Chapter 232: Troop Deployment and Colonial Expansion

When Carlo received Manuel's action report, two days had passed since Manuel's action.

Although the speed of receiving the news was indeed a little late, fortunately Carlo was happy to hear the news.

With the cooperation of the tribal leaders, Manuel quickly controlled the entire Bangui tribe and divided the population of the Bangui tribe and several nearby indigenous villages.

More than 200,000 indigenous people eventually contributed more than 70,000 adult male laborers to the Congo territory, which also made the labor force in the Congo territory suddenly abundant.

In addition to these 70,000 adult male laborers, Manuel also had nearly 100,000 elderly, weak, women, children and female indigenous people in his hands, who were the bargaining chips to control those male laborers.

If they wanted their families and relatives to be safe, adult male indigenous people had to go to the designated workplace in Spain to work for a year.

Fortunately, Manuel also promised in person that their work would bring them and their families food and other supplies, which also made these indigenous people have no intention of resisting.

Although he held the families of these natives in his hands, for the safety of the Congo Territory, Manuel immediately requested assistance from the nearby Guinea colony and sent a telegram to Spain, asking Carlo to send two colonial garrison regiments to help him maintain order.

Although Carlo gave him the power to form a larger army in the Congo Territory, it is definitely too late to form an army now.

At present, he can only rely on the garrison regiments of other colonies to temporarily maintain order. It will take at least half a year for the Congo Territory's own army to be trained to form combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the loyalty of the soldiers selected from the natives of the Congo Territory cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, Manuel also asked Carlo to transport some natives from colonies with more natives such as South Morocco and the Philippines to serve as the new army of the Congo Territory.

The number of these foreign natives does not need to be too large. As long as they can be controlled at half of the number of troops in the Congo Territory, the entire army can be controlled.

After all, in order to consider the combat effectiveness of the army, Manuel will retain at least 2 to 3 colonial garrison regiments as the main force in the colonial division that he is about to form.

These two or three colonial garrison regiments also have 5,000 to 7,000 troops, plus nearly 10,000 troops transported from other colonies, which already account for more than half of the 20,000 troops of the entire division.

Even if the loyalty of these soldiers selected from the Congo territory is insufficient, they cannot have an impact on the entire division.

When Manuel was promoted to major general, Carlo had already issued an order to transfer a colonial garrison regiment from Guinea and South Morocco to the Congo territory.

Unexpectedly, only a few days later, Manuel gave Carlo a big surprise. Carlo originally thought that Manuel's action would not be carried out until the arrival of these two colonial garrison regiments. Unexpectedly, he relied on his own 2,300 troops to conquer a large indigenous tribe with a population of more than 100,000.

Of course, this is definitely a good thing for Spain. With these tens of thousands of indigenous laborers, Spain's construction of the Congo territory will certainly be faster.

As for the casualties caused by the attack on the indigenous tribes to the indigenous population, no one in the whole of Spain would care.

Not only did Carlo not criticize Manuel's unauthorized actions, but he also praised his achievements.

In the content of the telegram in reply to Manuel, Carlo said that the two supporting colonial garrison regiments were on the way. The troops drawn from the Guinea colony closest to the Congo territory may arrive in the Congo territory before Manuel receives Carlo's report, and the troops drawn from the farther South Morocco colony can also arrive in the Congo territory within a week.

In addition to verbal rewards to Manuel, Carlo also decided to increase his support for Manuel.

It is necessary to form a colonial division in the Congo territory, and the local indigenous people lack credibility. At least they are unlikely to work for the Spaniards.

It is precisely because of this that Spain needs to transport a large number of troops to the Congo territory to help Manuel complete the formation of the colonial division as soon as possible.

Carlo had already made plans for the withdrawal of troops.

Although the population of the South Morocco colony is not the largest among the Spanish colonies, these Moroccans are the most credible among all the colonial populations.

Of course, this is excluding the European population in the colonies. The most likely natives to be assimilated in the colonies are the Moroccans.

At least they are very similar to the Spaniards in terms of skin color and appearance. They only need to learn Spanish and convert to Catholicism, and they can't be seen at all that they are of Moroccan descent.

After all, to put it bluntly, there used to be a large number of Muslims in Spain. Spain is very experienced in converting Muslims to Catholics.

If a gentle conversion method is not feasible, then a forced conversion can also be adopted. The Inquisition played a huge role in Spain's conversion from Islam to Catholicism.

If these Moroccans in the South Morocco colony were not obedient, Carlo would have planned to establish an Inquisition in South Morocco to help Catholicism expand on the territory of Morocco.

That is, Moroccans are white, otherwise Carlo would not have tried so hard to assimilate them. If they were black, Carlo would not have any intention of assimilating them, but would only squeeze out all their value and then dismiss or eliminate them.

Including the two colonial garrison regiments that are about to arrive in the Congo Territory, the Congo Territory currently has less than 7,000 troops.

The fully staffed colonial division planned by Carlo will have nearly 20,000 troops, which also means that the army of the Congo Territory still has at least 13,000 vacancies.

