The French and Spanish forces, now thoroughly incensed, coordinated their efforts to prepare their defenses. They constructed a more defense-oriented trench line and refined their joint command structure for smoother cooperation. In the process, the French and Spanish commanders were once again forced to shudder at the terrifying competence of the Empire and its army.
“The Imperial Army, those crazy bastards… what in the world did they do?”
Though the French and Spanish had joined forces, every step of their subsequent preparations was plagued by friction, confusion, and disputes, both large and small. Yet, in all the past battles, no such discord had ever been visible between the Imperial and Florentine armies. Even at the Battle of Pavia, where the Florentines had suffered the greatest losses, the moment the Imperial forces stepped forward, the tangled mess had unraveled in an instant, and the French army had collapsed.
The Spanish army had come to the same painful realization at the Battle of Alexandria. While they still trembled with rage at the mere mention of the Empire, the French and Spanish armies worked to build an efficient joint front. Their efforts were so effective that had the Imperial commanders and instructors seen it, they would have immediately given them a ‘passing grade.’ While the French and Spanish, having received a ‘deep lesson’ from the Empire, were applying what they learned, the northbound Italian army was doing the complete opposite. The biggest reason was their flawed assessment of the French and Spanish forces.
- They have already suffered great losses at the hands of the Imperial and Florentine armies and have lost a significant portion of their strength.
- Looking at the results of the past battles, they do not appear to be as strong an army as we expected.
- After the battles, they holed up in Turin and its vicinity, merely watching the situation. This is likely because they have been unable to replenish their lost troops.
- Recently, they have been preparing to withdraw.
“If that’s the case, they’ll be looking to run rather than fight. We can win glory without much effort.”
The commanders of Milan, Genoa, Venice, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Duchy of Romagna, having reached this conclusion, were the ones who had pushed the Florentine and Imperial armies to the rear. The commanders from Naples and Romagna, in particular, were the most insistent in sidelining them.
“This is sure to be an easy battle. It’s an opportunity we absolutely cannot miss.”
As the last to join the coalition, the commanders of Naples and Romagna had no intention of yielding their chance at military glory. After facing such fierce opposition, the Florentine and Imperial armies were relegated to the rear. The Florentine commanders were incensed, but the Imperial commanders stepped in to placate them. Not that the Imperial commanders themselves were feeling magnanimous.
Watching the ‘fools’ advance with such excitement, the Imperial commanders muttered in cynical tones.
“They certainly see war as a simple affair.”
“Perhaps we fought too well?”
The Italian army, which had marched north with such bravado, finally met the French-Spanish coalition army near Turin. The Italian offensive, launched after a two-day rest, was a catastrophe. The description of it as a ‘poorly fought battle’ in the report later sent by the trailing Imperial Army was not an exaggeration.
The first thing the commanders of the five factions did after confirming the intelligence brought by scouts—dispatched only when they were practically on Turin’s doorstep—was to divide the sectors. They carved the French and Spanish positions into five equal parts and then held a lottery to assign them.
“Fucking…”
The Imperial commanders who witnessed this barely managed to swallow the curses that threatened to erupt and offered their advice.
“The strength of each unit is different, so assigning sectors by drawing lots does not seem reasonable. It would be better to consider your forces’ strengths, divide them into a vanguard and a follow-up force, and narrow the line of attack…”
“Don’t worry!”
“We’ll handle it ourselves!”
Before they could even finish, the commanders of the five factions shouted them down. Seeing this, Lee Si-ae immediately backed away.
“Very well. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
The Imperial commanders watching from behind muttered in unison.
“Go on, do as you please and see what happens.”
As if he understood their feelings, Lee Si-ae, upon returning from the meeting, gathered the Imperial commanders and gave an order.
“You all learned about the invasion of Tsushima in the military academy, correct?”¹
“Yes, sir.”
“One of the greatest blunders our army committed there has just been repeated here. A lottery, hah!”
Lee Si-ae shook his head, referencing the mistake from the invasion of Tsushima Island that had taken place in the first year of King Sejong’s reign, and gave his command.
“Watching those fools, I have a bad feeling about this. Prepare thoroughly, just in case.”
“Yes, sir!”
Unaware that the Imperial and Florentine armies were watching them from the rear with pathetic expressions, the armies of the five factions charged toward the trench lines of Turin, their eyes fixed on the glory before them. And then, they were disgracefully crushed.
The primary cause of the disastrous battle was the complete lack of coordination among the five factions. If you calculated the combined troop numbers and firepower of all five, they were superior to the French and Spanish forces. Had their commanders coordinated and fought a proper battle, they could have achieved the result they desired.
But because they had failed to do so, the result was a fiasco. As the five factions, who had advanced with such gusto, collapsed in a humiliating rout, the French and Spanish launched a counter-attack. At that very moment, the Imperial Army, which had been observing from the rear, immediately commenced a massive artillery barrage. As a wall of shells erupted, the French and Spanish quickly returned to their trench lines and resumed a defensive posture. The problem came after the battle had concluded.
“It was just bad luck today! Next time, this will never happen!”
“That’s right!”
The commanders of the five factions insisted it was ‘bad luck,’ remaining as stubborn as ever.
- If we show weakness to Florence and the Empire here, we will be dragged around by them from now on! That must be avoided at all costs!
