461 Formation of the Kingdom of Spain

The sun shone on the city of Toledo. Having been sacked by the Austrian Army during their intervention in Reconquista, its inhabitants had largely abandoned the city. At least for some time, however, after a while the people returned to their homes, believing they were safe from the violence that had shifted towards the Kingdom of Portugal.

Unfortunately, it did not take long for the Kingdom of Aragon to enter the power struggle within Castile's borders. After many months of combat, the flag of the Kingdom of Aragon now flew over the former capital city of the Kingdom of Castile. 

Bodies lie hewn in the streets, soldiers and civilians alike tossed to the side, as medieval armies of Aragon laid claim to their prize. King Felipe de Trastámara clutched the hilt of his sword with his ironclad hand. Fresh blood dripped from its blade onto the stone floor of the Palace which once housed the royal family of Castile. 

A man wearing the colors of the old royal house lie on the floor, gasping for breath as his lungs filled with the crimson liquid of life. Every second, he inched closer to death. This man broke out into a cough as blood spilled out of his mouth. He gazed up at the Aragonese king with a look of contempt as he voiced his last words. 

"Felipe, you bastard! The moment the Austrians left our lands, you turned your backs on us, and led an army to our doorstep! Have you no shame?"

Felipe smiled cruelly at the dying man, before commenting on his own wicked actions that had led to him claiming the Crown of Castile following his brother's death.

"You act so noble, yet before your brother's body was even cold, you marched an army into Toledo and declared yourself King. Fighting and killing plenty of men for the right to call yourself by such a lofty title. 

You should know by now that only by uniting our two kingdoms together can we hope to defeat the might of this new Granadan menace! Unfortunately for you, I was just one step ahead of you and your machinations. Now rest, for you will find no peace in this life!"

Having said this, Felip swung his blade toward the man's neck and severed his head from his body. The Kingdom of Castile was dead, absorbed by its neighbor, Aragon. Now all that was necessary was to declare the formation of a new Iberian Kingdom, a union of Castile, Aragon, and the long forgotten Navarra.

With this in mind, the King of Aragon grabbed ahold of his former rival's crown and carried it with him towards the balcony where his army was gathered below. The moment he came into sight, he lifted the crown into the air, signalling Aragon's victory in this short but bloody war. 

The soldiers pounded their breastplates and howl like a pack of wild wolves as they saw their King declare victory. With the raising of a fist, the men fell silent, and Felipe began his victory speech. 

"For centuries now, since the last days of the ancient Visigothic Kingdom, our ancestors have fought and bled to reclaim the lands that were stolen from us by the Moorish menace and in doing so, form a single, unified Catholic Kingdom. Though we have suffered some losses in recent years, today we are one step closer towards this aim. 

I hereby declare the union of the Crowns of Aragon and Castile into a new realm. The Kingdom of Spain! With our two realms united under one house and one banner, together we possess the might which is required to drive the Moors from our lands once and for all. Death to the Moors, and all who would aid them!"

Upon concluding his speech, Felipe placed the Castilian Crown above his head, signalling himself as the monarch of both Aragon and Castile. The soldiers who stood below chanted in unison the last part of their King's speech.

"Death to the Moors! Death to the Moors! Death to the Moors!"

A wicked smile curved itself upon Felipe's lips as he gazed upon his soldier so fervently chanting back to him his own words. Without Austrian support, the Moors were nothing. Though he knew a few Austrian Jaegers remained behind to support Granadan occupation of Portugal, he knew also that Berengar did not want to return to this land once more. 

His plan was simple, to spend the next few years expanding his forces, and the development of firearms until a point where his people could contend with their Granadan neighbors. Once he had achieved this, he would declare another war on Granada and attempt to wrest control over the rest of Iberia. 

At the moment, he was more worried about the mining operations which the Austrians were doing within his own borders. Since they had taken up post in Collbató, intelligence from the region had become dead silent.

As if all of his spies had been rounded up and executed by the Austrians, but such a thing was clearly a violation of their treaty. He was certain that Berengar would not take such overt actions against his people. 

