Chapter 118: Military Reform

This two-person meeting eventually evolved into a small three-person conference. The extra person was, naturally, the individual with the highest prestige and status in the military besides Prime Minister Primo: the current Minister of Defense, Grand Duke Serrano.

When he was summoned to the Wang Gong on short notice, Grand Duke Serrano clearly did not know what was on the mind of Carlos. But once Carlos personally stated that Spain now needed to undergo a military reform, Grand Duke Serrano was first startled, then quickly reacted, and offered his stance:

"Your Majesty, I support the reform you speak of. Since the end of the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, there has been a significant gap between the Spanish military and the first-class armies of Europe.

If we cannot keep pace with the currently powerful German military, our Royal Army may end up like a stagnant pool of water, with its combat effectiveness becoming worse and worse."

The Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War—the two wars that established the German Empire—brought about absolutely enormous changes for the various countries of Europe.

These two wars also signaled that line infantry and muzzle-loading rifles had completely bid farewell to the historical stage, and breech-loading rifles and advanced artillery technology were increasingly being valued by all nations.

The current Spanish military has, at most, just over 100, 00 men, of which the garrisons in the various colonies add up to about 30, 00.

This also means that the troops stationed in the Spanish homeland number only about 70, 00; if we are to push forward with reform, the progress should be quite rapid.

But immediately after, Grand Duke Serrano also offered his own concerns based on the current state of the Spanish military: "However, I believe that regarding the matter of military reform, we should carefully consider the environment of the Spanish military.

The composition of our military is simply too complex; if we reform rashly, it might incite dissatisfaction among some soldiers, thereby leading to a coup."

Currently, the main body of the Spanish military is composed of the revolutionary-era army and the surrendered troops of the original kingdom government. Among the revolutionary army that moved first, besides conservative factions like Grand Duke Serrano, there were also some radical factions that supported a republic.

If we were to rashly initiate military reform, these radical republican elements would certainly not remain indifferent. This would cause severe damage to the already stable situation in Spain and could even push the outbreak of the next civil war.

"I am, of course, aware of all this, Grand Duke Serrano. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss a military reform plan that can effectively resolve this situation." Carlos nodded and said to Grand Duke Serrano:

"Despite the many difficulties, our military reform is very necessary. Military expenditures account for 25. % of our total fiscal spending, and at least one-third of that military budget can be saved.

If we complete the military reform, we can streamline the total number of troops to about 60, 00 to 70, 00, and the saved military funds can be used to purchase new weapons and equipment.

Even if we expand the army back to 100, 00, we can ensure that the new army will be much stronger than the current one. For the sake of Spain, this is something that must be done."

Carlos's attitude toward military reform was quite firm. There were indeed officers with good ability in the Spanish military, but there were also many who were simply coasting through their days.

This included many soldiers who were essentially just peasants holding rifles; they knew nothing of military knowledge, and when it came to fighting, they only knew how to raise their guns and aim blindly.

Although this phenomenon was very common in many European countries, this did not mean that Carlos was willing to see it in the Spanish military.

Spain's population was already small, which meant that the scale of the army Spain could assemble was far smaller than that of other great powers.

In a situation where the scale of the army was already small, if one could not even guarantee the combat effectiveness of the troops, then one might as well give up on competing with other great powers.

To deploy in the colonies while simultaneously ensuring the security of the Spanish homeland, one must possess an army of over 200, 00 men that ranks among the first-class in Europe.

Currently, it is difficult to meet the requirements in terms of numbers; after all, just maintaining an army of 100, 00 was already making the Spanish government's finances somewhat unbearable.

If we were to rashly expand the army to 200, 00, I fear that within a few years, Spain's economy would go bankrupt because of the massive military.

Therefore, in a situation where we cannot expand the number of troops, maximizing the military quality of every single soldier has become the only means to improve the army's combat effectiveness.

In a situation where we are unable to develop the navy in the short term, Spain must have an army with decent combat effectiveness to ensure that no great power has the courage to invade the Spanish homeland.

Prime Minister Primo, who was to the side, pondered for a long time before speaking: "Your Majesty, the greatest difficulty of military reform is where these streamlined soldiers will go.

If we cannot solve the problem of their employment, perhaps this military reform will incite dissatisfaction among some people."

Regarding this point, Carlos had actually thought of it long ago. When it comes down to it, it is because the current Spanish government was established after the revolution and was too considerate of the opinions of those revolutionary troops.

If it were the traditional Spanish kingdom government, how would they care about the opinions of those streamlined soldiers? In any case, if they had no work, they could be peasants; farming would at least keep them from starving to death.

