Battle Of Nájera, April 3rd, 1367

By André Geraque Kiffer

Also known as the Battle of Navarrete, it was fought on April 3, 1367, near Nájera, in the province of La Rioja, in Castile. It was an episode of the First Castilian Civil War in which King Pedro I of Castile faced his half brother Count Enrique de Trastámara, who aspired to the throne. At the Battle of Nájera a good covering force was lacking to keep the Enrique’s army informed of enemy movements as it unfolded waiting for the Pedro’s army to approach its position along the main road between Navarrete and Nájera. But it instead marched behind some hills and emerged directly over the opponent s left flank. In the simulation of the battle of Nájera the center of gravity of both maneuvers (defensive and offensive) will be the Nájera Bridge over the Najerilla River. The French and Castilians will have the opportunity to force the English into a disadvantageous attack, as the Scots succeeded and won at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 1, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

Battle  of  Nájera, April  3rd,  1367. A  Castilian  French

Historical  Simulation

Author’s  Edition

Resende

2019

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Battle  of  Nájera,  April  3rd,  1367.  A  Castilian  French Historical  Simulation.  André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Resende,  2019.

Bibliography:  118  p.  55  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  War  Science.  4.  Wargames.  I. Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-85-65853-39-2

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3

My  story  will  be  less  certain  than  history;  but  whoever  wants to  relive  the  past  to  study  the  similarities  and  analogies between  human  conflicts  in  the  present  is  enough  for  me  to find  it  useful.  This  War  History  of  mine  is  a  definite achievement  and  not  an  ostentatious  work  for  a  current audience.

(André  Geraque  Kiffer)

4 PROLOGUE

I  was  inspired  to  build  this  work  by  reading  Arnold Toynbee's  book,  A  Study  of  History,  and  Trevor  N. Dupuy's  Future  Wars.  Between  2005  and  2007  I acquired  a  collection  of  board  wargames  in  New York,  and  reading  the  book  Wargame  Design published  by  Strategy  &  Tactics  Magazine consolidated  a  Matrix  for  A  Study  of  Military History.  Thus,  from  2008,  I  was  able  to  begin  an analysis  of  the  wars,  campaigns,  and  battles  of history  of  a  particular  time  and  /  or  civilization described  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute's  Atlas  of Military  History.  So  far  I  have  published  the  following series:  I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  First  Empire Wars  in  2010;  VIII.  World  War  I  Historical Simulation  in  2011;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the Wars  in  Classical  Greece  in  2012;  III.  Historical Simulation  of  the  Roman  Wars  in  2016;  and  IV. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era  in 2018.  In  2014,  to  continue  my  work  "A  Study  of

Military  History,  I  read  the  book  Japanese  and

5 Chinese  Chess  -  The  Science  and  Art  of  War  and added  a  new  book  The  Study  of  Wars  and  Chess Games  to  my  planned  study,  associating  the foundations  of  chess  games  with  the  principles  of Art  and  Science  of  War.  In  each  book  of  the  work  a selected  war,  campaign,  or  battle  is  studied  at  any of  the  applicable  decision  levels,  namely  the Political,  Strategic,  Operational,  Tactical,  and Technical.  Based  on  a  summary  of  the  historical  fact I  seek  to  highlight  the  decisive  fact  (s)  causing  the negative  result  (s)  before  playing  the  simulation through  a  board  wargame  -  the  actions  on  the  other side  of  the  hill  (from  the  enemy)  are  studied through  a  parallel  electronic  wargame.  In  the simulation  all  the  possibilities  of  the  purpose  of  the study  are  completed  when  the  past  of  history  is analyzed  on  the  basis  of  present  theory  and projected  into  the  future  or  revived  as  a  what  if schematic  case.  When  we  play  we  will  follow  the maxim  WIN  ALWAYS  BUT  WITH  THE  LOWEST

POSSIBLE  COST".

6 Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  War  science.

Wargames.

7 SUMMARY

CHAPTER  1  –  THE  HISTORICAL  BATTLE….….....8 CHAPTER  2  –  TACTICALANALYSIS...….............61 CHAPTER  3  –  TACTICAL  SIMULATION.…….......82

REFERENCES….................................................112

8 CHAPTER  1

THE  HISTORICAL  BATTLE

For  the  reader  who  wants  an  introduction  to  the history  of  the  Wargames  and  the  historical  period  of the  Art  and  Science  of  Wars  in  the  Medieval  Age, we  recommend  purchasing  the  first  book  in  this Series.

The  battle  we  will  analyze  and  simulate  in  this book  is  part  of  the  historical  epoch  of  the  so-called Hundred  Years  War  -  baptism  that  occurred  only  in the  mid-nineteenth  century  -  between  the  Kingdoms of  France  and  England  (1337-1453).

ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS  WAR

Although  the  war  lasted  116  years,  the  time  was

rounded  to  100  in  its  name.  The  long  duration  of  this

9 conflict  is  explained  by  the  great  ambition  of  the English  on  the  one  hand  and  the  stubborn  French resilience  on  the  other.  It  was  the  first  great European  war  -  territories  of  France,  Scotland,  the Netherlands  and  Spain  -  and  brought  about profound  changes  in  economic,  social  and  political life.

Im  1:  14th  century  Europe.

France  was  supported  by  Scotland,  Bohemia and  the  Avignon  Papacy  (in  Provence).  England was  supported  by  Flanders,  Portugal  and  German nations.

The  dynastic  issue  that  triggered  this  war  has

surpassed  the  feudal  character  of  medieval-era

10 political-military  rivalries  and  marked  a  national  start in  future  clashes  between  the  great  European monarchies.

Im  2:  The  Kingdom  of  France.

The  Kingdom  of  France

By  the  early  fourteenth  century  the  Kingdom  of France,  drained  by  large  river  basins  and  enjoying  a favorable  climate  for  agriculture,  was  flourishing with  its  17  million  inhabitants  -  the  first  European power  in  demographic  terms.

The  agricultural  society  was  based  on  a  very hierarchical  feudal  and  ecclesiastical  system.

Agricultural  production  was