Chapter 368: The Landing at Casablanca

May 15, 1895, Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain.

Nearly twenty days had passed since Spain launched the war, and the results achieved had left the Spanish government and the public quite excited.

The Imperial Guard lived up to its reputation as an elite force carefully selected and assembled; it performed exceptionally well in the operations against Morocco, routing tens of thousands of Moroccan troops with only eight thousand men.

The Imperial Guard is currently undergoing its first rotation to ensure that the majority of the troops can set foot on the Moroccan battlefield and experience the trials of war.

The Imperial Guard's 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments and 2nd Artillery Regiment are heading to the Moroccan battlefield; they will replace the 1st Infantry Regiment and 1st Artillery Regiment, which have been fighting for over half a month.

The 4th Infantry Regiment will remain in Madrid to defend the capital and the Royal Palace, and will only participate in the Moroccan campaign plan once the units withdrawn from the front lines return to the mainland.

In fact, in the plans of Luo Lun, he had intended for these troops heading to Morocco to stay for at least a month so that they could experience the tempering of the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the Moroccan army had no power to resist the Spanish army. Seeing that they were almost at the Moroccan capital of Rabat, if these troops in Morocco were not rotated out, the war might end without the participation of other mainland troops.

Of course, the discussions taking place in the Royal Palace had nothing to do with the Imperial Guard; they were mainly about when the Royal Army would join the war and which units should head to the Moroccan battlefield for experience.

Seeing the Moroccan war proceeding more and more smoothly, Minister of Defense Qiao Di could no longer sit still.

Spain's military consisted of more than just the Imperial Guard; there was also the Royal Army, with a total strength of 175, 00 men.

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard needed to feel the cruelty of the battlefield, so did the soldiers of the Royal Army not need to as well? Although the Spanish Imperial Guard was built by Qiao Di himself, as the Minister of Defense, he should be responsible for all of Spain's armed forces.

In seeking an audience with Luo Lun this time, Qiao Di's main goal was to have the Royal Army participate in the operations against Morocco as soon as possible, at least to let some of the troops personally feel the cruelty of the battlefield and experience its tempering.

The Royal Army definitely had to join the battlefield because the Imperial Guard was insufficient in numbers and still had to leave a portion of its troops behind to protect the Spanish capital and the Royal Palace.

The two colonial divisions in the south were still quite a distance from the Moroccan capital of Rabat; to capture the capital, they would have to rely on the combined forces of the Imperial Guard and the Royal Army.

Since the last expansion, the size of the Spanish mainland army had reached 175, 00 men. This included 12 infantry divisions, 5 cavalry divisions, 4 artillery divisions, and 4 engineer regiments.

In the plans of Minister of Defense Qiao Di, no matter what, at least half of the troops should be rotated into the battlefield to receive its tempering and baptism.

Of course, it would be best if all the troops could be rotated into the battlefield. Currently, the average age of the soldiers in the Spanish Royal Army is only in their early twenties; by letting these soldiers experience the tempering of the battlefield, Spain would not need to worry about the combat effectiveness of its army for the next dozen years or so.

"Your Majesty, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions and the 1st Cavalry Division are ready and can join the Moroccan battlefield at any time." Minister of Defense Qiao Di looked impatient; if the Royal Army did not join the war soon, most of the credit for this war would be snatched up by the Imperial Guard.

Even the colonial troops launching offensives in the south could get a piece of the pie, yet the Spanish mainland's Royal Army had no offensive plans at this time.

Spain had been at peace for so long that the high-ranking military officials in the country were already impatient for war. Only war could allow them to accumulate military merit quickly, and only war could provide more hope and channels for promotion for those officers stuck at their current ranks.

Luo Lun was somewhat amused by Qiao Di's impatience, but he also understood the urgency and anticipation of the army generals to earn military merit.

Although the Imperial Guard was the private army of the royal family, the Royal Army was theoretically also loyal to the King, and Luo Lun would naturally treat them equally.

After nodding, Luo Lun asked: "Does the Ministry of Defense have any operational plans? Are these troops going to act together with the Imperial Guard, or are they opening a new battlefield elsewhere?"

Qiao Di hurriedly said: "The General Staff plans to land at Casablanca and outflank Rabat from the north."

With the Royal Army and the Imperial Guard attacking from the north and south, we can ensure the annihilation of the Moroccan army to the greatest extent.

With the participation of the Royal Army, we have hope of breaking through Rabat within a month and ending this war."

Although it was said to be a pincer movement from the south to outflank Rabat, how could Luo Lun not know the thoughts of the army? If they set out from Ceuta like the Imperial Guard, most of the cities along the way had already been captured by the Imperial Guard, and the army would not be able to reap many results.

