Chapter 998： mercenary

It doesn't matter if Spain is defeated. The key is that the strategic location of the Philippine Islands cannot fall into the hands of ambitious Japanese, or the Southeast Asia will never have peace.

Regardless of the fact that the Japanese government is very peaceful now, even though the Vienna government is supporting Spain in an open flame, they are still sluggish and small, as if they have no temper.

But this is only based on awe of the strong. Now the Holy Roman Empire is strong, and the military power in the South Seas alone can make them unable to eat, even if they want to feel uneasy.

However, times are changing. The Philippine Islands that fell into the hands of the Spanish and the Philippine Islands that fell into the hands of the Japanese are two completely different concepts.

The former has declined. Even if the Philippines is fertile, it can only contribute a certain amount of income to Spain, and the national strength will not help much.

If it fell into the hands of Japan, it would be completely different. With the resources of the Philippines and the hard work of the Japanese, it is appropriate to create a medium-sized power, and it is still the kind of combat effectiveness.

If it was just these, it would not be enough to make Franz jealous. After all, the Holy Roman Empire is too abnormal now, even he himself never thought that one day he could create such a huge empire.

The problem is that Japan is not a normal country. There are veterans who are pressing down on it, and they are not going crazy for the time being. The future is not necessarily the same. Refer to their original time and space to know that it is a completely tricky movie series.

No one can guarantee that one day the Japanese will go crazy and attack the Austrian Nanyang region. Franz didn't want to go to the Far East and fight the Japanese.

It is estimated that normal people do not like wars that have lost blood, won or lost blood. Unless there is a certainty of killing, Franz would not launch such a meaningless war of attrition.

From the standpoint of the Holy Roman Empire, it is best for the Philippine Islands to remain in the hands of the Spanish. At least the Spanish government will not fantasize about competing with them for the supremacy of Southeast Asia, let alone daring to think about the Australasia region.

"Is the Spanish army just such waste?"

Prime Minister Carl asked first. As a normal European, he really couldn't imagine that the European army would do such a **** record by doing the native Japanese.

Without the record set by the Italian army, the current performance of the Spanish army can be said to be the worst among all colonial empires in Europe.

Don't say it is an exchange ratio of 1:1.4, even if it is an exchange ratio of 1:10, it is the performance of inferior students. Under normal circumstances, they are chasing thousands of people in a row, and one regiment can play the war of annihilation.

Spain is the originator of the colonial war and the creator of the record of conquest. I think that Spain conquered the Aztec Empire with 600 people, and 177 people and 62 horses overthrew the Inca Empire.

Compared with the current record of the Spanish army, even if the gap between heaven and **** is not so big. Such a conceptual impact, Prime Minister Karl, as a normal person, is naturally unbelievable.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg explained: "It is much more wasteful than we expected. However, this is not without a sign. As early as the European War, the Spaniards exposed the problem of low army combat effectiveness.

They concentrated the elite troops of the whole country, carefully planned the battle, and in the end they did not even fought the cannon fodder troops temporarily formed by France.

In the entire anti-French alliance, only the Italian armies have the same combat effectiveness as them. The combat effectiveness they now demonstrate should be the lower limit of the European army. "

Everyone is complaining about the Spanish rubbish, and no one mentions that the Japanese army is powerful. Well, Franz admitted that the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army this year really has nothing to do with toughness.

It's not that the Japanese don't work hard. The problem is that military spending determines the upper limit of the military's combat effectiveness. If you haven't shot hundreds of bullets, you are ashamed to say that you are a veteran; if you don't have thousands of bullets, can you feed the elite?

The infantry is like this, the artillery is even more powerful. Every qualified artillery is fed with cannonballs. Generally speaking, hundreds of cannonballs are indispensable. Even if they are mostly training ammunition, that is not a small expense.

What's more, the artillery was worn out. Training several gunners to scrap an artillery was a routine operation.

The armored soldiers and pilots with higher technical requirements, let alone, are all made with money. Of course, there are no Japanese in these arms, so there is no need to consider it.

In addition to the consumption of ammunition, the soldier's salary, daily life, and maintenance of weapons and equipment are also a considerable expense.

If it is true that according to the standards of the Shinra Army, the Japanese Army’s little military expenses and raising an infantry division would be a little bit difficult, let alone the others.

And this dilemma will continue, until the localization of weapons and equipment can be achieved, and the cost of weapons and ammunition will be reduced.

By referring to the original space and time, for a long period of time, the Japanese Army only maintained a single-digit standing division, and was often dissatisfied with the division.

Even if the forces are so compressed, the military expenditure is still not enough. In desperation, the Japanese practiced hand-to-hand tactics, and then became the king of hand-to-hand combat.