Watching the five factions cling to their position with a stubbornness that could only be described as pig-headed, Lee Si-ae immediately backed down.
“I understand perfectly.”
Returning to his tent, Lee Si-ae gathered only the Imperial and Swiss commanders.
“In a way, this is for the best. After getting their noses bloodied this time, they won’t be so reckless. But they won’t come to us bowing their heads, either. The stalemate will just continue.”
The commanders all nodded at Lee Si-ae’s assessment. Lee Si-ae gave a small smile and continued.
“As I said, it’s for the best. Thanks to those idiots and their foolishness, the French and Spanish will be tied down here, which gives us a wider range of motion. If that happens, it will be easier for us to hit Spain from behind.”
And the situation unfolded just as Lee Si-ae had predicted. Three more attacks followed, but all ended in failure. Having suffered great losses, the commanders of the five factions finally requested help from Florence and the Imperial Army. Upon receiving the request, the Florentine army immediately moved its artillery to the front and joined the battle. However, the older-model Imperial cannons that Florence possessed were not powerful enough to break through the French and Spanish trench lines. They then requested aid from the Imperial Army, but the Imperials did not move.
“Why!”
“We are rather short on shells.”
The commanders of the five factions immediately sent an urgent dispatch to their leaders in Rome.
“Why is the Empire not mobilizing?”
At the protests of the five leaders, Han Myeong-hoe answered with a nonchalant expression.
“We are short on supplies, so it is difficult to move immediately.”
“The Empire is short on supplies? Make it make sense!”
“Well, certain parties held us up, you see, which caused us to expend quite a lot of our war funds.”
At Han Myeong-hoe’s pointed remark, the leaders of Genoa, Milan, and Venice blushed. Having landed that glancing blow, Han Myeong-hoe took a sip of his black bean tea and continued.
“The soldiers dispatched to Italy are also very tired. We need to rotate the troops, so unfortunately, it is difficult to move immediately.”
“The front is desperately requesting aid as we speak!”
“Still, what’s impossible is impossible. And besides, isn’t this an Italian affair?”
“Nngh…”
The leaders of the five factions groaned but found it difficult to keep pressing their case. They were trapped by the words they themselves had spoken. In the end, the five factions had no choice but to gather additional troops and send them to the front. Meanwhile, the French and Spanish were also caught in a bind. Upon learning that the Empire had pulled back, they immediately began to indulge in wishful thinking.
“If we play this right…”
- The most powerful enemy on the Italian front is the Imperial Army.
- But the Imperial Army has pulled back. According to our intelligence, it is due to a lack of supplies and a troop rotation. This will take a long time.
- The Italian army, without the Imperials, is not strong. We confirmed this in the recent battle.
- If we do not miss this window of opportunity before the Imperial Army returns, the advantage is ours!
Having reached this conclusion, France and Spain began to pour additional troops into the Turin region. The problem was that while the Italian army was not strong, it wasn’t exactly weak, either. As the battles continued, the Italian army began to shed its initial disorganization and transform into a reasonably competent force.
Ultimately, the Turin front devolved into a war of attrition. And while the eyes of France and Spain were fixed on Turin, the Empire struck Spain squarely in the back.
After their naval fleet was nearly annihilated by the Imperial Navy, Spain had lost its ability to watch the seas. To use an analogy, Spain had become a one-eyed man. And that one remaining eye was fixed on Turin.
The Empire did not miss this opportunity. A fleet carrying troops and supplies departed from the New Land and sailed directly for Gibraltar. In coordination with this, a significant portion of the troops in Italy was pulled back and also headed for Gibraltar. The Portuguese Navy also played a part in the Empire’s conquest of Gibraltar.
It was the Portuguese Navy that moved between the incoming Imperial fleet from the New Land and the one stationed in the Mediterranean, coordinating their timetables and conducting diversionary operations by constantly attacking Spanish warships and ports. This active cooperation from the Portuguese Navy was not simply because they were allies.
- If the Empire captures Gibraltar and Algeciras, Spain will be locked out of the sea!
- This means one of our most powerful competitors will be eliminated!
- If Spain cannot advance into the sea, its national power will stop growing!
- If that happens, the power dynamics on the Iberian Peninsula will change! Not just the political dynamics, but the very size of our territories could change!
Harboring these ambitions, Portugal actively cooperated with the Empire.
The Empire’s conquest of Algeciras was a fatal blow to Spain. Having sent a significant portion of its proper land forces to Turin, Spain could not react in time. The Spanish forces stationed in Algeciras and Gibraltar were second-rate units, and they were swept away without being able to mount any proper resistance against the Imperial Army. The defensive batteries built in the port and along the coast crumbled under the bombardment of the Imperial Navy, and the landing forces disembarked smoothly.
The Imperial Army had already grasped the characteristics of Mediterranean buildings and cities from their time in Italy and had become accustomed to urban warfare. The Spanish army’s attempt to hinder the landing with urban combat failed, and the Imperial Army pushed into the mountainous terrain surrounding Algeciras and Gibraltar. The moment the Imperial forces, having seized the mountains, planted the Imperial flag on the peaks, Algeciras and Gibraltar became permanent territories of the Empire.
And this was the moment that announced the defeat of Spain and France in the war for Italy and the Mediterranean.