Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 368 Moroccan War

The British who launched the war were confident that it would only take a month to resolve the situation with Transvaal and Orange, two countries that kept causing trouble for them.

The idea was beautiful, but the reality was often cruel. The Boers soon dealt a heavy blow to the British, making them understand what it meant to have a strong fighting force.

The Boers, who had the bonus of defending their country, broke out with unimaginable tenacity. In the first month of the war, even though their weapons and equipment were obviously inferior to those of the British, they were able to gain a full advantage and even caused Britain to lose a lot of land.

If the British support had not arrived quickly, the northeastern part of the Cape Colony would probably have fallen, which would have been a truly heavy loss for Britain.

The more intense the war became, the greater Carlo's hope of annexing Morocco became.

A month after the outbreak of the war, Spain shipped a large number of weapons and equipment, as well as other strategic resources including food and medical supplies, to the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State.

The Boers enjoy greater support today than they did in history.

Historically, the Boers could only rely on gold mine taxes, donations from European countries and supplies paid to the British army to maintain the war. When recruiting troops from the public, the Boers even required the people joining the army to bring their own guns and horses.

But now, with material support from European countries, the Boers are not short of weapons and equipment, at least for the time being.

At present, the main forces of the Boers have been equipped with standard rifles from various European countries, and some of the more elite troops can even be seen with artillery and machine guns.

In order to cause some trouble for the British, Carlo generously donated 50 artillery pieces and 20 machine guns to the Boers, and these supplies have been safely delivered to the port of the Transvaal Republic.

It's not that Carlo was unwilling to give the Boers more weapons and equipment. He was mainly worried that the Boers didn't have many soldiers who could use artillery and machine guns. If they were seized by the British army, wouldn't it be a disguised aid to the enemy?
Anyway, Carlo didn't mind the investment. When this batch of artillery and machine guns were used up, new weapons and equipment could be provided to the Boers as aid.

As long as they can cause Britain to suffer greater casualties and spend more military expenditure, then the aid of these weapons and equipment will be worthwhile.

While the war was going on on the African continent, Spain was also contacting European countries, looking for countries willing to support its annexation of Morocco.

Today is different from the past. Because the European continent has formed an anti-Russian alliance vs. the German-Austrian alliance, Spain, a power outside the two major military groups, has become a hot commodity.

For Carlo, it was not important which military group to join. What mattered most was which military group could provide the support that Spain needed.

In other words, whoever can support Spain's annexation of Morocco and Portugal will be Spain's ally.

When Spain made these conditions public, the powers of the two major military groups were stunned.

Of course, they understood who was behind Morocco and Portugal, and they also knew that if they wanted to win over Spain, they might have to become enemies with Britain.

Is it a good deal to gain Spain's support at the cost of becoming an enemy of Britain?

Germany did hesitate about this. Although Spain could attack southern France, putting France in the awkward situation of fighting on two fronts.

But if Spain was drawn in, Britain would also become an enemy of Germany. Although Germany was already demanding colonies and maritime power at that time, German officials, from William II to the lower ranks, did not think they would be an enemy of Britain.

Germany still had illusions about an alliance with Britain, which is why they chose to remain neutral rather than support the Boers during the Boer War in history.

Even before the formal formation of the Anglo-French-Russian Allied Powers, Germany had always fantasized about an alliance with Britain.

Unfortunately, Britain, the world's number one, is destined to not form an alliance with Germany, the world's number two. The two are more likely to develop a hostile relationship.

The Germans in history failed to see this clearly, and Germany today certainly fails to see it clearly either.

But then again, at this time Germany's advantage over France had not yet become overwhelming, and it was really hard to say whether Britain would conclude an alliance treaty with Germany.

Because there was still hope for Britain, Germany did not decisively agree to the conditions offered by Spain, even though Italy and Austria-Hungary had tried every means to persuade them.

In the view of King Umberto I of Italy and Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, it was quite wise to bring Spain into the alliance.

Spain had good relations with both Italy and Austria-Hungary, without any disputes over territorial matters.

From this point of view alone, Spain is already a natural ally of the Triple Alliance. Not to mention that Spain's own army and navy are very strong, and its geographical location is also very advantageous, so it is an object that must be won over.

If the Triple Alliance could welcome Spain's joining, the combined navies of Spain, Austria-Hungary and Italy would be enough to easily control the situation in the Mediterranean.

The armies of the four countries will also surround France from different directions. France is destined to not be able to hold out for long under the siege from several sides.

France obviously thinks so too. Compared with Germany, which places its hopes on Britain, France is much more eager to form an alliance with Spain.

Although Morocco is also important, it can be abandoned for the security of mainland France.

