Chapter 234: Troop Deployment and the Massive Expansion of the Colonies

When Gao Da received Manuel's report on the operation, two days had already passed since the action took place.

Although the message arrived a bit late, it was fortunately news that Gao Da was pleased to hear.

With the cooperation of the tribal leaders, Manuel quickly gained control over the entire Bangi tribe and categorized the populations of the Bangi tribe and several nearby indigenous villages.

Over 200, 00 indigenous people ultimately contributed more than 70, 00 adult male laborers to the Congo territory, which suddenly made the labor force in the Congo territory abundant.

In addition to these 70, 00 adult male laborers, Manuel also held nearly 100, 00 elderly, weak, women, and children, who served as bargaining chips to keep those male laborers in check.

If they wanted their families and relatives to remain safe, the adult male indigenous people had to work at designated Spanish workplaces for one year.

Fortunately, Manuel had also personally promised that their work would earn food and other supplies for them and their families, which left these indigenous people with no intention of resisting.

Although he held the families of these indigenous people, for the sake of the Congo territory's security, Manuel immediately requested assistance from the nearby Guinea colony and sent a telegram to Spain, requesting that Gao Da prioritize sending two colonial garrison regiments to help him maintain order.

Although Gao Da had given him the authority to form a larger army in the Congo territory, it was certainly too late to form one now.

For the time being, they could only rely on garrison regiments from other colonies to maintain order; it would take at least half a year for the Congo territory's own army to be trained and form combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the loyalty of soldiers selected from the indigenous people of the Congo territory could not be guaranteed. Therefore, Manuel also requested that Gao Da transport a portion of indigenous people from colonies with larger indigenous populations, such as South Morocco and the Philippines, to serve as the manpower for the new army in the Congo territory.

The number of these foreign indigenous people did not need to be large; as long as they could be kept at half the strength of the Congo territory's army, the entire force could be kept under control.

After all, considering the combat effectiveness of the army being formed, the colonial division Manuel was about to establish would retain at least 2 to 3 colonial garrison regiments as the main force.

These two or three colonial garrison regiments accounted for 5, 00 to 7, 00 troops, and combined with the nearly 10, 00 troops transported from other colonies, they already made up the majority of the division's 20, 00-strong force.

Even if the soldiers selected from the Congo territory lacked loyalty, they would be unable to influence the entire division.

When promoting Manuel to Major General, Gao Da had already issued an order to transfer one colonial garrison regiment each from the Guinea and South Morocco colonies to the Congo territory.

Unexpectedly, only a few days later, Manuel gave Gao Da a big surprise. Gao Da had originally thought Manuel's operation would wait until those two colonial garrison regiments arrived, but he did not expect that, relying solely on his 2, 00 troops, he had managed to take down a large indigenous tribe with a population of over 100, 00.

Of course, this was certainly a good thing for Spain. With these tens of thousands of indigenous laborers, the construction of Spain's Congo territory would surely be more rapid.

As for the casualties caused to the indigenous population by the attack on the tribe, no one in all of Spain would care.

Not only would Gao Da not criticize Manuel for acting without authorization, but he would also highly praise the merit he had achieved.

In the reply telegram to Manuel, Gao Da stated that the two supporting colonial garrison regiments were already on their way. The troops transferred from the Guinea colony, which was closest to the Congo territory, might arrive before Manuel even received Gao Da's reply, and the troops from the more distant South Morocco colony could also arrive in the Congo territory within a week.

In addition to verbal rewards for Manuel, Gao Da also decided to increase his support for him.

It was necessary to form a colonial division in the Congo territory, and the local indigenous people lacked credibility; at the very least, they could not be expected to lay down their lives for the Spanish.

Precisely because of this, Spain needed to transport a large number of troops to the Congo territory to help Manuel complete the formation of the colonial division as soon as possible.

Regarding the transfer of troops, Gao Da had already made plans.

Although the population of the South Morocco colony was not the largest among Spain's colonies, these Moroccans were the most trustworthy of all the colonial populations.

Of course, this was excluding the European colonial population. If one were to speak of the colonial indigenous people with the most hope of being assimilated, it could only be the Moroccans.

They were at least quite similar to the Spanish in skin color and appearance; they only needed to learn Spanish and convert to Catholicism, and it would be impossible to tell they were of Moroccan descent.

After all, to put it bluntly, a large number of Islamic believers had once existed on the land of Spain. Spain had plenty of experience in converting Islamic believers into Catholic believers.

If gentle methods of conversion were not feasible, then forced conversion could also be employed. During the process of Spain's transition from Islam to Catholicism, the Inquisition had played a huge role.

If the Moroccans in the South Morocco colony had not been relatively obedient, Gao Da would have planned to establish an Inquisition in South Morocco to help Catholicism expand in Moroccan territory.

It was only because Moroccans were white that Gao Da went to such lengths to assimilate them. Had they been black, Gao Da would have had no intention of assimilation at all; he would only have squeezed out all their value and then dispersed or eliminated them.

Counting the two colonial garrison regiments about to arrive in the Congo territory, the Congo territory currently possessed less than 7, 00 troops.

