Chapter 131: Debate on military expansion

In fact, for every colonial country, colonial rebellion has always been the most troublesome thing and the biggest expense in managing colonies.

Spain currently has three large colonies, namely Cuba, the Philippines and South Morocco.

Except for South Morocco, which has just been occupied and has no large-scale rebellion, the other two colonies have large-scale rebellions.

For the Spanish government, it is definitely hoped that the two colonies of Cuba and the Philippines can be stable and generate income continuously to supply the development of Spain.

Only when Spain becomes stronger can it better preserve these colonies, and at the same time allow Spain's sphere of influence to continue to expand, and finally create Spain's revival.

In order to ensure the stability of the colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, after discussions at the cabinet meeting, it was finally decided to increase the size of the garrisons in the two colonies.

As mentioned before, the total size of the Spanish army is only about 100,000, of which the local army is about 70,000 and the colonial garrison is about 30,000.

As one of Spain's most important colonies, Cuba has a total of 12,000 colonial garrisons, which is also the colony with the largest number of garrisons in Spain.

The second place is the Philippine colony, with a total of about 4,000 garrisons. Around the Philippines, Spain also has a colony in Kalimantan, with a garrison of about 3,000 people.

Yes, Spain also had a colony on Kalimantan Island. Although the history of the Sulu colony is only 30 years, it is indeed a Spanish colony at present, and the total area is not small.

Spain has stationed a total of about 7,000 troops in the Philippines and Sulu, which can also prove that the Philippine colony including Sulu is still very important to Spain.

In addition to the two extremely important colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, Spain also has more than 8,000 garrisons in the northern cities of Ceuta and Tetuan in Morocco.

In addition to these three colonies with thousands of garrisons, the remaining colonies including Puerto Rico, Guinea and the Canary Islands have only a little over 1,000 soldiers.

Of course, the southern Moroccan colony is also currently expanding the size of its garrison. Although the number of these colonial garrison troops seems to be large, only about half of them are real Spaniards, and the rest are indigenous soldiers recruited from the local colonies.

If only the Spaniards are counted, the number of troops in the colonies is still a bit small. Especially Cuba and the Philippines, these two colonies can obviously afford more troops, and it is necessary to strengthen the size of the local army to ensure the stability of these colonies.

All the colonial garrisons add up to about 14 regiments, with a total strength of about 32,200.

Such an army size is not only difficult to support the Spanish mainland under certain circumstances, but also to maintain the stability of Spain's existing colonies.

It is very necessary to expand the size of the existing colonial army, which is not only related to the stability of Spain's colonies, but also to a certain extent to the stability of Spain.

In terms of the colonial army, Carlo still has a lot of say. The colonial army obeys the leadership of the colonial government and the governor, and the colonial governor is appointed by the king.

At this point, Prime Minister Primo's influence is not as high as Carlo. However, because Prime Minister Primo actually served as the governor of the colonies, his influence on individual colonies must be much higher than that of Carlo.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I suggest that our 14 colonial garrison regiments be increased to 25, and the problem of insufficient troops in each colony can be easily solved." Colonial Affairs Minister Scotti Alvarez expressed his opinion on the problem of insufficient colonial troops.

But before Prime Minister Primo expressed his attitude towards this opinion, Finance Minister Ewald Bartel stood up and retorted: "Mr. Scotti, have you ever thought that the kingdom's finances are simply unable to afford such a scale of colonial troops?

25 garrison regiments have nearly 60,000 troops. Do our colonies really need so many people?"

The different opinions of the Minister of Colonial Affairs and the Minister of Finance are very common in the cabinet. After all, they consider issues from different angles.

As the Colonial Minister, Scotti certainly wants to expand the colonial army and enhance the influence of the colonies, which can also indirectly enhance his influence as the Colonial Minister.

As the Finance Minister, Ewald first has to protect the country's finances. If any cabinet minister can take away a large amount of the fiscal budget through proposals, the Ministry of Finance will lose its function.

Finance is very important as the core of a national department, and Ewald is also one of Prime Minister Primo's confidants.

It is precisely because he knows that Prime Minister Primo's attitude towards reform and local development is higher than that of the colonies that Ewald stood up and was the first to oppose Scotti.

If the government's finances are all used to expand the colonial army, what about the local development?

Carlo watched the officials quarreling without any action. Even if Carlo has a say in colonial affairs, as a king, it is better not to clearly favor one side before the ministers have a result in the quarrel.

This not only makes oneself invincible, but also allows others to use their means to achieve their goals.

If Carlo clearly expressed his support for one side at the meeting, he would not only offend the other side being refuted, but also make himself highly associated with the supported side.

The current Spanish cabinet government is obviously still under the control of Prime Minister Primo, and Carlo is also waiting for Prime Minister Primo's opinion.

Seeing that his subordinates have been arguing for a long time without a clear result, and that Archduke Serrano and Carlo, who have the right to speak, have no intention of coming forward, Prime Minister Primo can only stand up and stop the cabinet government's debate.

"There is nothing to argue about this matter. The armed forces of our colonies are indeed a little weak, but we cannot expand the army significantly." Prime Minister Primo said: "

Considering the financial capacity of our government, I think it is most appropriate to expand the number of colonial garrisons to about 20.

If there are too many, it will affect the government's finances and cause harm to the development of the local area. But if the army is not expanded, the problems of the colonies will still persist, which is also not conducive to the development of Spain.

Your Majesty, I think we should expand the number of colonial garrisons to 20, and at the same time equip these colonial forces with a certain number of Spanish officers, and the soldiers can recruit some local natives to join.

As long as there are Spanish officers to maintain order in the army, the stability of these colonial armies can be ensured."

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