Chapter 433

In order to hold back the Spanish army before the arrival of the British army, the Portuguese Republican government can be said to have spared no cost.

Although they issued a general mobilization order in the areas they controlled, the conscription situation reported from various places was not ideal, and the number of people willing to sign up for the army averaged only a few hundred per day, which could not fill the vacancy on the front line battlefield at all.

After intense discussion within the Portuguese government, a new conscription order was finally passed by a majority vote. This new conscription order does not adopt the previous voluntary registration for the army, but chooses to forcibly conscript in all areas controlled by the Republican government.

Portuguese people living in these areas must provide one laborer per household to sign up for the army, or pay a fine of 500,000 Reals.

The Real is the official currency of Portugal and its colonies, but because of its small face value, it is only used within Portugal's sphere of influence.

Because of Portugal's complex relationship with Spain and the UK, the British Pound and the Peseta are also used in small amounts as currency units in Portugal.

The specific exchange rate of the three currencies is: 1 British Pound equals 25 Pesetas equals 4532 Reals.

From this aspect, it can be seen that the fine imposed by the Portuguese government on families that cannot provide laborers to sign up for the army is quite heavy.

A full 500,000 Reals, which is equivalent to about 2,750 Pesetas, is more than 6 times Spain's current per capita annual income.

For Portugal, whose per capita annual income is not as good as Spain's, this fine is enough to empty the savings of most families, and some families cannot pay this fine even if they smash their pots and sell iron.

The reason why the Portuguese Republican government stipulated such a heavy fine is actually to prevent the Portuguese people from choosing to pay the fine instead of providing soldiers.

For the Portuguese Republican government, they are actually not short of money. With the continuous capital investment from the British government, plus the various weapons, equipment, and strategic materials consumed on the battlefield almost all coming from the UK, they do not have much trouble with funds.

On the contrary, the problem of troops has become the biggest problem for the Portuguese Republican government. If the problem of the front-line troop deficit cannot be solved, the collapse of the front-line situation is sooner or later.

Under such forced conscription means by the Portuguese Republican government, tens of thousands of new recruits were indeed conscripted in a short period of time.

There is also not enough time for these new recruits to train. The plan given by the Portuguese Republican government is to treat these tens of thousands of new recruits as reserve troops, letting them train while fighting in a position relatively far back on the front line.

When the troops on the front line can no longer hold on, it is time for them to play their role. With the supplement of these tens of thousands of troops, the number of troops of the Portuguese Republican government has broken through 100,000 again.

Relying on these troops, they can at least delay the Spanish army for several more days, and by then the British army will have almost arrived.

As long as they can drag it out until the arrival of the British army, the situation on the front line battlefield will naturally be worried about by the British, and for the Portuguese Republican government, the biggest problem at present will be solved.

In addition to the forced conscription like catching strong men on the mainland, the Portuguese Republican government also issued a war mobilization order to the two major colonies in Africa, requiring the West African and East African colonies to provide at least 100,000 troops to the mainland within one month, and at least 20,000 troops as supplements every month thereafter.

The West African and East African colonies in Africa are the only two large colonies left in Portugal, and this is also the only place where Portugal can obtain troop supplements besides the mainland.

Although mobilizing troops on a large scale in these two African colonies is likely to trigger turmoil in the colonies, this is no longer the biggest problem for the Portuguese Republican government.

As long as the predicament currently faced by the mainland can be solved, even if the colonies are chaotic for decades, it is completely worth it for the Portuguese Republican government.

If the mainland falls, it is impossible to defend it by relying solely on the colonies. Coupled with the British government's promise to Portugal that during the outbreak of this war, the British government will guarantee the safety of Portugal's two African colonies, ensuring that no country will launch aggression against Portugal's African colonies.

This is also the reason why the Portuguese Republican government is at ease with conscription in the two African colonies; after all, there are still many indigenous people in these two African colonies, and arming these indigenous people into an army can mobilize at least hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops.

The news of the Portuguese Republican government's forced conscription was soon learned by the Iberian Party and Spain.

Gao Da is not surprised by the Portuguese Republican government's approach; after all, it is impossible for the opponent to remain indifferent when the front line is about to collapse, and they will definitely use various methods to slow down the Spanish army's offensive until the British army arrives in Portugal.

But these Portuguese have never thought about what if this batch of British reinforcements can arrive in Portugal? First of all, in terms of military combat effectiveness, the British army is not as good as the Spanish army.

Secondly, Spain can also flexibly mobilize troops according to the situation on the Portuguese battlefield. If these British troops can hold back the Spanish army's offensive, Spain can mobilize more troops to Portugal for support.

And the UK, although the UK can also mobilize troops, the time required to mobilize troops is several times that of Spain, and distant water can never quench near thirst.

The current UK does have a large population, with a total mainland population of over 40 million, and also possesses India, a colony with a population of hundreds of millions.

But Spain is not inferior at all. Spain's population has reached nearly 39 million, and the number of indigenous people in several African colonies is also tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.

Under these circumstances, whether it is comparing the elite troops on the mainland or the colonial troops, Spain is not afraid at all.

Coupled with the fact that Spain has already started some small actions against the UK, the longer this war drags on, the greater Spain's chances of winning actually are.

By the time the UK's mainland and colonies show signs of collapse, by then, let alone the US, which does not want to enter the game now, even the major European powers will probably want a piece of the pie.

After all, for European countries, the only thing that matters is profit. Once the benefits brought by interfering in the war far exceed the risks, even countries with relatively good relations with the UK will inevitably consider the pros and cons of both.

As time came to September 11, the first batch of 15,000 British soldiers formally supporting Portugal finally stepped onto the port of Lisbon.

The Portuguese Republican government can be said to have been looking forward to these British troops, and on the day the British troops arrived, they held a small welcome ceremony for them, and then these troops were invested in the fighting on the front line.

These British troops also know the urgency of the front-line battlefield. Although they have been a bit tired from taking transport ships these past few days, the situation on the front line is also quite tense.

This time formally supporting Portugal, the British government has given a death order to let these troops spare no cost to ensure the safety of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, and to eliminate the Portuguese Democratic Republic, a country not recognized by various countries, as much as possible.

As long as the Portuguese Democratic Republic is eliminated, the excuse used by Spain to interfere in the Portuguese civil war has completely disappeared. By then, unless Spain is willing to bear the infamy of interfering in another country's internal affairs, the Spanish army must withdraw from Portugal.

If such a situation can be achieved, it can be considered a not-so-small victory for the UK. Even if it cannot recover Gibraltar subsequently, it can still influence the Strait of Gibraltar to a certain extent through Portugal, ensuring that such an important strait will not be controlled by Spain alone.

While these British troops who arrived in Portugal were engaged in fierce fighting with the Spanish army, a group of mysterious people who traveled by ship from Ireland to France, and then took a train south to Spain in France, finally arrived in Ma Deli, the capital of Spain.

The leader of these people is a relatively young intellectual, and the group of people following him are also young people in their twenties or thirties.

After these people arrived in Ma Deli, looking at the prosperous world city that was like London, they couldn't help but sigh: "What a beautiful city!"

Seeing the prosperity of Ma Deli, they also gained a lot of confidence in this trip. What they are about to do is an extremely dangerous action; if they cannot obtain Spain's support, this action is likely to face failure or even a more devastating ending.