Because it is a colonial matter, Carlo has a great say. After communicating with Grand Duke Serrano, Carlo also issued his orders without hesitation.

Most of the 13,000 vacancies are in the charge of the South Morocco Colony and the Philippine Colony.

The South Morocco Colony provides 5,000 troops, and these 5,000 people will be screened layer by layer to ensure their loyalty to Spain.

These 5,000 soldiers and their families will go to the Congo Territory together. They will be officially recognized as residents of the Congo Territory as permanent residents of the Congo Territory.

In this way, they can get rid of their colonial native status, and it will be easier to apply for Spanish nationality.

Of course, it is also possible to become a resident of the Congo Territory completely. The Congo Territory has a large area of ​​undeveloped land. If they are willing to live in the Congo Territory for a long time, they can also cultivate the land by themselves.

Anyway, Spain has obtained a large number of laborers from the Bangui tribe, and these laborers can be hired by them to cultivate land for them.

In short, these Moroccans selected as soldiers have completely gotten rid of their indigenous status. Their status in the Congo Territory will become superior, and they will in turn enslave the local indigenous people.

There are still 8,000 vacancies in the army. The Philippines will provide 5,000 people, and the remaining 3,000 people will be recruited from Congo.

The conditions for the Filipino natives will be worse. After all, they are not white people, and it will be more difficult to assimilate.

But as long as they are loyal enough to Spain, they also have the opportunity to apply for Spanish citizenship. Even if they cannot join the Spanish nationality, they are definitely not the lowest class in the Congo Territory, and there will be black slaves who can be easily enslaved.

Similarly, these 5,000 Filipino soldiers can also bring their families to the Congo Territory. In addition to promoting the population development of the Congo Territory, this also uses the families of these soldiers to ensure their loyalty.

Without any accidents, their families will live very happily in the Congo Territory. But if there is any problem with the army, the families of these soldiers will become a means of threatening these indigenous soldiers, forcing them to obey the rule of Spain.

Although this seems a bit cruel, no one will sympathize with the indigenous people. And compared to the indigenous people who continue to stay in the colonies and suffer slavery and oppression, these indigenous people who are fortunate enough to be selected as soldiers are already much luckier.

As long as they are obedient, it will not be difficult to obtain Spanish nationality in the future. They can also get rid of their indigenous identity and become the superior people in the colony.

In fact, Carlo could draw enough troops from the colonies of South Morocco and the Philippines to the Congo Territory, and there was no need to recruit troops from the Congo Territory.

However, considering that it would take a long time to transport troops from South Morocco and the Philippines, which was not only too costly but also quite troublesome, Carlo finally decided to form a regiment-sized local indigenous army.

The loyalty of these local indigenous troops in the Congo Territory is certainly unreliable, but under the premise of having a supervisory team, it is still okay to use them as cannon fodder.

These local indigenous troops have an advantage that they can be replenished at any time when soldiers die. The entire Congo Territory has at least millions or even millions of indigenous people. Even if tens of thousands of people die, Spain will never feel bad.

This is only the current scope of the Congo Territory. If we continue to go deep into the lower reaches of the Congo River and occupy the Kingdom of Congo, the number of local indigenous people will even reach tens of millions.

If these indigenous people are used well, they can also become millions of laborers and cannon fodder. With these laborers to build the Congo Territory, the development of the Congo Territory can also change with each passing day, and quickly become one of the colonies where Spain can achieve positive returns.

Although this did solve the problem of the Congo territory's military strength, a new problem was placed before Carlo, that is, the South Morocco colony and the Guinea colony from which the troops were withdrawn were also currently short of troops.

Before Manuel's colonial division was formed, Spain had a total of 20 colonial garrison regiments with a total of 46,000 troops.

These 20 colonial garrison regiments were distributed in Spain's Cuba, South Morocco, Congo, Guinea and Philippine colonies, and the original military strength was barely enough.

However, as Carlo repeatedly mobilized the troops of the South Morocco colony, the current military strength of the South Morocco colony was somewhat vacant.

The current distribution of Spain's 20 colonial garrison regiments is as follows:

The Cuban colony with the highest income has a total of 6 colonial garrison regiments with 14,000 troops, and the Philippine colony, which has just experienced a large-scale development, has a total of 6 colonial garrison regiments with 11,500 troops.

The South Morocco colony closest to the mainland has a total of three colonial garrison regiments with a strength of approximately 7,000 troops, and the Congo territory has a total of three colonial garrison regiments with a strength of approximately 7,000 troops.

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The colony of Guinea has two colonial garrison regiments with a total of 4,600 troops.

Even if we count the colonial division that Manuel is about to form, only the colony of Guinea has enough troops among all the Spanish colonies.

The stability of the Cuban colony has always been a problem. The six colonial garrison regiments have only 14,000 troops, which makes it difficult to ensure the stability of Cuba.

There is no need to say more about South Morocco. The hatred of the Kingdom of Morocco in the north towards Spain has been deepening. In addition, Spain has implemented an assimilation policy in South Morocco. It is still necessary to send more people to garrison Morocco.