"The construction of the Seville industrial base should be nearly finished, right? The first batch of soldiers who are withdrawn can choose to go to work in the factories of the Seville industrial base," Carlos said:

"I will ensure they receive a wage at the average income level; supporting their families will not be a problem. The current reform does not involve the colonial troops for the time being; it will only be carried out on our 70, 00 homeland troops.

We must streamline the 70, 00-man army to at least 50, 00, discharging those soldiers with low military literacy and mixed ideologies.

After completing the streamlining of the army, we can start the next step of the expansion plan, restoring our homeland army back to about 70, 00.

In the future, soldiers recruited by Spain must meet two conditions: physical fitness and ideological level. I hope that all 100, 00 Spanish soldiers are tested, excellent soldiers, rather than mercenaries just looking for an income.

As for those who insist on causing trouble, there is no need to tolerate them any longer. I believe you can solve these problems; if anyone wants to incite a rebellion, then suppress it ruthlessly and let them understand who the master of Spain is."

Hearing Carlos say this, Prime Minister Primo and Grand Duke Serrano both nodded, indicating they had no objections.

In reality, what they were worried about was precisely those soldiers who supported the government, not the radical factions that had ulterior motives against the government.

Among those unqualified soldiers and officers, many were supporters of the government, it was just that their own abilities were not very good.

If a way out could be arranged for these people, this military reform would still be feasible.

As for the radical republicans in the military, they were currently in the minority. And even if those republicans could incite a portion of the army to rebel, Carlos was not particularly worried.

After all, both military heavyweights, Primo and Serrano, were stationed in the capital; let alone the radical republicans, even if they joined forces with the Carlists, they were destined to be unable to break into Madrid.

It is true that Prime Minister Primo had offended some forces, but his prestige among the peasants and the new liberals was quite high.

And Grand Duke Serrano had now clearly become the representative figure of the Spanish nobility. Grand Duke Serrano had gradually been moving closer to the Wang Quan, and Carlos was naturally willing to see this military heavyweight express his loyalty to him; the two could be said to have hit it off immediately.

Prime Minister Primo's new liberals and reformists, Grand Duke Serrano's conservatives, and Cánovas's old royalists together formed the forces currently supporting Carlos in the Spanish government and military.

Those who opposed these forces, or rather, those who resisted the Spanish monarchical system, were naturally the so-called democrats and republicans.

However, after a series of policies and reforms, the current conservatives and reformists controlled the government and occupied the majority of seats in the Spanish parliament.

At the same time, the new liberals and royalists had also formed a certain amount of power; it could be said that the entire Spanish parliament was controlled by these four factions.

The republicans no longer had much of a market in Spain. The monarchy and Spain were inseparable; having no king meant that Spain would be torn apart.

It was precisely because of this point that the forces and factions supporting the monarchy in Spain had become more and more numerous, forming an overwhelming advantage over the factions supporting a republic.

Especially after defeating the Carlists, the peasants, who made up the majority of the Spanish population, also expressed their firm support for the monarchy.

Under such circumstances, even Prime Minister Primo could no longer change the fact that Spain was a monarchical country.

Since it had been decided to carry out military reform, the next most critical thing was to discuss the specific process of the military reform and when to implement this reform.

On this point, Grand Duke Serrano, as Minister of Defense, had a great deal of say.

Grand Duke Serrano knew the situation of the Spanish military best; he was naturally the most clear on how to carry out the reform and where to wield the knife.

After more than two hours of deliberation, Carlos and the two military heavyweights finally agreed on a preliminary plan for the Spanish military reform.

After this military reform, the 70, 00 troops in the Spanish homeland were to be expanded to 100, 00, which also meant that Spain would possess at least 130, 00 standing troops.

However, before expanding the army, the 70, 00 homeland troops must first undergo an extremely strict streamlining to discharge those soldiers and officers whose military literacy was not up to standard.

Officers would be filled by graduates from the military academy; basically, more than 400 graduates would join the army every year, so there was no need to worry about the reserve of officers.

After completely streamlining the army, the expansion process of the Spanish military would be launched. However, the requirements for this expansion would be very strict, requiring not only that the Spaniards joining the army possess good physical fitness, but also that their family backgrounds be clean, preferably generations of peasants.

The reason was also very simple: currently, peasants had the highest level of support for the monarchical government, and they were the least likely to join activities that resisted the government.

After completing this military reform, the government would also increase the income of soldiers and officers at its discretion according to the fiscal situation. Stabilizing the morale of the army by increasing the income of soldiers and officers was also something that Carlos, Prime Minister Primo, and Grand Duke Serrano had discussed.

Streamlining the army would inevitably lead to wavering morale; appropriately increasing wages would, in any case, have no downsides for the construction of the army.

3, 00 words, second update, seeking support!

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(End of chapter)