Chapter 1022 Hard-Pressed Spain
In Madrid, Antonio, who had just ascended the throne of prime minister, was looking at the report in his hand with a solemn expression.
In recent years, life in Spain has been like "Wang Xiaoer's new year", which is not as good as every year.
Even if it won the anti-French war that just ended and recovered the Roussillon area, it failed to reverse Spain's downward decline.
There is no way, a Philippine war has exposed their weak nature. Even a backward indigenous country can't do it, how dare you call yourself a great power?
I'm sorry, the three countries of Britain, Russia and Austria said that they are called "great powers" together with such a weak chicken, and everyone can't afford to lose this person.
Even if the Philippine Islands were taken back by diplomatic means, it was based on a series of compromises, which had nothing to do with "victory".
Just take it out and fool ordinary people. The navy drew a tie, the army suffered a crushing defeat, and finally relied on mercenaries to save the field. If this is not a failure, what is it?
Failure is failure, and Prime Minister Antonio dared to admit it behind closed doors.
As a loser, it is natural to bear the sequelae of failure. After the war, Spain gained the title of "Shame of the Great Powers".
In order not to be ashamed, the media of Britain, Russia and Austria have already kicked Spain out of the ranks of the great powers.
If it's just to lose face, it's not unbearable. Anyway, in recent years, Spain has been going downhill, and there are a lot of embarrassing places, and everyone's psychological endurance has been greatly improved.
The trouble is that the Japanese are not reconciled to failure. Even if they evacuated by themselves, they did not forget to plant a nail for them.
According to the intelligence sent by the expeditionary force, the indigenous rebels currently active in the Philippine Islands have more than 200,000 people.
From the perspective of military strength alone, the number of rebels exceeds that of the expeditionary army. Obviously, the chaos in the Philippines will not end for a while.
"The leak in the house happened to rain overnight." The chaos in the Philippines has not yet been cleared up, and the Cuban rebellion followed one after another, and it was still a premeditated rebellion supported by international forces.
The main force was trapped in the Philippine Islands and could not get out, and the Spanish government was very powerless in the face of the Cuban rebellion.
Fortunately, the Governor of Cuba has very rich experience in suppressing the rebellion. As soon as the rebellion broke out, he took decisive action to recruit the Hispanics on the island into the army.
Together with the original colonial army, Spain's total force in Cuba has reached an astonishing 200,000.
The number seems quite large, but this "200,000" is obviously mostly old and weak, and there will be no more than one division with real combat effectiveness.
For specific results, please refer to the Spanish-American War in the original time and space. An expeditionary force improvised by the Americans, coupled with the cooperation of the Cuban rebels, won the victory after paying the price of three-digit soldier deaths.
Although the American Expeditionary Force is gone now, the Cuban rebels have appeared.
Then, the Spanish government forces and the rebels staged a "rookie pecking each other" in Cuba, and the scene was extremely touching.
It's all tears.
In short, in the face of a group of mobs gathered temporarily, the Spanish government army just didn't take advantage of it. Instead, he was beaten and retreated steadily, and he needed to ask for help from home.
If the timing is wrong, Antonio will actually go to the front line to see what kind of goods this "200,000" counter-insurgency army is, and how much "empty noise" there is.
In any case, if the performance of the colonial government failed, the Spanish government would have to take it up on its own. Anyway, Cuba cannot be allowed to become independent.
Prime Minister Antonio: "Count Junior, where is the progress of our diplomatic actions?"
The performance of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not outstanding, it can only be regarded as quite satisfactory, but everything depends on comparison.
Against the background of bureaucrats in other government departments, the well-behaved Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a clear stream in the officialdom.
The previous Philippine War is proof. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hadn't responded quickly enough to take timely actions to win the support of European countries, it would not have been able to take back the Philippine Islands so smoothly.
It is a pity that diplomacy is not a panacea. No matter how hard the diplomats try, they cannot withstand the aftereffects of the decline of national strength.
Foreign Minister Junior: "Except for the Vienna government who said it would help contain the British, only the Russians are willing to support us diplomatically.
Other countries refused to make a clear statement because they did not want to offend the British. We only won the support of public opinion.
