Chapter 462: Military Expansion Plan

If the First Balkan War was a fairly swift battle, then the Second Balkan War took even less time than the last; from Bulgaria's declaration of war to its request for peace negotiations, it actually only took a month and a half.

Fortunately, this war was fought quite fiercely; whether it was Serbia, Bulgaria, or Greece and Romania, each mobilized a large number of troops and purchased massive quantities of weapons and equipment from various European countries.

Gao Da's idea of taking advantage of this war to sell off Spain's stockpiled weapons and equipment was also realized. Spain exported a large amount of weaponry during this war, selling nearly 30, 00 rifles alone, as well as dozens of machine guns, hundreds of artillery pieces, and the corresponding bullets and shells.

After these two Balkan Wars, the great powers could be said to have each gained something, with the exception of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which supported Bulgaria.

Due to their defeat, Bulgaria was forced to cede most of its Macedonian territory during the peace negotiations and was even compelled to cede Southern Dobruja in the northeast to Romania.

This also resulted in the territory Bulgaria actually gained after the end of the Balkan Wars being very limited; although their territory had expanded somewhat, compared to the casualties the two wars had brought upon Bulgaria, such territorial expansion was far from enough.

If one were to say which countries gained the most from the two Balkan Wars, it would certainly be Serbia and Greece.

After defeating Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece could unscrupulously carve up the land of Macedonia.

As the country with the greatest gains, Serbia's national land area grew from 48, 00 square kilometers before the war to 86, 00 square kilometers after the war, nearly doubling its territory.

In terms of population, Serbia's population also grew from 2. million before the war to 4. million after the war, a net increase of over 1. million people.

Greece was the country with the second-most abundant gains. The area of Macedonia and Thrace that Greece acquired reached as high as 25, 00 square kilometers, and this land brought Greece a population of nearly 2 million, allowing Greece's total population to suddenly rise to over 4 million.

The scale of territory acquired by Romania and Montenegro was not much different, both being only a few thousand square kilometers, with populations of only a little over 100, 00.

Bulgaria, which lost the large swaths of land it had newly acquired during the Second Balkan War, only gained a piece of territory with little value, and its total population increase was only a little over 100, 00.

As for Albania, which gained independence after the end of the First Balkan War and did not participate in the Second Balkan War, their population was only around 800, 00, which was still very small compared to other Balkan countries, only slightly ahead of Montenegro.

For Serbia and Greece, this war significantly increased their countries' comprehensive strength, formally growing from tiny countries into small countries, and they also gained a certain status in Europe.

Although Romania's gains were not as large, by effectively stopping Bulgaria's expansion, they ensured that Romania still maintained its status as the number one power in the Balkans.

Romania's population after the war had risen to over 6 million, which, apart from the Ottoman Empire, was considered to be in a class of its own in the Balkan region.

This was also the reason why King Carol I of Romania was willing to join the anti-Bulgarian alliance. In the eyes of Carol I, it was very necessary to maintain Romania's advantage over other Balkan countries.

Romania was already under great pressure from Russia, so naturally, they did not want another country capable of threatening them to appear behind them.

With the end of the war on the Balkan Peninsula, 1906 had also almost come to an end.

From the Balkan Wars, it could also be seen that the situation in Europe, under the control of the European powers, had become increasingly volatile, and war could break out at any time in the new year.

At the government summary report meeting at the end of 1906, Gao Da also proposed a brand-new plan for the coming year, requiring Spain and Portugal to fully expand their military to cope with the increasingly volatile European situation.

As mentioned before, after the formation of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, the armies of the two countries were integrated.

The original armies of the Kingdom of Portugal were also reorganized, establishing three infantry divisions, one colonial division, and five colonial garrison regiments.

In this way, the composition of the army of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal became: 15 infantry divisions, 5 cavalry divisions, 4 artillery divisions, and 5 engineer regiments forming the home army, plus 4 colonial divisions and 40 colonial garrison regiments forming the colonial army, as well as the Royal Guard Division that only took orders from Gao Da.

The home army totaled 212, 00 personnel, the colonial army 169, 00, and the Guard 15, 00, for a total military force of 396, 00.

The current number of troops in the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal was still too small. Even counting the colonial army, the total army of 396, 00 could only rank at the bottom among the European powers.

No matter how powerful the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army was, it was impossible to fight against the hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops of various European countries with only 396, 00 men.

It was precisely because of this that a comprehensive military expansion across the entire Iberian Peninsula was very necessary; doing so, in addition to dealing with the coming war, was also to improve Spain's control over various regions.

After Gao Da proposed the requirement for military expansion, the Spanish government quickly passed the relevant proposal and allocated a large sum of funds to the defense department.

For the entire year of 1906, the Spanish government's total fiscal revenue had risen to 1. 561 billion pesetas, total fiscal expenditure had decreased to 1. 484 billion pesetas, and the annual fiscal surplus was 7. million.

One must know that Spain had just ended a war with Britain, and being able to turn a profit in the first year after the war ended showed that the government had put in a great deal of effort.

Moreover, don't look at the government's annual surplus of only 7. million pesetas; if one also counted the post-war reparations that the British government needed to pay, the funds actually available to the Spanish government were still quite large.

Regarding the total fiscal budget for the new year, after a long period of estimation by the finance department, they finally gave a surprising figure: 1. 572 billion pesetas.

The reason was also very simple: after the formation of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, the economies of both sides would certainly usher in a period of prosperity.

Although it was mostly Portugal that enjoyed the benefits, Spain could also benefit from it. A large amount of Spanish industrial products flooding into the Portuguese market could promote the improvement of Spain's industry and economy.

On this basis, Spain's total fiscal revenue for the new year would certainly have further improvement. Since fiscal revenue had increased, the relevant expenditure would certainly also have a certain proportion of growth.

In this 1. 572 billion pesetas of total fiscal expenditure, the proportion of military spending by the defense department reached as high as 29. 6%, with a total fiscal budget of 488. million pesetas; military spending had seen a relatively large increase compared to last year.

On one hand, Spain's naval construction had already yielded results; the currently commissioned Dreadnought-class battleships had reached 5, and in 1907, one more Victory-class battleship was expected to be commissioned, which would also firmly fix Spain's naval strength in the top two in the world.

It was precisely because of the large investment in the navy that the Spanish government had to increase the military budget step by step.

Fortunately, the number of Spanish army troops was not large, and the number of home army troops was even smaller, effectively reducing a portion of military expenditure.

And in the new year's army expansion plan, according to Gao Da's instructions, after a long period of discussion, the defense department finally decided to increase the home army of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal to around 424, 00.

The United Kingdom would form 28 infantry divisions, 9 cavalry divisions, 8 artillery divisions, and 8 engineer regiments, further enhancing Spain's army military strength.

As for the colonial army, because the colonial army had to manage all the colonies of Spain and Portugal, the number of colonial army troops also had to be greatly increased.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers in the colonial army were composed of local natives, and the salaries of these natives were far lower than those of the home soldiers, which could be considered a disguised reduction in Spain's military expenditure.

Spain currently had 4 colonial divisions and 40 colonial garrison regiments; after discussion by the defense department, it was finally decided to expand them to 12 colonial divisions and 26 colonial garrison regiments. The total number of colonial army troops would be close to 290, 00.

In this way, the total number of Spanish home army and colonial army troops would reach an exaggerated 714, 00, which on the surface appeared to be at the same level as the total army numbers of Germany and France.