Roland Hill and William Carl Bellsford, these two British commanders (major general division level), are known as "double walls" under the command of the British Expeditionary Force Commander Wellington. It is a recognized fact that General Bellsford is good at training and defense, and General Hill seems to be more capable, not only with both offense and defense, but also with surprise attacks. In the battle in 1809, he led his troops to boldly raid Marshal Sirte, and drove the unprepared Frenchmen out of Porto with few enemies.

The common characteristic of Hill and Bellsford is that they are gentle and cherish soldiers, so they are deeply loved by grassroots soldiers. It is worth mentioning that this is the style of leading soldiers by these two generals who love soldiers like sons, which successfully concealed the fact that Wellington himself hated ordinary soldiers and subordinate officers.

Within the Portuguese Expeditionary Force, British soldiers privately called Wellington "Big Nose"; and officers, especially Irish-born subordinate officers, called the commander "Playboy".

The reason why Wellington was given such a nickname was not only because of his figure: a slender figure of 1.75 meters (already tall, the general height of Europeans at that time was only about 1.65 meters), he liked to wear casual clothes with very well-tailored hair, with brown wavy hair, and bright and blue eyes.

The more reason is that Wellington himself rarely trusts his soldiers. He always likes to play with a British aristocratic expression, treats subordinate officers and soldiers with a arrogant and arrogant attitude and a cold face. Whenever he is a regular senior officer meeting, he is accustomed to using the words "thief, habitual offender, and gangster" to describe the nature of British soldiers.

When the more than 60,000 French troops led by Marshal Massena rushed to the border between western Spain and Portugal with an unstoppable momentum, Wellington and the main British troops were still staying on the defense line of Torish Vedras, far away from the battlefield. Only a light-equipped unit led by General Roland Hill was conducting warning activities in the border between Rodrigo and western Portugal.

From the vast mountains of St. Vincent to the square green slope near the lower reaches of the Tagus River, the coalition's positions drew a huge arc. The fortress on the mountain was covered with cannons, as well as the British and Portuguese who were standing there. At the foot of the mountain, Dutch flat-bottomed ferries came and went on the green water surface of the lower reaches of the Tagus River, and they kept urgently transporting the civilians and various materials in front to the fortress defense line day and night.

"...Don't actively exchange fire with the French army. Your mission is to handle the defeated Spanish defenders, return to Portugal in time, evacuate residents along the way, clean up all the supply resources that Massena can use, and look for favorable terrain to block the French in the surrounding Fort Blanco!" This is the original words that General Hill explained before leaving.

Hill himself understood the repeated remarks from the Expeditionary Force commander. That was at the previous coalition combat meeting, and the generals agreed with the calm analysis made by Viscount Wellington. The commander warned his colleagues:

"Our main opponent, the French marshal, is indeed very capable and has rich combat experience, second only to Napoleon. However, the 52-year-old Massena seems to be old and has long passed his peak age and is seriously lacking in energy. But he still retains his hobby of being addicted to women and indulges soldiers to plunder unscrupulously, which will seriously erode his patience and judgment.

... Strictly implement the long-term battle formation of a strong wall and clear the world, and do not leave the French a piece of bread, a piece of jerky meat, and a bottle of wine. When the blockade is ineffective or the fighter is immature, you must take the initiative and bold retreat, and do not care about the gains and losses of a city and a place. We must always keep our minds clear, but make the impatient enemies more impatient, so that the grumbling French people will convey the most pessimistic predictions between each other.

…So, the more targets the French conquered, the longer their supply line will be. There are three insurmountable fortresses in front of them, and behind them are the uninterrupted harassment of small wars (guerrilla warfare). No matter how Massena is allocated, French soldiers will be hungry, which will gradually lose their fighting spirit and become difficult, and the longer we resist, the closer we are to success."

When facing the French invasion, Wellington's attention was obviously focused on the main attack direction of the Portuguese Legion led by Marshal Massena, and it seemed that the threat from the Desay Division from the flanks did not pay much attention to it.

