Empire Rising: Spain

It’s simply that Spain’s current strength is too weak, causing the British to temporarily abandon their schemes against Spain and focus more on formidable opponents like Russia.

Once Spain’s strength reaches the level of the five major powers, the relationship between Britain and Spain will not be so peaceful.

”In that case, let’s push for the implementation of the pre-reserve plan in the name of the Royal Family,” Carlo said with a smile.

Since it has been determined that Spanish public opinion supports the pre-reserve plan, there is naturally no need for other members to promote it.

After all, doing so can be said to be in line with public opinion; whoever promotes the pre-reserve plan can gain the people’s favor.

Just a few days after the Spanish Sun Newspaper published news suggesting the Spanish Government establish a pre-reserve, Carlo submitted the pre-reserve formation plan to the Military Committee in the name of the King of Spain.

As expected, the pre-reserve plan received unanimous approval from the entire Military Committee.

Besides Carlo and the Prime Minister, the Military Committee was composed entirely of senior military officers. The Prime Minister was also the Minister of Defense, Duke Serrano, and Carlo was the one who proposed the pre-reserve plan, so naturally, no one could oppose it.

After all, this is also a good thing for the military; the expansion of the pre-reserve represents an increase in military strength, and the senior military leaders will also raise their status.

After the Military Committee unanimously passed it, there was naturally no need for further discussion in Parliament.

The members of Parliament are not fools; they would not oppose a proposal unanimously passed by senior military officers. Moreover, it was personally proposed by Carlo as the King.

Additionally, since this suggestion is in accordance with public opinion, standing up against the pre-reserve system at this time would essentially be destroying one’s own future political career.

After consecutive approvals by the Military Committee and the Lower House, Spain officially began implementing the pre-reserve system from the end of August 1887.

All Spanish male citizens aged 20 to 25, except for researchers, university students, and some special talents, should participate in the three-year pre-reserve service.

Unlike the regular army, pre-reserve soldiers are still able to perform their jobs, but they need to attend at least one month of training at the training grounds during the annual training phase.

According to discussions by the Spanish Military Committee, the annual training period for these pre-reserve soldiers will be in April, May, and September, totaling three months each year.

During the training period, businesses and factories are required to retain the soldiers’ positions but are not obligated to pay their salaries and other benefits.

Their salaries during the training period will be uniformly managed by the Ministry of Defense, based on 1.2 times the average annual income of Spaniards.

Although the three-year pre-reserve service requires three months of training each year, there is also income during this training period, which can reduce the negative sentiment among the populace about being drafted into the pre-reserve.

While most of the populace supports the formation of the pre-reserve, this does not mean everyone wants to become a part of it.

It is necessary to appropriately raise the income for the pre-reserve, and considering they only train for three months, this expenditure is not that expensive compared to the purpose of forming the pre-reserve.

Since Carlo became the King of Spain, to demonstrate his emphasis on the military, the average salary of Spanish soldiers has been about 1.3 times the average annual income of Spaniards.

And the most elite Royal Guard, with soldiers earning an average salary reaching 1.5 times the average annual income of Spaniards, is also why the Imperial Guard is attractive to ordinary soldiers.

There is even less need to mention officers, whose income is higher than ordinary soldiers, leading to a large number of high school graduates applying for military academies each year.

It is precisely because Carlo led the way in raising the income of soldiers and officers that the Spanish Army’s support for Carlo is still quite high.

With increased soldier salaries, more young people are naturally willing to join the army. This is a win-win for Carlo, as not only can he enhance the army’s loyalty to him, but he can also encourage more Spaniards to eagerly join the army, ensuring that the Spanish Army can expand to several times its size at any time.

Spain’s finances are insufficient to support hundreds of thousands of troops, and currently, there is indeed no danger of war.

Otherwise, given the current enthusiasm for military enlistment among Spanish citizens, maintaining an army of 300,000 to 500,000 troops in Spain would still be easily achievable.

But doing so would not only place a huge burden on Spain’s finances but would also affect Spain’s industry and economy.

Forming a massive army of hundreds of thousands is simple, but it also means wasting the manpower of hundreds of thousands. If this manpower is used in agricultural and industrial production, Spain’s agriculture and industry would improve significantly.

With the official announcement of the pre-reserve plan in late August, recruitment offices in Madrid were filled with young men of eligible age wanting to join the pre-reserve.

According to the Military Committee’s regulations, the first batch of pre-reserves will be maintained at a scale of 150,000 people. Once someone completes the three-year service term, enough people will be selected to fill the 150,000 quota.

Once the number of pre-reserves exceeds 150,000, the Ministry of Defense will halt recruitment to ensure the number does not exceed the planned target.

Spain is forming a 150,000-strong pre-reserve for national defense, but if it were to form 200,000 or even 300,000 pre-reserves, it would be more than just for defense.

While Spain indeed can do this, at that time, not only Portugal but also the British would jump out to question Spain’s intentions.

To avoid attracting the attention of the infamous meddler, the British, Carlo has strictly limited the pre-reserve size to 150,000.

If the number of youths signing up is less than 150,000, according to the pre-reserve system, Spanish males aged 20 to 25 will be forcibly drafted into the pre-reserve.

Even if more than 150,000 people sign up, the Ministry of Defense will still select from these 150,000 to ensure that the physical fitness of the pre-reserve soldiers is quite excellent.