Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 444 Military Parade Plan
The first day of peace talks ended in discord between the Spanish and British diplomatic representatives. The British representatives were clearly unable to accept the excessively harsh reparations demands made by Spain, and the Spanish side was unwilling to make any concessions on the issue of reparations.

Although Germany and France, as neutral mediators, were surprised by the enormous reparations demanded by Spain, they would not easily intervene so early and would have to wait and see how the peace talks between Spain and Britain progressed.

After the first day of peace talks concluded, representatives from each country reported back to their respective countries on the progress of the negotiations. The British government was shocked by Spain's enormous appetite, while the German and French governments were also astonished that Spain had demanded such a huge amount of reparations.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the Germans didn't expect the French government to agree to a 50 billion franc indemnity. At the time, France had just overthrown Napoleon III, and the country was still in a state of flux, which is why the French government agreed to the 50 billion franc indemnity.

Even with all the reasons, the 50 billion francs in reparations agreed upon by the French government still shocked European countries for a long time.

At this point, Spain actually demanded more than 50 billion francs in reparations, and the one demanding reparations was the British Empire, which was the world's leading power. This was almost unbelievable.

Although Britain performed poorly in this war, with both its land and sea forces being crushed by the Spanish army, Britain at present was at least not in the same state as France during the Franco-Prussian War. The British monarch was not captured, and the domestic political situation was not as chaotic.

Under such circumstances, it is clearly impossible for Spain to achieve its goal of demanding such a huge amount of compensation.

Would the Spanish government not understand such a simple truth? In fact, both Carlos and Olcajo, the prime ministers, understood that the British could not accept such a huge reparations.

However, Spain held the upper hand at this point, commanding over 100,000 British prisoners. The longer the peace talks dragged on, the greater the public pressure on the British government would be.

The longer the peace talks lasted, the more benefits Spain would gain. Carlo didn't mind spending several months with the British, since Spain's dreadnought-class battleships were still under construction in large numbers, allowing Spain to maintain its naval advantage, which meant that Britain had no chance of turning the tide.

Knowing that the peace talks were destined to be a protracted battle, Carlo did not pay much attention to them, but instead focused on the upcoming reward ceremony in Spain.

Although negotiations are ongoing, Britain and Spain remain largely in agreement on a ceasefire. Unless the negotiations break down completely, the war will essentially end formally after peace talks.

There will be no further war between Spain and Britain, and peace is on the horizon for the Iberian Peninsula.

On Christmas Day, the Spanish government officially passed a resolution to rebuild the port in the Gibraltar region. In the future, the Spanish Pacific Fleet will be directly stationed in the port of Gibraltar, giving it complete control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar and Ceuta across the strait will become the two pillars of Spain's control over the Strait of Gibraltar. With these two ports protecting it, Spain can ensure that it keeps control of the strait in its own hands.

To commemorate Spain's recapture of Gibraltar after nearly two centuries, Carlo decided to build a monument in the center of the port of Gibraltar. This monument would both commemorate Spain's recapture of Gibraltar and the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the recapture, so that future generations would remember their contributions to Spain.

In addition to building a monument in Gibraltar, Carlo will also build a large cemetery on the outskirts of Madrid, specifically to bury soldiers who died for their country.

In addition to these tasks, Carlo also plans to hold a large military parade in Cádiz, a port city in Andalusia, to celebrate Spain's victory in the war and its recapture of Gibraltar.

The war with Britain had demonstrated the strength of the Spanish army and navy, and holding a military parade would better showcase this strength to the public.

A large-scale military parade can not only increase the Spanish people's support and recognition of the country, but also let European countries understand Spain's strength and increase their attention to Spain.

The reason the parade was held in Cádiz was because the port was special and indirectly triggered the war with Britain.

In addition to the army, Carlo also plans to deploy the navy and air force for this parade.

The navy goes without saying. The Spanish navy defeated the British navy in this war, deterring the remaining main force of the British navy from going out to sea for a decisive battle.

Such achievements need no further mention. European countries all understand that Spain's naval strength is among the world's best, and there are very few countries that can rival it. Currently, only the United Kingdom is actually at the same level.

As for the so-called air force, it is actually a special force composed of a small number of airships. Spain has also achieved considerable success in aircraft development, but military products related to aircraft are not directly displayed to other European countries.

On the contrary, Carlo was even eager for European countries to refer to the Spanish airship design.

With some modifications, current airships can also possess a certain offensive capability. One option is to mount a machine gun on the airship, which can provide suppressive fire by strafing the ground from a distance, although the accuracy is abysmal.

However, this machine gun can still be quite effective against flying enemies at close range.

The main method of airship attacking the ground is by dropping bombs. In clear weather and without wind, the hit rate can be guaranteed to some extent.

If the weather is not clear or there is strong wind, this method of throwing shells by hand has little accuracy. However, Spain does not require the airships to have actual combat capabilities; after all, the airships deployed in this military parade are, frankly speaking, only meant to attract the attention of European countries.

The reason why airships were not deployed in this war was actually because their role was too limited at present. Flying too high, apart from limited reconnaissance, they could not guarantee an effective hit rate against ground troops.

Flying too low would make it vulnerable to ground fire, and if you're unlucky, the airship might explode or burn.

