Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 222: Shifts In The Situation And A Major Order

“What? The Russian Army suffered heavy losses in their offensive on the Balkan Peninsula?” Carlo stood up in surprise, looking incredulously at the Director of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Cadillac.

“That’s right, Your Majesty.” Cadillac nodded and explained: “The Russian Army and the Ottoman Army engaged in fierce fighting around Plevna. The Ottoman Empire has not been able to recapture the Pshika Pass, and the Russian Army has also failed to capture Plevna.

According to the telegram from the frontline, the Russian Army has launched three assaults on Plevna, all of which failed. These three assaults resulted in over 50,000 troops lost for Russia, and Russia’s military strength on the Balkan frontline is now insufficient.”

Carlo quickly stepped forward and took the Balkan Region map that Cadillac had already prepared from his hand. It was marked with the offensive directions of the Russian and Ottoman Empire armies, as well as the battle damage ratios of both sides and their current remaining troops.

When the war first broke out, Russia mobilized seven armies, over 300,000 men, on the Danube River frontline. With these months of offensives, the total casualties of the Russian Army have approached 100,000, which is quite exaggerated.

Although some of the wounded can return to the frontline after treatment, that will be at least several months from now.

Russia will fall into an emergency state of having no troops available in these months; relying solely on 200,000 troops cannot defeat the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire possesses more advanced weapons and equipment, and since they are mostly in the defense stage, their battle damage ratio is lower than Russia’s.

If the war continues like this, it is not good news for Russia. Losing 100,000 troops won’t cripple Russia, but to capture the Ottoman Empire, they will probably need to lose several more times 100,000 troops.

With such massive troop losses, can Russia still take the entire Balkan Peninsula after the war? A fully victorious Russia might make other great powers wary, but a badly wounded Russia might even be coveted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Carlo pondered, assessing the impact of changes in the Balkan situation on Spain.

“Notify the Royal Arsenal and the diplomatic department. If the Russians want to maintain their offensive, they will need more troops and weapons and equipment—this is exactly our opportunity.” Finally, Carlo issued his decision.

The current changes in the Balkan situation do not yet affect Spain. For Spain, whether the Ottoman Empire or Russia achieves final victory, the impact on Spain is negligible.

Of course, Carlo hoped more that Russia could achieve final victory, as that would attract most of the British attention.

For the British, a Russia that wins the Russo-Turkish War is the more threatening country. Although Spain also poses some danger, compared to Russia with its vast territory and large population, Spain is obviously a level lower.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Cadillac nodded respectfully and withdrew.

While Carlo was quite surprised by the changes in the Balkan situation, on the Russian side, Tsar Alexander II was even more surprised than Carlo.

When Tsar Alexander II ascended the throne, it coincided with Russia’s disastrous defeat in the ninth Russo-Turkish War. Alexander II’s father, Nicholas I, died suddenly from the immense blow, leaving Alexander II determined to redeem that defeat.

But at the same time, Alexander II had more worries about the Russo-Turkish War. He feared repeating his father’s fate; he certainly wanted victory over the Ottoman Empire, but he also feared failure again.

When news came from the frontline of heavy losses for the Russian Army, Alexander II’s determination to fight wavered. He believed the Russian Army was in an extremely unfavorable and even dangerous situation, and even wanted to end the war to avoid even greater defeat.

Regarding the Tsar’s wavering resolve to fight, Russia’s current Minister of War, Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin, gave his opinion: “

Your Majesty, I admit that continuing like this will indeed cause our army enormous losses, and it might even be exhausted in a short time.

But this does not mean we can abandon it now, or we will inevitably face the same massive setback as in the last war.

Behind our frontline troops, Romania has nearly 40,000 mobilizable troops that can support us, and our border also has 70,000 mobilizable reserve forces.

By mobilizing some more reserves, not only will our frontline not suffer troop losses, but it can even increase by 50,000 to 100,000 men.

If we can breakthrough the Plevna Fortress, the land ahead will be open, and we will completely open the path to Constantinople.”

Minister of War Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin led the reform of the Russian Army and enjoyed the deep trust of Tsar Alexander II.

After persuasion from Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin, Alexander II regained his confidence and reissued orders to the frontline commander, Grand Duke Nicholas.

At the same time, Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin also gave his new opinion: “Your Majesty, although our frontline has lost 100,000 troops, our manpower can be well supplemented, and there is no need to worry about troop shortages in the short term.

If we can sign another arms trade treaty with countries like Spain, we won’t have to worry about weapons and equipment either. With manpower and weapons and equipment, our frontline will be as solid as steel, and even have enough strength to recapture the Plevna Fortress.

The current failure is brief for us; we will still be the victors of this war, and this cannot be changed or stopped by a mere setback.”

Tsar Nicholas II nodded.