By the end of May 1810, in the Torish-Vedrash defense line, the British and Portuguese coalition had gathered 35,000 British and 40,000 Portuguese troops here, and a large number of Portuguese guerrillas led by Colonel Trant to cooperate with the regular army. Their target was the main force of the Portuguese army commanded by Marshal Massena, with about 66,000 people, including General Renier, Marshal Ney, and General Juno's troops;

In the rear of the Torish-Vedrash defense line, 5,000 British troops and 10,000 Portuguese troops were stationed in Lisbon and its nearby ports to strictly investigate French spies, maintain public order in the capital, and assist local officials in resettling refugees from all over the country;

As for the defense of eastern Portugal, the coalition forces that resisted the Desay Division in the Evora District seemed to be quite large, with 35,000 people. However, the regular army only included 5,000 British troops, 10,000 Portuguese troops, and the remaining 20,000 people were all guerrillas played by Portuguese civilians.

The coalition commander in charge of the eastern defense mission was General Bellsford. When Wellington presided over the combat meeting of the British-Portugal coalition, Bellsford was still recuperating in Lisbon due to illness and failed to participate in the military convention in time.

When he learned that he had been officially appointed as the commander of the Eastern Defense Line, after recovering from illness, Bellsford rode his horse from Lisbon to the location of the front command headquarters, a small town in central Portugal, Di Sol.

"General Bellsford, I'm glad to see your arrival!" Wellington hurried forward, hugged his old comrades-in-arms enthusiastically, and personally led the latter to his command post.

"But I'm not happy, Commander!" Bellsford said with an unhappy expression. Facing the red wine sent by Wellington, he put it directly on the desk after receiving it, and did not accept Wellington's kindness.

"Well, very well, now I have time to listen carefully to your words." Although General Bellsford's words and deeds were a little rude, Wellington's smile always remained.

In terms of people and affairs, Wellington is different from Napoleon. Napoleon almost never scolds soldiers, but often ridicules and denounces marshals and generals; Wellington is just the opposite, always treats senior officers with a kind attitude and retorts against soldiers.

Bellsford calmed down his mind slightly. He sat upright in his seat and said to the commander in front of him: "First of all, what I want to express is to respect and accept your duties as the commander of the Expeditionary Force to me. However, you asked me to lead 15,000 soldiers to resist 16,000 of the Desay Division in the Evora area. Of course, there are also Victor's 20,000 troops and 50,000 French troops led by Sirte. 1,000 French troops against nearly 90,000 French troops. Sorry, Lieutenant General, this is an unsuccessful task!"

Wellington prysted his fingers and corrected some of the mistakes in General Bellsford's statement. He said: "General, you have a total of 35,000 people under your command. Among them are 5,000 British troops, 10,000 Portuguese troops, and 20,000 Portuguese guerrillas."

Bellsford sneered and shook his head, "Commander, you and I know very well that those farmers who have just put down their hoes and sickles can act as soldiers with weapons. Their final performance will be vulnerable before they go through a series of formal training and life and death battlefield tests. To be honest, they are a group of mobs. Your Excellency, I would rather you assign me an army with lesser numbers but with regular training and practical experience!"

Wellington asked without answering a question: "Okay, my general, in other words, if the Eastern Front you commanded, with the 15,000 regular troops and 20,000 guerrillas in your hands, well, it would be considered a 20,000 rabble, could you stop the city of Evora from the city of Evora?"

Bellsford subconsciously mentioned another question: "Where are the Victor and the Sirte division? A total of 70,000 French troops reserves, why don't you consider it?"

Wellington insisted with a solemn expression: "Please answer me first, General!"

Belsford answered without hesitation: "There is absolutely no problem. If we want to capture the Evora Fortress we are stationed, the French army needs at least 60,000 to 80,000 people. Desai's troops do not have this strength, nor have the experience of conquering diamond fortresses."

