Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 322 Revenge
When news of what happened in the West African colonies spread back to Spain, other European people also learned about the French fleet's arrogance in the Spanish colonies.

Of course, it wasn't that someone in the West African colonies leaked the information.

The main reason is that the West African colonies are composed of former British and Portuguese colonies, where a large number of people from Europe live. It is impossible for Spain to block the news unless it forcibly controls the spread of news within the colonies.

The good news is that other European countries and people learned the news later than Spain. Carlo had enough time to deal with this emergency, or at least to prepare for it.

Carlo had no intention of tolerating the French's blatant provocation.

This does not mean that Carlo is irrational at this critical moment. On the contrary, Spain needs some tough attitude to express its opinions.

This is an era where the strong prey on the weak. The party that chooses to give in will only be met with further intimidation and blackmail from the other side.

The best way to make the French stop such intimidation is to make them understand that Spain is not a country they can bully at will.

On the day he received the news, Carlo issued orders to the many newspapers and media under his control, requiring them to publicize the French fleet's humiliation of the Spanish colonies, but not to allow any exaggeration.

Although he decided to fight back with tough measures, it did not mean that Carlo wanted to start a war with France at this time. Since he wanted to limit the conflict and competition to a local area, he had to control the public opinion in Spain.

We must make the Spanish agree to fight back against the French, but we must not let them hate the French too much.

If the Spanish people's strong indignation towards the French is accidentally provoked, the Spanish government will have no choice but to swallow its anger and be forced to follow public opinion, leading to a larger-scale conflict or even war between the Spanish and French.

Carlo's purpose in doing this is very simple, which is to shape Spain into an image similar to that of the Flathead Brother.

The honeypot is known as the most fearless animal in the world. Although this title sometimes represents recklessness, on the other hand, sometimes recklessness has its benefits.

As mentioned before, the only two countries that will stand against Spain are Britain and France.

Other countries are either too far away or have no conflicts of interest with Spain, so naturally they cannot offend Spain.

It would be easy if there were only Britain and France.

Although the comprehensive strength of these two countries is among the strongest in Europe, it does not mean that they are something that Spain cannot provoke.

Britain is still the same, because of its colonies all over the world, it has conflicts of interest with many countries. The main conflicts are between Britain and France and Britain and Russia, and there are also conflicts between Britain, the world hegemon, and Germany, the new hegemon on the European continent. This is why Carlo is not worried about Britain at all.

Unless Spain forcibly annexed key countries and regions such as Portugal and Morocco, the British would not declare war on Spain.

These two regions are more like the bottom line drawn by the British, and are also the principles that Spain and the United Kingdom currently tacitly abide by.

Like the British, the French also have other enemies on the European continent. The most prominent one is the conflict between Germany and France, which makes it difficult for France to concentrate on dealing with Spain.

The French's overall strength is indeed stronger than that of Spain, and Carlo does not deny this.

But the problem is that the French are far from being able to conquer Spain in a short period of time, which is also where Carlo's confidence comes from.

Once France and Spain go to war and the French army is stuck in the quagmire of the Iberian Peninsula, Germany, which has huge conflicts with France, will definitely take advantage of the situation and stir up trouble in France's rear.

In addition to Germany, the biggest threat, Spain has alliances with Austria-Hungary and Italy. If France dares to invade Spain, these two countries will most likely choose to help Spain.

The combined navies of Spain and Italy are enough to shake the French navy, and the combined armies of Spain and Austria-Hungary are enough to shake the French army.

In fact, from this point of view, Spain is more like a weakened version of France. France is a country with a relatively balanced army and navy on the European continent, and both its army and navy rank among the top three in the world.

Although Spain cannot reach such an exaggerated level, its army and navy are relatively balanced and both rank among the best in the world.

Compared with Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy are not so balanced. Because of the short coastline, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army is much stronger than its navy.

Italy is somewhat the opposite. Because of its long coastline, the Italian navy is still at a pretty good level.

As for the Italian army, although it is not bad in terms of numbers, its combat effectiveness can be said to be the weakest among the great powers except the United States.

The Italian army is quite famous for its performance in colonial wars and World War I and World War II. If France had not surrendered too quickly in World War II, the combat effectiveness of the Italian army would probably be even more famous.

Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on the Italians. Garibaldi's Red Shirts were quite powerful, and they were one of the few Italian armies that had faith and combat effectiveness.

Unfortunately, with the unification of Italy, Garibaldi's Red Shirts were forced to disband or be taken over by the Italian government, and their fighting power naturally collapsed.

Since it was certain that the French would not tear their faces apart, Carlo naturally would not choose to retreat in such an unexpected event.

Carlo knew what kind of king the Spaniards needed. They needed not only a king who could lead Spain to rapid industrial and economic development and revival, but also a king who could make achievements in the military and make Spain a military power again.

As early as when Spain formulated its plan for developing its African colonies, Carlo was already aware that there would definitely be some conflicts between Spain and France, and there might even be a local war.

Although France's apparent strength is far greater than Spain's, Carlo has no worries about France at all.

To put it more concretely, Spain's current situation is like a barefoot country that is not afraid of wearing shoes. Even if Spain fails in the competition, it can still hold on to the Iberian Peninsula and be a last-place power.

But the French are different. Even if they fail, as long as the losses are heavy, it will seriously affect France's living environment in Europe.

It was impossible for the French government to come into violent conflict with the Spanish government until France had a powerful ally to deter Germany.

On June 1885, 6, the day after receiving the news from the colonies, the Spanish newspaper media reported extensively on the incident in which the French fleet forcibly broke into the Spanish colonial port and almost engaged in a firefight with the colonial coastal artillery.

