Chapter 365

The British who launched the war were confident; they believed that it would only take one month to solve the two countries of the Transvaal and Orange that kept finding trouble for them.

The idea was very beautiful, but reality was often very cruel. The Boers quickly gave the British a head-on blow, letting them understand what true combat effectiveness was.

The Boers, who had the buff of defending their country, erupted with an unimaginably tenacious will; in the first month of the war, under the situation where their weapons and equipment were obviously lagging behind the United Kingdom, they could occupy sufficient advantages, and even instead caused the United Kingdom to lose quite a few lands.

If it weren't for the British support arriving quickly, I'm afraid this piece in the northeast of the Cape Colony would have fallen, which would have been a heavy loss in the true sense for the United Kingdom.

The more anxious this war was fought, the greater the hope for Gao Da to annex Morocco.

One month after the war broke out, Spain transported another large batch of weapons and equipment to the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State, as well as other strategic resources including grain and medical supplies.

Compared to history, the Boers now obtained greater support.

The Boers in history could only rely on gold mine taxes, donations from various European countries, and materials from captured British troops to maintain the war; when recruiting troops from the public, the Boers even required the public participating in the army to carry guns and horses themselves.

But now, with material support from various European countries, at least in terms of weapons and equipment, the Boers were temporarily not lacking.

Currently, the main forces of the Boers had all been equipped with standard rifles from various European countries, and some relatively elite troops could even see the shadows of artillery and machine guns.

In order to find some trouble for the British, Gao Da generously donated 50 artillery pieces and 20 machine guns to the Boers; these materials had all been safely delivered to the port of the Transvaal Republic.

It was not that Gao Da was unwilling to send more weapons and equipment to the Boers. It was mainly because he was worried that the Boers did not have many soldiers who knew how to use artillery and machine guns; if they were captured by the British army, wouldn't this become disguised enemy-aiding?

Anyway, Gao Da did not care about the investment. After this batch of artillery and machine guns was consumed, they could still issue new weapons and equipment to the Boers through the method of aid.

As long as they could make the United Kingdom pay greater casualties and consume more military expenditure, then the aid of these weapons and equipment was cost-effective.

While the war on the African continent was going on, Spain was also contacting various European countries, looking for countries willing to support its annexation of Morocco.

Times were different. Because the European continent had already formed a situation of Anti-Russian Alliance vs. German-Austrian Alliance, making Spain, a great power wandering outside the two major military groups, a sweet pastry.

For Gao Da, joining which military group was not important; which military group could provide the support Spain needed was the most important.

To put it another way, whoever could support Spain in annexing Morocco and Portugal was Spain's ally.

When Spain made such conditions public, the great powers of the two major military groups were all stunned.

They naturally understood who stood behind Morocco and Portugal, and naturally also understood that if they wanted to pull in Spain, perhaps they would have to become enemies with the United Kingdom.

Using the price of becoming an enemy with the United Kingdom to exchange for Spain's support, was such a deal cost-effective?

Germany was indeed hesitant about this. Although Spain could attack the south of France, making France fall into the awkward situation of fighting on two fronts.

But if Spain was pulled in, the United Kingdom would also become Germany's enemy. Although Germany at this time was already demanding colonies and sea power, from Emperor Wilhelm II down to German officials, none of them thought that they would be the enemy of the United Kingdom.

Germany still retained illusions about forming an alliance with the United Kingdom, which was also the reason why they chose to maintain neutrality instead of supporting the Boers during the Boer War period in history.

Even before the Anglo-French-Russian Entente alliance group was officially established, Germany had always been fantasizing about an alliance with the United Kingdom.

Unfortunately, the United Kingdom, this world number one, was destined to be impossible to form an alliance with Germany, this world number two; the two were more likely to move towards a hostile relationship.

The Germans in history failed to see this point clearly, and Germany now naturally also failed to see it clearly.

However, speaking of which, Germany's advantage over France at this time had not yet formed a crushing effect, and it was really hard to say whether the United Kingdom would conclude an alliance treaty with Germany.

Because of the remaining hope for the United Kingdom, Germany did not agree to the conditions opened by Spain decisively, even if Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had persuaded them in every possible way.

In the eyes of the Italian King Umberto I and the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, pulling Spain into the alliance was quite wise.

Spain had good relationships with both Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there was no dispute regarding territory.

Starting from this point alone, Spain was already a natural ally of the Triple Alliance. Let alone Spain's own land and naval forces were very powerful, and the geographical location was also superior; it was an object that must be pulled in.

If the Triple Alliance could welcome Spain's joining, just the navies of Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy combined would be enough to easily control the situation in the Mediterranean.

The armies of the four countries would also surround France from different directions; France, in the situation of being surrounded from several sides, was destined to not be able to persist for a long time.

France was obviously also of this opinion. Compared to Germany, which pinned its hopes on the United Kingdom, France was much more enthusiastic about forming an alliance with Spain.

Although Morocco was also very important, for the sake of France's domestic safety, Morocco could also be abandoned.

