The Way of the Arquebus - the natural modernisation of the Navarrese military through the wider adoption of guns. It was a single step in a military philosophy based on the practical constraints of the Navarrese state. With the minority of Navarre independent, especially if Périgord is included, Navarre was a realm distinguished by the fact that it owed loyalty to two other kingdoms.

This demanded careful diplomacy. Ideally, Castile and France would never be enemies. If that happened, it would be a serious test to Navarrese independence. A web of alliances between France, Castile, Navarre and the Foix Kingdom of Naples was a political safety net that should keep Navarre safe. But what if diplomacy failed? What army would stand against the invader? Not a victorious one - that illusion was dismissed immediately. Whether it was France or Castile or an outsider bet, the political reality was that Navarre would not be able to stand against them on its own. This means that Navarre would have to rely on the support of either Castile or France against the other.

Within this assumption, the future of Navarre was prepared. The adoption of the arquebus was good because they could be made in Navarre, but arquebusiers stood poorly by themselves. On the other hand, arquebusiers made for a good addition to any army, so they could support whomever sided with Navarre. Similarly, recent years had seen Navarre fighting in the Alpujarras for Castile and in Italy for France. Sure, bonding with necessary allies was a benefit, but the most important thing was that the Navarrese soldier had battles to fight to gain valuable experience and bring it back home with them. Whoever it was fighting with, the Navarrese contingent had to be impressive.

To that end, the Navarrese acquired the services of Pedro Navarro, a Navarrese military man, back from the service of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba with the permission of Queen Isabella. El Gran Capitán had not been sent to war and it seemed as if Castile's ambitions were across the sea. Meanwhile, Pedro's countrymen were actively fighting in Italy, so where better to go for such a talented man than Navarre?

Confusingly, the Marshall of Navarre was a man called Pedro de Navarre. de Navarre and Navarro would together preside over the development of the Navarrese soldier as a regiment to support other armies - as potential mercenaries, perhaps to even imitate the Swiss.

The rugged Basques from the mines, the hills and the whaling ships would become gunmen and sappers, the masters of smoke and earth. At least, so Navarre intended. The Kingdom is spending 50,000 fl. to provide these two men with better salaries and a staff to develop their ideas and give them toys to play with such as accurate maps.

EDIT OOC: I don't think this needs to be modded. It's just to justify/back up some otherwise historical war order innovations.