Daming Crazy Emperor

Philip IV originally wanted to gather the European army to recover the colonies in South America, but he never thought about the issue of the Ming Empire turning its face.

What would happen if the Ming Empire turned its back on it?
The consequences are simply unimaginable!

At this moment, they can actually mobilize a total of 200 million troops. If they are all wiped out by the Ming Empire and the Portuguese and Indians, they will be left to die.

There are only a hundred thousand people left in each country, can they withstand the attack of the Ming Empire?
The Netherlands is a clear example. At the beginning, the Netherlands was about a hundred thousand people. As a result, the Ming Empire occupied most of its territory within ten days.

What's more, the Ming Empire captured all the civilians, if they didn't surrender, they would destroy the country!

Therefore, more than a hundred thousand horses are nothing in front of the Ming Empire, and it should not be too easy for them to clean up.

Such reckless things obviously cannot be done.

So, what to do?

Now that his sister, Queen Anna, was away, he could only ask the Duke of Richelieu.

This old fox might have a way.

Duke Richelieu frowned and pondered for a while, then sighed helplessly: "Your Majesty, it seems that we will not be able to take back the South American colonies for the time being."

I asked you what to do, why are you talking nonsense?
Felipe IV couldn't help but disappointed: "Is there nothing you can do?"

Who said I can't do anything, I just tell you, don't think about regaining the colonies in South America.

Duke Richelieu introduced calmly: "Actually, there are copper mines and iron mines in Africa, and there are many Berber countries in North Africa.

It's just that the terrain over there is not very good, and there are too many deserts. If you want to mine there, you need to invest a lot of manpower. "

The Berber countries are actually places such as Algeria and Morocco in later generations, because they are all territories of the major Berber tribal alliances.

Spain's previous colonial focus was in the Americas, so they don't know much about Africa. Even if Africa is close at hand, they occupied Ceuta and its surrounding areas to ensure the safety of the Strait of Gibraltar.

In other places, they rarely set foot in it.

France is different.

Because the colonies in central and southern America were almost occupied by Spain, North America was also taken back by the Indians supported by the Ming Empire, and Asia was too far away, so their colonization focus was on Africa.

The nearest Berber countries were their goal. They got to know the Berber countries in the name of helping the Berber countries resist the Spanish invasion, and then they began to establish colonial strongholds slowly. Slow invaded.

If it weren't for the loss of this European war, the Berber countries would become their colonies sooner or later.

What is the purpose of their robbing the colony, that is to rob money, rob people, and rob resources.

Among them, resources are the most important thing. After all, as long as gold, silver and copper are mined, they are money.

Therefore, they have a good understanding of the mineral resources over there.

Hearing this, King Felipe IV couldn't help being surprised and said, "Oh, is there really a lot of copper and iron over there? How is it compared to South America?"

The Duke of Richelieu introduced in detail: "The copper mines over there may not be as many as in South America, but if we can fully exploit them, it will be enough for us.

There are more iron mines over there. It is estimated that there are not as many iron mines in South America as in the Berber countries. "

Actually, this is a misunderstanding.

The iron ore reserves of the Berber countries are not as large as those in South America.

According to the statistics of later generations, the iron ore reserves of Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania add up to more than 100 billion tons, and the iron ore reserves of Brazil alone in South America reach more than 200 billion tons.

It's just that there are not many open-pit iron mines in Brazil, but there are several large open-pit iron mines in the Berber countries.

So it looks as though the Berber countries have more iron ore reserves than South America.

In fact, the iron ore reserves of the Berber countries are just over half of Brazil's.

Of course, whether it is more than 200 billion tons or more than 100 billion tons, it is enough. They can use tens of millions of tons to build ironclad warships.

Now it's all right, iron ore and copper ore don't have to worry about it.

Oh, and rubber.

Felipe IV was excited for a moment and suddenly seemed to choke.

He was stunned for a while, then sighed slightly: "Copper ore and iron ore are not enough, we can't build a steam engine without rubber.

Rubber seems to be only available in the Americas, not in Africa. "

Can I not think of this?

The Duke of Richelieu said calmly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, Prince Condé has almost occupied the Portuguese West African colony, and he has planted a lot of rubber trees there, and there will be a harvest almost next year.

It shouldn't be a problem for our rubber to last until next year, right? "

Prince Condé even went to attack Portugal's West African colonies!

OK, you guys.

The reason why he did not receive the news is probably because the anti-Habsburg coalition intercepted along the way.

After all, pretty much the entire west coast of Africa used to be the territory of the anti-Habsburg coalition.

The Duke of Richelieu would have forgotten about Portugal's colonies in West Africa!

Felipe IV was rather displeased and said: "You actually sent Prince Condé to secretly attack Portugal's West African colonies!"

How do you say that?

The Duke of Richelieu said awkwardly: "Prince Condé has passed away for several years. After all, we used to be hostile. It is normal for him to lead an army to attack Portugal's West African colonies, right?

We will not talk about this for now.

After all, it's a bonus for us that he planted rubber trees over there, isn't it? "

Okay, it really doesn't make sense to say this now, they are not hostile now, at least not on the surface.

The rubber is the most important thing, and everything else can be left alone.

Felipe IV snorted secretly and stopped entangled in this issue.

