Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 388 Expansion of the Reserve Force

Although the prime minister of the new cabinet has been selected, the formation of the new cabinet has only just begun.

The newly appointed Prime Minister, Baron Angelo Orcajo, has two weeks to submit a list of cabinet members to Carlo. Only after obtaining Carlo's approval and swearing allegiance to Carlo can the formation of the new cabinet be considered complete.

Unlike the previous cabinet government, which was in a transitional period, the new cabinet government is destined to have many new faces in order to break free from the influence of the conservative party on the Spanish government.

Carlos had also specifically instructed Prime Minister Olcajo to select younger, more energetic, and pioneering officials when appointing cabinet ministers.

As expected, when Baron Orcajo submitted the list of cabinet members to Carlo, most of the cabinet members were new to the cabinet, except for a very few whose names were somewhat familiar.

Hoviljal Soller was successfully re-elected as Deputy Prime Minister, while Ewald Batel was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Jordi continued as Secretary of State for Defence, Elie Verric continued as Secretary of State for People's Livelihood, Alan Carleton continued as Secretary of State for Education, and Earl Menotti continued as Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs.

Apart from the aforementioned familiar names, almost all other cabinet positions have seen changes in personnel.

The new Minister of Justice is Klaus Brown, a rising political star who was born in a Spanish university and has served as a lawyer and city councilor for several years.

The Justice Secretary is elected by the House of Lords, which means that Klaus Brown, as Justice Secretary, can be considered, to some extent, a confidant of Carole.

Grant Jerevers was appointed as the Minister of State for Royal Affairs. As a true close advisor to the King, Carlo naturally wanted to choose a trusted confidant.

Grant Jerevers was born into the orphanage system established by Carlo, and underwent round after round of selection and elite training from a young age, making him extremely loyal to Carlo.

Furthermore, given that Grant Jerevos was a true Spaniard, appointing him as Minister of Royal Affairs was actually more suitable than that of the previous Count Menotti.

The Minister of Finance will be Orl Acosta. Orl Acosta is a rising political star in the Progressive Party and previously served as the governor of Catalonia.

Although Catalonia is no longer the most developed state in Spain after losing Barcelona, ​​its population still ranks among the highest in Spain.

During his tenure as Governor of Catalonia, Orl Acosta demonstrated strong financial acumen, which led to his promotion to Finance Minister.

His membership in the Progressive Party can also help the cabinet government better balance the various political parties, making him a fairly good candidate overall.

Industry Minister Roger Wells is a new face from the Workers' Party. The Workers' Party has now grown into the third largest political party in Spain, and some of their proposals are helpful in improving Spain's industrial environment, which is why they were able to obtain the position of Industry Minister.

Agriculture Secretary Ethan Stevens is a staunch Conservative. While a balance of power within the cabinet is necessary, this doesn't preclude Conservative MPs from becoming cabinet members.

The Agriculture Minister only needs to oversee the development of domestic agriculture; giving this position to the Conservative Party wouldn't be a problem. As long as agriculture develops steadily according to plan, there shouldn't be any major mistakes.

Of course, if agriculture is developed step by step, it's impossible for the Minister of Agriculture to achieve any significant political accomplishments. Unless he performs well in the face of natural disasters and man-made calamities, protecting Spanish agriculture from their impact, it's virtually impossible for him to advance further in his position as Minister of Agriculture.

The Minister of Transport is Valen Francis, another member of the Progressive Party. With the rise of automobiles and the increasing adoption of paved roads across Europe, Spain's road system is poised for some changes.

Putting aside other things, several of Spain's major national roads will definitely be repaved with cement and built into wide roads with multiple lanes in the future.

Baron Orcajo, who had served as mayor of the industrial district, certainly understood the significant benefits a convenient and well-developed transportation system could bring to the industrial area.

For Spain to further develop its industry, improving its domestic transportation system is essential.

The Minister of Security was Anthony Slack. Born into the Conservative Party, Slack was not expected to make significant improvements in security; he was simply expected to maintain order in the cities as prescribed.

The Minister of Health is Austin Strauss, who is the only remaining member of the Liberal Party in the Spanish cabinet.

Spain's cabinet has a total of 17 members, with the Liberal Party and the Workers' Party each having only one member. Their appointment to cabinet positions is more about maintaining a balance of power.

The Conservative Party and the Progressive Party have 5 and 4 cabinet seats respectively, making a total of 11 cabinet members with party affiliation. This means that the remaining 6 cabinet members are all independent.

The reason why there are so many non-partisan members in the cabinet is actually quite simple. Positions such as Archbishop, Secretary of State for Royal Affairs, Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, Secretary of Justice, and Secretary of State for Defence are almost always held by non-partisan individuals.