Wellington smiled slightly, and he signaled Major Costa, the intelligence officer waiting outside the command post, to enter the house, and said to the latter: "Major, please introduce the latest information you have to General Bellsford."

"Yes, Commander!" Major Costa turned around and continued to General Bellsford: "Since March this year, I have personally led a small team. With the cooperation of the Spanish guerrillas, I have repeatedly intercepted and successfully deciphered the exchanges between the French Victor unit, the Sirte unit and the Portuguese army led by Massena. All evidence shows that the French Victor unit and the Sirte unit will not participate in the war against Portugal until at least the spring of 1811."

"Are you sure?" General Bellsford was delighted and stood up and asked.

"Yes, there is no problem, I'm very sure!" Major Costa made a pledge.

After General Bellsford let go of his heart, he solemnly expressed his opinion against the Supreme Commander: "Commander, your eastern defense will be solid. In addition, please be sure to accept my previous rude behavior."

Wellington signaled General Bellsford to sit back and send the wineglass to the Deli team again, "General, don't have to do so. If I transfer another unit, 15,000 regular Spanish troops, plus the forces you currently have, can you wait until Desai attacks Evora severely and even encircle and annihilate this proud French division at the city of Evora?"

Sir Welles' disgust towards Desay was also transmitted to his brother Viscount Wellington. Wellington didn't care about the real combat power of the Desay Division, but was worried that the Duke of Hruna would acquire the successful mode of Catalonia and Aragon and would be copied to Spain or Portugal by the French.

The short-term "Humanitarian Shield" operation gave Wellington a considerable psychological impact. Almost overnight, the people of northeastern Spain, who had originally hated France's invasion, turned to Desay and swore allegiance to Duke Hruna. Wellington knew clearly that without the support of the people and without the "small war", the British army could not resist the 300,000 French troops on the peninsula.

After a brief taste, General Bellsford put down his wine glass. As for the requirements from the commander, he must first be familiar with his true strength. So he asked again: "Which Spanish troops?"

Major Costa replaced General Wellington and explained: "It was the Spanish army led by General Gesta, which also included a cavalry unit with more than 3,000 men."

Wellington originally wanted to assign 30,000 Spanish guerrillas led by Brigadier Dias to General Bellsford, but considering that the latter was unwilling to command unregulated troops, he made another choice. He asked the Spanish regular army to cooperate with General Bellsford to fight, and Brigadier Dias' guerrillas raided the rear of the Portuguese main legion.

The elderly Spanish general, Geista was a "old ally" known to General Bellsford, but unfortunately he had a bad impression. During his conversation with his British colleagues, General Bellsford even privately called him "an arrogant, incompetent, weak limbs and troublesome Spanish old man... Except for being old, possessing more than 30 different styles of military uniforms, and occasionally showing the elegant manners of Spanish nobles, he could not find any other advantages. His life was composed of a series of stupid defeats."

In the Battle of Talawel last year, the blind command of the Spanish generals led by Gesta caused the British Expeditionary Force, as an ally, to suffer a lot and fail. However, ordinary Spanish soldiers were brave and well-trained, especially the Spanish cavalry units, and successfully rescued a Scottish infantry regiment besieged by the French army.

After weighing the strength of our enemies and our sides, General Bellsford still insisted on a cautious and conservative style. "I cannot ensure that I encircle and annihilate the Desay Division, but I can guarantee that I will severely damage its troops and drive the French out of Portugal. In addition, the commander, I have another requirement, that General Gesta must obey strict my command. If necessary, my orders can bypass the commanders at all levels of Spain and go directly to the leaders of the regiments and battalions of friendly forces."

Wellington said affirmatively: "No problem, General. Two hours ago, I just received a handwritten letter from the Imperial Foreign Minister, Sir Wells. My brother had expressed this attitude to the Spanish warlords. In addition, Major Costa will send his capable subordinate, Captain Gibson, to assist you in completing the inclusion of the Spanish army!"
Chapter completed!