A few days after Spain expressed its attitude, the French ambassador found Carlo and expressed the French government's attitude very sincerely.

“Your Majesty, we are willing to sign an alliance treaty with your country to jointly safeguard the peace and order of the Mediterranean.

We respect Spain's interests in the Iberian Peninsula and support Spain's annexation of Morocco. If your country is willing to form an alliance with us, France, Spain and Russia will become the most powerful military group in the world. "As soon as he met Carlo, the French ambassador came straight to the point and stated the conditions of the French government.

France does have ambitions for Morocco, but ever since Spain forcefully disrupted France's colonization of Tunisia, France has seen the strength and uniqueness of Spain.

Seizing Morocco from Spain would only force Spain to the German side. France would then face the pressure of fighting on two or even three fronts, and it would be very difficult to defend its territory.

But if France could win over Spain to its side, it would only have to concentrate on dealing with Germany as its enemy.

Germany is powerful, but France also has Russia as an ally. When the French and Spanish fleets join forces, they can easily control the situation in the Mediterranean.

As long as the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies were blockaded in the Mediterranean, Italy as a great power would be useless.

As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they had no other options as Germany was being held back.

It is precisely because of this that France is willing to give up its claims on Morocco. As for whether supporting Spain's annexation of Morocco would make it an enemy of Britain, France does not think it is that important.

Britain is very powerful, but its power is entirely reflected in the navy. In terms of the army, Britain is not even as good as Spain, not to mention France, which once dominated Europe.

Even if they were to become enemies of Britain, France and Spain only needed to blockade the Mediterranean, and Britain would have no way to deal with them.

Carlo was relieved by the support of the French government, and was also determined to fight against Morocco.

If Britain insisted on forcefully intervening in Spain's war against Morocco, the worst that could happen was that Spain would simply side with the Franco-Russian alliance.

Although Russia would withdraw from World War I, it was obviously still early and Russia had not yet reached the point of desperation.

Unless Britain also quickly sided with Germany, Spain, with the support of France, would no longer be someone Britain could defeat.

This also means that Spain is invincible, which is certainly good news for Carlo and Spain.

However, Carlo did not want to join the two major military groups so simply until he had no choice. France's conditions could be regarded as a negotiating tool, allowing Spain to seek support from Germany.

Even if Germany was unwilling to support Spain, it should at least ensure that the three great powers of Germany, Austria and Italy remained neutral during the war in Spain.

As long as other European countries remained neutral, Spain would actually have no fear of facing Britain alone, which was distracted by the Boer War.

A month and a half after the Boer War, the Spanish Ministry of Defense and the General Staff finally came up with an operational plan for Morocco.

The main reason why it took more than a month to come up with this plan was that Spain took into account possible interference from Britain.

In other words, this battle plan included fighting against Britain and also took Gibraltar into consideration.

If Britain announced intervention in the war, Spain would attack Gibraltar without hesitation, control the Strait of Gibraltar, and block the western exit of the Mediterranean. Carlo looked at the battle plan for a long time, and after confirming that there was no problem, he immediately issued his order.

The first order was to have the garrison in the Congo Territory gather towards the southern Moroccan colony.

The war against Morocco would involve two colonial divisions and six colonial garrison regiments, totaling 5.2 troops.

In addition, the garrison in Spain will also prepare for war to prevent strong intervention from Britain.

If Britain insisted on intervening, Spain would initiate a full mobilization at home, use real conventional troops to quickly annex Morocco, and then slowly fight a war of attrition with Britain.

Anyway, Britain still has the Boer War to fight, so Spain will not hesitate even if it has to be a long war of attrition.

Historically, Britain invested up to 2 million pounds in military expenditures in the Boer War and mobilized approximately 45 troops.

You have to know that the total number of all Boers is actually less than 50.

The number of troops mobilized by Britain was equal to the total number of Boers. Under such circumstances, the war lasted for nearly three years and Britain still won a tragic victory, which is enough to show how difficult this war was.

This Boer War will be more difficult than any other in history, and it will not be easy for Britain to win this war.

If Britain continues to open up a battlefield with Spain, it will only make it more difficult to win the war.

On April 1895, 4, when the fighting in Africa was raging, Spain was also making intensive preparations for war.

On April 4, with the arrival of two colonial divisions in the southern Moroccan colony, Spain's attack on Morocco officially began.

That afternoon, Spain used the excuse that the Moroccan government had illegally built water facilities on the Sousse River with the intention of cutting off the water supply to Agadir and demanded that the Moroccan government immediately dismantle the water facilities on the Sousse River and cede Oulad Tayma and Kaludent north of Tidsi as compensation.