In addition, the current Prime Minister, Baron Olcajo, is also an independent, which is why there are six independents in the Spanish cabinet.

On March 15, 1897, with the members of the new cabinet swearing allegiance to Carlo, Spain under Carlo's rule officially began the term of its sixth cabinet government.

On the second day, Carlo summoned Prime Minister Baron Olcajo to discuss the Spanish government's development direction for the next five years.

Given the increasingly apparent confrontation between the two major military blocs in Europe, it is necessary for Spain to strengthen its military capabilities to ensure that the Spanish mainland is not affected by the confrontation between the two military blocs.

Because Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula, apart from its neighbor Portugal, the only country Spain really needs to guard against is France to the north.

Given that Spain could potentially join the German-Austrian alliance, if it were to go to war with France, it would be essential to prevent French troops from rapidly invading Spain's inland regions and causing significant damage to Spain's industry and economy.

The border between Spain and France stretches for over 400 kilometers, but due to the Pyrenees Mountains in the middle, the only areas that actually need to be guarded are the plains at the two mountain passes to the east and west.

This also means that even if Spain and France were to go to war in the future, they could easily hold off the French army with a small force by building strong defensive fortresses at two passes in the Pyrenees.

By equipping the two fortresses with a large number of artillery pieces and machine guns, and with the logistical advantage of having Spain's homeland behind them, even if hundreds of thousands of French troops attacked these two fortresses, it would be absolutely impossible for them to be breached in a short period of time.

If Spain also had air superiority, it would be no exaggeration to say that it only needed 30 troops to stop the attack of a million French troops.

This is the advantage brought by geographical location, and it is also the reason why Carlo was not afraid of France, a powerful country.

After discussions with Prime Minister Orcajo, the proposal to build military fortresses in Iren in the western Pyrenees and in Leanza in the east was finalized.

Although described as military fortresses, they were actually two formidable defensive lines built along the Pyrenees Mountains. According to the construction plan, these two military fortresses would consist of bunkers and above-ground fortresses of various sizes, with a total capacity of over 20 troops.

Before it was determined that France was the enemy, the defensive offensive here would not be at full strength, and the number of troops stationed here would not exceed 10.

Once the decision is made to antagonize France, the defensive offensive here will be rapidly mobilized to full capacity in a short period of time. The government will also assemble more personnel, build more defensive positions and trenches, and transform these two borders into an ironclad defense line to ensure that enemy forces from France and other countries will not set foot on Spanish soil.

Although both are wars, the costs and casualties in offensive and defensive wars are completely different.

With artillery and machine guns, the defending side would certainly suffer fewer casualties. Even if Spain were to participate in a world war, it would be destined not to be on the offensive.

It would have been a better outcome if Spain hadn't gone to war with France. This would have meant that Spain's enemy wasn't neighboring, and most of the time, Spain wouldn't have needed to worry about its homeland's security.

In addition to building defensive positions, Carlo also approved the defense department's request to expand the reserve force.

By 1897, the total population of Spain, as recorded by the Spanish government, had reached approximately 3207 million. While this population was not large by European standards, it essentially bridged the gap between Spain and the major European powers.

With a population of 3200 million, the Spanish government can confidently expand its military and appropriately increase its reserves in preparation for any potential war.

It should be noted that the number of active and reserve troops in European countries has been continuously increasing since the formal formation of the confrontation between the two major military blocs.

According to data from the Spanish Royal Security Intelligence Service, around 1890, the number of army and reserve personnel in various European countries was still within a relatively reasonable range.

At the time, Russia had the largest active-duty army, but its numbers were less than 70. Germany and France each had just over 50 troops, which was a reasonable number considering the intense competition between them.

The remaining major European powers each had fewer than 50 active-duty troops. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had just over 30 active-duty army personnel, and Italy had only over 20.

Apart from Germany, France, and Russia, whose reserve forces exceed one million, other countries have only a few hundred thousand reserves.

Because the British government practices a professional military system, their reserve system is relatively weak, and the number of reserve personnel is among the lowest of all European powers.

However, nowadays, there are significant differences between the number of active-duty army personnel and the number of reserve personnel in various countries.

Russia's active military personnel have surged to the million-plus level, giving it a precipitous lead over other countries.

Russia's ally, France, also has nearly 70 active-duty troops. The combined active-duty forces of France and Russia approach 200 million, not to mention their reservists, who also number over 200 million.

It was precisely because of the continuous expansion of the military by France and Russia that Germany had to increase its own reserve force to around 70.

With its own reserves, Germany could expand its army to over 200 million in a short period of time, barely enough to cope with pressure from France or Russia.

As an ally of Germany, Austria-Hungary performed poorly in terms of troop numbers. Its active-duty army numbered only 40, and its reserve force numbered less than 50.