The full-strength colonial division Gao Da planned would have nearly 20, 00 troops, which meant the Congo territory's army still had a vacancy of at least 13, 00 troops.

Because it was a colonial matter, Gao Da had a great deal of say. After communicating with Grand Duke Serrano, Gao Da issued his orders without hesitation.

The majority of this 13, 00-man vacancy would be filled by the South Morocco colony and the Philippines colony.

The South Morocco colony would provide 5, 00 troops, and these 5, 00 men would undergo rigorous screening to ensure their loyalty to Spain.

These 5, 00 soldiers and their families would travel to the Congo territory together, where they would be permanent residents and formally recognized as citizens of the Congo territory.

In this way, they could shed their status as colonial indigenous people, and applying for Spanish citizenship would become much easier.

Of course, becoming full residents of the Congo territory was also an option. The Congo territory possessed vast tracts of undeveloped land; if they were willing to live in the Congo territory long-term, they could also clear land for farming themselves.

After all, Spain had obtained a large amount of labor from the Bangi tribe, and these laborers could be hired by them to clear land.

Simply put, these Moroccans selected as soldiers had completely shed their indigenous status; their status in the Congo territory would become that of the upper class, in turn enslaving the local indigenous people.

There remained a vacancy of 8, 00 troops; the Philippines would provide 5, 00, and the remaining 3, 00 would be recruited locally in the Congo.

The conditions for the Philippine indigenous people would be worse, as they were not a white population and would be more difficult to assimilate.

But as long as their loyalty to Spain was sufficient, they would also have the opportunity to apply for Spanish citizenship. Even if they could not join as Spanish citizens, they would definitely not be the lowest class in the Congo territory, as there would still be black slaves they could easily enslave.

By the same token, these 5, 00 Philippine soldiers could also bring their families to the Congo territory. Doing this, besides promoting the population development of the Congo territory, also used the soldiers' families to ensure their loyalty.

Under normal circumstances, their families would live very happily in the Congo territory. But if any problems arose in the army, these soldiers' families would become a means to threaten these indigenous soldiers, forcing them to obey Spanish rule.

Although this seemed somewhat cruel, no one would sympathize with those indigenous people. Moreover, compared to the indigenous people who remained in the colonies suffering from slavery and oppression, those who were fortunate enough to be selected as soldiers were much luckier.

As long as they were obedient, obtaining Spanish citizenship in the future would not be difficult. They could also shed their indigenous status and become the elite of the colony.

Actually, Gao Da could have transferred enough troops from the South Morocco and Philippines colonies to the Congo territory without needing to recruit locally in the Congo.

But considering that transporting troops from South Morocco and the Philippines would take a long time, and was not only too costly but also quite troublesome, Gao Da ultimately decided to form a regiment-sized local indigenous army.

While the loyalty of these local indigenous troops in the Congo territory was unreliable, they were fine to use as cannon fodder as long as there were supervisory teams present.

These local indigenous troops had one advantage: if soldiers died, they could be replenished at any time. The entire Congo territory had at least millions of indigenous people; even if a few tens of thousands died, Spain would absolutely not feel any heartache.

And this was only the current extent of the Congo territory. If they continued deeper into the lower reaches of the Congo River and occupied the Kingdom of Congo, the local indigenous population would reach as high as tens of millions.

If these indigenous people were utilized well, they could also become millions of laborers and cannon fodder. With these laborers building the Congo territory, its development could change with each passing day, quickly becoming one of the colonies that realized a positive return for Spain.

Although this indeed solved the Congo territory's troop problem, a new problem faced Gao Da: the South Morocco and Guinea colonies, from which troops were being transferred, were now also short of manpower.

Before Manuel's colonial division was formed, Spain had a total of 20 colonial garrison regiments with a total of 46, 00 troops.

These 20 colonial garrison regiments were distributed across Spain's Cuba, South Morocco, Congo, Guinea, and Philippines colonies, and the original troop levels were barely sufficient.

But with Gao Da repeatedly transferring troops from the South Morocco colony, the South Morocco colony now had some vacancies.

The current distribution of Spain's 20 colonial garrison regiments was:

The most profitable Cuba colony had a total of 6 colonial garrison regiments with 14, 00 troops, and the Philippines colony, which had recently undergone major development, had a total of 6 colonial garrison regiments with 11, 00 troops.

The South Morocco colony, closest to the mainland, had a total of 3 colonial garrison regiments with about 7, 00 troops, and the Congo territory had a total of 3 colonial garrison regiments with about 7, 00 troops.

The Guinea colony had a total of two colonial garrison regiments with a total of 4, 00 troops.

Even counting the colonial division Manuel was about to form, the only Spanish colony with sufficient troops was the Guinea colony.

The stability of the Cuba colony had always been a problem; six colonial garrison regiments with only 14, 00 troops made it difficult to ensure Cuba's stability.

South Morocco, naturally, went without saying. The Kingdom of Morocco in the north had an increasingly deep hatred for Spain, and coupled with the assimilation policy Spain implemented in South Morocco, it was very necessary to dispatch more people to garrison Morocco.

