Capítulo 1136: Greek war: Caught Offguard
25th May 1698
The Strait of Gibraltar
The flag of the Spanish Empire hung high and proud in the sky. The sounds of waves crashing on the shore, seagulls chirping in the sky, and sailers reigning in the sails all resonated with a lodious ambience. All the ships entering and exiting the Strait of Gibraltar slowed their speed under the threatening muzzles of the coastal cannons and the majestic battleships. The Spanish navy inspected the large ships carefully from a distance as the ships entered and exited the diterranean Sea.
Being the fleet commander of the Spanish navy at the Gibraltar Strait was a very lucrative job, and that was exactly why Don had rejected having his own territory in the Aricas and instead chose the post of fleet commander.
Don Francisco Álvarez de Toledo y Silva. That was his na, the heir to the Dukedom of Alba and a descendant of the House of Alvarez de Toledo, one of the most prominent high-nobility and aristocratic families of the Spanish Empire.
With the prestige of his family, Don could have chosen to develop his fortunes in the Aricas and obtained a territory larger than a small kingdom, a privilege granted only to a handful of nobles. Yet, to everyone’s bewildernt, he rejected the offer out of the blue and took up the post at Gibraltar. Due to his actions, many nobles even thought he had gone mad, and that included the connected branch families. Who would willingly choose to work as a wage earner when you could go to the Aricas and live like a king? Don is a fool, they comnted
Although the conditions in the Aricas were not as good as in Spain, the high nobles generally agreed that the drawbacks were worth it, especially since they had far more power, more land, and, most importantly, far greater potential for their families and dynasties. Not to ntion, the harsh conditions were subjective, as the difficulty was only for the common citizens. As for the high nobles, their comfort there was even greater than back ho.
Stories even circulated about so high nobles constructing castles larger than the Royal Palace in Madrid, simply because labour was so much cheaper and cent imported from the Bharatiya Empire was readily available. So when Don rejected such a life, everyone assud he had gone mad. But Don was anything but mad. He knew that owning a large territory in the Aricas was a rare opportunity, yet the chance to be stationed as a fleet commander wherever he chose, he considered an even greater opportunity.
It has been over five years since he made the decision, and he has been proved right. The Spanish Empire nominally collected 2000 to 5000 pesos from a rchant ship over 500 tonnes, but he collected 1000 to 2000 pesos extra. It might not be much, but as the only gateway to the diterranean Sea, hundreds, if not thousands, of ships travel through the Gibraltar Strait every day, especially ships from the Aricas, from Northern Europe, and from the east.
Half of the money was given to his crew, while the other half he kept for himself. Doing this day after day, month after month, and year after year, he had already accumulated millions of pesos, and these are not printed currency like the Bharatiya Empire either, but real tal coins.
A month ago, using the money he had accumulated, he simply purchased the territory which was about to be granted to him and decided to use the rest to set up so factories, to retain his capital and accumulate more in the future.
Seeing his plans co together so neatly, he was elated and did not even feel annoyed that the high nobles had asked him to resign. Although he would be losing a solid source of inco, he had already laid the foundation for his future and was content with it. He knew that many people coveted his position, and having held it for half a decade, he had eaten well enough and had no desire to make enemies needlessly, especially since even in the Aricas, he would still have to live next to each other.
But the Don of today was completely different.
A person who didn’t even flinch when he was indirectly asked to resign now has a look of worry.
‘What happened to lord duke?’ The captains of various warships began to question in their minds, as they could see the Duke sweating profusely, as if he was afraid of sothing.
In fact, they were not wrong. Don was really afraid of sothing, afraid of the underlying aning behind the orders he had gotten today.
“Warships ahead!”
The sailor on the lookout platform loudly shouted, startling everyone on the deck.
Don took a big gulp. ‘They are here,’ the worry on his brow intensified, and more information kept pouring in.
“Oh Lord! At least 50 in sight.”
Don didn’t even have to give an order. The captains of the various ships imdiately assud offensive and defensive formations, raised the sails, and the warships of the Spanish Empire began their battle preparations.
“It’s the British Royal Navy… It’s the British!” the lookout cried out.
