Rebirth of the Spanish Empire.

Chapter 4 Seeking development
  December 1875, 2

It had been half a month since the end of the war, and there was no hustle and bustle during the war in various regions of Spain.

The damage caused by the war in the northern region is now being rapidly recovered with the efforts of the government and local people.

And other regions in Spain are slowly showing a prosperous and developing look!

"Inform the three generals Arsenio, Giorgos, and Castro to come to the palace. I have something to discuss with them."

Alfonso ordered his servant to inform the three of them, and turned to the world map hanging on the wall in the hall.

At this time, the world was in a period of great power struggle for hegemony. The British Empire, with its vast colonies, the accumulation of the development of the first industrial revolution, and the world's largest navy, was in an unprecedented golden age.

The British Royal Navy was invincible. The British gunboat diplomacy has also made most countries in the world feel frightened.

Although Spain's neighbor France was caught off guard during the Franco-Prussian War in the past few years.

But it quickly recovered within a few years. France's powerful army and the world's second-largest navy are still strong competitors for Britain's world hegemony.

Italy, Spain's Mediterranean neighbor, is also one of the European powers, although Italy's record in later generations was not very good.

But in terms of strength on paper, Italy still surpasses Spain by a large margin.

In the ranking of navies of various countries in 1875, Spain's navy ranked 10th in the world, with a total tonnage of 5.35 tons, and the Italian Navy ranked 6th in the world, with a total tonnage of 8 tons.

The tonnage of the British Royal Navy has reached an astonishing 46.77 tons, exceeding the combined naval tonnage of France and the United States, ranking first in the world.

Although Alfonso was anxious about Spain's naval power. But in a short period of time, Spain will be unable to catch up with the above-mentioned powers.

The first and most important point is that the current Spanish Royal Government does not have the money to vigorously develop the navy.

Because the current Kingdom of Spain is no longer the prestigious empire on which the sun never sets in the 16th century.

"Boom, boom."

There was a knock at the door, and Alfonso came to his senses.

"Please come in!"

The door to the palace conference room was pushed open, and the three generals walked in one after another.

"Your Majesty," the three of them greeted with a military salute. They did not know for what purpose the king had sent them.

"Generals, after several previous counter-insurgency wars, I believe you have realized the shortcomings of the Spanish army.

The purpose of inviting you here this time is to solve these problems. If these problems are not solved, Spain's national security cannot be guaranteed. "

Alfonso paused and looked at the three generals who were looking at each other with embarrassment and shame on their faces, but they didn't know how to refute.

"How to quickly solve these problems is an urgent matter, so I think we should reform the military system, improve the quality of soldiers, and strengthen military equipment."

"I wonder what the three generals think?"

After Alfonso finished speaking, he looked at the three of them.

At this time, Castro was the first to stand up. As a staunch statist general, Castro negotiated with the Bourbon family in 1874, and was able to successfully restore Alfonso.

"Your Majesty, first of all, the number of the army is too bloated. During the Carlos rebellion, the number of the army once exceeded 30, and the number of surrendered soldiers from the Carlos faction was 6.

The total number of the army has reached an astonishing 36 people, and less than one-third of them have actually received military training, so I think the army should be slimmed down first. "

After Castro finished speaking, he looked at Arsenio and Giorgos. Corruption in the military is now very serious. It is not uncommon for people to eat empty pay, embezzle military expenditures, and deduct soldiers' military pay.

And if the army is really downsized, it will definitely touch the cake of many people, and this requires the support of these two powerful figures in the army.

"Your Majesty, the corruption situation in the Spanish army is very serious now, and the impact is very bad. Therefore, corruption in the army must be strictly controlled. This is a dereliction of duty by my subordinates."

Arsenio surprisingly bluntly stated the current problems in the army.

Alfonso shook his head and said: "It was because of the bad domestic situation before. In this case, we have done a good job. You cannot be blamed. But the top priority is how to solve this problem quickly."

After finishing speaking, Alfonso pondered for a moment, tapped his fingers on the table, and suddenly his eyes lit up and he said:
  "Starting tomorrow, the military will begin to select supervisors. The biggest role of supervisors is to protect the rights and interests of grassroots soldiers.

If there is anyone in the military who is corrupt or violates the interests of the military or military personnel, they can file a complaint with the Ministry of Supervision. "

After the three people heard this, they didn't have much reaction.