The Philippines currently had two directions for expansion: one was to continue expanding on the island of Kalimantan, and the other was to reach out to the island of New Guinea and engage in colonial competition with the great powers.

Regardless of the direction of expansion, Morocco needed more colonial troops to protect the security of the colony.

The Congo territory, naturally, went without saying. This was a piece of land already approaching one million square kilometers; even after the colonial division was formed, it might not be able to keep an eye on so many indigenous people within the colony's borders.

If Spain only intended to utilize a portion of the indigenous labor and develop the Congo territory slowly, then that would be fine; 20, 00 men would be enough to ensure the security of the Congo territory.

But Spain's goal was not just a portion of the indigenous people; it intended to utilize hundreds of thousands of indigenous people to rapidly clear the Congo territory.

Therefore, the garrison strength of the Congo territory also needed to be strengthened to ensure that these indigenous people would not unite to resist Spanish rule.

The only one without the worry of insufficient troops was perhaps only the Guinea colony, which did not intend to expand.

Actually, there were still many directions for the Guinea colony to expand. The area of Spain's Guinea colony was quite large; although it was only along the coast, it involved several African countries of later generations, including Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.

Whether expanding north or east, the Guinea colony could obtain hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land. Moreover, these lands were suitable for agricultural development and were located on the coast, making sea transport quite convenient.

But because Spain lacked the manpower and financial resources and could only focus on developing one colony, it had to temporarily abandon the development of the Guinea colony.

Since Gao Da's ascension to the throne, he had indeed temporarily abandoned the development of the Guinea colony, and the expansion of the Guinea colony had also slowed down.

However, with the development of the Congo territory, the Guinea colony would sooner or later have to expand. Gao Da's plan for the scope of the Congo territory was to form a triangular zone along the Congo River with the Guinea colony, and Spain would fully occupy this triangular zone.

Calculated by area, this would be a piece of land approaching 3 million square kilometers, including the two Congos, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic of later generations.

As for the Kingdom of Congo south of the lower reaches of the Congo River, which was the Angola region of later generations, it had already fallen under the control of Portugal, and Gao Da did not intend to have a conflict with Portugal for the time being.

After all, there was still a vast amount of unoccupied land in Africa for Spain to develop; there was no need to set his sights on Portugal for the moment.

Doing so would only intensify the contradictions between Spain and Portugal and would also destroy Gao Da's layout in Portugal.

If the Portuguese were allowed to hate the Spanish too much, then annexing Portugal in the future would be impossible. Although there was not much difference between the Portuguese and the Spanish, it would take decades or even hundreds of years to integrate the Portuguese into the large Spanish collective.

This would have to wait until problems erupted within Portugal itself, causing the Portuguese to lose confidence in their government and royal family.

If Spain forcibly invaded and annexed it, the outcome would be no different from Spain's historical annexation of Portugal. Forced annexation would only make the Portuguese hate the Spanish even more, and the final result would still be the two nations parting ways.

According to the troop deployment situation in each colony, both the South Morocco colony and the Philippines colony needed to further expand their military numbers.

After discussions with Grand Duke Serrano, Gao Da also decided to expand the number of Spain's colonial garrison regiments to 30.

This number was an increase of 10 over the original, which meant 23, 00 more troops. Manuel's colonial division possessed 8 colonial garrison regiments and over 20, 00 troops, which was the reason Gao Da directly expanded by 10 colonial garrison regiments.

Because the Congo territory had to add 3 more garrison regiments on top of the existing 3, this resulted in the other colonies only being able to share the remaining 7.

After consideration, Gao Da decided to send 2 additional colonial garrison regiments each to the Cuba colony, the Philippines colony, and the South Morocco colony, and 1 additional colonial garrison regiment to the Guinea colony.

Doing this could ensure that Cuba, the Philippines, and South Morocco continued to maintain stability. Especially for Cuba, before Spain truly reached a colonial exchange agreement with foreign countries, it was very necessary to maintain Cuba's stability.

Sending additional troops to the Guinea colony was also considering that if the Congo territory had troop needs in the future, they could be transferred from the closer Guinea colony.

In this way, the Guinea colony would possess 3 colonial garrison regiments. In an emergency, at least 2 colonial garrison regiments could be mobilized to quickly head to the Congo territory.

One colonial division plus 2 additional colonial garrison regiments was already nearly 25, 00 troops.

Honestly, Gao Da did not think the local indigenous people of the Congo territory could threaten these 25, 00 troops.

Although the colonial garrison regiments did not have any decent heavy firepower, 10 colonial garrison regiments possessed 30 artillery pieces, which was not something those colonial indigenous people without firearms could compare with.

After the Belgian King Leopold II obtained the Congo in history, he only formed an army of over 10, 00 to ensure the Congo's stability and implemented quite cruel rule in the Congo.

Gao Da's rule in the Congo was not as cruel as Leopold II's. After all, that king was someone who would cut off hands at the drop of a hat; although Leopold II never personally arrived in the Congo, under his rule, at least millions of Congolese indigenous people had their hands and feet cut off, a number Gao Da was far from reaching.

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(End of chapter)