Chapter 230: Congo Territory Expansion

The news and photos of Carlo personally meeting Sebastian Sharp, the first place in the bullfighting competition, were also reprinted by major newspapers and became the hottest news in Spain in November 1877.

Sebastian Sharp himself has the supreme honor and is known as the most powerful bullfighter in Spain. He is an idol in the hearts of many Spanish teenagers and also makes many Spanish young girls admire him.

This also makes many bullfighters envious. They have secretly made up their minds to achieve better results in the bullfighting competition in the new year, replace Sebastian Sharp, and become the sought-after national hero.

However, Carlo had no time to pay attention to these at this time, because in mid-to-late November 1877, bad news came from the Congo Territory, that is, some plantations established by Spain in the Congo Territory were looted by local indigenous forces.

The Congo Territory created by Spain is very large, at least hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. Because there is no deep colonization by powerful countries in the interior of Africa, Spain can occupy this land unscrupulously.

Of course, unscrupulous occupation is not without cost. At present, Spain's control over the Congolese territory is not high. In fact, the only areas that can be truly controlled are the Guinea-Congo corridor involved in the railway and dozens of colonies upstream.

The total area of ​​these colonies is only tens of thousands of square kilometers, and currently only less than 10,000 people live there.

And outside these colonies, there are at least millions of local indigenous people. When the colonial outposts were first established, the relationship between the colonies and the local indigenous people was relatively friendly.

The colonies could even exchange some food from the local indigenous tribes through material trade, which is why colonies could be established in large numbers in the early stage when materials were insufficient.

After the railway was connected, the Spanish colonies naturally did not need to trade with the indigenous people for food. On the contrary, whether it was building railways, developing colonies, building plantations, etc., a large number of indigenous people were needed as labor.

This also quickly destroyed the relationship between Spain and the local indigenous people. The relationship between the two quickly changed from friendly trade at the beginning to hostility, and even conflicts of varying sizes broke out.

Fortunately, Spain had already mobilized a colonial garrison regiment to station in the Congo territory, which ensured that there had been no major crises in the Congo territory so far.

However, a Spanish colonial garrison regiment had only 2,300 people, and more than half of the troops were drawn from the natives of the colonies.

This also led to the weak combat effectiveness of the colonial garrison regiment, which could only barely maintain the stability of the colony.

If the Congo territory had maintained its current size, this colonial garrison regiment could barely protect the Congo territory. But the Congo territory is constantly expanding, and this is also to compete with Portugal for the size of the Congo colony.

Portugal's colonization of Congo has begun for hundreds of years, and they have also achieved considerable results.

The purpose of Spain's large-scale development of the Congo colony is to completely control the lower reaches of the Congo River before Portugal, so that the Congo territory has its own outlet to the sea.

Needless to say, how important an outlet to a colony is. At present, the way countries around the world conduct trade is basically ocean trade, and the transportation capacity of land trains is really limited.

If the lower reaches of the Congo River can be controlled and an outlet to the Congolese territory can be opened, the development of the Congolese territory will have a golden period of development.

Moreover, the only enemy of the colonization of the Congo region is Portugal, which makes the Spanish government quite unscrupulous in expanding the Congolese territory. At present, it has expanded at least 300,000 square kilometers of land.

The rapid expansion of the Congolese territory is of course good news, but it is also accompanied by a lot of problems.

The first thing to bear the brunt is the security of the Congolese territory. At present, the population of the entire Congolese territory is only more than 10,000 people, most of whom are immigrants transported from Russia.

The number of indigenous peoples in the Congolese territory is as low as millions, which poses a considerable threat to the security of the Congolese territory.

More importantly, there are various indigenous peoples living on this land, and there is also a competitive relationship between these indigenous peoples, which is quite troublesome to manage.

To the east of the Spanish Guinea colony is the territory of the Baka people, and to the east of the Baka people is the Zande people. To the south of the Baka and Zande people is the Spanish Congo Territory, to the south of the Congo Territory is the Bantu territory, and to the east are some indigenous kingdoms that have existed for hundreds of years.

In the lower reaches of the Congo River, there are many indigenous countries including Anziku, Ruengo, Ngoyo, Orungu and Congo.

A large number of indigenous countries and tribes have made the order near the Congo Territory extremely chaotic, and it is not surprising that some indigenous people who hate the colonists took advantage of the chaos to loot plantations.

As soon as he learned that some plantations in the Congo Territory were looted, Carlo directly issued an order, requiring the Congo Territory to form a larger army to protect the security of the territory, and appointed Manuel Mathias Icardusa, the head of the garrison regiment stationed in the Congo Territory, as the commander-in-chief of the Congo Territory garrison, and promoted his rank from the original colonel to major general.

Carlo has been vigorously cultivating Spanish native officers, and Manuel Mathias Icardusa is a very prominent representative among them.

