Empire Rising: Spain

The title of the Gold Coast isn’t just for show. To the local indigenous people, the gold here holds little value; a handful of gold dust is worth less than a full meal.

European colonizers used various methods to seize large amounts of gold dust and ore from the natives, refining these into gold and then transporting it back to Europe.

Of course, compared to grabbing ore, European colonizers preferred to seize gold mines directly.

This gradually resulted in fewer and fewer gold mines within local indigenous territories, and the gold dust and ore they could trade for food became increasingly scarce.

After the Spanish Army completed their assembly, they marched north along the riverbank in a grand procession. To avoid inciting rebellion across the entire Asante Federation, the Spanish Army’s attacks would only target the Ashanti Tribe, with no intent to attack other tribes for the time being.

Of course, this didn’t mean Spain would spare the other tribes of the Federation. Once the largest Ashanti Tribe was eliminated, the blades would fall upon the other tribes.

Evidently, the natives lacked such clear recognition. Initially, they worried whether the Spanish Army might also occupy their lands along the way, but when many indigenous leaders learned that the Spanish Army only attacked the villages of the Ashanti Tribe, leaving their own villages and lands untouched, they ultimately chose to betray the Federation.

Since the Ashanti chief opted to use his authority to oppress other indigenous tribes, he needed to be prepared for being betrayed by them.

Sometimes war isn’t the most terrifying thing—peace is. When the entire Federation had a common enemy, no matter the deep-seated grudges between tribes, they would always unite to fight an external force, relying on collective strength to ensure their safety.

But when these tribes had no common enemy, conflicts between them would be magnified, which was the reason they eventually chose to betray the Ashanti chief.

Historically, the British did the same thing, and Spain was just early on the scene.

Without the help of the Federation’s other tribes, the tiny Ashanti Tribe was of little concern to the Spanish Army.

This time, Spain deployed over ten thousand troops from five Colonial Defense Corps, making it easy for them to conquer a small indigenous tribe.

Upon learning that the Spanish Army had already launched an attack on the Ashanti Tribe, the other tribes scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing back to their own tribes in a flash.

Left alone in an instant, the Ashanti chief’s face bore a trace of fear and regret. He regretted having oppressed those indigenous tribes too harshly, which ultimately led to their betrayal when an external enemy arrived.

But there’s no medicine for regret in the world. Without other tribes willing to help the Ashanti Tribe, its annihilation was only a matter of time.

As for those small indigenous tribes that chose to support the Ashanti Tribe in the chief’s council, it was impossible for them to fend off the Spaniards’ attack.

More importantly, these small tribes had been pushed into the inland regions, making them the farthest from the Ashanti Tribe near the riverbank.

Here’s the question: would these small tribes, in the name of the so-called Federation’s rules, bring their limited population to help the Ashanti Tribe repel the Spanish Army’s attack?

The answer, of course, is no. Don’t forget, it was the European colonizers and the large tribes in the Federation that forced these small tribes inland in the first place.

In times of need for the largest tribe, how could these small tribes overlook themselves to support them?

They chose to support the Ashanti Tribe in the chief’s council only because the Ashanti chief’s prestige still lingered.

Once they returned to their own tribes, it truly became a case of ’the mountains are high and the emperor is far away,’ and the Ashanti chief couldn’t influence them.

Moreover, at this time, the Ashanti chief was in trouble himself. Unable to repel the Spanish Army’s attack, the destruction of the Ashanti Tribe was merely a matter of time.

These small tribes naturally didn’t have to worry about the Ashanti chief’s revenge. Who fears being resented by someone on the brink of death?

Despite the fear, the Ashanti chief decided to gather forces for a final struggle. They had repelled the British before, relying on the Federation’s strength, though the Ashanti Tribe contributed the most effort.

Now, even though they stood alone against the Spanish colonizers, the Spanish colonizers’ strength was fortunately far from that of the British Empire.

If they could defeat the Spanish colonizers on their own, it would not only change their ostracized status in the chief’s council but also quickly enhance their own reputation, allowing them to regain control of the council’s situation.

At its peak, the Asante Federation, a nation composed of multiple tribes, had a population of over four million.

But with the continuous invasion of European colonizers, the living space of the local indigenous people was severely compressed. Coupled with incessant wars, the population of the Asante Federation rapidly declined to over three million.

As the largest tribe of the Federation, the Ashanti Tribe currently had a population of over one million, which was also the confidence behind the Ashanti chief’s decision to take a final stand.

African indigenous tribes are different from European countries. The military mobilization of European countries is limited because many people are needed for various industrial productions, commercial activities, and so on.