Chapter 282: The Ashanti War

The construction of warships by Spain and Italy did not trigger a naval arms race in Europe, but once the French also high-profilely announced the construction of six ironclads within the next five years, a small-scale naval arms race in Europe broke out nonetheless.

The reason for the outbreak of the naval arms race is simple: the French act of high-profile naval expansion aroused the suspicion of other countries.

Perhaps even France did not expect that they were originally just responding to the alliance between Spain and Italy in the Mediterranean region, but unexpectedly, it aroused the attention of Britain and Germany in the North Sea region.

The French possess the world's second-largest fleet, and they are still expanding their navy with great fanfare; is this not clearly challenging the British naval hegemony?

The British were not at all polite either; a few days after France announced its shipbuilding plan, they announced their own.

Since the French announced that they would build six ironclads in the next five years, the British naturally chose to keep up, also announcing the construction of six ironclads within the next five years.

Following closely was Germany. If one speaks of suspicion toward France, Germany is perhaps even more severe than Britain.

The reason why Chancellor Bismarck formulated a policy of isolating France is precisely because the suspicion of France within Germany is quite severe, even reaching the point of "fear."

Of course, this does not mean Germany fears the current France. The so-called fear actually refers to Germany's fear of France's retaliation against Germany after its recovery.

It is precisely because of this that the German government has made up its mind to do everything possible to prevent France's revival, to control the threat of France within a certain range as much as possible, and to launch a war to destroy France in time when it cannot be prevented.

Of course, the speed at which Germany builds ironclads is certainly not as exaggerated as that of Britain and France. After all, Germany still has a massive army, and coupled with the lack of income from colonies, it is not as wealthy as Britain and France in terms of finance.

Like Spain, Germany also announced the construction of four ironclads in the next five years to strengthen the strength of its High Seas Fleet.

After Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also announced its own shipbuilding plan. The Austrian government intends to build two ironclads in the next five years to match the strength of the Italian navy.

If one speaks of the country with the worst geopolitical environment among all the great powers, I am afraid that besides Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can also be on the list.

To the east and west of Germany are the European bulldozer, the Russian Empire, and the former European hegemon, France; the northern coast faces Britain across the sea; to the south are the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, separated by Switzerland; it can be said to be surrounded by several great powers.

The environment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not much better. To the north is the powerful German Empire, and to the east is the formidable enemy, Russia; it is also in a land of four wars.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire has an outlet to the sea, the location of the outlet is even worse than that of Italy, a Mediterranean country. The Italian navy only needs to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean to reach the ocean, while the Austro-Hungarian navy, if it wants to reach the ocean, must first go from the Adriatic Sea at its doorstep to the Mediterranean, and then cross a strait or canal.

What is even more fatal is that the Adriatic Sea is a bay that is narrow from east to west and long from north to south, with the Apennine Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula on the east and west sides respectively.

This means that the Austro-Hungarian navy will not only be blocked by Britain from the two outlets of the Mediterranean, but may also be blocked by Italy from the outlet of the Adriatic Sea.

The reason why the Austro-Hungarian Empire followed Italy in building a navy is precisely to prevent a blockade by Italy. Although the relationship between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy is not too bad, it is not too good either.

If it were not for the marriage between the Spanish royal family and the Austro-Hungarian royal family, which to a certain extent eased the relationship between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I am afraid that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's precautions against Italy would be even greater.

Although most of the European great powers participated in this small-scale naval arms race, there was also a country that was indifferent to the naval expansion of various countries, and that was the Russian Empire.

After the assassination of Alexander II, Russia became low-key in Europe. Tsar Alexander III was afraid of following in his father's footsteps and rarely participated in government decision-making, especially regarding the reforms promoted by Alexander II; Alexander III rarely offered suggestions and just acted as a heartless signing machine.

Although this indeed avoided the assassination of Alexander III by extreme anarchists, it also caused Russia's reforms to go in the opposite direction of what Alexander II had hoped for.

In the short time since the assassination of Alexander II, the Russian government has already abolished many decrees related to reform, and it is just short of directly declaring the reforms of Alexander II illegal.

Under such chaotic circumstances, the Russian government naturally would not join the European naval arms race. For the nobles who control the Russian government, the precious finances of the Russian government cannot be spent on the navy; it is enough for Russia to maintain the current size of its navy.

Even Gao Da did not expect that Spain only signed an order for two ironclads with Italy, which triggered a naval arms race throughout Europe.