A few days after Spain expressed its attitude, the French diplomatic ambassador found Gao Da and expressed the French government's attitude very sincerely.

"Respected King, we are willing to conclude an alliance treaty with your country to jointly protect the peace and order of the Mediterranean.

We respect Spain's interests on the Iberian Peninsula and support Spain's annexation of Morocco. If your country is willing to conclude an alliance with us, France, Spain, and Russia will become the most powerful military group in this world." Upon seeing Gao Da, the French ambassador went straight to the point and stated the conditions of the French government directly.

France indeed had ambitions for Morocco, but ever since Spain strongly disrupted France's colonization of Tunisia, France saw Spain's strength and uniqueness.

Fighting with Spain for Morocco would only force Spain to the side of Germany. At that time, France would face the pressure of fighting on two fronts or even three fronts, and wanting to hold the territory was quite difficult.

But if Spain was pulled to their side, France only needed to focus on dealing with Germany, this one enemy.

Germany was certainly powerful, but France also had Russia as an ally. At that time, the fleets of France and Spain would unite, and they could easily control the situation in the Mediterranean.

As long as the navies of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were blocked in the Mediterranean, Italy, this great power, would have no effect.

As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the situation where Germany was dragged down, they also had no way.

And precisely because of this, France was willing to abandon its claim to Morocco. As for whether supporting Spain's annexation of Morocco would become an enemy with the United Kingdom, in the eyes of France, it was not that important.

The United Kingdom was very powerful, but the United Kingdom's strength was entirely reflected in the navy. In terms of the army, the United Kingdom was not even as good as Spain, let alone France, which once dominated Europe.

Even if they became enemies with the United Kingdom, France and Spain only needed to block the Mediterranean, and the United Kingdom would have no way to deal with them.

The support of the French government made Gao Da breathe a sigh of relief and also made Gao Da firm in his idea of fighting against Morocco.

If the United Kingdom insisted on forcibly intervening in Spain's war against Morocco, Spain would directly lean towards the Franco-Russian Alliance.

Although Russia would withdraw halfway through World War I, it was obviously still early, and Russia had not yet reached the point of exhaustion.

Unless the United Kingdom also quickly leaned towards Germany, otherwise Spain, with the support of France, was already not something the United Kingdom could defeat.

This was also equivalent to Spain being in an invincible position; for Gao Da and Spain, this was naturally good news.

However, before it was absolutely necessary, Gao Da did not want to join the two major military groups so decisively. France's conditions could also be considered a means of negotiation, which could allow Spain to seek support from Germany.

Even if Germany was unwilling to support Spain, at least they had to let the three great powers of Germany, Austria, and Italy maintain neutrality during Spain's war.

As long as other European countries maintained neutrality, Spain facing the United Kingdom alone, which was distracted by the Boer War, would actually not fear at all.

The Boer War had passed for a month and a half, and the Spanish Ministry of Defense and the General Staff finally produced a combat plan against Morocco.

The reason why this plan took more than a month to produce was mainly because Spain considered the possibility of British interference.

To put it another way, this combat plan contained content about fighting against the United Kingdom and also took Gibraltar into consideration.

If the United Kingdom announced interference in the war, Spain would not hesitate to attack Gibraltar, control the Strait of Gibraltar, and block the western exit of the Mediterranean. Gao Da held this combat plan and looked at it for a long time, and after confirming there was no problem, he immediately issued his order.

The first order was to have the garrison in the Congo territory gather towards the South Morocco colony.

The war against Morocco would mobilize a force of 52,000 people, including two colonial divisions and six colonial garrison regiments.

Besides this, the garrison in Spain's mainland would also conduct war preparations to prevent the strong interference of the United Kingdom.

If the United Kingdom insisted on interfering, Spain would launch a comprehensive mobilization within the country, use regular troops to rapidly annex Morocco, and then fight a war of attrition with the United Kingdom slowly.

Anyway, the United Kingdom still had the Boer War to fight; even if they fought a long war of attrition, Spain would not be afraid at all.

The United Kingdom in history invested as high as 200 million pounds in military expenditure in the Boer War and mobilized an army of about 450,000 people.

One had to know that the total number of all Boers was actually less than 500,000.

The number of troops mobilized by the United Kingdom was already equal to the total number of Boers; in such a situation, the war still lasted for nearly three years, which was enough to see the difficulty of this war.

This Boer War would be more difficult than in history, and it would not be easy for the United Kingdom to win this war.

If the United Kingdom also had to open a battlefield with Spain, it would only increase the difficulty of winning the war.

On April 22, 1895, while the war in Africa was being fought fiercely, Spain was also nervously conducting war preparations.

On April 25, as the two colonial divisions arrived in the South Morocco colony, Spain's attack on Morocco officially began.

That afternoon, Spain used the excuse that the Moroccan government built water conservancy facilities in the Sous River in violation of regulations, intending to cut off the water flow to Agadir, and demanded that the Moroccan government immediately dismantle the water conservancy facilities on the Sous River and cede Oulad Teima and Taroudant north of Tiddsi as compensation.

