As the Spanish-Portuguese centuries-old rivalry came to an end, it was all for nigh as his excellency King Luís I was assassinated just 3 months after the meeting. The murder of King Luís I was carried out by the scheming and traitorous republicans or revolutionaries of Portugal wishing to abolish the monarchy to declare a republic and depose the royal family. Not long after Luís' death, the royal members of Portugal alongside elites and nobles of the country were exiled or executed, some of them sought asylum in Spain. Upon hearing news of his closest friend's and brother-in-law dead, King Leopold II was reported to have secluded himself for 3 days without eating or drinking, being most upset and shaken by the incident. Soon after leaving his quarters, the king wastes no time to discuss the upcoming war with the exiled elites and nobles of Portugal. The meeting with exiles of Portugal was concluded by the pledging of support by the nobles and the elites for Spain's union war against Portugal. Hearing this opportunity of making a reality of Spain's old ambition, the conservatives of Spain and Portugal had also pushed for the union and supports King Leopold II should he declares war against the Republic of Portugal.

His Royal Highness King Leopold II's wife, Antónia, is the last of the Braganza's to keep her claim on the Portuguese throne. While it was never his intention nor ambition to unite the Iberian Peninsula, Leopold has turned his view on this idea and swore to unite Iberia under him and his wife's rule. Leopold's marriage to Antónia was a political one made to appease the Portuguese should he assumes the Spanish throne, but soon changed into one of love and appreciation from one to the other. Leopold has made his voice public on denouncing the newly formed Republic of Portugal as illegitimate and a threat to the peace he and Luis had achieved before the annulling of the treaty by the republic. For the formerly stated reason, he has called for a meeting with a representative of the German Empire.

Diplomacy with the German Empire
The German Empire accepts King Leopold II's invitation for a meeting in Madrid to discuss for possible German help in the upcoming war. Before the meeting, Leopold had been exchanging telegrams with the German government discussing a possible alliance and military help from the German Empire. The meeting was held at Palacio Real de Madrid, the official residence for Spain's Royal Family. Frederik III, the heir to the imperial throne of Germany, was sent to discuss further with Spain regarding the aforementioned offers from Spain. Leopold and Frederik discussed the military aid which promises 30,000 South German troops' reinforcement arriving in the upcoming months alongside the German navy's help to blockade the Republic of Portugal. The meeting went as intended and by the end of it, the Spanish-German alliance was born.

After discussing German help in the upcoming war, Frederik discussed the possible sale of Angola, a colony owned by Portugal. The selling of Angola was to be done should Spain manage to win the Spanish-Portuguese War of Union. While at first Leopold was reluctant to sell the colony, Frederik with his silver tongue would convince him to. The German Empire promised to pay a considerable amount of money to help recover economic damage done from the war alongside 5 years period where Angola's wealth will be transferred to Spain for help in paying the crippling debts it has. Germany also promises to help guide Spain in building infrastructure and industrialization of the country.

Spain's campaign on Alejento
King Leopold II had prepared for the upcoming war and instructed the deployment of Spanish troops along Portugal's border. In February of 1876, an order was issued by General Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón to mobilize an army numbering 150,000 strong to the border of Portugal's region Alentejo to prepare for an invasion which will spearhead its way to Evora. The troops arrive in April of 1876 on Alentejo's border and waited for further instructions. With Spain's troop now ready to march onward to Portugal, Leopold sent a telegram to Lisbon proclaiming the declaration of war. The Spanish army then marches their way to Moura and the town surrenders as the garrison retreated behind the River of Guadiana, hoping to defend better behind a more defensible terrain. The Spain army's vanguard would go into a skirmish with the ~2000 Portuguese regulars which is the retreating garrison of Moura.

Skirmish on the River of Guadiana
As the skirmish ensues, the Portuguese held their fire as the Spanish army marches closer to the bridge separating both armies, only firing once their enemy is close enough. The first volley of the Portuguese troops landed a considerable amount of casualties, while Spain was not able to inflict as much as the Portuguese dispersed their armies such as that of a formation of light infantry. The Spain army soon crosses the river, receiving more casualties as they march across the bridge, depleted of around four-hundred troops as they engage the Portuguese regulars. The Portuguese then forms a tightly packed formation at the end of the bridge and managed to hold on to their chokepoint on the bridge for a short amount of time, finally retreated as the Spanish poked a hole through their line. Not long after the Portuguese troops' formation was broken, they surrendered. Casualties:

Spanish: ~1,400 men killed or wounded
Portuguese: ~2,000 men wounded, killed, or taken prisoner

To be continued.

Libero, Levonast, Gil Lodihr, Selviand, and 1 otherNewstettin

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