Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2367 Efforts ([-])

Castro calmed down after returning to the embassy.

In fact, with the rise of the East Coast countries in the past 20 years and their aggressive foreign policy, it is almost inevitable for them to participate in a European war.In fact, their absence in the last anti-French coalition war has already surprised many people.Because in everyone's opinion, it was a perfect opportunity to intervene in the European situation, but the people on the east coast didn't intervene much from the beginning to the end. They just sent a few people to join the side dominated by the United Provinces in the form of mercenaries.

But this time, they shouldn't miss it again!Continental European countries were exhausted from the last war, their governments were heavily indebted, and their people were in dire straits. Therefore, it is not appropriate to go to war again in the short term.But many things in the world do not depend on people's will. The illness of King Carlos II of Spain is there, and the succession problem is also plaguing several countries. This is an objective fact.

The news of the poor king's critical illness has been reported many times in recent years, and every time it has been reported vividly-here I have to complain about the secrecy of the Madrid court-it seems that he will hang up in the next moment.Although they managed to survive in the end, but to be honest, this not only failed to comfort those who cared about his health, but aggravated their worries.The wolf has come so many times, there will always be one time that is true, King Carlos, in fact, is very close to the end of his life.

But his death is not just his own affairs, it is likely that millions of people will be buried with him.Such is the evil of the monarchy, that the question of succession is a serious political one, for which it leads to brutal wars.From this point of view, it seems that there is a little reason for people on the east coast to despise the monarchy system in continental Europe.

With the war together, the East Coast Republic of China, which already has a population of more than [-] million, has a relatively healthy financial situation, and has a very elite army, will it really stand on the sidelines?I am afraid that any sensible politician in Europe would not make this association.Although Shao Yaoguang, the former leader of the Executive Committee of the East Coast Republic, was full of "peace" and always demanded "dialogue" and "do not suggest war", but ghosts believe this!That bad old man is very bad!

Ambassador Castro attended a salon in Madrid more than a year ago.Many of the people here are famous nobles. They judged that as long as the Kingdom of Spain fell to Louis XIV, the people on the east coast would be more likely to join the war. This can be seen from their deliberate military mobilization.However, some people believe that no matter which side Spain falls to, the people on the east coast will definitely join the war, and Spain will be the main target.In short, if Spain falls to France, the East Coasters will join the Austrian side, and if Spain falls to Austria, the East Coasters will dare to join the French side, even if it offends the Dutch.

Castro is convinced of the latter narrative.For a person like him who has rolled among the dead, it is ridiculous to still have fantasies at this time.If the people on the east coast value their friendship with Spain, they should now withdraw the army that was added to Portugal and Italy, and bring back the navy that was added to the Caribbean and the Cape Verde Islands, and stop encouraging the Genoese to fight in Sicily. Make troubles, no longer support the Italian nobles in Milan, Parma and other places against Spanish rule, completely return Ceuta Port to Spain, stop conspiracy activities in Texas and Florida, and ban Chinese in the Philippines The cannibalization of the islands.Only in this way, Ambassador Castro will believe that the East Coast people will not be against the Kingdom of Spain.But it is a pity that people on the east coast have been deepening and promoting these activities in the past ten years, and there is no sign of stopping, which is a good example of the problem.

People on the east coast don't want peace at all!They don't care which side they join, or don't join either side, they just keep their eyes on Spain!They covet the vast overseas colonies owned by Spain, covet the endless forests, plains, and pastures in the colonies, covet the herds of ownerless cattle and sheep and mines, covet the dense fish schools that can be seen everywhere in the ocean, and covet the ancestors of Spanish immigrants for 200 years. Well built city.They want to swallow it all, there is no doubt about it!

Castro, a loyal Spanish soldier, had little choice after his last effort failed.Apart from continuing to send his deputy to communicate with the people on the east coast, hoping for the almost impossible peace, he felt that he had to do something.

On February 2, he took a train with two entourages all the way southward, arrived at Qingdao Port, a prosperous economic center, and immediately checked into the Golden Lily Shop, which was used as the French embassy.He knew that there must be a large number of spies from the Statistics and Investigation Bureau of Syphilis patients watching outside the shop, but he didn't care!It was already this time, and Castro felt that there was no need to care about the perception of people on the east coast.Once King Carlos passed away unfortunately, even if the people on the east coast would not attack Spain immediately, they would eventually fight, so why should they be trembling?There is no peace if you bow your knees, and the Kingdom of Spain needs to face it head-on!

Unfortunately, the French ambassador is not at the Golden Lily Shop because he has gone to the new embassy in Luoyang Prefecture.The person who received Castro was a young man named Henry, who was very enthusiastic. The staff of the embassy also confirmed that he was the plenipotentiary special envoy of "French King Louis XIV who gave the opportunity face-to-face."

"I have a secret warning from the Ottomans. You must pay attention to the closer ties between the East Coast and Portugal and Italy. They have recently recruited many experienced officers and soldiers in the Black Sea. Those are good boys. Dare to fight hard, and will slowly deploy to Portugal and northern Italy, which may pose a certain threat to you." Envoy Henry said with a serious face while drinking fragrant coffee.