The first batch of weapons and equipment provided by Spain has been transported to the frontline battlefield. Although the soldiers are somewhat unfamiliar with this weapons and equipment, after a few days of adaptation, deploying them in combat poses no problem.

Compared to weapons and equipment produced domestically in Russia, Spain’s rifles are more advanced, which has strengthened Russia’s frontline firepower to a certain extent.

Although rifles do not play a major role in fortress assaults and defenses, enhancing rifle firepower is very effective when defending against Ottoman Empire counterattacks.

Moreover, Spain is one of the few European countries currently willing to engage in arms trade with Russia, so Russia naturally must seize this opportunity.

Although Spain requires payment in gold and population, these are not scarce for Russia at present. The Romanov Family’s rule over Russia has lasted for centuries; paying with some gold is effortless.

Moreover, besides gold, Russia’s abundant farmers and mineral resources can also pay for weapons and equipment purchased from Spain.

As long as they can win the war, let alone using population and mineral resources, even paying only with gold would be a sure profit.

With another order from Tsar Alexander II issued, the Russian Government also entered a state of busyness.

First, the frontline commander, Commander-in-Chief of the Danube River Army Group Grand Duke Nicholas, requested aid from Romanian Grand Duke Carol I, asking Romania to dispatch troops to assist the Russian Army in combat.

In the aid request telegram, Grand Duke Nicholas detailed the dilemmas faced by the Russian frontline and additionally explained that if Russia failed in the offensive, Romania would face the Ottoman Empire’s troops alone.

Russia’s defeat means little to Romania, but facing the Ottoman Empire’s offensive alone would certainly panic Romania.

Sure enough, after receiving Grand Duke Nicholas’s telegram, Romanian Grand Duke Carol I quickly agreed to the aid request and dispatched 40,000 troops to assist the Russian Army on the frontline.

With 40,000 Romanian troops assisting the Russian Army, Grand Duke Nicholas finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although this cannot change the frontline battlefield situation, it can at least ensure that the Russian Army does not collapse rapidly during the troop shortage period.

It can also allow the Russian Army to hold out longer, awaiting the arrival of real Russian reinforcements.

This also inevitably mentions the changes brought to Russia by the military reform promoted by Minister of War Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin.

Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin’s military reform mainly focused on conscription system reform, military management system reform, and military educational reform.

Before the reform, the Russian Army mainly relied on the volunteer system to maintain army size, and there were class gaps among noble soldiers, landlord soldiers, and farmer soldiers in the army.

But after Milyutin’s military reform, Russia’s conscription system changed to compulsory service, with Russian citizens aged 20 to 25 obligated to serve in the Russian Army for 6 to 7 years of active service and 3 years of reserve force.

After implementing this conscription system, Russia not only had sufficient troop sources but also ample reserves.

Don’t think Russia’s current army size is only 700,000; including those reserves, the troops Russia can mobilize exceed one million.

If fully mobilized, arming over 5 million troops is no problem, which is why European countries fear Russia.

Not to mention 5 million troops; among European countries, those capable of arming 1 million troops are actually only the five traditional great powers and Italy and Spain, seven in total.

Countries capable of arming 2 million troops are only the five traditional great powers; this is an army scale that ordinary great powers cannot handle.

2 million troops are not just 2 million people; they also represent at least 2 million rifles, tens of millions or even over 100 million bullets, thousands of cannons, and 2 million sets of uniforms and boots, etc., in arms.

Soldiers’ food, drink, and daily needs require massive funds; whether training or combat, the consumption of bullets and cannonballs is an incalculable enormous expenditure.

Italy’s population exceeds 29 million, capable of arming over 2 million troops. But if the Italian Government were responsible for the daily expenditure of these 2 million troops, Italy’s finances would quickly fall into crisis in a short time.

Even if the war is fought on other countries’ territory, for any country deploying 2 million troops, military expenditure is extremely massive.

If the war is on one’s own territory, the losses are immeasurable, possibly unrecoverable even after a decade or two.

France in World War I was like that. France not only deployed millions of troops, but the war was also on French territory.

This caused tremendous destruction to France’s industry and economy, with population sharply declining, and it took over a decade to recover.

While Grand Duke Nicholas was contacting Romania, Russia’s diplomatic department was already contacting Spain to seek purchase of more weapons and equipment.

Due to prior cooperation, the Russian diplomatic ambassador directly approached the Royal Arsenal, requesting to reach another larger-scale weapons purchase order with the Royal Arsenal.

Because Carlo had previously reached relevant agreements with Russia’s diplomatic department, the Royal Arsenal did not hesitate and immediately signed a larger-scale weapons purchase order with the Russian side.

Because the Russians’ first order had been delivered by the end of last month, their appetite for this order became even larger.

The previous order was for 100,000 rifles; this order the Russians ordered a full 250,000 rifles, 770 cannons, 65 million bullets, and 250,000 cannonballs.

