Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 371 Casablanca Landing

May 1895, 5, Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain.

At this time, nearly twenty days had passed since Spain launched the war, and the results achieved made the Spanish government and people quite excited.

The Guards were indeed an elite army carefully selected and performed very well in the war against Morocco, defeating a Moroccan army of tens of thousands with only 8,000 men.

The current Guards are already undergoing their first rotation, ensuring that most of the troops can set foot on the battlefield in Morocco and experience the test of the battlefield.

The 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments and the 2nd Artillery Regiment of the Guards are heading to the Moroccan battlefield. They will replace the 1st Infantry Regiment and the 1st Artillery Regiment which have been fighting for more than half a month.

The 4th Infantry Regiment will remain in Madrid to defend the capital and the royal palace until the troops withdrawn from the front battlefield return to the mainland, and will then participate in the combat plan against Morocco.

In fact, in Carlo's plan, he wanted these troops going to Morocco to stay for at least a month so that they could experience the hardships of the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the Moroccan army had no power to resist the Spanish army. They were about to reach Rabat, the capital of Morocco. If they did not replace the troops in Morocco, they might not even need the participation of other local troops to end the war.

Of course, the discussion in the palace had nothing to do with the Guards, but was mainly about when the Royal Army would join the war and which troops should go to the Moroccan battlefield for training.

Seeing that the Moroccan war was going more and more smoothly, Defense Minister Jyoti could no longer sit still.

The Spanish army has more than just the Guards, there is also the Royal Army with a total strength of 17.5 people.

The soldiers of the Guards need to feel the cruelty of the battlefield, but don’t the soldiers of the Royal Army need to feel the cruelty of the battlefield? Although the Spanish Guards were established by Jyoti, Jyoti has become the Minister of Defense at this time and should be responsible for all the Spanish troops.

The main purpose of Jyoti's request to meet Carlo this time was to get the Royal Army involved in the war against Morocco as soon as possible, at least to let some troops experience the cruelty of the battlefield and go through the trials of the battlefield.

The Royal Army must join the battlefield because the Guards are insufficient in number and part of the army must be left behind to protect the Spanish capital and the royal palace.

The two colonial divisions in the south are still quite far away from Rabat, the capital of Morocco. If they want to capture the capital of Morocco, they can only rely on the joint efforts of the Guards and the Royal Army.

After the last expansion, the size of the Spanish army has reached 17.5, including 12 infantry divisions, 5 cavalry divisions, 4 artillery divisions and 4 engineering regiments.

In the plan of Defense Minister Jyoti, no matter what, at least half of the troops must be rotated to join the battlefield to receive the training and baptism of the battlefield.

Of course, it would be best if all troops could be rotated into the battlefield. At present, the average age of soldiers in the Spanish Royal Army is only in their 20s. If these soldiers are tempered on the battlefield, Spain will not have to worry about the combat effectiveness of the army in the next decade or so.

"Your Majesty, the 1st, 2nd Infantry Divisions and the 1st Cavalry Division are ready and can join the Moroccan battlefield at any time." Defense Minister Jyoti looked impatient. If the Royal Army did not join the war earlier, most of the credit of this war would have been taken away by the Guards.

The colonial troops that launched the offensive in the south could all get a piece of the pie, but the Royal Army in Spain had no offensive plan at this time.

Spain has been at peace for such a long time that the military leaders in the country can't wait for war. Because only war can quickly accumulate their military merits, and only war can give some officers who are stuck in their current ranks more hope and channels for promotion.

Carlo was somewhat amused and helpless at Qiao Di's impatience, but he also understood the army generals' eagerness and expectation to gain military merit.

Although the Guards were the royal family's private army, the Royal Army was theoretically also loyal to the king, so Carlo would naturally treat them equally.

After nodding, Carlo asked, "What battle plan does the Ministry of Defense have? Are these troops going to act together with the Guards, or open up a new battlefield somewhere else?"

Jyoti said quickly: “The General Staff plans to land in Casablanca and outflanking northward to the rear of Rabat.

By attacking from the north and south, the Royal Army and the Guards can ensure the annihilation of the Moroccan army to the greatest extent possible.

With the participation of the Royal Army, we have the hope of taking Rabat within a month and ending the war.”

Although they were going to outflank Rabat from the south, Carlo knew what the army was thinking. If they had started from Ceuta like the Guards, most of the cities along the way would have been captured by the Guards, and the army would not have gained much.

But in Casablanca, south of Rabat, the land here has not been set foot by the Spanish army. After conquering Casablanca, there are still large cities such as Settat, Khouribga, Wadi Zem, and Mohammedia, so there is no need to worry about military merits.