However, this is good news for Spain. According to the historical process, the last few years are the final glory of ironclads.

By the last year of the 1880s, that is, 1889, battleships will be born, and ironclads will be swept into the dustbin of history.

Don't look at the fact that there are still 8 years until 1889; in fact, it is just a blink of an eye. The construction of warships takes a long time, and it is impossible for warships to be commissioned into the navy without two or three years.

The act of building six ironclads with great fanfare like France might not be able to commission all six ironclads into the naval fleet by the time the battleship era arrives.

And the funds France invested in ironclads are real, which also means that they cannot give up the construction of ironclads.

When the battleship era arrives, Spain can vigorously build its own battleships, and the investment in ironclads can be appropriately abandoned.

Although it inadvertently triggered the European naval arms race, the Spanish government did not focus too much on the naval arms race itself.

After sending off the Italian warship purchasing delegation, the Spanish government decided to launch a war against the Ashanti Federation.

During this period, Spain's alienation of the various tribes of the Ashanti Federation was quite effective. At least the attitude of other tribes toward the most powerful tribe, the Ashanti tribe, became much colder, and it even caused a fierce quarrel in the Ashanti Chief Council.

The reason for the quarrel is precisely the Ashanti Chief's encroachment on the interests of various tribes over a long period of time. Although on the surface the Ashanti Chief has no power to interfere in the affairs of other tribes, as the ruler of the entire federation, the implicit power of the Ashanti Chief is much greater than the power on the surface.

This also led to considerable hatred of other tribes toward the Ashanti Chief and the Ashanti tribe; after Spain's provocation, it almost caused internal strife in the entire federation.

Although it did not lead to a civil war in the Ashanti tribe, such a situation was already enough for Spain.

After all five colonial garrison regiments were ready, the Spanish Gold Coast colonial government used the excuse that the natives of the Ashanti tribe invaded the land of the Gold Coast while hunting to issue an ultimatum to the Ashanti tribe, demanding that the Ashanti tribe hand over the natives who invaded the Gold Coast land within 24 hours and pay a sum of compensation to the Gold Coast colonial government.

When the original words of the Gold Coast colonial government were translated into the native language and told to the Ashanti tribal chief, it immediately caused panic throughout the tribe.

It is worth mentioning that the Gold Coast colonial government stated that it only discovered the situation of the Ashanti tribe's natives invading the territory, and did not discover the situation of the natives of other tribes of the Ashanti Federation invading Spanish territory, so the diplomatic ultimatum was only aimed at the Ashanti tribe, and other tribes were not included in Spain's actions.

It is precisely because of this additional statement from the Gold Coast territory that the Chief Council of the Ashanti Federation was split into two factions.

One faction was led by the Ashanti Chief and some weaker native chiefs; they believed that in the face of Spain's diplomatic ultimatum, they should deny it with all their might. After all, the natives could not avoid the Europeans in time, so how could they run to Spanish territory?

They believed that Spain's so-called territory being invaded was just an excuse, and their real purpose was to annex the Ashanti Federation and eliminate all the native tribes under their federation.

The remaining larger native tribes believed that the main fault of this incident lay entirely with the Ashanti tribe and had nothing to do with their other tribes.

Since it was the fault of the Ashanti tribe, the responsibility should be borne by the Ashanti Chief and his tribe. Unless the Spaniards openly invaded the territory of other tribes, they were unwilling to pay for the mistakes of the Ashanti tribe; after all, it was their soldiers and population who died in the war.

The Ashanti Chief was surprised to find that the number of native tribes supporting the second opinion was actually greater than the number of native tribes supporting the first one.

If it were not for the lingering prestige of the Ashanti tribe, I am afraid that even those small tribes would have chosen the second opinion.

This scene of being isolated made the Ashanti Chief very panicked; he tried to explain that the invasion of territory mentioned by the Spaniards did not happen at all, but at this time, the leaders of other native tribes no longer believed him.

The discussion in the Chief Council fell into a stalemate. Because the Ashanti Chief was the supreme chief of the entire federation, this led to the number of chiefs supporting the second opinion occupying the majority, but it still could not allow the Chief Council to decide on the final choice.

However, this stalemate situation is not a good thing for the Ashanti tribe. Spain's diplomatic ultimatum is limited to 24 hours. If the Ashanti tribe cannot hand over the murderer who invaded Spanish territory and pay compensation within 24 hours, the Spanish army will mercilessly counter-invade the territory of the Ashanti tribe.

