Empire Rising: Spain

Although the United Kingdom’s colonies are spread across the globe, communication between the British Government and the colonies is not that swift and effective.

Information around the Philippines needs to be first telegraphed to the Indian Colonial Government, and then relayed by the Indian Colonial Government to the British Government.

This delay would lengthen the time, which is the reason the Marquis of Rogers mentioned playing a time interval. From the time the message is reported until the British Government reacts and issues orders, there and back, it takes at least several days.

Spain completely has the hope to occupy the entire Sulu Sultanate before the British Government can issue orders. As long as the goal is achieved, the British Government can only grudgingly accept it.

After all, at this time the British Government’s main focus is not on Kalimantan; even if Spain can occupy some land, there are also colonies of the Netherlands on Borneo.

Perhaps it could even spark colonial competition between the Spaniards and the Dutch. The British not only remain detached but also enjoy the show.

Driven by the principle of swift action, the operations of the four Colonial Defense Corps are quite rapid.

The third and fourth Defense Corps crossed the Sulu Sea with the help of the Navy and went straight to the Sulu Archipelago, while the first and second Defense Corps were deployed in advance on the eastern part of Mindanao, and with orders moved directly towards the western indigenous forces.

This era does not have any radar; detecting enemies relies entirely on visual observation.

The Spanish Army is merciless towards these indigenous forces, and during the westward advancement of the first and second Defense Corps, any indigenous forces discovered are immediately suppressed with force.

The first to suffer are those relatively loose indigenous tribes. They exist in tribes, independent of each other, posing little threat to the Spanish Army.

They are not unfamiliar with Spanish colonizers, and when facing the steel guns and cannons of the Spanish Army, all they can do is to surrender and lay down arms.

Of course, there are those who resist stubbornly, but their fate is usually not favorable. To set an example, during the suppression of these indigenous tribes, any tribes found to be disobedient meet the fate of complete annihilation.

The East Indies, as Spain’s largest colony, has abundant reserves of weapons and ammunition. During the transportation of troops, the transport fleet also brings along a large batch of weapons and ammunition reserves.

And during the process of eliminating indigenous forces, these transported weapons and ammunition played a substantial role.

Faced with the most advanced steel guns and cannons, these indigenous people have no room for resistance. Most of the weapons they hold are cold weapons, and even if there are muskets, the quantity is limited and they are very outdated muskets.

These relatively loose tribes have no hot weapons, making their elimination considerably easier. It could actually be said that it wasn’t even elimination, but rather the forceful suppression and incorporation into Spanish colonial rule.

In just over half a day, the indigenous tribes in the western part of Mindanao were basically occupied. However, the territory occupied by these tribes was only a small portion, with more land being occupied by the Magindanao Sultanate.

Although the Magindanao Sultanate is not a large indigenous nation, this indigenous force has certain connections with the British and Dutch.

Unlike the previous indigenous tribes, the Magindanao Sultanate possesses hot weapons, acquired from British and Dutch merchants.

In fact, it’s easy to see that the British and Dutch are willing to provide these indigenous people with hot weapons precisely to prevent Spanish colonial expansion.

Colonies, after all, are limited, and the more land Spain occupies, the less land there is for Britain and the Netherlands to divide.

By confining Spain in Mindanao, the British and Dutch have sufficient time to divide Kalimantan.

Actually, looking at the original situation, the actions of the British and Dutch were quite successful. The decline of the Kingdom of Spain continued up to the Spanish-American War; Spain, during these decades, merely managed to barely grasp the situation in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the vast lands of Kalimantan were gradually divided between the British and Dutch over time, leading to the establishment of the Dutch East Indies Colony by the Dutch. It’s a massive land totaling 1.91 million square kilometers.

Only a nation with not so strong domestic strength like the Netherlands could gain such a huge colony under Britain’s watchful eye.

If the Netherlands had a slightly stronger comprehensive strength, obtaining such vast colonies would be much harder.

For Spain, competing with the Netherlands for colonies in Kalimantan means not fearing the British to some extent.

If Spain were a powerful nation like Germany, France, and Russia, the British naturally wouldn’t want Spain to acquire more colonies.

But Spain’s comprehensive strength is not strong; all told, it’s like Italy, a gatekeeper of great powers. Spain turning its attention to the lands of Southeast Asia is good news for the British.

After all, the British are more focused on the eastern and western gateways of the Mediterranean, Africa, and India.

Whether Southeast Asia is controlled by the Dutch or Spaniards, it makes no difference to the British. Since neither country is strong enough to threaten Britain, it’s much better than being occupied by France or Germany.

Returning to Spain’s suppression of indigenous forces.