How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 248: Excavator’s Edge (3)

"...Everything, all collapsed?"

"Yes. After the entire Florida colony fell to the slave rebellion, our colony is under threat. We must make a decision as soon as possible..."

"That... that’s why I said I should have captured Queen Elizabeth back then! Then the war could have been over already!"

"..."

"..."

The Duke of Lerma held back a sigh and gave the king a gentle smile.

"...It’s regrettable. Truly incompetent ones have ruined Your Majesty’s grand plans."

It’s good for a king to be stupid. It makes him suitable for manipulation.

But it’s problematic if he’s stupid beyond a certain limit. It makes the country unstable.

The relocation to Valladolid has been completed, and there’s no need to keep the king’s attention away from the New World anymore.

No, in the current situation where Moriscos (those who converted from Islam to Catholicism, or those who secretly maintained Islamic faith under Catholic monarchs) were forcibly expelled for political gain, it was even more necessary to turn the king’s eyes to the New World.

Through other achievements, the economic depression following the expulsion of the Moriscos needed to be covered up.

But...

"If I had captured the queen then, if only I had..."

Look at him, still grumbling and complaining about something that happened years ago. Surprisingly, this person without dignity or majesty is King Philip III of Spain.

He shows not even a speck of a king’s boldness or leadership.

Anyway.

"...Shouldn’t we recapture Florida immediately? There’s a knife coming to our throat!"

Still, a rotten fish is better than no fish; as king, he seems to have noticed what the problem is. That’s fortunate.

"That’s right. If Florida falls into the hands of rebels and heretics, our fleet crossing the Atlantic will be threatened more frequently."

"Right... Where is our lifeline! We cannot just stand by..."

Philip III, with trembling hands, gives instructions to the Duke of Lerma.

"Y-yes. Didn’t you say Ireland has almost been stabilized? Then if we pull troops from there and send them across the Atlantic..."

"Yes, that would work."

"Then do so immediately!"

Thud!

"A-anywhere else is fine, but not America! Isn’t it the m-monarchical land flowing with gold that our ancestors left us!"

Philip III, for the first time in a very long time... or perhaps for the first time ever, firmly gives an order.

"The reinforcements requested by Juan de Mendoza y Luna! Give him everything he wants! D-don’t let that English witch and Indian chief set foot on my land!"

Thus, Juan del Águila, who had been stationed in Ireland watching local nobles quarrel, immediately crossed the Atlantic and took charge of the troops mobilized by Viceroy Juan de Mendoza of Nueva España.

And so...

"...Good heavens."

"Why are you... uh... uhh...?"

6,600 men.

A total of 6,600 troops prepared to conquer San Agustin, sweep through Florida, and then bring down Virginia.

About 10 times the Virginia Knight Order, and 4 times the total number of people including the troops stationed in San Agustin and the rest of the residents.

Divided among about 20 large warships, they reached the waters off Florida directly.

Virginia’s sailors led by Vicente, cooperating with five or six English ships, tracked and attacked them in nearby waters, but...

They were overwhelmed by numerical inferiority.

Sinking one supply ship carrying gunpowder and food was the limit of what they could achieve.

Thus, forces amounting to 4 times what Florida had managed to squeeze out landed on Anastasia Island (Isla Anastasia, an island located east of San Agustin).

More numerous, stronger, and better-trained forces.

==

"..."

"..."

"Good heavens, even with the war in Europe... how...!"

The words someone threw out like a scream did nothing to alleviate the feeling of despair among those gathered here.

The Spanish authorities concluded that suppressing the rebellion in Florida was more important than confronting various enemies in Europe.

It was a statement with no function other than reminding them of this depressing fact.

Having thought that about 1,500 people would be sufficient to defend this place, they were all shocked into silence.

The numerical disadvantage was so great that they couldn’t even attempt to prevent the Spaniards from landing. Rather, if they had picked a fight outside the fortress, they might have been badly beaten by the landing soldiers.

"The enemy first landed on Anastasia Island, then slowly dominated the surrounding waters and is firing cannon shots at the fortress..."

Boom! Boom-boom!

The content of the report was unnecessary.

The distant explosions and vibrations were enough to instill fear in the meeting members gathered here.

Their muttering in shock was unbearably gloomy. Father Alonso García, unable to bear the sight, tried to stand up but listened to someone’s voice.

"What about... ’Him’? What does He say we should do?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

’Him’.

Without a proper name or title, everyone knew who was being referred to.

’He’ who had come with the Virginia Knight Order and quietly, but definitely, revealed his presence while staying near San Agustin.

At least a third of those present believed him to be an angel.

And Alonso...

"Right now, the enemies outside are many times more numerous than us."

Belonged to the group that made up less than two-thirds.

Alonso, half-angered by the thoughtless words of the person who had just spoken, said:

"It’s foolish to expect much to change with the help of just one person."

"He is not just one person!"

"Right! He is... He is...!"

"I don’t care what you believe Him to be. But I just stated the obvious."

In fact.

In fact, Alonso didn’t entirely refrain from expecting something facing this desperate battle.

The one responsible for liberating countless slaves and the ’Emperor’ of Virginia.

It would be stranger not to expect something from such a person.

But...

"So, believe in yourselves."

’He’, seen from afar, was... a normal human in Alonso’s eyes.

Some trembled and wept as if receiving the Holy Spirit, hearing voices in numerous languages, but Alonso wasn’t easily moved by that ’miracle.’

Because ultimately, as ’He’ himself said, the outcome depended not on him but on those gathered here.

What liberated the slaves here into free people was their own courage, not an angel from far away. He could be a helper, but not a savior.

"Bu-bu-but the nameless One...!"

Yet, some acted as if he would solve all problems. Alonso disliked those who blindly followed ’Him’ more than ’Him’ himself.

It’s not like praying alone will solve everything...

Eventually, Alonso quietly left the meeting in the midst of people’s debates and climbed the wall.

There, while their defensive forces could do nothing, Spaniards were crossing the Matanzas River under the cover of naval gunfire.

Some soldiers struggled to fire cannons, but they hit nothing.

"Father Alonso? Why are you here? Go inside! Quickly!"

"..."

Despite a soldier’s urging, Alonso’s feet wouldn’t move.

Thousands of Spanish troops had already landed on the shore like ants swarming around sugar.

They were slowly forming ranks and walking with ladders.

The sight formed a terrible contrast with the allied forces scattering in all directions, panicked by the cannon fire.

==

"...I don’t like this."

Spanish Royal Army Captain Francisco clicked his tongue as he glared at the San Marcos fortress.

When the naval gunfire stopped, the command immediately gave the order to charge. They approached the wall carefully, avoiding the disorderly gunfire shower from the enemy.

They thought it would be easy to fill the moat, raise ladders, and feed bullets to those clumsy enemies running around between the battlements.

"F-f-fire!"

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

But... it was different from expectations.

Something transparent was blocking between the battlements. When they tried to shoot after seeing enemies poking their heads out, often it was their own soldiers who got shot instead.

Rat-tat-tat!

"Argh! I-I’m hit!"

"Move the wounded to the back!"

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