But in Casablanca, south of Rabat, the land had not yet been trodden by the Spanish army. After capturing Casablanca, there were still large cities nearby such as Settat, Khouribga, Oued Zem, and Mohammedia; there was absolutely no need to worry about military merit.

Since it had been decided to treat them equally, Luo Lun would naturally not stop the army's plan.

"Since there is already a concrete attack plan, then proceed according to the original plan." Luo Lun nodded and instructed: "Although tempering on the battlefield is important, we must also try to minimize casualties. These young men joined the army because they love their motherland, and we must do our best to ensure they return to Spain safe and sound."

Qiao Di nodded and guaranteed very solemnly: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will bring these young men back to Spain safe and sound, and the Ministry of Defense will absolutely not withhold any pensions for soldiers who are injured or killed in the war."

Spain's military reforms also involved policies related to pensions. Although the pensions for the Spanish army were not high, Luo Lun had repeatedly ordered that the withholding of pensions for fallen soldiers was strictly prohibited.

Once a phenomenon of withholding pensions was discovered, the officials involved would basically be saying goodbye to their political careers. For the sake of military morale, Luo Lun would absolutely not allow anyone to harm the interests of the military and all its soldiers.

Moreover, Spain's pensions were not high to begin with; even if they went through a war like a world war, the government would not go bankrupt from paying pensions.

May 17, 1895, Spain officially launched a landing in the central Moroccan city of Casablanca.

This landing involved two infantry divisions and one artillery division, and they were all regular Spanish Royal Army troops, which immediately raised the scale of the Moroccan war by a level.

The Royal Army did not disappoint Luo Lun's expectations. Although landing operations are among the most difficult of many wars, the Royal Army performed quite well in the landing, taking less than two days to occupy an area on the Casablanca coast suitable for large-scale landings.

The city of Casablanca also did not hold out for long under the attack of the Spanish army.

Although the number of artillery pieces equipped by each division of the Spanish Royal Army could not compare to the Imperial Guard divisions, looking at the military equipment of various European countries, it could definitely be considered first-class.

Because the Royal Army had just joined the war, the ammunition supply for each division was quite abundant. As Casablanca was the first battle for the Royal Army, the various units naturally had no need to save ammunition.

Under the continuous bombardment of hundreds of artillery pieces, the Moroccan city soon turned into a ruin. The Spanish army occupied the city with expressionless faces and then carried out strict militarized management.

It is worth mentioning that although the Spanish army would not show any mercy to the Moroccan army, the Spanish army did not engage in any massacres of Moroccan civilians in the occupied areas.

Except for those extremists who were particularly hostile to Spain, most Moroccans could be treated well.

Even those Moroccans who could not afford to eat because of the war could receive food relief from Spain. Although it was only black bread that was barely edible, it was at least much better than going hungry.

At such a critical juncture, the Moroccan government would obviously not distribute relief food to them.

It was the enemy who invaded their motherland that was able to provide them with relief; come to think of it, this seemed a bit ridiculous.

It was precisely because of the Spanish army's act of not harming a single thing belonging to the Moroccan civilians that the Moroccan civilians did not offer that much resistance to the Spanish army.

Although there were many Moroccans who were hostile to Spain because the Spanish army invaded their motherland, most people were already numb to it; after all, Spain's Moroccan colony was built on the premise of invading Morocco.

The Moroccans in the South Moroccan colony had basically been assimilated into the large group that was Spain. These people within Morocco certainly knew the situation of the local Moroccans after being occupied by Spain, and except for those who truly loved the country of Morocco, most people did not really reject joining another country.

After all, for the bottom-level civilians, having enough to eat and living a good life was the most important thing. Was it really important who ruled the country? It was nothing more than changing an exploiting class.

Compared to the current Moroccan government, Spain's exploitation of the Moroccans was actually not that harsh. As long as they could submit to Spanish rule, in the future, after these Moroccans obtained Spanish citizenship, their status in the colony would be no different from that of the Spanish in the mainland.

They would neither be discriminated against nor receive any alternative treatment. They could enjoy all the policies of the colony, and could even hire free labor from other colonies to cultivate land and become a plantation owner themselves.

This was unimaginable in the current Morocco. Although Morocco was a white country, this did not mean that Morocco's political system was democratic.

On the contrary, Morocco was an autocratic government, and the government's oppression of the bottom-level civilians was much harsher than that of European countries.

At this time, the Moroccans had not yet formed a very obvious national consciousness; the reason they joined the army to resist Spain was nothing more than the Moroccan government's conscription.

They would be thrown into prison for resisting the government's conscription, and for the sake of their own safety, they had to join the army to resist Spain.

This was also the reason why Spain was not harsh on those surrendered Moroccan captives. After releasing these captives in the future, they could also influence their families and friends through these captives to whitewash the Spain that launched the war.

Three thousand words for the first update, there will be another update around one o'clock, six thousand words updated today.

(End of chapter)