Alfonso continued: "Another role of the supervisors is to supervise military discipline, recruit supervisors and send them to the grassroots of the army to maintain military discipline and combat effectiveness at all times.

The supervisors also need to recruit a group of grassroots officers who can read and teach the soldiers how to read every week and popularize the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. ”     Alfonso combined the picket system and the political commissar system of a large Eastern country in later generations.

The concept of the supervisory soldier system was introduced, retaining many of the functions that were acceptable in the era, but removing traffic management in the military. After all, there are no cars in the military now, so how can we manage traffic.

"Leave this matter to you, Arsenio." Alfonso assigned Arsenio to do this. Now only Arsenio has the ability to withstand the different voices in the army.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will personally supervise the completion of this matter. Please rest assured, I will not let Your Majesty down."

Arsenio gave Alfonso a military salute and replied.

"General Castro, you are responsible for the layoff of the army.

As for the new organization of the army, I studied Germany’s current military organization when I was living in exile in the UK.

We cannot copy the German army system, although they are the best army in the world.

But their basic national conditions are different from ours in Spain, so we need to work out a development direction suitable for our own army. "

Castro responded and then asked: "Your Majesty, how do you think we should reform the organization of the army?"

"First of all, our country's standing army should be maintained at between 15 and 20 people. The army should have 8 infantry divisions and 2 cavalry divisions, with a total strength of 10 divisions."

"An infantry division has three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment. One regiment is divided into three battalions, one battalion is three companies, one company is three platoons, and one platoon is three squads."

Alfonso paused, then continued:
  “1个步兵连人数在245人左右，1个步兵营人数在1000人左右，1个步兵团3287人左右？
  Including support personnel and officers, a full division should have 16000 men.

1个骑兵师由4-6个骑兵团、1个骑炮营、1个机枪连组成。

A cavalry regiment consists of 1-4 cavalry companies.

A cavalry company has about 1 men, and a cavalry division has about 150 men.

This military reform requires reducing the 36-strong army at the end of the war to 14. The remaining soldiers must be strong and elite. "

Alfonso finished planning his army and turned to look at Georgos.

Giorgos was born in the navy and was once a top student at the British Naval Academy. After graduation, he served in the Spanish Navy for 11 years.

Later, due to the local Carlist rebellion, he was transferred to the army to fight as a centralist.

"General Georgos, you need to control the navy. Currently, the kingdom only has warships of less than 6 tons, large and small."

Although Giorgos also knows the current difficulties of the navy, as a Spaniard who loves the ocean, making the Kingdom of Spain's navy stronger has always been his ideal and goal.

"I need you to step up the navy's training. After our country's economy initially recovers, the navy will plan to add several more advanced warships.

And now you have to ensure that naval soldiers and officers are of high competency. "

Alfonso stared at Georgos and said in a deep voice.

The training of the navy and the army is different. As the saying goes, it takes ten years for the army and one hundred years for the navy. The navy is a gold-eating beast.

Without access to foreign loans and economic recovery, the current Spanish government simply cannot afford to cultivate.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Georgos' face was firm. Making the Spanish Navy strong now was his only belief.

"The above is the content of this meeting. Please make a specific implementation plan immediately after you go back and implement it as soon as possible. I need to see the results as soon as possible."

The three of them exited the conference room neatly with solemn faces.

After the three people left, Alfonso held his forehead and couldn't help but fall into deep thought while looking at the various data presented on the table.

Now Spain's internal social problems are still very serious, even after the rebellion started by the Carlos rebels was quelled. However, the opposition between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie and the contradiction between workers and capitalists are becoming increasingly acute.

Land annexation caused by nobles in rural areas is now becoming more and more serious. Many farmers have lost their land as a result. Now no matter who is moved, it will trigger a series of serious social unrest.

These problems can only be solved quickly through strong and iron-blooded means. Only in this way can we buy more time for the development of the Kingdom of Spain! The only way to use strong and iron-blooded methods is to use the army!
  Alfonso firmly believes that only by having a strong army on hand can Spain's domestic problems, large and small, be quickly solved.

The numerous powerful countries surrounding Spain and the dangerous and complex international situation made Alfonso pay more attention to the institutional reform of the Spanish army.

Because this is related to the national defense and security of the Kingdom of Spain!

…………

(End of this chapter)