Empire Rising: Spain

It’s evident that the Spaniards’ attitude of support for the reservists is directly proportional to their enthusiasm to join the reserve forces.

Since the official formation of the reserve forces at the end of August, in just two and a half weeks by early September, the number of applicants had already exceeded 50,000.

And this is just data submitted by larger cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Zaragoza. The announcement of the formation of the reserve forces had spread throughout Spain only within these two and a half weeks, and it might take some more time for all Spaniards to become aware of it.

This is the downside of not having the internet or even telephones—information isolation.

Even with newspapers and government announcements, it would take at least half a month or even more than a month for most Spaniards to learn about the formation of the reserve forces.

However, based on the current enrollment situation at recruitment sites in various cities, it would be easy for the final number of applicants to exceed 150,000.

Upon hearing this good news, Minister of Defense Duke Serrano immediately excitedly approached Carlo to report the good news.

Carlo had actually already received this information through the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, but he was still quite excited when formally hearing Duke Serrano’s report.

Once the 150,000 reservists are fully formed, Spain’s military power will be second only to the Five Great European Powers, even claiming to be the sixth in the world.

Italy, also a great power, is inferior to Spain both in the size of its army and navy, which actually means that Spain’s resurgence has been achieved to a certain extent.

Of course, it depends on what Spain’s resurgence represents. If it is merely to become a great power in Europe again, this has already been accomplished.

However, if Spain wants to become a superpower on the level of the Five Great European Powers, to become a player rather than a pawn in European continental politics, it still has a long way to go.

Fortunately, this goal for Spain is not an unrealizable dream but a future that can already be seen.

The strength of the Five Great European Powers is also relative; they are not without weaknesses. The Austria-Hungary Empire is made up of diverse nationalities, and the main nationality, the Austrians, that is, the Southern Germans, do not hold an advantageous position. The Kingdom of Hungary, a component of the dual monarchy, is populous and agriculturally developed, which is also a factor of instability for the Austria-Hungary Empire.

Russia naturally requires no elaboration. Alexander II’s reforms have not been thorough, and the problem of serf oppression in Russia remains unresolved.

Even the relatively powerful UK, France, Germany, are not perfect. For the current Spain, there is almost no hope of becoming a world hegemon, but there is still some hope to become a nation on the level of the Five Great European Powers, or even the top three in the world.

Carlo’s goal is exactly this: as long as Spain can be built into a world power looking to be in the top five, the resurgence of Spain can actually be realized.

As long as Spain can seize the opportunity during conflicts like the Boer War or a world war, there is hope for Spain, within the top five globally, to reclaim Gibraltar.

If Gibraltar can be reclaimed, Carlo would become one of the greatest monarchs of Spain, perhaps even without the qualifier of ”one of,” through media propaganda.

”Once the reservists who have passed the selection process can immediately start training,” Carlo instructed Duke Serrano, who had a smile on his face.

According to the reservist plan, the training time for reservists is in April, May, and September each year.

It is now September, which is the training time for reservists.

Although it is a bit hasty to begin training directly after being selected into the reserve forces, these young people who are among the first to join the reserves are precisely those most supportive of the country and the reserve forces.

Letting them immediately enter training will not dampen their enthusiasm; in fact, it will align with their desires.

After all, for a man with spirit, who wouldn’t want to experience the standard-issue rifles of the Spanish Military?

Although Spain does not ban firearms, it does prohibit the sale of standard-issue rifles of the Spanish Army to civilians.

Civilians legally owned firearms are shotguns, which in terms of shooting distance and power are far inferior to the army’s rifles.

If females have a natural affinity for beautiful things, then males have a natural affinity for firearms and sticks.

Although starting training right away might be hasty for these reservists, they will get to handle and use guns during the training, which is something they look forward to.

Duke Serrano nodded.

The training schedule for the reservists being in April, May, and September, actually takes into account the planting and harvesting time of Spanish crops.

Spain’s two main cereal crops are wheat and rice. Wheat is harvested from May to July, and rice is harvested from October to November. The reservist training will not affect the harvest of these crops.

The olive harvest takes place from October to December, and grape picking occurs from August to October, which also will not be significantly affected.

After all, the majority of the Spanish population are farmers, and the training time for reservists must consider the harvesting times of Spanish crops.

Even though most people are very supportive of the reservists, minimizing their burden is also the responsibility of the Spanish Government.

With a command from Carlo, the twenty thousand reservists who were first selected quickly began assembling around the major cities.