The combined number of active and reserve personnel was less than a million, making it entirely impossible to rely on the Austro-Hungarian Empire to tie down the Russian army.

As another ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy's army has also seen a new round of expansion in recent years. Italy's active-duty army now exceeds 30, with a similar number of 30 in the reserves.

Although this number of army soldiers was a significant increase compared to the original Italian army, it was clearly no match for the French and Russian armies.

This is also why the Franco-Russian alliance appears to have a greater advantage than the German-Austrian alliance. Apart from Germany being able to match either France or Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy combined could not compete with another superpower.

Because of the continuous expansion of the two major military blocs, Britain has no choice but to continuously expand its army size.

Because the Boer War had just ended, Britain did not withdraw its troops. Britain still had more than 20 troops stationed in the South African theater, and even this was not enough to completely quell the Boer rebellion.

It was precisely because of the 20 troops stationed there that the size of the British army jumped to a high level of 70.

However, unlike other European countries, Britain's performance in terms of reserves remains quite poor, with its reserve force on par with Italy's.

More importantly, a significant portion of the 70 active-duty British army is misrepresented.

Only 20 of them were truly elite homeland troops; the remaining nearly 50 were all auxiliary troops from various colonies, and their actual combat effectiveness could not be guaranteed.

The British army suffered high casualties on the Boer battlefield not only because the Boers' guerrilla tactics were a major headache for the British, but also because the large number of troops mobilized by the British army from various colonies were simply too incompetent.

The Indian troops alone caused tens of thousands of deaths on the Boer battlefield. It was precisely because these troops from various colonies performed so poorly that they greatly dragged down the performance of the British army, making the British and Italian armies a laughing stock in Europe.

Fortunately, Britain had a powerful navy, sufficient to maintain the glory of the British Empire. The army's poor performance didn't matter; ultimately, Britain emerged victorious.

Compared to the four major European powers, Spain has the smallest active-duty army. Including colonial troops and the Guards, Spain's active-duty army numbers only 32.9.

Such an army size was only on par with Italy, less than the active-duty army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, let alone the four major European powers.

If Spain wants to participate in future wars and gain sufficient benefits, it is necessary to appropriately expand the number of active-duty army personnel or increase the number of reserve personnel.

Only by ensuring that it could quickly arm millions of troops when war broke out could Spain calmly deal with its enemies in the world war.

Considering the financial burden of expanding the active-duty army, Carlo ultimately chose the second approach: strengthening Spain's military by increasing the number of reservists.

Currently, the Spanish military has a total of 32.9 personnel, including 17.5 in the Royal Army, 1.5 in the Guards, and 13.8 in the colonial army.

The proportions of the troops also reveal that the number of elite Royal Army and Imperial Guard personnel was far too small, with nearly half being colonial troops, which were essentially filler forces. Their overall combat effectiveness was significantly different from that of active-duty armies in other European countries.

Even if the Spanish colonial army was more powerful than the British colonial army, it was still destined to be no match for the home armies of the European powers.

Therefore, Spain not only needed to increase the number of reservists in its colonial armies, but also in its domestic army.

In certain important battles, it was necessary to commit Spanish troops to the homeland, regardless of the cost.

Although deploying a large number of domestic troops would result in enormous casualties, thus impacting domestic production and order in Spain, such sacrifices were necessary to win the world war.

Spain could reduce casualties by using a large colonial army, but it certainly couldn't win the war by relying solely on these colonial troops.

To put it bluntly, the biggest role of these colonial armies was merely to act as cannon fodder, absorbing some of the pressure for the elite troops on the main battlefield.

After lengthy discussions with Prime Minister Olcajo and Defense Minister Jorti, it was finally decided to increase Spain's reserve force to 150 million.

Although 150 million people may seem like a lot, it is actually necessary to distinguish between these 150 million people.

Spain has only 70 reservists belonging to the Spanish mainland army. Combined with the existing number of mainland troops, this ensures that Spain will have a million-strong mainland army when war breaks out. This is the real source of Spain's confidence in winning the war.

The remaining 80 reservists were provided by the colonies to serve as cannon fodder and pathfinders for the home army should war break out.

When carrying out more difficult offensive missions, the reserve forces of these colonies can be used first to reduce casualties among the elite home troops and allow the home troops to be engaged in more important battles.

By increasing the number of reservists to around 150 million, Spain's total military strength, including active duty and reserves, will reach 183 million, barely enough to reach the 200 million mark.

Although the figure of 200 million troops was largely exaggerated, it still included nearly 100 million native troops, which could ensure that Spain could safely weather the early stages of the war.

As for the later stages of the war, it would certainly be necessary to draw a large number of soldiers from the homeland and various colonies to train new armies. It would be completely impossible to survive the entire world war by relying solely on active and reserve forces.

(End of this chapter)