As the head of the colonial garrison stationed in the Congo Territory, Manuel Mathias Icardusa carries a huge responsibility.

He also made great contributions to the development of the Congo territory, and was promoted to the rank of colonel by Carlo last year.

Since the Congo territory needs a larger army, Manuel Mathias Icardusa is naturally the commander of this large-scale army.

A 32-year-old major general, his future military career is naturally quite brilliant and dazzling. Even if there are no outstanding merits and contributions, the accumulation of qualifications alone is enough for Manuel Mathias Icardusa to step into the level of lieutenant general and major general.

As for the higher-level marshal rank, in addition to qualifications, it depends on his ability and loyalty. Of course, in terms of loyalty, Manuel Mathias Icardusa is certainly trustworthy.

Although Carlo intends to train native Spanish officers, he will also take into account the loyalty of these native officers. If Carlo is not sure about a person's loyalty to himself, he will not train him so vigorously.

Being able to be vigorously cultivated by Carlo also proves one thing, that is, after the investigation of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, it is determined that Manuel Mathias Icardusa himself and his family are loyal enough to Carlo and the royal family.

Of course, after the expansion of the garrison scale of the Congo Territory, it is unrealistic for Manuel Mathias Icardusa alone to control the garrison of the Congo Territory.

After all, the Congo Territory is a huge area with an area of ​​nearly one million square kilometers, and the area will continue to grow in the future.

The garrison of the territory also needs to be dispersed to various parts of the Congo Territory, so as to better ensure that the colonies distributed in various places can be well protected.

In Carlo's plan, the garrison of the Congo Territory will be increased to the size of an entire colonial garrison division, with a number of about 20,000 people.

Because the number of artillery equipped by the colonial garrison is too small, the firepower of the garrison can only be increased by increasing the number of people.

Considering the millions of people in the Congo Territory and the troops that can be drawn from the nearby Guinea colony, it is easy to form a garrison of about 20,000 people.

If it doesn't work, you can also draw people from the southern Moroccan colony or the Philippine colony. Anyway, many Moroccans are scrambling to join the Spanish nationality, so they can join the colonial army to show their loyalty to Spain.

The garrison in the Congo Territory is as high as 20,000 people, which also means that in addition to the commander-in-chief, who is also the division commander, a deputy division commander is also needed to assist in the management of more than 20,000 troops.

For this deputy division commander, Carlo considered and finally decided to promote Andrew.

Andrew was the first batch of confidants who followed Carlo to Spain and graduated from the Turin Military Academy in Italy. Andrew was originally the commander of the 25th Infantry Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division of the Spanish Royal Army. Later, he was promoted by Carlo to the commander of the Military Guidance Group in Lanfang.

It has been more than two years since Andrew arrived in Lanfang, and the results achieved are still quite good. With the help of the military guidance group, Lan Fang has successfully established a new army of 20,000 people, equipped with rifles and a small amount of artillery from Spain.

The current Lan Fang Republic can be said to be the third largest military force in Kalimantan Island after Spain and the Netherlands. The 20,000 new army can easily crush the natives of Kalimantan Island.

It is precisely because the Lan Fang Republic trained the new army that the expansion of the Dutch in Kalimantan has become difficult.

The Lan Fang Republic not only maintains its existing land scale, but also establishes closer cooperation with some natives of Kalimantan.

At present, the Chinese population in the Lan Fang Republic is also increasing, and there is hope that the Chinese population will be increased to more than 600,000 before 1880.

The Lan Fang Republic has officially signed a treaty with Spain and become a Spanish protectorate. The Lan Fang Republic needs to be guided by Spain in military and diplomatic rights, but the advantage is that Spain will protect the independence of the Lan Fang Republic and promise never to annex the Lan Fang Republic.

Anyway, the Lan Fang Republic had previously been nominally obedient to the rule of the Netherlands. Regarding the protectorate and related treaties, the Lan Fang government had no hesitation at all.

Because the current situation is very clear, the Qing Dynasty, which they are holding up the banner of, can't help them at all, and will not help them at all.

The Lan Fang Republic can only choose to surrender to the Netherlands or Spain, otherwise it can't maintain its independence at all. Compared with the Netherlands, which has the ambition to annex the Lan Fang Republic, Spain's conditions are not so harsh.

Except for the need to listen to Spain's guidance in diplomacy, military and commodity trade, the Lan Fang Republic can have a complete internal regime, and Spain will not interfere in the domestic governance of the Lan Fang Republic.

For Spain, the 20,000 new troops trained by the Lan Fang Republic will also be a good help.

Whether it is used to deal with the rebellion of various indigenous peoples in the Philippines or to guard against the Dutch and the British, these 20,000 new troops can play a very important role.

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At the same time, an army of 20,000 people is not enough to defeat the Dutch. This can ensure that the Lan Fang Republic can be controlled by Spain while having a certain strength, and will not let the Lan Fang Republic break away from Spanish control.

