The king immediately set about building the breastplate at Alcácer, the lack of which prevented him from succoring or provisioning it as he wished when he returned from Ceuta. This was because it was too far from the sea for ships to approach without hindrance or opposition from enemy vessels. So much order and diligence were applied to the stonecutting, lime, timber, craftsmen, and other necessary materials, as well as the garrison to defend it all, that with everything ready and sent to Alcácer, the breastplate began to be built on the second Monday of April, the twenty-second day of March in the year one thousand four hundred and fifty-nine. D. Duarte worked on this obra day and night, setting a good example for all, serving better than any common laborer there.

Finally, due to a shortage of lime, as the obra was founded to be larger and stronger than first anticipated, the breastplate was not completed until after St. John's Day of that year. It was at this time that D. Duarte was well aware of the mustering, preparations, and convocations that the King of Fez was making in his own lands and those of others to attack him again as previously planned.

And since the breastplate being built was a great impediment to the Moors' plan, of which they were well aware, and as they sought to hinder the obra with damage and deaths of the craftsmen working on it, they decided to secretly send certain alcaides with fifteen hundred horsemen and many foot soldiers to attack them and work to destroy the obra.

In addition, D. Duarte, with his men, did not cease to enter and make great raids and devastations in the lands of the Moors. One day, unaware of the alcaides' stratagem, he decided to enter with more men than he ever had before. While two sentinels were talking on the wall at night, it happened that through their poor vigilance and lack of caution, one revealed D. Duarte's entry to the other in loud voices, immediately declaring where he would enter and where he would go, all precisely as if they had determined the plan themselves. It so happened that a Moorish scout, who had a good understanding of the Christian language and was very bold, came down at night to listen at the foot of the rampart. He heard all of their conversation, and immediately set off at full speed to warn some villages. From there, a swift Moor was dispatched. He went with great haste to warn Tangier and unexpectedly encountered the very alcaides who were coming against the breastplate. The messenger recounted the situation to them, saying it was a remedy that God had sent them at such a time. They were very pleased with this news and promised him great honors and advancements, for it seemed to them that they could let D. Duarte enter and, without any effort, intercept and capture him as they wished. Thus, without the hardships, deaths, and expenses that were being prepared for them, they would not only prevent the breastplate from being built but also capture the town, which could not withstand a defense.

The alcaides came to the place called Anexanuz, where a Christian captive resided, a native of the town of Lagos, known as o Talheiro. He was very friendly with a Moor named Azmede, who had previously been captured in Tavila. O Talheiro, knowing the alcaides' plan and determination, by which the ruin of D. Duarte and the town of Alcácer with all its people could not be avoided, and feeling pity for them as a good Christian and loyal Portuguese, persuaded Azmede so much, and gave him so many hopes in the goodness and truth of Christians for his honor and benefit, that he moved him to inform D. Duarte of everything that had been agreed upon that very night. D. Duarte, who was about to depart, upon receiving this warning and being assured by Antão Vaz, the alcaque, that the Moor was a man of credit and a friend of Christians, knelt down, raised his hands to heaven, and gave many thanks to God. He immediately rewarded the Moor and promised him much more in the future.

The next day, he ordered the nobles and all the men who were ready for the entry to be alerted, which made them sad and even more displeased with D. Duarte. They also showed their anger towards the Moor, accusing him of being moved by the warning more to avoid harm to his relatives than to do good to D. Duarte. Some threatened him with the gallows, others with fire to burn him, but the Moor, confident in what he knew for certain, endured it all with a laugh, saying that they would soon see the contrary.

The captain, having been warned by him of the places where the ambushes were to lie, ordered the first one to be discovered in the morning, while all the other men remained in a safe and prepared position. When the Moors saw the scouts, they understood the truth, and that such a discovery must have come from some warning the Christians had received. Because of this, they did not leave the town, nor did they dare to enter its lands as they had planned. Immediately, four hundred horsemen, with armored horses and trappings, a special and well-trained force, rode out. D. Duarte rode out with up to one hundred and twenty horsemen to resist them, especially to rescue the scouts he had sent, who were being hotly pursued. A fierce battle ensued between both sides, in which D. Duarte pressed the Moors so hard that they fled, with some of them killed, all of them men of good standing. Following them, another larger ambush emerged to support the first, maliciously feigning flight to draw the Christians out. They all turned upon the Christians, who, unable to resist such a great force, turned their backs. In the short pursuit, they killed some of them.

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