Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1019: Chapter 33, Hard Life in Spain
 

Madrid—Prime Minister Antonio had just ascended to his position and was now scrutinizing the report in his hand with a grave expression.

In recent years, Spain’s days had been like “Wang Xiaoer celebrating the New Year,” each year worse than the last.

Even though they had emerged victorious from the recently concluded Anti-French War and recovered the Ruseiyong region, it had not reversed Spain’s downhill slide.

There was no helping it—the Philippine War had laid bare their frail nature. How could they even presume to count themselves among the great powers when they couldn’t defeat a backward native country?

Sorry, but England, Russia, and Austria wouldn’t want to be lumped together with such a weakling as a “great power”; they couldn’t afford the loss of face.

Even if they had managed to retrieve the Philippine Islands through diplomatic means, it was based on a series of compromises, completely unrelated to “victory.”

Bluffing the ordinary folk was sufficient. The navy had fought to a draw, the army had been utterly routed, and in the end, they had to rely on mercenaries for rescue—what else could this be if not failure?

Failure was failure, and behind closed doors, Prime Minister Antonio still had the courage to admit it.

As losers, they naturally had to face the consequences of their defeat. Post-war Spain had received the moniker “the shame of the powers.”

In order not to be disgraced alongside them, the media of England, Russia, and Austria had already booted Spain from the ranks of the great powers.

If it were just a matter of losing face, that could be borne. Spain had been on a downhill trajectory for years; they’d lost face so many times that people had greatly increased their capacity to endure it.

The trouble was that the Japanese were not content with defeat; even though they had withdrawn, they had not forgotten to plant a thorn in Spain’s side.

According to intelligence from the expeditionary force, the number of native rebels active in the Philippine Islands had already surpassed two hundred thousand.

Just looking at the numbers, the rebel army had more soldiers than the expeditionary force. Clearly, the Philippine chaos wouldn’t be ending anytime soon.

“When it rains, it pours”—before they could even deal with the mess in the Philippines, the Cuban rebellion had followed hot on its heels, and it was a planned rebellion with international support.

With the main forces stuck in the Philippine Islands and unable to extract themselves, the Spanish Government appeared extremely powerless in the face of the Cuban rebellion.

Fortunately, the Governor of Cuba was very experienced in suppressing rebellions and had decisively taken action to recruit Spanish descendants on the island into the military as soon as the rebellion broke out.

Adding the existing colonial army, Spain now had an astounding total military force of 200,000 in Cuba.

The number seemed large, but this “200,000” was clearly padded out with mostly the old and weak; those truly capable of combat wouldn’t exceed a division.

The specifics can be referred to the original timeline’s US-West War. An expeditiously assembled American expeditionary force, in collaboration with the Cuban rebel army, secured victory after incurring casualties in the low hundreds.

Now, even though that American expeditionary force was absent, the Cuban rebel army had already made its appearance.

Then, the Spanish Government forces and the rebel army staged a “newbie fight” in Cuba that was exceedingly touching.

It was downright tear-jerking.

In conclusion, faced with a rabble hastily gathered together, the Spanish government forces managed not to gain any advantage. Instead, they were beaten back step by step and had to seek help from the homeland.

If not for the timing, Prime Minister Antonio would truly like to visit the frontlines to see what this “200,000” man Rebellion Suppression Army was really capable of, and how much of it was just “empty noise.”

No matter what, if the colonial government’s performance was unsatisfactory, the Spanish Government had to step in; they certainly couldn’t allow Cuba to achieve independence on its own.

Prime Minister Antonio said, “Count Ruenior, how far along are our diplomatic efforts?”

The performance of the Spanish Foreign Department was not outstanding but rather mediocre. However, everything is relative.

Compared to the bureaucracy of other government departments, the mediocre performance of the Foreign Department shined like a refreshing stream in the officialdom.

The Philippine War was proof of this. If not for the swift reaction and actions of the Foreign Department to gain support from the countries of Europe, the Philippines Islands could not have been so smoothly reacquired.

Unfortunately, diplomacy is not omnipotent. No matter how hard the diplomats worked, they couldn’t bear the sequela of a decline in national power.

Foreign Minister Ruenior said, “Apart from the Vienna Government indicating they would help us by restraining the British, only the Russians are willing to support us diplomatically.

Other nations, reluctant to offend the British, have refused to make clear statements. We have only managed to garner support in public opinion.