Because there are too few European countries willing to support us, and the Vienna government is unwilling to go all out, the chance of us being able to obtain direct support from the alliance is infinitely close to zero. "
It is human nature to bully the soft and fear the strong.
If it wasn't for their own bad luck, they just happened to meet and couldn't avoid it; if other countries in the alliance faced the British, they would also not easily express their opinions.
Being able to get countries to provide support in public opinion is enough to prove the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It's a pity that European public opinion has limited influence on the British. If someone scolds, it's not John Bull.
As for Russia's support, that's all. At best, the tsarist government could help out by shouting twice, but it could not provide any substantive support.
Although the Vienna government promised to contain the British, this "containment" is also full of artistry, and it is still unknown how far it can go.
The biggest possibility is: as long as the British don't go off in person and leave no obvious clues, the Vienna government will pretend that they didn't see anything.
arms aid,
That's what arms dealers do. Who doesn't have a few crazy arms dealers, and this bit of sewage has no effect in the world.
Prime Minister Antonio nodded, and said with deep emotion: "Sure enough, no one can be relied on, and we still have to be ourselves in the end!"
"The backing will fall, and everyone will run. Only yourself is the most reliable."
Such a simple truth, the Spaniards naturally know. It's just that people always have a fluke mentality.
The previous Philippine war was won only with the support of its allies. Now that there is a problem in Cuba, the Spanish government naturally wants to replicate it all over again.
After all, this is the easiest, easiest, least costly, and 100% winning way.
It's a pity that this world is cruel, and European countries are not doing charity. The Spanish government has not yet repaid the favors owed earlier, and it is no longer possible to come back now.
Prime Minister Antonio asked: "How far has the situation on the front line developed? Is the plan to suppress the rebellion ready?"
Since the allies are unreliable, you can only do it yourself. As long as the British don't end and just deal with the rebels, the Spanish government is still somewhat sure.
Army Secretary Nicole: "The situation on the front line is mixed. The situation in the Philippines has improved, the expeditionary force has controlled all the cities, and the rebels can only huddle in the jungle.
We have formulated a complete blockade plan, and without the influx of supplies, the rebels will not last long.
The situation in Cuba is very bad. The development momentum of the rebels is faster than we expected. Governor Valeriano has sent five telegrams for help.
Although the Ministry of the Army has already prepared a comprehensive reinforcement plan, the main force of our army is still suppressing the rebellion in the Philippine Islands, and we cannot mobilize enough troops in a short period of time.
In order to suppress the Cuban rebellion as soon as possible and not leave an opportunity for the British to take advantage of it, the Ministry of War suggested recruiting 50,000 mercenaries for use in the Cuban battlefield. "
There is no doubt that "insufficient troops" is obviously just an excuse. The troops that Spain invested in the Philippine Islands were also mainly mercenaries. The number of troops invested by Spain was only more than 80,000, and there were still more than 100,000 troops in the country.
Now that France is in decline again, the Spaniards have no enemies at all on the European continent, and it is the time when the pressure on national defense is the least.
Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any problems in mobilizing 50,000 troops from the country to suppress the rebellion.
It's a pity that reality is not a "theory", and my family knows their own affairs. Nominally, Spain does have more than 200,000 standing troops, but this is only "in name".
Like most of the decaying empires, it is also a chronic disease of the Spanish army to eat nothing and make up for it.
The only troops with combat effectiveness were all sent to the Philippine battlefield, and Nicole naturally did not dare to send the remaining veteran soldiers to the front line.
It just so happens that I have used mercenaries once before, and it feels better than my own army, so Nicole naturally doesn't mind doing it again.
Anyway, continental Europe also had a tradition of using mercenaries, but it was only when the scale of modern wars expanded and the population of the mercenary kingdom in Switzerland was insufficient to participate in the European war that mercenaries gradually faded out of people's sight.
These are all small problems, there are no Swiss mercenaries, and there are French mercenaries.
Although the young and strong population of France decreased greatly after the war, its poor economy still forced French youth to come out as mercenaries to make a living.
According to incomplete statistics, the Allied forces stationed in France in the past year have successively helped the Paris government suppress 87 worker riots and 14 armed uprisings.
