Empire Rising: Spain

Because the recruitment of reservists is distributed across various regions and cities, the training of these reservists will also be conducted around each city.

The main training points are the largest one in Madrid, the training point closest to the military academy in Zaragoza, the northernmost one in Galicia, and the southernmost one in Seville.

The first 20,000 soldiers recruited mostly come from the areas around Madrid and Barcelona, so the training points in Madrid and Zaragoza are the first to be put into use.

These reservist soldiers will undergo military training for half a month at the training points, and at the end of September’s training, they will conduct at least two shooting practices.

Due to the urgent production of orders from Russia and the Ottoman Empire at the armament factories, the rifles used by reservists can only be selected from the rifles previously phased out by the Spanish Army.

This is an unavoidable situation, as the most important thing is to first trade with Russia and the Ottoman Empire to earn substantial profits.

There is no need to reserve so many rifles domestically in Spain; if each of the 150,000 reservists were equipped with rifles, it would be a considerable expense just for the rifles alone.

During the training of reservists, not everyone will have a rifle; instead, a batch of rifles will be distributed at each training point for the reservists to use in rotation.

This approach not only reduces the demand for rifles but also allows each reservist to experience shooting practice, which is the most suitable choice.

On the day training commenced at the Madrid training point, the Ministry of Defense also urgently selected usable rifles from the military warehouse.

There is, of course, a stock of Vitali M1872 Rifles at the Ministry of Defense, and until this stock is exhausted, the rifles used by the reservists will remain the Vitali M1872 Rifles.

This can also be seen as a reward for those who were the earliest to join the reservists. As for those who join the reservists later, if the stock of Vitali M1872 Rifles is insufficient, they will have to use those outdated rifles that were previously eliminated.

Aside from receiving a salary during the training phase, the top-performing soldier in each squad will receive additional rewards.

Furthermore, competitions will be held among the reservists in the form of companies. The top three performing soldiers in each company will receive more opportunities, including but not limited to, opportunities to join the regular army, recommendations to military academies, and prospects of becoming junior officers in the reservists.

Although they are only reservists, their training also follows the organization of the troops. In the first year, the officers of the reservists are elite soldiers and some junior officers from the Royal Spanish Army, who will serve as squad leaders or even platoon leaders to help the reservists adapt to army life more quickly.

After the first year of training for the reservists, the most basic positions such as squad leaders will be handed over to the reservists.

Soldiers who perform excellently during training have the hope of becoming squad leaders of the reservists.

Those who are exceptionally outstanding will also have the opportunity to become platoon leaders. Even though these are officer positions within the reservists, they still provide good training for these soldiers.

As the saying goes, ”A soldier who doesn’t want to be a general is not a good soldier.” Even if they are just part of the reservists, these soldiers certainly have aspirations of becoming high-ranking officers.

Carlo has long anticipated this. As long as the reservist soldiers perform well during training, Carlo will provide them with opportunities and promote them in various ways.

Upon completing their three-year service term as reservists, those who perform well can directly join the army for active service.

Currently, the service term for the regular Spanish Army is 5-7 years, extendable to 11 years for special talents. Besides the salary obtained during service, soldiers who fulfill their service term and retire normally can choose to receive either a reward payment or a job opportunity.

This point is quite important. These soldiers who have served long-term in the army are unlikely to master significant work skills, making it challenging for them to find satisfactory jobs after reentering society.

Because of this, the loyalty of those currently serving and those who have already retired to Carlo is extremely high.

The income they receive during their service is 1.3 times that of an ordinary Spaniard, and after retiring, they can obtain job arrangements or an additional reward, reflecting the benevolent care of the Royal Family.

Previously, the individuals with the highest influence in the military were Prime Minister Prim and Duke Serrano, but currently, the one with the highest influence in the military is Carlo.

However, this influence doesn’t usually manifest openly, so to most Spaniards, Spain still appears to be a constitutional monarchy, and Carlo still remains the constitutional monarch who cherishes his people.

On the day training began at the Madrid and Zaragoza training points, Carlo also visited these two training points to encourage the newly joined reservist soldiers and deliver a speech.

From the attitude of these reservist soldiers towards Carlo, it can be seen that they are loyal to Carlo, supportive of the reservists, and passionate about the country.

Carlo didn’t pay much attention to the subsequent training, as the military has ample experience in troop training, whereas Carlo is something of a layman.

Although Carlo graduated from the Turin Royal Military Academy, he hasn’t been much involved in military affairs since then.