With so few European countries willing to back us, and the Vienna Government not willing to go all out, our chances of getting direct support from the alliance are virtually zero.”

It’s a natural human tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong.

Had it not been for Spain’s own bad luck of being caught in a situation they couldn’t avoid, other countries in the alliance would not have easily taken a stance against the British.@@novelbin@@

The fact that various countries have offered support in public opinion is enough to show that the Foreign Department has tried.

Alas, European public opinion has limited influence on the British. If they were concerned about getting scolded, they wouldn’t be John Bull.

As for the Russian-Austrian support, that’s all it was. The Tsarist Government at most could bark a few times but couldn’t provide any substantial aid.

Though the Vienna Government has promised to contain the British, the nature of this “restraint” is full of artifice. To what extent they could actually do this remained an unknown.

The most likely scenario is: as long as the British don’t get involved personally and don’t leave any clear evidence, the Vienna Government would pretend to see nothing.

Arms aid is something for arms dealers to deal with. Which country does not have its share of crazy arms merchants? This bit of dirty water has no effect internationally whatsoever.

Prime Minister Antonio nodded, with a profound sentiment, and said, “It seems we can’t rely on anyone; in the end, we have to depend on ourselves!”

“Relying on a mountain, the mountain will collapse; relying on people, they will flee; only self-reliance is the most dependable.”

Such a simple principle was well-known to the Spaniards. However, people always have a tendency to hope for a fluke.

The Philippine War had been won with the support of allies, so when problems arose in Cuba, the Spanish Government naturally wanted to replicate the victory.

After all, it was the simplest, most effortless method that required the least sacrifice and ensured a hundred percent chance of victory.

Unfortunately, the world is cruel, and the countries of Europe are not running charities. Spain still hadn’t repaid the debts from before, and it was not going to work this time around.

Prime Minister Antonio asked, “How is the situation on the frontlines progressing, and is the plan to suppress the rebellion ready?”

Since our allies cannot be relied upon, we had to take matters into our own hands. As long as the British stayed out of it, just dealing with the rebel army, the Spanish Government still had some confidence.

Army Minister Nicol said, “The situation on the front lines is a mixed bag. The situation in the Philippines has improved, and the expeditionary force has taken control of all the cities, with the rebel army only able to hunker down in the jungles and gasp for breath.

We have developed a comprehensive blockade plan, and without materials flowing in, the rebel army won’t hold out for long.

The situation in Cuba is very bad, though. The rebel army’s growth has been faster than we anticipated, and Governor Valeriano has already sent five requests for reinforcements.

Although the Army Department has a solid reinforcement plan in place, our main force is still quelling the rebellion in the Philippine Islands, so we can’t spare enough troops in the short term.

To suppress the Cuban rebellion as soon as possible and not give the British an opportunity, the Army Department suggests recruiting 50,000 mercenaries for the battlefield in Cuba.”

There was no doubt that “insufficient forces” was clearly just an excuse. The troops Spain committed to the Philippine Islands were mainly mercenaries too, and the actual number of their own troops was just over eighty thousand, with still over a hundred thousand troops at home.

Now that France has declined, the Spaniards have no enemies on the European Continent, and it is the time when the national defense pressure is at its lowest.

In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem to allocate 50,000 troops from home to quell the rebellion.

Unfortunately, reality is not “theoretical,” and those who are household know their own household issues. Spain indeed has over two hundred thousand standing troops in name only.

Like most decaying empires, ghost soldiers and filling the ranks with bodies are chronic problems in the Spanish Army too.

The only combat-effective troops were already committed to the battlefield in the Philippines, and Nicol naturally didn’t dare to send the remaining old soldiers to the front lines.

Having already used mercenaries before, and finding them more effective than their own troops, Nicol naturally did not mind employing them again.

After all, there was a tradition of using mercenaries on the European Continent, but with the expansion of modern warfare and Switzerland, the Kingdom of Mercenaries, lacking sufficient population to participate in the grand wars of Europe, mercenaries gradually faded from people’s attention.

But these were minor issues, with Swiss mercenaries gone, there were still French Mercenaries.

Despite the considerable decrease in France’s young and strong population after the war, the country’s poor economy still forced French youth to become mercenaries to make a living.