The Philippines currently has two expansion directions, one is to continue to expand on the island of Kalimantan, and the other is to reach out to the island of New Guinea and compete with the great powers for colonies.

No matter which expansion direction, Morocco needs more colonial troops to protect the security of the colony.

There is no need to say more about the territory of Congo. This is a piece of land with an area of ​​nearly one million square kilometers. Even if the colonial division is formed, it may not be able to keep an eye on such a large number of indigenous populations within the colonial scope.

If Spain only intends to use a part of the indigenous manpower and slowly develop the Congo territory, 20,000 people are enough to ensure the safety of the Congo territory.

But Spain's goal is not just a part of the indigenous people, but to use hundreds of thousands of indigenous people to quickly reclaim the Congo territory.

Therefore, the garrison of the Congo territory also needs to be strengthened to ensure that these indigenous people will not unite to resist Spanish rule.

The only one who is not worried about insufficient troops is perhaps the Guinea colony that does not plan to expand.

In fact, there are still many directions for the expansion of the Guinea colony. The area of ​​Spain's Guinea colony is still quite large. Although it is only in the coastal area, it still involves many African countries in later generations including Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

Whether expanding to the north or the east, the Guinea colony can obtain hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land. And these lands are suitable for agricultural development, and they are also located on the coast, which is convenient for sea transportation.

However, due to the lack of manpower and financial resources in Spain, it can only focus on developing one colony, so it can only temporarily give up the development of the Guinea colony.

Since Carlo ascended the throne, he has indeed temporarily given up the development of the Guinea colony, and the expansion of the Guinea colony has also been temporarily slowed down.

However, with the development of the Congo territory, the Guinea colony will sooner or later expand. Carlo's plan for the scope of the Congo territory is to form a triangle with the Guinea colony along the Congo River, and Spain will fully occupy this triangle.

According to the area, this will be a land of nearly 3 million square kilometers, including two Congos, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria and Central Africa and other later countries.

As for the Kingdom of Congo south of the lower reaches of the Congo River, that is, Angola and other areas in the future, it has now fallen under the control of Portugal, and Carlo does not intend to have a conflict with Portugal for the time being.

After all, there are still large tracts of unoccupied land in Africa for Spain to develop, and there is no need to focus on Portugal for the time being.

Doing so will only intensify the conflict between Spain and Portugal and will also undermine Carlo's layout in Portugal.

If the Portuguese are allowed to hate the Spaniards too much, it will be impossible to annex Portugal in the future. Although the difference between the Portuguese and the Spaniards is not great, it will take decades or even hundreds of years for the Portuguese to integrate into the large Spanish group.

This will have to wait for problems to break out in Portugal, so that the Portuguese lose confidence in their government and royal family.

If Spain forcibly invades and annexes, the result will be no different from the historical annexation of Portugal by Spain. Forced annexation will only make the Portuguese hate the Spaniards more, and the final outcome will still be the separation of the two nations.

According to the deployment of the troops in each colony, the colony of South Morocco and the colony of the Philippines need to further expand the number of troops.

After discussing with Archduke Serrano, Carlo also decided to expand the number of Spanish colonial garrisons to 30.

This number is 10 more than the original, that is, 23,000 troops. Manuel's colony has 8 colonial garrison regiments with more than 20,000 troops, which is why Carlo directly expanded 10 colonial guard regiments.

Because the Congo territory will add 3 more garrison regiments on top of the existing 3 colonial garrison regiments, which means that other colonies can only get the remaining 7 garrison regiments.

After consideration, Carlo decided to send 2 colonial garrison regiments to the Cuban colony, the Philippine colony and the South Morocco colony respectively, and 1 colonial garrison regiment to the Guinea colony.

Doing so can ensure the continued stability of Cuba, the Philippines and South Morocco. Especially Cuba, before Spain truly reaches a colonial exchange agreement with foreign countries, it is still necessary to maintain the stability of Cuba.

Continuing to send troops to the Guinea colony is also considered that if there is a demand for troops in the Congo territory in the future, it can be dispatched from the closer Guinea colony.

In this way, the Guinea colony will have 3 colonial garrison regiments. If in an emergency, at least 2 colonial garrison regiments can be mobilized to quickly go to the Congo territory.

1 colonial division plus 2 additional colonial garrison regiments, this is already close to 25,000 troops.

To be honest, Carlo does not think that the local natives in the Congo territory can threaten this 25,000-man army.

Although the colonial garrison regiments do not have any decent heavy firepower weapons, 10 colonial garrison regiments also have 30 artillery pieces, which is not something that those colonial natives without hot weapons can touch.

After the Belgian King Leopold II in history acquired Congo, he only formed an army of more than 10,000 people to ensure the stability of Congo, and carried out a very cruel rule in Congo.

Carlo's rule in Congo is not as cruel as Leopold II. After all, this king is a person who cuts off hands at any time. Although Leopold II has never arrived in Congo in person, under his rule, at least millions of Congo natives have had their hands and feet cut off, which is a number that Carlo can't reach.

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