Chapter 132: The Debate on Military Expansion

In fact, for every colonial nation, colonial resistance has always been the most troublesome issue and the largest expense in managing colonies.

Spain currently has three large colonies: Cuba, the Philippines, and Southern Morocco.

Aside from Southern Morocco, which was just occupied and has no large-scale resistance, the other two colonies both face significant resistance.

For the Spanish government, the hope is certainly that the colonies of Cuba and the Philippines can remain stable, providing a continuous stream of income to support the development of the Spanish mainland.

Only when the Spanish mainland becomes stronger can it better protect these colonies, continuously expand Spain's sphere of influence, and ultimately achieve the revival of Spain.

To ensure the stability of the Cuba and Philippines colonies, after discussions in the cabinet meeting, it was finally decided to increase the size of the garrisons in both colonies.

As mentioned before, the total size of the Spanish military is only about 100, 00, with approximately 70, 00 troops on the mainland and about 30, 00 in colonial garrisons.

As one of Spain's most important colonies, Cuba has a total colonial garrison of 12, 00, making it the colony with the largest number of garrison troops in Spain.

Ranking second is the Philippines colony, with a total of about 4, 00 garrison troops. Near the Philippines, Spain also possesses a colony on Kalimantan with about 3, 00 garrison troops.

Yes, Spain did indeed have a colony on the island of Kalimantan. Although the history of the Sulu colony only adds up to 30 years, it is currently a real Spanish colony, and its total area is not small.

Spain has stationed a total of about 7, 00 troops in the Philippines and Sulu, which indirectly proves that the Philippines colony, including Sulu, is still very important to Spain.

Excluding the two extremely important colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, Spain's garrisons in the northern Moroccan cities of Ceuta and Tetuán also exceed 8, 00.

Apart from these three colonies with garrisons in the thousands, the remaining colonies, including Puerto Rico, Guinea, and the Canary Islands, each have only a little over 1, 00 garrison soldiers.

Of course, the Southern Morocco colony is also currently expanding the size of its garrison. Although the number of these colonial garrison troops seems large, only about half are true Spaniards; the rest are native soldiers recruited locally in the colonies.

If only Spaniards are counted, the current number of troops in each colony is still somewhat low. Especially in Cuba and the Philippines, these two colonies can clearly afford more troops, and it is necessary to strengthen the local military size to ensure the stability of these colonies.

All colonial garrison units combined total about 14 regiments, with a total force of about 32, 00.

Such a military scale is not only incapable of supporting the Spanish mainland in specific circumstances, but it is also not easy to maintain the stability of Spain's existing colonies.

Expanding the size of the existing colonial military is very necessary; this concerns not only the stability of Spain's various colonies but also, to a certain extent, the stability within Spain itself.

Regarding colonial military affairs, Ka Luo still has a relatively significant say. The colonial military follows the leadership of the colonial government and the Viceroy, and the colonial Viceroy is appointed by the King.

On this point, Prime Minister Primo's influence is not as high as Ka Luo's. However, because Prime Minister Primo has actually served as a colonial Viceroy, his influence on individual colonies is certainly much higher than Ka Luo's.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I suggest increasing our 14 colonial garrison regiments to 25; the problem of insufficient troops in each colony could then be easily solved." Minister of Colonial Affairs Scotti Alvarez put forward his opinion on the problem of insufficient colonial troops.

But before Prime Minister Primo could express his attitude toward this opinion, Minister of Finance Ewald Bartel stood up and retorted: "Mr. Scotti, have you ever thought that the kingdom's finances simply cannot afford such a scale of colonial military?"

"25 garrison regiments, a force of nearly 60, 00—do our colonies really need so many people?"

Differing opinions between the Minister of Colonial Affairs and the Minister of Finance are already very common in the cabinet; after all, their perspectives on issues are different.

As the Colonial Minister, what Scotti thinks about is, of course, expanding the colonial military and enhancing the influence of the colonies, which can also indirectly enhance his own influence as Colonial Minister.

And as the Minister of Finance, what Ewald must protect first is the nation's finances. If any cabinet minister could pass a proposal to siphon off a large budget from the treasury, then the Ministry of Finance would lose its purpose.

Finance is very important as the core of a national department, and Ewald is also one of Prime Minister Primo's confidants.

Precisely because he knew that Prime Minister Primo's attitude toward reform and mainland development was higher than that toward the colonies, Ewald stood up to oppose Scotti first.

If the government's finances were all used to expand the colonial military, what would happen to the development of the mainland?

Ka Luo watched the officials' argument without making any move. Even though Ka Luo has a say in colonial matters, as a King, it is best not to clearly favor one side before the ministers have reached a conclusion.

This not only keeps one in an invincible position but also allows one to use others' means to achieve one's own goals.

If Ka Luo had clearly expressed support for one side at the meeting, it would not only offend the other side being refuted but would also highly link himself to the side being supported.

The current Spanish cabinet government is clearly still run by Prime Minister Primo, and Ka Luo was also waiting for Prime Minister Primo's opinion.

Seeing that his subordinates had argued for a long time without reaching a clear result, and that the other people with a say, Grand Duke Serrano and Ka Luo, had no intention of stepping in, Prime Minister Primo had to stand up and stop the cabinet government's argument.

"There is nothing to argue about regarding this matter. Our colonial armed forces are indeed somewhat weak, but we cannot expand the military on a large scale," Prime Minister Primo said.

"Considering our government's financial capacity, I believe that expanding the number of colonial garrison regiments to about 20 is the most appropriate."

"If there are too many, it will affect the government's finances and cause harm to the development of the mainland. But if we do not expand the military, the problems in each colony will continue, which is also unfavorable to Spain's development."

"Your Majesty, I think we should expand the number of colonial garrison regiments to 20, and at the same time equip these colonial units with a certain number of Spanish officers, while soldiers can recruit a portion of local natives to join."

"As long as there are Spanish officers to maintain the order of the army, the stability of these colonial troops can be ensured."

First update, seeking support!

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(End of chapter)