According to incomplete statistics, in the past year alone, the Allied Forces stationed in France have helped the Paris Government suppress 87 worker riots and 14 armed uprisings.

One could say that France is now a giant powder keg, missing just a spark to explode. Had the Allied Forces not extinguished the fires in time, an explosion would have occurred long ago.

In short, as long as there was money, one could have as many mercenaries as desired. The French government would be only too happy to send away these unstable factors and get a good night’s sleep.

Prime Minister Antonio nodded. He was not a perfectionist. In his view, as long as the problem could be solved, there was no difference between deploying regular troops and recruiting mercenaries.

“Let’s act quickly then, the sooner we suppress the rebellion, the sooner we can focus on systemic… economic development.”

He was about to say “reform” but swallowed the word back. Although Spain was in dire need of systemic reform, now was clearly not the time to discuss such changes.

The pressing matter was to suppress the colonial rebellion quickly and dissolve the enemies’ covetous gazes. Discussing sensitive topics like reform at this time was obviously ill-timed.

Most crucially, the monarch of Spain was young, and the regent queen mother was “neither against nor in support of” reform.

Without the support of the royal family, pushing for top-down reform with just the government’s power was still a bit too much pressure.

Finance Minister Siegfried spoke seriously, “Prime Minister, the government has run out of money. We have been at war since 1891, and Spain is exhausted.”

For the declining Kingdom of Spain, which was like an old man, three consecutive years of war had drained the old-fashioned Empire of its substance.

Fortunately, the war did not take place on the homeland, and with the support of allies, otherwise the “aged” Kingdom of Spain would have already collapsed.

The state had not collapsed, but the government’s finances had indeed crumbled. Without the transfusion of the colonies, this debt-ridden old Empire could not hold on any longer.

Antonio was taken aback, then his face turned unsightly. Money is not omnipotent, but without money, it is totally unacceptable.

After some thought, Antonio slowly said, “We will have to continue borrowing foreign debt! Presumably, the Austrians are already prepared and just waiting for us to come knocking.”

These days, international loans usually come with a series of political conditions attached. More often than not, the extra cost that needs to be paid is far higher than the face value of the financial interest.

From this perspective, taking on foreign debt is clearly not a good choice, but it is the only feasible option for the Spanish Government for now.

Antonio was a clever man who knew all too well how fragile Spain’s economy was at the moment; any taxation could potentially push the country over the edge.

In comparison, the side effects of borrowing foreign debt were much smaller. As the master of the European Continent, the Shinra Empire had already washed its hands of the situation.

Even if they wanted to take advantage of the fire, the Vienna Government would be mindful of their manners and not go too far, at least they wouldn’t push Spain down a dead end.

Colonial Minister Taboyada added, “The problems we now face are not just limited to finances and military matters.

According to intelligence collected by the Colonial Department, behind the Cuban rebellion, in addition to the British, there are other international powers involved.

There are four international powers that have the strength to provide support to the rebel army, besides the already clearly involved British, there are the United States of America, the Alliance, and the Holy Roman Empire.

Whether it’s one of the three supporting the rebels, or two, or even all three supporting them in secret, we do not yet know.

Of course, it is also possible that the British are deliberately creating a diversion, wanting to mislead our focus and find someone to take the fall for them. However, now that they have been exposed, there seems to be no need for them to do so.

The Colonial Department has already sent people to investigate, but our bought men do not have a high enough status within the rebel army, and it fears that we will not be able to clarify who else is behind the scenes in a short time.

It’s not just Cuba, even the Moroccan Area has recently been unstable. I worry that if the enemy doesn’t succeed in Cuba, they may turn to support the Moroccans.”

Being powerful means having suspicion; in international politics, backstabbing is all too common. Even allies digging pits for each other is nothing new.

The most crucial point is: Whether it’s the United States of America, the Alliance, or the Holy Roman Empire, they all have motives to harm Spain.

The declining Kingdom of Spain still holds a few rich colonies. Now, it’s like a “child holding a brick of gold.” It’s difficult not to attract covetous glances.

Foreign Minister Ruenior warned seriously, “Marquis, please stop your meaningless pursuit. Now the Cuban rebellion is plotted by the British, and it can only be the British!”

There’s no way around it; Spain no longer has the capacity to make another enemy.

Even if they find out who the instigator behind the scenes is, they can only turn a deaf ear; to avoid extra trouble, they even have to help the enemy cover up.