In the angry and terrified state of mind of the Ashanti Chief, 24 hours passed quickly.

The Spanish army did not hesitate at all; after about 20 hours, they had already openly invaded the territory of the Ashanti tribe.

As the largest native tribe in the entire federation, the Ashanti tribe is located along the Volta River, occupying the most fertile land and forests nearby.

Those large and small tribes attached to the federation are distributed on more distant riverbanks or around the Ashanti tribe.

Some small tribes were squeezed into the interior by large tribes; they could only use the gold dust and gold ore mined from the gold mines in their territory to exchange for food with the European colonists on the coast, barely maintaining the continuation of the tribe.

The name of the Gold Coast was not obtained in vain. For the local natives, the gold here does not have much value; the value of a handful of gold dust is not as good as a full meal.

European colonists snatched a large amount of gold dust and gold ore from the hands of the natives through various means, smelted these gold dust and gold ore into gold, and then transported them to the European mainland.

Of course, compared to snatching ore, European colonists prefer to snatch gold mines directly.

This also makes the gold mines in the territory of the local natives fewer and fewer, and the gold dust and gold ore they can use to exchange for food are also fewer and fewer.

After the Spanish army completed its assembly, it marched northward along the riverbank in a mighty manner. In order not to arouse the resistance of the entire Ashanti Federation, the offensive actions of the Spanish army would only be aimed at the Ashanti tribe, and they did not intend to attack other tribes for the time being.

Of course, this does not mean that Spain will let go of other tribes in the federation. After the largest Ashanti tribe is eliminated, the ones who will be hit will be the other tribes.

Obviously, these natives did not have such a clear understanding. Originally, they were worried about whether the Spanish army would occupy their land on the way, but when many native leaders learned that the Spanish army only attacked the villages of the Ashanti tribe and did not commit any crimes against their tribal villages and other territories, they finally chose to betray the federation.

Since the Ashanti Chief chose to use his authority to oppress other native tribes, he should be prepared to be betrayed by other native tribes.

Sometimes war is not the most terrible thing; peace is. When the entire federation has a common enemy, no matter what deep hatred exists between the tribes, they will always be consistent with the outside world and rely on the power of the group to ensure their own safety.

But when these tribes have no common enemy, the contradictions between tribes will be magnified, which is also the reason why they finally chose to betray the Ashanti Chief.

The British in history did just that, and Spain just did it a little earlier.

Without the help of other tribes in the federation, a small Ashanti tribe would naturally not be taken seriously by the Spanish army.

This time, Spain mobilized more than 10, 00 troops from five colonial garrison regiments; conquering a small native tribe is naturally easy.

When they learned that the Spanish army had launched an attack on the Ashanti tribe, the other tribes scattered like birds and beasts, running back to their own tribes like flying.

In the blink of an eye, the Ashanti Chief, who was left alone, had a trace of panic and regret on his face; he regretted oppressing those native tribes too hard, which eventually led these native tribes to betray him when the foreign enemy arrived.

But there is no regret medicine to eat in the world. In the case that no other tribe is willing to help the Ashanti tribe, the elimination of the Ashanti tribe is only a matter of time.

As for those small native tribes that chose to support the Ashanti tribe in the Chief Council, it is impossible for them to resist the Spanish attack.

More importantly, the living space of these small tribes was squeezed into the interior, and they were the farthest away from the Ashanti tribe near the riverbank.

The question is, will these small tribes help the Ashanti tribe repel the Spanish army's attack with their few populations for the sake of the so-called federation regulations?

The answer is of course negative. Don't forget, it was the European colonists and the large tribes in the federation that forced these small tribes to retreat to the interior.

When the largest tribe is in trouble, how could these small tribes ignore themselves to support them?

The reason for choosing to support the Ashanti tribe in the Chief Council was entirely because the prestige of the Ashanti Chief still lingered.

After fleeing to their own tribes, it was really far from the emperor, and the Ashanti Chief could not control them.

What's more, the Ashanti Chief himself is hard to protect at this time. In the absence of a way to repel the Spanish army's attack, the elimination of the Ashanti tribe is only a matter of time.

These small tribes naturally do not have to worry about the Ashanti Chief's retaliation; who would worry about being hated by someone who is about to die?

