[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-437":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365365,4632,"Chapter 437: Pre-war Mobilization","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-437",437,"\u003Cp>More than two months passed quickly, and Britain mobilized a total of nearly 100,000 troops from its homeland and various colonies to head to Portugal for support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In order to boost the fighting spirit of the Portuguese Republican government and the soldiers of the Republican Party, and also to let the Portuguese public see the strength of Britain, the British side did not plan to hide the movements of their troops when the first batch of reinforcements from the British homeland arrived in Lisbon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The facts were indeed as the British government had anticipated. The arrival of the British army effectively boosted the Republican Party's morale in resisting the Iberian Party's offensive, and also led many Portuguese citizens to believe that the flames of war would soon spread to the areas surrounding Lisbon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the majority of the Portuguese public, they did not care about who won or lost this civil war. But whether the civil war would affect the cities they were in was something the Portuguese cared about very much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the support of batch after batch of British troops continuously arriving in Portugal, the Portuguese Republican army on the front line finally stabilized; at least the morale was not as chaotic as it had been a few days prior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the nearly two months that followed, British troops landed in Lisbon almost every few days and were then committed to the fighting on the front line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These troops came from all over the world; they included white people, black people, and yellow-skinned people from Asia. This could be considered a characteristic of colonization in this era, where colonial empires could effectively utilize the multiple races within their colonies and arm them all as their own troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, with such a chaotic skin color in the army, one naturally could not count on military discipline and combat effectiveness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the combat effectiveness of the British homeland's standing army could be considered above average, then the combat effectiveness of these colonial troops from all over the world could only be described as barely passable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only advantage these colonial troops had over the Portuguese Republican Party's army was that British officers could execute these indigenous soldiers without restraint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the requirements of extremely harsh supervisory teams, these indigenous soldiers could only charge toward the enemy regardless of their own safety. Once they stopped their steps, even if they just wanted to pause for a rest, they might be treated as deserters by the supervisory teams in the rear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era, compared to white Europeans, these colonial soldiers had no human rights to begin with. White soldiers from Canada and Australia could enjoy the same treatment as the British homeland army; they even received winter uniforms issued by the British government in November to provide them with warmth on the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to uniforms, the food for these white soldiers was also better than that of the colored soldiers from other regions. White soldiers could eat white bread, while colored soldiers could only eat black bread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the difference in treatment, the situations of white soldiers and colored soldiers on the battlefield were also completely different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the overall combat effectiveness of British soldiers was not as good as that of Spanish soldiers, they could still hold their positions with some effort. These indigenous soldiers from various colonies were different; not to mention whether they could hold their positions, their casualties were extremely huge, with an average daily casualty rate as high as nearly two thousand people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A colonial division of more than 10,000 people committed to the battlefield could completely lose its combat effectiveness in just a few days. This forced the British side to commit more colonial troops to the front line, and only by letting these indigenous soldiers continuously sacrifice themselves could they barely hold the front-line defensive line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this would lead to heavy casualties for the indigenous soldiers, for the British government, as long as the casualties of the homeland troops were not high, it was completely acceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Britain was not short of indigenous soldiers at all. The Indian colony alone could provide Britain with millions or even tens of millions of indigenous troops; let alone a daily casualty rate of only one or two thousand, even if the daily casualties of the indigenous people reached tens of thousands, it would not hurt the British government's foundation at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And indeed, under the defense of the British colonial troops who disregarded casualties, they did effectively block the offensive of the Spanish army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Spanish army was only feigning an attack to attract Britain's attention, the firepower of the Spanish army on the front line could not be faked. Under the bombardment of such powerful firepower, the British army firmly held onto New Montemor, making the Spanish army unable to advance the front line by even a kilometer for several days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the casualties of the British and Portuguese Republican armies were not small, for them, as long as they could block the offensive of the Spanish army, they had already won more than half the battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The unfavorable progress on the front line was bad news for Spain, but it was also good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Britain and the Portuguese Republic had all their eyes on the front-line battlefield, a heart-stirring pre-war mobilization was taking place on the outskirts of Madrid, the capital of Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers of the several divisions participating in the attack on Lisbon had already assembled around Madrid. They were about to take a train south to Andalusia, then board ships at the ports there, and under the protection of the navy, head north to Lisbon to forcibly occupy this city that was extremely important to both the Portuguese and the British.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since it was a forced landing, it also meant that this battle would definitely result in heavy casualties. These troops even had to be prepared for the failure of the landing; perhaps a considerable number of soldiers would be buried in Lisbon and the surrounding waters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was an extremely arduous task, and both the Spanish government and the soldiers participating in the mission understood the difficulty of the task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Ka Luo, although he could accept the casualties of Spanish soldiers in this war, this did not mean that Ka Luo was indifferent to the heroic and fearless sacrifice of these soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before these soldiers headed south to Andalusia, Ka Luo decided to hold a small mobilization ceremony, incidentally letting these heroes who were about to rush to the battlefield understand that no matter the outcome of this battle, they were all heroes of Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the officers of these troops participated in the mobilization ceremony; ordinary soldiers were unable to participate. After all, in order to attack Lisbon, Spain mobilized tens of thousands of troops, involving several divisions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If all these soldiers were allowed to participate in the mobilization ceremony, the scene would be large-scale, and it would be more difficult to maintain secrecy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the sake of operational secrecy, only these officers could be allowed to participate in the mobilization ceremony, and then these officers would convey Ka Luo's promises to all the soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called mobilization ceremony was actually very simple, and Ka Luo's speech was also very brief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ka Luo first affirmed the contribution of these soldiers who were about to rush to the battlefield to Spain, and stated that no matter the outcome of this battle, all soldiers participating in the battle would receive a large reward; soldiers who died in battle would also receive rewards, and the pension stipulated by the government would be doubled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Subsequently, Ka Luo emphasized the importance of attacking Lisbon to this war. Ka Luo promised that if they could successfully capture Lisbon, Ka Luo would hold a grand celebration banquet for them in Madrid, and personally award medals to the officers and soldiers who made outstanding contributions in this landing battle, confer ranks upon them, and bestow rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one could refuse to have the King personally award them a medal, and this was even more true for these soldiers who were loyal to the royal family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having His Majesty the King personally award them medals was a great honor for them. This kind of honor also overcame the fear of death, making them no longer afraid of this landing battle, but instead feeling excited and thrilled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Death was indeed terrifying, but if one's own death could bring a large income to one's family, then what was there to be afraid of?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, going there was not a matter of nine deaths and one life. The landing battle would only face huge casualties, but under the premise that Spain dispatched tens of thousands of elite troops, the probability of the landing battle succeeding was still very high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with the cooperation of the navy, if they could successfully capture Lisbon, it would be a great honor and opportunity for all the soldiers and officers participating in this battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only could they quickly accumulate merit to obtain promotions, but they could also receive a large number of rewards including funds, land, and even titles, allowing themselves and their families to achieve class mobility.\u003C\u002Fp>",1539,"2026-06-25T09:27:15.200Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","5fd6de21192df79350c274a734aa9da72499b29e1fb40973a17550e141a4aa44","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-438","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-436",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]