Because so many newspapers reported similar news, this incident quickly attracted the attention of a large number of Spaniards.

Carlo was not disappointed. After hearing the news, the Spanish people were unusually unanimous in their attitude, that is, the government should retaliate in the same way. Spain is not a rotten fish or shrimp. As the people of a powerful country, the Spanish have extremely high national pride and patriotic enthusiasm.

The French provocation of Spain was seen by the Spanish as a slap in the face by the French. The Spanish were not a cowardly people, and the bravery and fearlessness that Carlo brought to the Spanish through bullfighting ignited the Spanish emotions.

Not to mention France, even if it was the British Empire, the Spaniards would support the government's fightback without hesitation.

Carlo naturally would not let the Spaniards down. At noon on June 6, Carlo ordered the diplomatic department to hold a press conference, protesting against France's provocative behavior and stating that the Spanish government would consider retaliating in the same way.

The Spanish government's tough statement immediately aroused enthusiastic cheers from the Spanish people and curiosity from foreign media.

The people strongly approve of Spain's tough attitude. They believe that only such a Spanish government can protect the interests of all Spanish people.

As for the attention of foreign media, what they are more curious about is whether what the Spanish government said about considering retaliating in the same way is true.

If this is true, it not only means that the diplomatic relations between Spain and France will plummet in a short period of time, but also means that the European situation will also undergo major changes.

France and Spain are both powerful countries, and it is inevitable that the diplomatic relations between the two countries will affect the situation in Europe. In addition, France itself is in an isolated state. What is the purpose of the French government's active provocation of the Spanish government?

If before only some news agencies were paying attention to the conflict between Spain and France, then after the Spanish diplomatic department expressed a tough attitude, governments of European countries all expressed their concern about this incident.

The Spanish government had no intention of keeping the matter in suspense and immediately began planning retaliation against France.

It is called an act of revenge, but in fact it is just repeating what the French did.

On the afternoon of June 6, a fleet set out from the West African colonies and headed for the French colony of Senegal.

After approaching the coast of French Senegal, the Spanish fleet headed towards Saint Louis, the capital and largest port of Senegal, without any hesitation.

After arriving at the vicinity of the port of St. Louis, the Spanish fleet sent out clear flag signals, requesting to dock at the port of St. Louis and replenish supplies.

At this time, more than a day had passed since the French fleet arrived at the Spanish port, and the French government had also considered possible retaliation from the Spanish government.

But what the French government did not expect was that the Spanish government's retaliation seemed to come a little too quickly.

It had only been a few hours since the Spanish government’s diplomatic department expressed its tough stance, so how come the Spanish fleet had already arrived at the doorstep of the French colony?

The main reason why the Spanish fleet arrived at the French colonies so quickly was that Spain did not use its main fleet stationed at home.

The straight-line distance between mainland Spain and the French colony of Senegal is more than 2,000 kilometers, and the distance a warship sails is much longer than this.

According to the current speed of Spain's main warships, if a fleet is dispatched from the mainland, it will take at least more than a week to reach the French colonies.

Apart from the mainland, the place where Spain stationed the most navy was the Guinea colony. Because the Guinea colony was located at the corner of the Gulf of Guinea, not far from the West African colonies and the Congo territory, it became the base of the Spanish African fleet.

But it has the same problem as mainland Spain, which is that it is nearly 3000 kilometers away from the French colony of Senegal.

From this perspective, the only French colonies that could send a fleet to reach them in a short period of time were Spain’s West African colonies.

Although the warships in the West African colonies were all small warships, this was the only naval base that could reach the French colonies in a short time.

After all, Spain's retaliation was only to deter France, not to provoke France and cause a war.

After seeing the presence of Spanish troops in the ports, the French colonial ports also experienced riots similar to those that occurred in the Spanish ports more than a day earlier.

The governments may have known that there would be no war between the two countries, but the people living in the colonies did not.

Besides, this kind of thing is not 100% guaranteed. If a small-scale war really breaks out between Spain and France, wouldn't they, who are closer to the port of St. Louis, be the first targets to be affected?

It is worth mentioning that because only more than a day had passed, the French fleet that threatened the Spanish port at that time still remained in the Senegalese colony.

When the French saw the Spanish fleet, their first reaction was to contact fleets stationed in other ports and seek shelter from their own fleet.

At the same time, the coastal defense guns in the French port turned their guns and aimed at the Spanish fleet, just as the Spanish had done yesterday.

The Spanish fleet did not have any large warships, which made it more difficult for the coastal defense artillery to aim.

In addition, the Spanish did not take any further action, and the French did not dare to be the first to open fire.

Although it is currently just a standoff between the French colonies and the Spanish fleet, if one of them rashly opens fire, the standoff is likely to turn into a small-scale war.

Spain does not want to see a war, and the French government shares the same attitude.

This also led to both sides being relatively restrained. The Spanish fleet only stayed in the French port for a few minutes and then chose to withdraw.

Watching the Spanish fleet gradually leave the port, the French finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least the war did not break out, which was also good news for the French.

Especially those French people who had completely moved to the colonies, they absolutely did not want to see the war happen.

The good news is that the Spanish fleet has retreated and the crisis is over. The bad news is that Spain's retaliatory actions are like a slap in the face of all the French present.

The French were as angry as the Spaniards a day ago.

The French governor of the Senegal colony immediately reported the Spanish fleet's actions to mainland France and asked for the French government's opinion.

(End of this chapter)