Red flags went up in the minds of the Spanish sailors. Their nerves were taut as they steeled themselves for a fight to the death.
But then their commander spoke out.
“Stand down.”
“Commander?”
“I said stand down and let the British Royal Navy pass.”
When the ssage was relayed throughout the ships using the thread telegram system invented in the Bharatiya Empire, all the captains were confused. “What’s happening?” they asked themselves, a few people even looking at the capital ship on which the Duke was stationed in confusion, as they scratched their heads.
Following orders was instilled directly into the military structure of the Spanish ard forces, so even though most of the captains and the sailors were confused, they followed the orders and dispersed from the defensive and offensive formation.
Soon, the British Royal Navy was upon them, and they started to pass through the Gibraltar Strait.
“Over 40 sovereign class, over 20 Nelson class, over 70 Drakes, over 90 Victories, over 80 Hawkins, and there are even 10 to 15 Endeavour classes, at least three hundred ships.” ‘Gulp!’ “The British seem to have dispatched the majority of their European fleet, sire.”
Looking at the giant battleships passing by his bow, he stiffly nodded. This was exactly why he was worried. He did not understand why the emperor would allow the complete fleets of the British and the Dutch to enter the diterranean without any resistance.
He figured out sothing big was happening in Europe, and he felt uneasy about it.
“Sire, the Dutch fleet is also here,” the lookout cried with a worried expression. Even he understood that sothing was wrong, and the other people in the fleet were no different.
“Let them pass!” he spoke out, but his order didn’t even have to be relayed, as the captains and sailors made no attempt to assu a battle-ready position after witnessing the British barge into the diterranean Sea, uninhibited.
The strength of the Dutch fleet was slightly weaker than that of the British, but it still brought the full brunt of the Dutch navy, with over 12 Wilhelm-class battleships, 28 Zeven Provinciën-class frigates, Amsterdam-class frigates, Rotterdam-class light frigates, Batavia-class military transporters, and Fluit-class clippers.
Don even caught sight of Sir Johan de Witt, whom he presud was commanding the fleet, waving at him. On instinct, Don waved back and tipped his hat in return.
Throughout the entire passage of the ships, he remained rooted to the deck, standing in stunned silence, completely numb.
It was only after the ships had vanished beyond the horizon that he finally ca back to himself.
“Light fire to the coastal defences, we are going to retreat.”
His subordinates were shocked by the command, but what happened only a few monts ago was inconceivable, so their ability to accept extre orders obviously improved. They did as the fleet commander said, lit fire to the coastal defences, and the whole fleet started to retreat.
As he finally saw the smoke from the defences burning disappear on the horizon while he was sailing towards Barcelona, Don felt a little emotional that he would never assu a post in that place once again.
Although he was only doing what the emperor asked him to do, he also knew that he was being used as a scapegoat. He could guess that the emperor would bla him for letting the English and the Dutch fleets enter uninhibited into the diterranean unimpeded. But he was not worried. Thankfully, he already knew what his punishnt would be. It was nothing but asking him to resign and banishing him to the Aricas, which was what he wanted to do in the first place, so it was not even a punishnt.
On the contrary, leaving Europe at such a turbulent ti felt like a blessing. Yet the unease he had felt upon receiving the order lingered. What was the true aning behind the emperor’s commands? Who exactly were the English and Dutch joining forces to attack, and why was his own empire seemingly turning a blind eye?
His first guess was the Italians. Perhaps the British and Dutch wanted to break Italy once again, and since their empire had lost a few colonies in the region, they were turning a blind eye to benefit in the end. But he could not see this ending well; the eastern giant might intervene wherever Italy was threatened. Not to ntion, Italy was far from defenceless. In recent tis, its naval power, though not as dominant as that of Britain or the Netherlands, was formidable enough to hold its own, especially with a fleet reinforced by Bharatiya ships alongside locally built battleships.
His second guess was that the target might be the Greeks, the Egyptians, or the Israelites, for control over the new Suez Canal. But whichever it was, he could not imagine the consequences of going directly to war with the Bharatiya Empire.
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