He thought about it carefully, and then asked again: "What do you mean, we will do our best to colonize Africa, plunder the resources there, and use them to build ironclad battleships and manufacture weapons and equipment?"

You finally figured it out.

The Duke of Richelieu nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, the American side has already been targeted by the Ming Empire, and it is considered good if we can keep the Spanish Viceroyalty.

Moreover, the Americas are too far away from our European continent. If we start a war there, it will be extremely detrimental to us.

We might as well colonize Africa with all our strength to get enough resources.

In this way, we are close, and the Ming Empire is far away.

If they dare to come over and rob us, they will have the same reason as us to gather an army to go to the Americas to fight them, and they will definitely suffer a big loss. "

After hearing the words, King Felipe IV pondered for a while, then nodded slowly and said: "That's all right, we will do our best to colonize Africa."

Hey, you've finally been fooled!

The Duke of Richelieu gave a sinister smile, and then made another serious analysis: "Your Majesty, it seems that the Ming Empire is deliberately blocking our resources and preventing us from building weapons and equipment.

Therefore, the speed of our colonization of Africa must be fast.

Otherwise, if the Ming Empire finds out, they will definitely make trouble again.

At that time, if they bring over the mercenaries composed of black slaves, they will cause me a lot of trouble.

Therefore, I suggest that we send out all our troops and try to win the whole of Africa within one year. "

Well, that makes sense.

The Ming Empire just wanted to block their resources so that they could not develop, so that they could not compete with others.

There are hundreds of thousands of mercenaries composed of black slaves. If the Ming Empire is dragged to Africa to make trouble, it will be really troublesome.

Thinking of this, Felipe IV nodded slightly and said: "We should indeed send troops with all our strength to occupy the whole of Africa as soon as possible."

Hey, it looks like you haven't become smarter.

If we send all our troops to the African colonies, you, Spain, cannot monopolize them. Go and grab the Ming Empire!

The Duke of Richelieu pretended to be serious and asked again: "Your Majesty, how many troops can you send?"

Uh, this.

Felipe IV was stunned when he heard this.

He sent 40 reinforcements to the Americas, and the reinforcements there could not come back. Once they came back, the Governorate of New Spain would not be able to keep it.

In other words, at this moment their Habsburg dynasty has a total of 60 troops.

The problem is that he cannot send all of the 60 troops to Africa to develop colonies.

Because all countries in the Habsburg Alliance have reservations, if he sends all the army to Africa, Spain and even the Holy Roman Empire will be in danger.

It seems that the army needs to be expanded.

Thinking of this, he solemnly said: "We are starting to expand our army now, and it is estimated that we will be able to dispatch 60 troops in a month or two.

You must send over 320 million pounds of silver next month, otherwise, not only will we not be able to expand our army, but we will also be unable to continue building ironclad warships. "

Hey, only 60 troops.

Duke Richelieu pretended to think for a while, and then slowly said: "The 60 army seems a bit small, and it can only be used as a road.

Otherwise, as a road, you first take all the land in the Berber countries.

The Berber countries are closest to you, just across the Strait of Gibraltar, and you already have a stronghold there, so you can gain a firm foothold in the past and even launch an attack.

In this way, you can quickly take down the Berber countries and ensure our supply of copper and iron ore.

After taking over the Berber countries, you can go south and take the whole of West Africa.

We France, the Ottoman Empire, and Tsarist Russia worked together to capture Egypt first, and then went down the Nile River to capture the entire East Africa.

The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark joined the Netherlands to take over South Africa from the Cape Colony.

In this way, it is possible for us to take over the entire African continent within a year. "

You old fox!
When everyone heard this, their faces were not very good-looking.

Except, of course, representatives of the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia.

They hitch a free ride and follow France to eat hot food and drink spicy food.

Spain or the Habsburg dynasty was more uncomfortable, because a little bit south of the Berber countries was the territory of the Ming Empire.

If they don't want to go to war with the Ming Empire, they have to bypass the coastline and attack from the inland to the south.

The interior of West Africa is basically a desert, and the difficulty of their attack can be imagined.

It was even more difficult for Britain, Sweden, and Denmark. They had to go to the Cape Town colony [-] to [-] miles away to join the Dutch before they could launch an attack.

The journey is too far, and it will take nearly two months to make a round trip.

It may take half a year for them to pull the 60 troops over.

Hearing this, Felipe IV couldn't help but snorted coldly.

No way, the Berber countries are indeed the closest to them. If they go to attack other places, the transfer of personnel, food, grass and luggage will be too troublesome.

After thinking about it, he still nodded reluctantly and said, "That's okay, we are responsible for occupying West Africa."

The Duke of Weimar was rather displeased when he heard the words: "It will take nearly half a year for us to transfer 60 troops. How many colonies can we win by then?"

Unexpectedly, Prince Hendrick shook his head slightly and said: "It doesn't take so long, we can mobilize [-] merchant ships to pull you all over.

As long as we follow the monsoon and ocean currents, we can reach Cape Town in less than three months. "

Well, the Dutch still have a lot of sailing ships, and they can indeed produce three thousand merchant ships.

Alas, no way, this is indeed the fastest.

The Duke of Weimar looked at the representatives of Britain and Denmark, then nodded slightly and said, "That's all right, we'll go there on your boat."