The activities of the Kingdom of France in Spain were successful.Perhaps the heroic French army over the past few decades has shocked them too much. Now the most influential group of nobles in Spain tend to vote for France, that is, let the descendants of Louis XIV and Princess Teresa come to France. Succession to the Spanish throne.Henry is very proud of this, the French Army is invincible, as it should be!

Castro doesn't really care which side he joins.After listening to Henry's reminder, he thought about it silently.Today, the Kingdom of Spain has about 10 troops in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, there are another 2 or 10 in Naples and Sicily, but most of them are Italian soldiers from the local area, and their loyalty is very suspicious. [-] people, logically speaking, is a lot, but in a war that may sweep across most of Europe, it is really not enough, and military expansion is almost inevitable!

According to Castro's experience, the army is the main force in future operations, and it is best to expand to more than 20 people, so as to protect the homeland—mainly to prevent the Portuguese from attacking from the west and the people from the east coast from landing. Beware of rebels in Catalonia - at the same time, you can squeeze out some troops to deploy to Naples and Sicily, two very important territories.

Of course, we can't forget the southern Netherlands, which is rich in wealth.Although Louis XIV's army would certainly help defend France once it fell to France, how could the Spaniards rely on others?In the ten provinces of the Southern Netherlands, at least 2 to 3 Spanish Army soldiers must be deployed to resist attacks from the United Provinces and possible German princes.As for Milan, Parma, Modena and other places, they can actually give up.These territories that nominally belonged to King Carlos were surrounded by malicious Italian forces, and the local nobles and civilians did not have any good impressions of Spain. As long as the war broke out, these areas would immediately fall, so how many soldiers were sent? It is useless, and it is not worth investing heavy troops.

An army of 20 will consume a huge amount of resources, because this is not the way of warfare in an agricultural country, but a high-consumption warfare in the industrial age.Fortunately, the Kingdom of Spain had already begun to scramble supplies from the colonies back to the mainland to hoard them. This also aroused the dissatisfaction of the local nobles in Peru and New Spain, the two great treasure houses.But so what?Now that it's an emergency, I can't take much care of it.

Even the mainland is already planning to build more ships, greatly expanding the size of the current two treasure fleets of "Flota" and "Gaya Anes", and transporting more gold, silver, wood, sulfur, and food from the New World , leather, ore and other items come back to enrich the national power.You know, in the past, Spain basically transported most of its gold and silver from the Americas (for repayment of debts), but now it transports everything, and even more physical goods than gold and silver.As for repaying the debts, the Italians have stopped repaying the debts, and the Dutch debts are also delayed. Only the debts owed to the British and the East Coast are still being paid on schedule, and there has never been arrears.

"Please pay attention to this news. Although Madrid should have received the notification from Paris, I want you to emphasize it again to the mainland. The Portuguese may not dare to do anything at first, but if you fail repeatedly, your military prestige will be lost. If they are exhausted, they will arouse their ambitions and attack your country." Seeing that Castro did not speak, Henry said: "In addition, you must also pay attention to the war funds. As far as I know, your country Serious arrears of payment are common in the army, which is destructive to the morale of the army. Don't have any luck, once the war is protracted, military expenditure will be desperate. With your country's financial situation, the government's issuance of domestic debt can only A small part of military expenditure needs to be solved, and it will inevitably affect various domestic industries. Therefore, now you need to issue as much foreign debt as possible to raise funds, because once a war breaks out, with the current situation of your country’s navy, it will be destroyed Partial blockade is a high probability time, when issuing foreign debt will become extremely impossible, understand?"

Henry was telling the truth.Regardless of the fact that the Spanish government transports a large amount of gold and silver back from the Americas every year, this country is known as the "gold funnel". Most of the precious metals are just transferred in their hands before going abroad. The actual income of the government is not high.Now it is necessary to expand the army, and it may be necessary to update equipment and pay arrears, so there is very little money that can be used for the navy.Without a strong navy, coastal defense is empty talk. The Mediterranean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet will become fleets that dare not leave the port. Foreign trade will be severely affected, and financing will become almost impossible. Therefore, early preparations are needed.

Compared with Spain, the French still have a little self-confidence.Louis XIV's fleet made a big splash in the last war, beating the Anglo-Dutch coalition forces to shame, and controlling the command of the sea for a long time.Therefore, the French have sufficient confidence that they will not be blocked in the next war, and they can also send troops to the North American continent to attack the enemy's overseas colonies.Although they also considered that the east coast navy might participate in the war, they did not think that the powerful French navy would do nothing. It seemed unlikely that the east coast people would completely block the French coastline and cut off the assistance of its overseas colonies.

"In short, be prepared in advance. The focus of your country is to defend against Portugal. They have territorial disputes with you. At the same time, try to maintain the integrity of Sicily, Naples and other southern territories, and cooperate with our army to subdue Savoy and threaten northern Italy. Those ambitious people." Henry finally said: "The people on the east coast have already stationed troops in Northern Italy, and it may become a big trouble there. It is impossible for our country to invest the main force on the southern front, and we need your necessary assistance."

Hearing this, Ambassador Castro sighed, then nodded, and said: "I will respond to Madrid. The Italians are not an indestructible force. If your country needs it, I think Spain can send an army to cooperate with it. , to open a gap in the southern front."

"That's good, I hope everything goes well." Henry picked up the coffee cup and said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)