Since it has been decided to treat everyone equally, Carlo will naturally not stop the army's plan.

"Since we already have a definite attack plan, let's implement it as it was originally planned." Carlo nodded and instructed: "Although experience on the battlefield is important, we must also try to reduce casualties in the army. These guys joined the army because they love their country, and we must do our best to ensure that they return to Spain safely."

Jyoti nodded and assured very solemnly: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will bring these boys back to Spain safely. For the soldiers injured or killed in the war, the Ministry of Defense will never withhold any pensions."

The Spanish military reform also involves policies related to pensions. Although the pensions of the Spanish army are not high, Carlo has repeatedly issued orders to strictly prohibit the withholding of pensions for soldiers killed in battle.

Once the phenomenon of withholding pensions is discovered, the officials involved will basically bid farewell to their political careers. For the sake of military morale, Carlo will never allow anyone to harm the interests of the army and all soldiers.

Besides, Spain’s pensions are not much to begin with, and even if it experiences a war like the World War, the government will not go bankrupt because of paying pensions.

On May 1895, 5, Spain officially launched a landing in the central Moroccan city of Casablanca.

This landing involved two infantry divisions and one artillery division, all of which were regular Spanish Royal Army units, which immediately raised the scale of the Moroccan War to a higher level.

The Royal Army did not disappoint Carlo's expectations. Although landing battles were the most difficult of all wars, the Royal Army performed very well in the landing battles. It took less than two days to occupy an area on the coast of Casablanca that could be used for large-scale landings.

The city of Casablanca could not hold out for long under the attack of the Spanish army.

Although the number of artillery pieces equipped in each division of the Royal Spanish Army is not as large as that of the Guards Division, compared with the army equipment of European countries, it can definitely be considered first-class.

Because the Royal Army had just joined the war, each division had sufficient ammunition supplies. Casablanca was the Royal Army's first offensive battle, so there was no need for the troops to save ammunition.

Under the continuous bombardment of hundreds of artillery pieces, the Moroccan city soon became a ruin. The Spanish army occupied the city expressionlessly and then implemented strict militarized management.

It is worth mentioning that although the Spanish army showed no mercy to the Moroccan army, it also did not carry out any large-scale massacres of Moroccan civilians in the occupied areas.

Except for some extreme Moroccans who are particularly hostile to Spain, most Moroccans are treated well.

Even those Moroccans who couldn't afford to eat because of the war could get food relief from Spain. Although it was just barely edible black bread, it was at least better than starving.

At this critical juncture, the Moroccan government obviously would not provide them with relief food.

It seems a little ridiculous to say that the only ones who can save them are the enemies who invaded their homeland.

It was precisely because the Spanish army did not harm Moroccan civilians at all that the Moroccan civilians did not put up much resistance against the Spanish army.

Although many Moroccans hate Spain because the Spanish army invaded their homeland, most people have become numb to this. After all, Spain's Moroccan colony was established on the premise of invading Morocco.

The Moroccans in the southern Moroccan colonies have basically been assimilated into the Spanish community. Of course, these people in Morocco also know the situation of the local Moroccans after being occupied by Spain. Except for those who truly love Morocco, most people are not opposed to joining another country.

After all, for the lower class, having enough food to eat and living a good life is the most important thing. Does it really matter who rules the country? It's just a change of exploiting class.

Compared with the current Moroccan government, Spain's exploitation of Moroccans is not so harsh. As long as they can obey Spanish rule, after these Moroccans obtain Spanish citizenship in the future, their status in the colony will be no different from that of Spaniards in their homeland.

They would not be discriminated against or treated differently. They could enjoy all the policies of the colonies and even hire free labor from other colonies to cultivate land and become plantation owners themselves.

This is unimaginable in today's Morocco. Although Morocco is a white country, it does not mean that Morocco's political system is democratic.

On the contrary, Morocco has an authoritarian government, and its oppression of the lower classes is much harsher than in European countries.

At this time, the Moroccans had not yet formed a very clear national consciousness, and the reason they joined the army to resist Spain was simply because of the Moroccan government's conscription.

They would be thrown into prison if they resisted the government's conscription, so for their own safety they had to join the army to fight against Spain.

This is also the reason why Spain was not harsh on the surrendered Moroccan prisoners. After releasing these prisoners in the future, they can also influence their families and friends through these prisoners to whitewash Spain, which started the war.

The first update is 3,000 words, there will be another update around 1:00, so today’s update will be 6,000 words.

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(End of this chapter)