In this situation, once airships are used on the battlefield, all their shortcomings will be exposed. Carlo didn't want this product, intended to replace airplanes and attract the attention of European countries, to fail so soon; he wanted to wait until European countries had invested heavily in airship development and wasted several years. After Carlo proposed a grand military parade at the port of Cádiz in Andalusia, the Spanish government immediately began preparations.

Holding a military parade is easy, but making a parade so impressive that it shocks or even instills fear in European countries is not so easy to achieve.

Although the parade wasn't held in Spain's capital, the grand spectacle still had to be there. Especially since this parade included the army, navy, and air force in a victory parade, any mishaps during the parade would not only fail to achieve Carlo's desired effect but could also make Spain a laughingstock across Europe.

How to expand the scale of the military parade and make it more spectacular has become a major headache for Spanish government officials.

Ultimately, after several days of discussion, the cabinet ministers unanimously decided to increase the scale of the parade as much as possible and to conduct extensive publicity to attract the attention of the Spanish people.

Since the military parade was to commemorate the victory in the Anglo-Spanish War, it was natural to invite the Portuguese government to participate. After discussions, the Spanish government decided to invite the Portuguese government to participate in the parade, ideally with a portion of the Portuguese army joining in.

Only if Portugal deploys its military to participate in the parade can the Portuguese public take this grand military parade in Spain more seriously.

With the two armies compared side by side, the Portuguese people were naturally more impressed by the strength of the Spanish army.

Using a grand military parade to increase the Portuguese people's goodwill and recognition of Spain can also effectively promote future integration between Portugal and Spain.

Carlo's original plan was to find an opportunity to annex Portugal after defeating Britain, but now that the pro-Spanish Iberian Party has taken control of the Portuguese government, it means that Spain can slightly modify its plan to annex Portugal and instead allow Portugal to peacefully integrate into the Spanish family.

Spain was originally a federal kingdom formed by Castile and Aragon, and was itself a large family of ethnic integration.

This large family can naturally add Portugal as well. After all, Portugal is not that big, and once the integration of the two countries begins, there will be basically no problems in the middle.

By showcasing Spain's strength in all aspects, Spain aimed to inspire the Portuguese people to aspire to join the Spanish family, thereby promoting the unification of the Iberian Peninsula. This became Spain's new plan to annex Portugal.

Under normal circumstances, such a plan would be extremely difficult to implement. However, with the Iberian Party now in power, Spain has all the advantages—opportunity, location, and support—and is fully capable of promoting the unification of the Iberian Peninsula.

Having learned from the Republican Party's experience, the Iberian Party has been quite compliant with the Spanish government's demands. Spain, however, will not allow Portugal to once again stand against it, and in supporting the Iberian Party, it has also prepared some contingency plans.

Firstly, the current government structure of the Democratic Republic of Portugal is a republican government that is highly similar to the Spanish government, with the Iberian Party as the main body, united with several opposition parties, including the Portuguese Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, based on the existing multi-party system of Spain.

That's not all. Most of the army in the Portuguese Democratic Republic was trained by Spanish officers, used Spanish weapons, and shouted Spanish military slogans.

Spain also helped the Iberian Party establish a military academy, most of whose instructors were Spanish officers. Under these circumstances, a large portion of the Portuguese military is aligned with Spain, demonstrating Spain's significant influence over the current Portuguese government.

In addition to infiltrating Portugal's political and military spheres, Spain also carried out various economic actions.

As early as the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Portugal restored railway connections with Spain and imported large quantities of industrial and agricultural products from Spain.

The influx of Spanish goods boosted Portugal's economy and ensured a certain standard of living for the Portuguese people during the war.

Along with these Spanish goods, a large amount of Spanish capital and businesses also flooded into Portugal. This capital invested in or built factories in Portugal, hiring a large number of Portuguese workers and gaining considerable influence.

As time goes on, Spanish capital will gain increasing influence in Portugal. After all, Portugal is a relatively small European country, and the arrival of Spanish capital is a devastating blow to the development of Portuguese domestic capital.

Once Spanish capital has fully penetrated the Portuguese economy, it will not be so easy for Portugal to break free from Spanish control.

Judging from the current situation, it is difficult for Portugal to escape Spanish control. The best-case scenario is that Portugal becomes a vassal state completely infiltrated by Spain, with virtually no sovereignty except for domestic affairs. The worst-case scenario is that it will be directly annexed by Spain, either forming a dual empire similar to Austria-Hungary, or being swallowed up and becoming one or more of Spain's state-level administrative regions.

After the Spanish government invited Portugal to participate in the military parade in Cádiz, the Portuguese government quickly responded, promising to send troops to join the parade.

That's not all. José Cristiano Silva, President of the Democratic Republic of Portugal, promised the Spanish government that he would personally attend the parade and participate in the joint military parade.

Now that the Portuguese government has agreed to hold a joint military parade, the next step is to determine the date and number of troops participating in the Cádiz parade, and then send invitations to other European countries.

After several days of discussion, the parade was scheduled for January 31, 1905, leaving more than a month for training.

As for the troops participating in the parade, the nine infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions that participated in the war will each send one battalion to participate, plus three battalions from the Guards Division and one regiment from Portugal, bringing the total number of troops participating in the parade to approximately eight thousand.

This is just the number of army personnel. Even from this number alone, it's clear that Spain attaches great importance to this parade, and its scale is destined to be incredibly grand.

(End of this chapter)