Panic is panic, but the Ashanti Chief still decided to organize troops to fight for it. They also once repelled the British attack, although it was by relying on the power of the federation, but the Ashanti tribe contributed the most.

Now, although they are fighting the Spanish colonists alone, fortunately, the strength of the Spanish colonists is far inferior to that of the British Empire.

If they can defeat the Spanish colonists alone, they can not only change the situation of being isolated in the Chief Council, but also quickly improve their prestige and let themselves regain control of the situation in the Chief Council.

In the heyday of the Ashanti Federation, this country composed of multiple tribes had a total population of more than 4 million.

But with the continuous invasion of European colonists, the living space of the local natives was severely squeezed. Coupled with the continuous wars, the population of the Ashanti Federation dropped rapidly to more than 3 million.

As the largest tribe in the federation, the Ashanti tribe currently has a population of more than 1 million, which is the confidence that the Ashanti Chief finally decided to fight for.

African native tribes are different from European countries. The troops mobilized by European countries are limited because many people need to engage in various industrial production, commercial activities, and so on.

But African natives are different. Except for hunting, the biggest role of men is to have children and fight.

In the war of tribal survival, almost half of the male population can be sent to the battlefield, and even many female populations can join the war.

Although the Ashanti tribe has a population of only more than 1 million, if the chief works hard, he can also gather hundreds of thousands of troops.

Of course, this is not an army, but just natives holding various backward weapons.

Of course, the Ashanti Chief's time is not so abundant. Spain's diplomatic ultimatum only gave 24 hours, and because Spain launched the war in advance, the Ashanti Chief did not have enough time to gather people at all, and it was even more impossible to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops.

Before the Spanish army reached the base camp of the Ashanti tribe, the Ashanti Chief organized about 60, 00 people to defend his base camp.

These people held various weapons in their hands. There were muskets purchased from European colonists with gold, knives purchased from European colonies, and even wooden spears and stone axes made by the tribe itself.

Compared with the variety of weapons on the Ashanti native side, the equipment of the Spanish colonial army was quite uniform.

All of them were standard Vitali M1872 rifles. Because of the war, everyone was also equipped with 50 bullets, and the ammunition can be said to be quite abundant.

The colonies in the rear were still transporting ammunition to the front line, ensuring that every soldier had enough bullets in his hands.

The consumption on the battlefield is inherently huge, and it may be that hundreds or thousands of bullets cannot kill a person. Fortunately, the Ashanti tribe does not have any decent muskets; the few muskets they have are not only products that have been eliminated in Europe, but some even have a higher probability of exploding than hitting the target.

Fighting against such enemies, the Spanish soldiers also had sufficient time to aim at the enemy, which could effectively increase the hit rate of their bullets.

Of course, the same logic applied to the artillery. The five colonial Garrison Commander regiments possessed a total of 15 cannons, and all 15 of these cannons were brought to the front line.

Although the weaponry of the Ashanti tribe was diverse and the vast majority consisted of cold weapons, considering that this tribe with a population of over one million was still quite large, it was very necessary to use artillery to quickly capture the Ashanti tribe's base camp.

Although the natives did not have fortresses built of reinforced concrete, they did have simple obstacles built from wood and mud.

If there were no artillery, these obstacles would also become hindrances to the Spanish army's advance. For the Spanish army, they needed to occupy the entire Ashanti tribe in a shorter amount of time to prevent other tribes in the federation from reacting and supporting the Ashanti tribe.

After completely occupying the Ashanti tribe, the Huang Jinhaian colony would dispatch officials to take full control of these lands.

By that time, it would be too late for the other native tribes of the Ashanti federation to react. Because the Ashanti tribe was located in the heartland of the entire federation, as long as the Spanish army occupied the Ashanti tribe, it meant that all the native tribes of the entire federation would be nibbled away one by one by the Spanish army.

As for these natives reacting and surrounding the Spanish army located in the central zone, this was something the colonial government had already considered before launching the war.

Issuing these soldiers enough bullets was precisely to avoid such a situation. If these natives had the guts to surround the Spanish army, then what they would face would be the full-scale attack of the Spanish army.

There was no need to be polite to these natives; the Spanish army would absolutely not feel pained by the consumption of bullets. As long as these natives could be killed, even if it took hundreds of bullets to kill one native, it would absolutely be worth it.

6, 00 words, second update, sorry for being a bit late.

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(End of this chapter)