This also shows the Russian Military’s trust in Spanish-manufactured weapons and equipment; after all, 250,000 rifles is no small number, and countries with army sizes over 250,000 are currently only the five great powers.

Because the order was quite urgent, the Russian side did not prepare sufficient mineral resources. Therefore, the payment method for this order is entirely in gold and Russian farmers.

According to the previous agreement between the Russian Government and Spain, each Russian farmer can offset 200 pesetas of funds. This time, the Russian Government plans to immigrate 20,000 Russian farmers to offset most of the order expenses, with the remainder paid in gold.

The transfer of farmers will also proceed from the Baltic Sea; this is safer, although the journey will be longer.

The Royal Arsenal naturally has no objection to this. These Russian farmers transported to the colonies are excellent labor; they play an extremely important role in the development of Spanish colonies, so naturally the more such people, the better.

Although 20,000 Russians seem like a lot, divided among several colonies, the actual number of Russian farmers each colony receives is not much.

Dispersing these Russian farmers also has the benefit of maximizing their stability.

Moreover, these Russian farmers are inherently obedient civilians; their probability of rebellion is much lower than that of indigenous people.

Due to the frontline’s urgent need for weapons and equipment, the Russian side also made its own demands. Russia requires that these weapons and equipment be transported within five months, and the first batch of 100,000 rifles must arrive at Russia’s Baltic Sea coast within two months.

Producing 250,000 rifles within five months is a quite harsh requirement for the Royal Arsenal. Not to mention the 770 cannons, 65 million bullets, and 250,000 cannonballs; even for the expanding Royal Arsenal, it would take at least over a year to complete production.

But because Carlo had instructed the Royal Arsenal to urgently produce weapons and equipment for export preparation right when the Balkan Region fell into turmoil, the Royal Arsenal had already stockpiled over 200,000 rifles, 600 cannons, nearly 100 million bullets, and over 1 million cannonballs before the Russo-Turkish War broke out.

After completing the first transaction with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, most of these weapons and equipment stockpiles were cleared.

But in these months, the Royal Arsenal produced another batch of weapons and equipment, enriching the arsenal’s reserves again.

For the Royal Arsenal, completing Russia’s order within five months is indeed somewhat difficult, but fortunately, not too difficult.

At worst, part of the bullet and cannonball orders can be transferred to other small arsenals, with the Royal Arsenal only responsible for producing rifles and cannons.

This can also allow Spain’s entire arms industry to expand rapidly, better than the Royal Arsenal monopolizing the cake.

Although monopoly better promotes military technology development, if there can be a hundred flowers blooming, Carlo is willing to allow more competition in Spain’s military industry.

Transferring some bullet and cannonball orders out also allows the Royal Arsenal to take on more rifle and cannon orders.

Anyway, the Royal Arsenal has already earned sufficient profit through these orders; appropriately sharing some cake with other arsenals is nothing for the Royal Arsenal.

The diplomatic ambassador who signed the new arms trade treaty with the Royal Arsenal excitedly reported the news back to Russia, while the Royal Arsenal side was holding a celebration banquet for signing the new arms trade order.

These two orders from Russia are no small sums; the profit gained by the Royal Arsenal is enough to support the arsenal’s next two years of weapons research and development and transformation research.

Carlo is not stingy; as early as the first arms trade order with Russia, Carlo specifically instructed that the Royal Arsenal could retain most of the profit from this arms trade for the arsenal’s research.

The remaining small portion of profit is shared with all arsenal employees, giving them a sense of participation.

Ultimately, each employee receives a reward roughly equivalent to one or two months’ salary, but as extra income, every arsenal employee receiving this reward will surely be beaming with joy.

And Carlo, who distributes this reward, will naturally be gratefully indebted by the arsenal employees.

Improving the treatment of employees in all factories and enterprises under the royal family is a strategy Carlo has long formulated.

The purpose of doing so is naturally to maintain a significant gap with the employee treatment under entrepreneurs.

This way, while workers hate the capitalist class, they will also be gratefully indebted to Carlo and the royal family.

With the working class on the royal family’s side, what could threaten Carlo’s throne?

As for the capitalists who might be offended by this, Carlo is not worried at all. Spain is following the path of state capitalism, more precisely, state monopoly capitalism.

Spain’s several more important industry sectors are all monopolized by the Spanish Government and royal family enterprises; civilian capitalists cannot achieve monopoly status, so their capital force naturally cannot threaten the government and royal family.

After all, the Spanish Government and royal family are Spain’s two largest capitalists; in front of these two largest capitalists, what threat can other small capitals pose?

The downside of state capitalism is rampant corruption; Carlo only needs to monitor corruption in state and royal family controlled enterprises to basically ensure Spain’s future development and win the popular support of Spanish workers.

5200-word two-in-one chapter, seeking support!