At present, the situation in Kalimantan has stabilized. Under the protection of Spain, the Dutch have no plans to invade the Lan Fang Republic for the time being.

This also gave Carlo the opportunity to replace the members of the Military Guidance Group in the Republic of Lanfang, allowing these military experts who had been stationed in the south for more than two years to return to Spain to rest and reunite with their families.

As the head of the Military Guidance Group in Lanfang, Andrew was the one who led the training of the new army in Lanfang.

Because of this contribution, Carlo decided to promote him to Colonel of the Royal Spanish Army and appointed him as Deputy Commander of the Congo Territory Garrison Division to assist Manuel Mathias Icardusa in managing the army in the Congo Territory.

Carlo's order was issued very quickly, but when Manuel Mathias Icardusa received the news, it was already the next day.

There was no way, the information dissemination in this era was so slow. Manuel Mathias Icardusa could receive the news the next day, but Andrew, who was far away in Kalimantan, would take at least several days to receive the news.

As soon as he received the news, Manuel convened a military meeting and announced Carlo's order to expand the army in the Congo Territory.

Even if more than half of the 20,000-man colonial garrison division are indigenous soldiers, it is difficult to form an army of 20,000.

Fortunately, a group of officers can be sent from Spain, which can be regarded as solving the officer problem of this large garrison division.

The troops can be temporarily recruited from the local indigenous people in the Congo territory, and some indigenous soldiers can also be transported from the nearby Guinea colony and South Morocco colony.

Manuel naturally knew the reason why Carlo ordered the expansion of the army. The looting of the plantation was something Spain did not want to see. No matter who looted the Spanish plantation, Spain would inevitably retaliate.

"Recent events have attracted the attention of His Majesty the King. We must find out who looted the plantation in a short time and make them pay the price they deserve." At the military meeting, Manuel Mathias Icardosa took the lead in putting forward his request.

Because of insufficient military strength, Manuel Mathias Icardosa did not bear too much responsibility after the plantation was looted.

But he was the commander of the only garrison in the Congo territory, and it was impossible to say that he had no responsibility at all.

Especially after learning that Carlo had paid attention to this matter, Manuel Mathias Icardosa wanted to find out the real culprit behind the looting of the plantation as soon as possible and bring him to justice to prove his ability to Carlo.

In addition to the commander of the garrison, some major officials of the colonial stronghold also attended the military meeting.

After all, Manuel was going to announce Carlo's orders, and these orders also required the cooperation of officials in the Congo Territory.

At the same time, these officials could also provide some ideas that officers could not think of. As long as the real culprit behind the scenes could be found out as soon as possible, Manuel did not mind letting these officials share some of the credit.

"General, those who have the power to rob our plantation are most likely some local indigenous tribes, such as the Zande, Baka, etc.

Since we can't find out who robbed the plantation, we might as well treat them equally and attack these indigenous tribes at the same time.

These indigenous people must know who is the real culprit behind the scenes. Unless they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the real culprit behind the scenes, I believe someone will tell the truth after several rounds of our attacks." An official made his own suggestion.

Although the local indigenous people in the Congo Territory are divided into different tribes and ethnic groups, they all look similarly black.

For the Spaniards, it is really difficult to tell which tribe and ethnic group they are from.

But it is difficult to tell which tribe they are from. Since there is no way to tell which tribe they are from, all of them will be regarded as the murderers who robbed the plantation.

As the saying goes, it is better to kill a thousand people by mistake than to let one go. As long as all the large indigenous tribes nearby are within the attack range of the Spanish army, it can be determined that the murderer who robbed the plantation is also among them.

As for those indigenous tribes that were accidentally injured, they can only blame themselves for their bad luck.

If the indigenous tribes want to avoid being accidentally injured, they can only tell who the real culprit is. As long as the real culprit is known, the next thing will be easy.

Of course, if these natives refuse to tell, there is a good way to deal with it. Anyway, the construction of Spanish colonies requires a large number of laborers, and there is no need to worry about the life and death of these black laborers.

Transporting them to the major colonies of Spain for construction, and then crossing the river to demolish the bridge and slaughter them after the construction is completed, can also solve the problem once and for all.

Hearing the suggestion of the official, Manuel's eyes lit up and said without hesitation: "This is a good way, let's try it first.

But there is a problem that our troops are too few. It seems that we have to borrow some troops from South Morocco and Guinea first."

If you want to attack several large indigenous tribes at the same time, you need at least several thousand troops. At present, the Congo territory has only this colonial garrison regiment with 2,300 troops, which obviously cannot attack several indigenous tribes at the same time.

Fortunately, the Guinea colony and the South Morocco colony are not too far from the Congo territory. If the action is fast, the troops of the Guinea colony can even be transported to the Congo territory in a few days. After all, the railway between Guinea and the Congo territory has been built long ago.

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