Empire Rising: Spain

However, the British were not happy for long. This treaty instead incited anti-British sentiment among the Afghans and devolved into a sustained uprising war.

The United Kingdom’s quagmire in Afghanistan was actually good news for Spain, as it had enough time to develop the Congo Territory without worrying about British intervention.

In later times, there is a joke about oil giving rise to the US military. In fact, in this era, there was a similar anecdote about gold breeding the British army.

The British Empire owned the most extensive colonies in the world, and these were not acquired peacefully, but through waves of colonial and aggressive wars.

The gold rush in the Congo Territory had already formed. If the British were not tied up in Afghanistan, they might have found a way to cause trouble for Spain or dispatched colonial teams to establish their own footholds in the Congo River Basin.

Now that the British were occupied, Spain had ample time to complete its plans.

In fact, the British had plenty of troubles. As early as January, they had engaged in a war with the Zulu native state in South Africa.

Led by Lord Chelmsford, 13,000 British colonial troops crossed the Tugela River to launch a large-scale attack on the Zulu Kingdom.

The arrogant British underestimated this native state and ultimately paid a heavy price. The Zulus took advantage of the night to surround the British troops and launched a night raid.

In the surprised eyes of the British soldiers, the Zulus charged into the British camp under intense British artillery bombardment, engaging in a brutal hand-to-hand fight with them.

Over 3,000 Zulu soldiers were killed or wounded, but they also caused more than 1,600 casualties to the British troops.

The main reason was that the Zulu soldiers stormed into the British camp, turning the engagement between the two forces into close-quarters combat. Had the Zulus not breached the camp, the British forces could have easily crushed the Zulu army with their firepower.

The British lost over 1,000 rifles, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, and several cannons in this war, and returned most of the occupied land.

But the Zulus did not end the war with this victory; the British rejected any negotiation demands from the Zulus and continuously reinforced their positions in the South African region.

As the most powerful country in the world, when the British were determined to occupy a nation, seldom could any country repel their attack.

Even though the Zulus inflicted heavy casualties on the British forces during the war, and even killed Napoleon III’s son Louis, it did not alter the outcome of the war.

In July 1879, the British army, leveraging their superior firepower, easily defeated the Zulu forces. Having gained experience from prolonged battles with the Zulus, the British prepared ample supplies of bullets and shells, pinning the Zulus outside their lines.

Because the Zulus couldn’t approach the British positions, they couldn’t engage the British forces in familiar close-quarters combat.

In long-distance confrontations, the Zulus were forced to endure the British’s fierce firepower, resulting in instant demise upon exposure.

As the Zulus were suppressed, the British cavalry advanced in full force, swiftly defeating the Zulu forces.

This victory cemented the British advantage in Zululand, with the Zulu Kingdom being divided into 13 small chiefdoms, all incorporated into British control.

Of course, for the British, the complete occupation of Zululand did not signify the end but rather the beginning of a new conflict.

The South African Colony was founded by the Dutch. Dutch immigrants established Cape Town and subsequently developed into the Cape Colony.

Yet, with the British encroachment, the Cape Colony eventually became British possession. The descendants of local immigrants became known as the Boers and were forced to flee north under British colonial oppression.

The Boers’ destination was the Zulu Kingdom, which not only had a seaport but also relatively fertile land with a significant number of natives that could be used as slaves.

The British also set their sights on this land and ultimately gained control over it.

But this inevitably deepened the conflict between the Boers and the British. The lands controlled by the Boers and the British had no buffer zones left.

Compared to technologically backward native states, the Boers, descended from European immigrants, were evidently more advanced, with significantly greater combat effectiveness.

The conflict between the British and the Boers would inevitably intensify competition in the South African region.

The historical Boer War also demonstrated that the British army could only bully colonial natives, lacking the expected advantage against more advanced armies.

Carlo certainly understood that the Boer War was a major opportunity for Spain, with prospects even for annexing Portugal and reclaiming Gibraltar.

But the issue was, there were two Boer Wars, with the second being the true war in essence. The First Boer War was more a small-scale conflict between the British and the Boers than a war.

The Second Boer War erupted at the turn of the 20th century, approximately 20 years from now.

This also meant that Spain was at least 20 years away from its goal of annexing Portugal and reclaiming Gibraltar.

Of course, having ample time was also good news.

Spain could complete its strategic arrangements within these 20 years. Historically, the British barely won the Second Boer War, although they achieved victory, they also paid a heavy price for it.

If they could prepare in advance, even if it couldn’t change the result of the war, they could ensure the British paid an even greater price.

The greater the losses for the British, the greater Spain’s opportunity to annex Portugal and reclaim Gibraltar. If the British got bogged down in the Boer War, Spain might even have a chance to annex Portugal and Morocco, taking the opportunity to establish a vast empire spanning Europe and Africa.