It's just that with the fighting power brought by blood and courage, it's okay to bully the garbage cannon fodder. If you encounter a real elite, it is to give food.

In fact, elite troops are not necessarily death-daunts. Their real strength lies in their professionalism.

Simply put, even if it is a few hundred meters away, the probability of him hitting you is 20 to 30%, but you can only fight back by luck.

In modern wars, an average of several thousand rounds of bullets kills an enemy, and the tens of thousands of rounds of bullets used in future wars kills an enemy, mostly due to ordinary troops. However, the elite troops need much less ammunition to kill an enemy.

It is also based on this that the top officials of the Vienna government did not care about the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. A country that even needs to import artillery has no qualifications to make everyone fearful.

...

Seeing that the topic was running off the track, Franz interrupted: "It doesn't matter whether the Spanish army is waste, the key is that the British are involved. The London government is supporting the Japanese, and we cannot let Spain lose the war, at least Can't lose too badly."

In international politics, face is sometimes very important, especially for the newly born hegemon.

Although both Britain and Austria in this Japanese-Spanish War were remotely controlled from behind, in the eyes of many people, the Japanese-Spanish War was a continuation of the British-Austrian hegemony struggle.

If Spain suffers a disastrous defeat, it will send a signal to the outside world: In overseas competition, the Holy Roman Empire is not an opponent of the British.

Although this is a fact, the Vienna government must die without admitting it. In a sense, admitting that it cannot compete with Britain in overseas competition means admitting failure.

As a challenger, you can tolerate failure, but you cannot admit failure. This is the case with politics. Sometimes you have to deceive yourself.

Besides, how can you make them feel at ease if you don't show some strength to the kids?

Franz does not want Spain to be able to reverse the world, as long as he can play a record that hurts both sides, he is satisfied.

If it can't, it is not unacceptable to make the Spaniard lose a little decently. After all, military victory is not a victory, and diplomatic games can still rewrite the final outcome.

As long as the Spaniards show sufficient strength, Franz will be able to use diplomatic means to force the Japanese to withdraw from the Philippine Islands.

"It's too late to help the Spaniards train the army. If you want to change the battlefield situation in a short time, you can only hire mercenaries.

The problem now is that the Spaniards are too poor. It is already very difficult to maintain the expeditionary force, and there is simply not enough money to hire an army.

What's more, the Japanese military strength is not too weak, and there is no mercenary in the world that can accomplish this task. "

Prime Minister Carl proposed. The Vienna government has not never done anything like it. When it competed with the British for South Africa, it overcame the vest of "mercenaries". It's just that it was discovered later that it was unnecessary and simply shot out the government forces of the Boer Republic.

The only problem is that the Philippines is different from South Africa. South Africa eats it on its own, and it is all right to pay for it; while the Philippine Islands are Spanish. For the sake of international reputation, the Vienna government cannot swallow it.

Bring your own dry food to help the Spaniards fight. How can there be such a good thing in the world? Even though the Spanish government had paid the price, it was only in exchange for the support of the Vienna government, and it was not enough to make the Holy Roman Empire go into battle.

Without the participation of the Vienna government, relying on the ability of the Spaniards, even if they were really willing to pay for the army to help fight the war, there would not be such a powerful mercenary.

Under normal circumstances, a mercenary is only one hundred and eighty, and those with more than a thousand are huge teams.

Combat power is also very different. Among them, the strong combat power can suppress the government forces of various countries, which can be said to be the elite of the elite; more mercenary teams, it is okay to bully the indigenous people, and the regular army can only give food.

It's okay in small-scale battles. If it is placed in tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of general battles, the number of mercenaries is not enough.

Franz nodded: "If you don't have any money, lend it to them and let the Spanish take the colonial proceeds as collateral. There is no such strong mercenary group in the world, so you can set it up yourself.

Not long after the end of the European War, there are still a large group of retired officers and soldiers on the European continent, and there are always desperadoes who like to lick blood on the tip of a knife.

If the number of people is not enough, I will go to France to recruit. I have been hungry for so long. I believe someone will be willing to fill the stomach of the family.

By the way, all mercenaries in Italy don't want them. This time I went to fight in the Philippine Islands, where there is no pasta. "

Without conditions, conditions must be created. No one knows whether a mercenary can defeat the Japanese army. It is better to do it than not.

Rather than sit back and watch the Spaniards defeat, it is better to fight hard. It was the Spanish who paid the money anyway, and the Vienna government only needed to push it in secret.

It is best to be able to function, and it does not matter if it is not. The situation has deteriorated to this point, and it will not be worse.

Even if the plan fails, the Spanish government is crying. The Vienna government is nothing more than losing face, and at most temporarily not competing with the British in overseas competition.