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in the 15th and 16th centuries, the age of exploration created the forerunners of the spanish and portuguese empires, and also created their opponents in north africa. that was a group of port cities commonly known as the barbary pirates, which almost covered most of tunisia, algeria and morocco. the two sides had both earth-shaking large-scale confrontations and small-scale daily invasions.

the battle of larache in 1504 was a typical example. such conflicts were miniature versions of large-scale battles and were also training grounds for new recruits to the spanish and portuguese empires.

morocco is ideally situated to ambush atlantic trading ships.

due to historical and geographical reasons, the coastline of the northwest corner of africa and the iberian peninsula are often closely connected. whether it is the ancient phoenicians, romans, or medieval arabs, moors and other jihad groups, they will act simultaneously on both sides of the strait of gibraltar. it was not until 1492, with the fall of grenada and the end of the reconquest, that they gradually showed signs of parting ways. however, the muslim towns that follow the ancient traditions are unwilling to give up and continue to challenge their fate with plundering. especially after the opening of routes to america or india, they are more likely to capture treasure ships carrying large amounts of wealth.

raids and slave trade were the financial backbone of many northwest african cities.

at the same time, spain and portugal, both suffering from pirates, tried to save themselves through armed means. in particular, king manuel usually maintained three patrol fleets in spring and summer. one of them sailed along the portuguese coast, defending against the moors or european counterparts from the bay of biscay. the second operated near the strait of gibraltar, mainly to prevent pirates from algeria and tunisia. the third fleet sailed around the azores, specifically protecting large sea ships returning from india to maintain the source of gold flow necessary for colonial undertakings. if necessary, the captains could also temporarily modify orders and attack port towns that provided shelter for pirates.

the pirates' financial clout gives them widespread local support in north africa.

it is worth mentioning that the population of europe in the early days of the age of exploration was relatively limited, especially in the mountainous iberian peninsula. therefore, spain and portugal often regarded north africa as a training ground and deployed new recruits. this would not dilute the strength structure of the high-sea fleet, but also quickly train reserve troops to replace them. in addition, the hostile ports in morocco were also limited in size, so most of the confrontations between the two sides were relatively limited in scale.

the portuguese fleet sailing to larache

in july of that year, three caravels belonging to the gibraltar strait fleet decided to take the initiative to attack the city of larache, which provided shelter for pirates. there were four sailing ships that had just been captured by the moroccans, and an unknown number of looting ships were anchored. although the city itself is small in size, it is an ancient port with a history of at least 1,200 years and has considerable defense experience. the city walls and fortresses are equipped with defensive artillery, which can effectively cover the entire narrow waterway leading into the inner bay. with the blessing of mobile warships, it is enough to deal with the attack of enemies that are several times the number of defenders. for this reason, commander garcia also borrowed a fourth ship and partially strengthened and modified it.

the location of larache city is more favorable to the defenders.

at dawn on july 24, the small portuguese fleet arrived at larache and was almost immediately discovered by the alert guards. immediately, the entire entrance to the channel was shielded by artillery fire, which was powerful enough to destroy any small ship that dared to break through. however, the attackers were well prepared for this and sent the modified caravel to contain the fortress fire. both sides of the ship were tied with a large amount of wool fabric tied with ropes, which could withstand the penetration of ammunition from ordinary firearms. coincidentally, the enemy army, which was madly attacking, did not have large-caliber weapons that could destroy the hull in one shot. this was mainly because the space limitations of traditional city walls could not bear the recoil of medium and long-range artillery. it was okay to deal with small and medium-sized ships on weekdays, but it would be difficult to continue when encountering large warships or targets with special upgrades. in this way, the indiscriminate shooting of the larache defenders completely lost its effect. the portuguese took advantage of this window period and drove the remaining three sailboats quickly into the inner harbor.

traditional city walls cannot bear the weight and recoil of large artillery

in fact, even if there were artillery to block the waterway, the pirate ships should have lined up to intercept at the narrowest point. however, the battle broke out in the early morning, and most of the crew members were snoring on the shore, and they did not expect that the entrance would be breached so easily. as a result, 6 medium-sized paddle boats and 2 small sailing boats were towed ashore and docked in advance, without any movement or combat capabilities. garcia led his men to land quickly and immediately transformed the expected naval battle into a land raid. although most of the members were inexperienced, the iberian society in the early modern period advocated fighting, and every male learned to use weapons from an early age. this made them quite brave in the short melee, and they controlled the entire anchorage with almost no effort.

barbary pirates fighting portuguese soldiers

after that, the real challenge was how to get out quickly. the portuguese managed to drag a captured sailing ship into the water, followed by the seven pirate warships they had captured. due to time constraints, there was no time to float the remaining ships, so they had to reluctantly burn all three captured sailing ships and one warship. then they returned to the open sea along the original route and headed towards the strait of gibraltar without looking back. considering that each ordinary caravel had only 20-60 members, the value of this operation was undoubtedly extremely high.

the spanish fleet approaching larache in 1610

however, destroying a port does not mean conquering the entire city. larash may not look big, but behind it are many tribes lurking in the desert. therefore, any occupier will face years of blockade and attacks, and will not be able to obtain huge profits in the eastern world.

the portuguese in the 16th century could not do it, the spanish in the 17th century also failed, and even the french in the 18th century could not bring this place under their rule safely...