The Moroccan government was stunned; they had never heard of any water conservancy facilities on the Sous River?

But at this time, there was no time for them to think carefully. Only more than an hour later, the Spanish side declared war on Morocco on the excuse that Morocco refused to execute.

Almost at the same time as declaring war, the Moroccan army set out from Agadir and Tata, marching northward along the Sous River, attacking the important central Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

Another route marched northward along the Little Atlas Mountains, with the goal of Beni Mellal, northeast of Marrakesh.

The reason why Morocco could still maintain independence was entirely due to the independent guarantee of the United Kingdom.

Now relying on their own strength to resist Spain, it undoubtedly made the Moroccan government panic instantly.

The Spanish army fought quite bravely on the front line and captured the important hub city of Taroudant on the Sous River on the same day.

The Moroccan army could not even react; they were beaten to pieces by the Spanish army and retreated hastily to Oulad Berhil further north.

If it could be said that there was resistance on the western battlefield, then the eastern battlefield was simply like entering an unpeopled land.

To the east of this area was the desert, and to the west were mountains blocking it; Morocco did not set up too many defensive forces here.

After the Spanish army broke through the Moroccan garrison at the border, they very easily captured several small Moroccan cities.

It was a pity that there were no smooth roads connecting these cities. The better roads were dirt roads that had been compacted, and the worse roads were equivalent to none.

The Spanish army marching on such routes indeed had its advance speed slowed down a lot.

It was worth mentioning that Spain's declaration of war was not notified to the Moroccan government by the Spanish ambassador, but by the Spanish government to the Moroccan ambassador.

The Moroccan ambassador could not send the news back to the country in time; at the first moment of Spain's declaration of war, he was forcibly repatriated by Spain.

He could not contact the telegram along the way, and naturally had no ability to send news to Morocco's mainland.

This also resulted in Morocco receiving the news of Spain's declaration of war when the war had already been going on for more than half a day.

The Moroccan government was panicked; they hurriedly mobilized troops from the essence area in the north to head south to resist the Spanish army's attack.

Ever since Spain established the South Morocco colony, there had been no conflict between Spain and Morocco.

Although this was all the credit of British protection, the Moroccan government still relaxed involuntarily.

In their view, they had the protection of the United Kingdom and could completely sit back and relax.

Even if Spain did not give up, they only needed to resist the Spanish for a period of time, and the United Kingdom would naturally solve all troubles for them.

It was precisely this psychology that made the Moroccan government have no preparation at all at the first moment the war broke out, and the border garrison was quickly eliminated.

Spain's attack was naturally not launched only from the South Morocco colony.

In order to end this war earlier, Spain also dispatched troops to be stationed in Ceuta in northern Morocco.

Which unit was the Spanish army stationed in Ceuta?

It was a temporary formation composed of the Spanish First Guards Infantry Regiment, Second Guards Infantry Regiment, First Guards Cavalry Regiment, and First Guards Artillery Regiment.

Letting the Guards join this war was a decision Gao Da made after considering it for a long time.

The equipment of the Guards was quite sophisticated, and the soldiers were also carefully selected from the Spanish Royal Army.

But the problem was that the Guards had not experienced war for too long, and their combat effectiveness was certainly not as good as those soldiers who had been on the battlefield.

Gao Da believed in the loyalty of the Guards soldiers, but if there was an opportunity to improve the combat effectiveness of these soldiers, Gao Da was also unwilling to miss it.

Before letting these Guards soldiers go to the battlefield, Gao Da also personally went to the Guards' barracks to conduct a pre-war mobilization.

Gao Da personally recounted the pension policy of the Guards and also promised to crown meritorious officials with titles after the war ended.

The encouragement from the King made these soldiers excited; they could not wait to arrive in Ceuta and fight those Moroccans to the death.

When these Guards soldiers joined the battlefield, the Moroccans quickly saw what an elite army was.

Although these Guards soldiers had not been on the battlefield, their training had not decreased in the slightest.

Walking onto the battlefield for the first time was indeed a bit nervous, but under the situation where their equipment was far ahead of the Moroccan army, these soldiers naturally had nothing to fear.

The artillery regiment would clear all obstacles for them, and the Moroccan army could not react in time because they needed to dodge the shells that might explode beside them at any time.

The Spanish army's operations always advocated the principle of firepower first; if they could use firepower suppression, they would absolutely not use human power to consume.

Let alone the Guards equipped with the best equipment; shells were fired as if they didn't cost money.

The artillery regiment, based on the principle of firing a few more rounds as training, did not feel heartache at all when consuming shells.

Anyway, Ceuta and Spain's mainland were separated by the sea, and they didn't need to worry about the problem of material supply at all.

Every day, there would be transport fleets going back and forth between Ceuta and Spain's mainland, transporting various weapons and equipment, ammunition supplies, and other materials for them.

In this situation, the Spanish army didn't need to worry about the problem of shell consumption at all. They only needed to fire every shell towards the enemy side and make the hit rate of the shells as high as possible.

(End of chapter)