The king left for Coimbra, as we have said, extremely angry at the sortie made by the Castilians and the arduous marches that he and his men had made at the time in order to come upon them inside the kingdom. While the king was in that city, he received a message that João Fernandes Pacheco and his brothers had gone over to Castile, as had Gil Vasques da Cunha and João Afonso Pimentel. Owing to their departure, his adversary had taken the towns and castles which had pledged him their fealty, such as Bragança, Vinhais, Mogadouro and Vila Maior. If anyone should criticise us for not giving the reason at this point why these and other noblemen left the kingdom, this would be a topic for much speculation, and one on which these same critics could usefully inform us further. It was common gossip, however, that they were saying they departed from the king's lands on account of offences received at his hands. Those who have said that it is pleasant to relate and easy to describe how a prince should act in relation to his noblemen and subjects have spoken truly. But to reconcile high hearts with different wills is a very great duty and almost impossible, because while pleasing some, one cannot help but upset others.

Despite the fact that the king received such unwelcome news, he did not, however, alter the plan he had in mind, which was to make a sortie into Galicia to wage war on his enemies. He immediately left for Oporto and, from there, sent out a call to his men, who assembled at Ponte de Lima. There, he mustered his forces and found 4,000 lances and many foot soldiers, plus crossbowmen. He set out towards Monção, 7 leagues away; from where they were [Ponte de Lima] they went to Choças, which was 3 leagues from the River Minho, where he intended to cross.

With everyone gathered together there, on 4 May 1398 the news arose – and it was indeed true – that on the opposite side of the Minho, near Salvatierra, many companies were assembled to obstruct his crossing and then to retire hastily into Tuy, knowing that the king was going to besiege it.