Still, it was strange, as far as he was aware, there was nothing of value in the region, so why would Berengar demand mining rights in such a vacant and worthless area? He would have to send covert operatives to infiltrate the Austrian mining camp and report what was found within the Austrian mines. 

After thinking this through, Felipe stepped down from his position on the balcony of the Palace and walked towards his horse, it was a long ride home to Zaragoza, and he had much work to do if he were to fully annex Castile into his control. After all, the local nobles would not easily obey him. 

Still, he had squashed the opposing armies, all that was left for him to do was to apply force in the right areas if he wanted the Castilians to recognize him as their King. Thus, King Felipe de Trastámara began the long trek back to his home. He was completely unaware that in the crown of citizens who looked upon his display were agents of both Austrian and Granadan intelligence. 

---

A few days later, in the Capital of Granada, Hasan was standing in his war room. He had dressed himself in an entirely different sense of fashion than he used to. Since the Austrian Army had reformed the Granadan Army, they had implemented new uniforms. Something more modern, to go along with their Austrian Allies. 

In fact, Berengar designed the uniforms worn by the Granadans. These new outifts were largely based upon the designs worn by the Ottomans during the Crimean War from his past life. There were three primary differences, though.

These uniforms were a forest green instead of navy blue. They wore 19th century style steel cuirasses which were manufactured in Austria, and they wore a steel version of the old Ottoman sun helmet issued to Ottoman soldiers during the early days of their involvement in the Great War.

Hasan, however, was dressed in a kingly attire, similar to that which was worn by the last Ottoman Sultan of Berengar's past life, the difference being the colors were swapped to match those worn by the Granadan Royal Army. Hasan had applied pomade to his hair, and styled regally. He now looked like a King out of the Elizabethan era. 

Standing by Hasan's side were a number of Granadan Generals, including Ziyad. As well as two Austrian Generals, one of which was Arnulf, who led all Austrian Operations in the Iberian Theatre. The Austrian Major General was quick to point out the intelligence they had gathered about the neighboring kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.

"King Felipe has declared himself King of both Castile and Aragon, and has announced the union of the two kingdoms. In doing so, he has doubled his manpower. He has already figured out how to reverse engineer the arkebuse and the falconet. However, compared to the weapons issued to your forces, they will underwhelming, to say the least. 

However, if employed in enough numbers, they can pose a significant threat, especially if they decide to arm the rebels in Portugal. That is not our biggest concern though, the mines in Collbato that Berengar has established contain a massive supply of Saltpeter. If Felipe realizes this, he will make a move on those mines in violation of our treaty. 

After all, he can not resist such a massive supply of the most critical component for gunpowder. If Spain gets their hands on that much gunpowder, they will easily be able to field enough firearms to become a serious threat to our plans in the region."

Hasan gazed upon the map that was sprawled out before them, and contemplated for a few moments. After doing so, he asked, most prominent question on his mind. 

"So, what is our plan?"

A cruel smile curved itself upon Arnulf's lips as he informed the Granadan Sultan just how he planned to deal with this situation.

"The solution is simple. Our agents will dispatch Aragonese firearms to the hands of rebels in Portugal. When our forces discover them in peacekeeping operations, we will use it as an excuse to invade southern Spain, and seize the land surrounding the region of Collbato for ourselves."

Hasan questioned this plan of action, it sounded good, but he was uncertain if his forces alone had the means to pull it off.

"Can we rely on support from Austria?"

Arnulf shook his head in response to this before clarifying the fatherland's stance on the issue.

"Austria will commit no more resources than we already have. However, according to my estimation, your soldiers are ready for this war. However, the authority to proceed with this plan of action lies in your hands. So, how shall we handle this, your Majesty?"

Hasan thought silently and clearly about this potential operation and all the ramifications that came with it. Ultimately, he sighed heavily and nodded his head before expressing his support.

"We will do as you have planned."

When Arnulf heard this, his cruel smile grew even wider. However, he spoke only a single word in response.

"Wonderful...""