What if in 1810 Napoleon returns to Spain to finish the job now that he has cowed Austria? Can he finish the job in anyway?
Being able to neutralize the Spanish by perhaps going after Cadiz and Gibraltar would do quite a bit. Despite the modern myths about the infallibility of the guerilla, any opposition would be quickly torn up by the Grande Armee in all of its strength. Torres Vedras would be too much for even Napoleon, but if he commits to it, he could certainly get the rest of the Peninsula under control and create a situation where Wellington would eventually face political pressure to actually go out and attack, in which case he would be defeated and badly.
Being able to neutralize the Spanish by perhaps going after Cadiz and Gibraltar would do quite a bit. Despite the modern myths about the infallibility of the guerilla, any opposition would be quickly torn up by the Grande Armee in all of its strength. Torres Vedras would be too much for even Napoleon, but if he commits to it, he could certainly get the rest of the Peninsula under control and create a situation where Wellington would eventually face political pressure to actually go out and attack, in which case he would be defeated and badly.
Well, taking Cadiz wouldn't be easy, with or without Napoleon, it's a matter of geography. For all practical effects, Cadiz was at the time an island city.
And regarding the guerrilla, of course they were not infalible nor invincible. Rather the opposite, they were an improvised answer to a totally unexpected situation. But their force didn't rely in their military might, but in the underlying political and sociological causes that made it possible. And those are a harder nut to crash, though not totally impossible. An armed victory over the guerrillas will only be a temporary respite unless the napoleonic regime tries to understand and deal in political terms with the feelings and aspirations of the spaniards and portuguese.
Umm... Logistics?Being able to neutralize the Spanish by perhaps going after Cadiz and Gibraltar would do quite a bit. Despite the modern myths about the infallibility of the guerilla, any opposition would be quickly torn up by the Grande Armee in all of its strength. Torres Vedras would be too much for even Napoleon, but if he commits to it, he could certainly get the rest of the Peninsula under control and create a situation where Wellington would eventually face political pressure to actually go out and attack, in which case he would be defeated and badly.