It can be said that the current France is an extra-large powder keg, and it will explode if there is only a spark. If the Allies had not put out the fire in time, the explosion would have occurred long ago.
It can be said that as long as you have money, you can have as many mercenaries as you want now. The French government is eager to send these unstable factors away so that they can sleep peacefully.
Prime Minister Antonio nodded, he is not a perfectionist. In his opinion, as long as the problem can be solved, whether it is sending out its own regular army or recruiting mercenaries, it makes no difference.
"Then act as soon as possible, and suppress the rebellion earlier, so that we can concentrate on the system... developing the economy."
Before the word "reform" came out, Antonio swallowed it back. Although Spain desperately needs institutional reform, now is clearly not the time to talk about it.
The most urgent task is to suppress the colonial rebellion as soon as possible and dispel the enemy's peeping heart. At this time, it is obviously inappropriate to talk about such a sensitive topic as reform.
The most important thing is that the Spanish monarch was young, and the regent queen mother "neither opposed nor supported" the reform.
Lacking the support of the royal family, the pressure is still too great to rely on the power of the government to promote top-down reforms.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Siegfried said solemnly: "Your Excellency, the government has run out of money. We have been at war since 1891, and Spain is exhausted."
For the Spanish kingdom, which is declining like an old man, three consecutive years of war have exhausted the heritage of this old-fashioned empire.
Fortunately, the war did not happen on the mainland, and there were allies to help, otherwise the "old" Kingdom of Spain would have collapsed long ago.
The country has not collapsed, but the government finances have. Without the blood transfusion from the colonies, this old empire, which is heavily indebted, can't sustain it now.
Antonio was taken aback for a moment, and then his face became ugly. Money is not everything, but money is absolutely impossible.
After a little thought, Antonio said slowly: "Continue to borrow foreign debts! Presumably the Austrians are ready and waiting for us to come."
International loans these days are usually accompanied by a series of political strings attached. In many cases, the additional price that needs to be paid far exceeds the interest on the funds on the surface.
From this point of view, borrowing foreign debt is obviously not a good choice, but it is the only feasible choice for the Spanish government at the moment.
Antonio is a smart man, and he is very aware of how fragile the Spanish economy is now, and any tax increase may push the country into the abyss.
In contrast, the sequelae of borrowing foreign debt are much smaller. As the overlord of the European continent, the Shenluo Empire has already washed its hands and went ashore.
Even if it wants to take advantage of the fire, the Vienna government will pay attention to eating, and it is impossible to do too much, at least it will not push Spain to a dead end.
Colonial Secretary Taboyada added: "The problems we are facing now are not limited to financial and military issues.
According to the information collected by the Colonial Department, besides the British, there are other international forces involved in the Cuban rebellion.
There are a total of four international forces that have the strength to provide support to the rebels. In addition to the British who have already shown their cards, there are the United States of America, the Confederate States, and the Holy Roman Empire.
Whether one of the three is supporting the rebels, two are supporting, or all three are secretly supporting, we still don't know.
Of course, it is also possible that the British are suspicious and want to divert our attention and find someone to take the blame for them. It's just that now that they've been exposed, it doesn't seem necessary to do so.
The Colonial Department has already sent people to investigate, but the person we bought is not high enough in the rebel army, so I'm afraid we won't be able to find out who else is behind the scenes in a short time.
Not only Cuba, but even the Morocco region has not been very stable recently. I fear that the enemy will turn to the Moroccans if they fail to achieve results in Cuba. "
Where there is strength, there is suspicion. There are a lot of things that stab each other in international politics. Even if they are allies, digging holes in each other is nothing new.
The most important thing is: whether it is the United States of America, the Confederate States, or the Holy Roman Empire, they all have motives to attack Spain.
The declining Kingdom of Spain, still holding a few rich colonies, is now "children and men holding gold bricks", and it is difficult not to attract prying eyes.
Foreign Minister Junior seriously warned: "Marquis, please stop your meaningless pursuit. Now it is the British who are planning the Cuban rebellion, and it can only be the British!"
There is no way, Spain is now incapable of adding another enemy to itself.
Even if they find out who is behind the scenes, they can only pretend to be deaf and dumb, and even help the enemy cover it up in order not to cause trouble.