The Moroccan government was confused. Why had they never heard of any water conservancy facilities on the Sousse River?
But they had no time to think carefully. Just over an hour later, Spain declared war on Morocco on the pretext that Morocco refused to comply.

Almost at the same time as the declaration of war, the Moroccan army set out from Agadir and Tata, heading north along the Sousse River to attack Marrakech, a major city in central Morocco.

The other route goes north along the Lesser Atlas Mountains, heading for Beni Mellal, northeast of Marrakech.

The reason why Morocco can still maintain its independence is entirely due to the independence guarantee of Britain.

The Moroccan government undoubtedly panicked at the thought of having to rely on its own strength to resist Spain.

The Spanish army fought very bravely on the front line and captured Taroudant, an important hub city on the Sousse River, on the same day.

The Moroccan army didn't even have time to react. They were defeated by the Spanish army and fled hastily to Ouled Belkil further north.

If there was still some resistance on the western front, then on the eastern front it was like entering a no-man's land.

This area is surrounded by desert to the east and mountains to the west, so Morocco has not set up much defense here.

After the Spanish army broke through the Moroccan garrison on the border, they easily captured several small Moroccan cities.

Unfortunately, there are no smooth roads connecting these cities. The best roads are compacted dirt roads, and the worst roads are almost non-existent.

The Spanish army's attack speed was indeed slowed down a lot as it marched along this route.

It is worth mentioning that the Spanish declaration of war was not announced to the Moroccan government by the Spanish ambassador, but to the Moroccan ambassador by the Spanish government.

The Moroccan ambassador had no time to send the news back to his country. As soon as Spain declared war, he was forcibly repatriated by Spain.

There was no time to access the telegraph along the way, and naturally there was no ability to send messages to Morocco.

This also meant that by the time Morocco received the news of Spain's declaration of war, the war had already been going on for most of the day.

The Moroccan government was in a panic and quickly mobilized troops from the key areas in the north to the south to resist the attack of the Spanish army.

Since Spain established the colony of southern Morocco, there has been no conflict between Spain and Morocco.

Although all this was thanks to British protection, the Moroccan government couldn't help but relax.

In their view, they can rest assured knowing that they have the protection of Britain.

Even if Spain does not give up, they only need to resist the Spaniards for a period of time, and Britain will naturally solve all their problems.

It was precisely this mentality that made the Moroccan government completely unprepared when the war broke out, and the border guards were quickly wiped out.

Naturally, Spain's attack was not limited to the colonies in southern Morocco.

In order to end the war as soon as possible, Spain also sent troops to Ceuta in northern Morocco.

Which Spanish army is stationed in Ceuta?

It was a temporary organization composed of the 1st Spanish Guards Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Guards Infantry Regiment, the 1st Guards Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Guards Artillery Regiment.

Letting the Guards join this war was a decision Carlo made after considering for a long time.

The Guards were well-equipped and their soldiers were carefully selected from the Spanish Royal Army.

But the problem is that the Guards have not experienced war for too long, and their combat effectiveness is definitely inferior to those soldiers who have been on the battlefield.

Carlo believed in the loyalty of the Guards, but he was unwilling to miss any opportunity to improve the combat effectiveness of these soldiers.

Before sending these Guards soldiers to the battlefield, Carlo personally went to the Guards camp and carried out some pre-war mobilization.

Carlo personally explained the pension policy of the Guards and promised to confer titles on meritorious officials after the war.

The encouragement from the king made the soldiers very excited, and they couldn't wait to reach Ceuta and fight a decisive battle with the Moroccans.

When these Janissaries joined the battlefield, the Moroccans quickly saw what an elite army was.

Although these Guards soldiers had never been on the battlefield, their training had not diminished in the slightest.

Although they were a little nervous when they first stepped onto the battlefield, these soldiers naturally had nothing to fear as their equipment was far superior to that of the Moroccan army.

The artillery regiment will clear all obstacles for them, and the Moroccan army will have no time to counterattack because they need to avoid the shells that may explode around them at any time.

The Spanish army has always adhered to the principle of firepower supremacy in combat, and will never consume manpower if it can suppress with firepower.

Not to mention the most well-equipped Guards, their artillery shells were almost free of charge.

The artillery regiment adhered to the principle of firing as many rounds as possible as training, and did not feel sorry at all for consuming artillery shells.

Anyway, Ceuta is across the sea from mainland Spain, so they don't have to worry about supply issues at all.

Every day, transport fleets travel back and forth between Ceuta and mainland Spain, carrying a variety of weapons and equipment, ammunition supplies and other materials for them.

In this case, the Spanish army did not need to worry about the consumption of artillery shells. They only needed to fire every artillery shell at the enemy and make the hit rate as high as possible.

(End of this chapter)