Empire Rising: Spain

At present, the situation on Borneo has stabilized, and under Spain’s protection, the Dutch have temporarily no plans to invade the Lanfang Republic.

This also gives Carlo the opportunity to replace the members of the Military Guidance Team stationed in the Lanfang Republic, allowing these experts who have 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 Lanfang Military Guidance Team, Andrew personally led the training of Lanfang’s new army.

Because of this achievement, Carlo decided to promote him to the rank of Colonel in the Royal Spanish Army and appoint him as the Deputy Division Commander of the Congo Territory Defense Corps, assisting Manuel Massias y Caduza in managing the troops of the Congo Territory.

Carlo’s orders were issued swiftly, but by the time Manuel Massias y Caduza received the news, it was already the next day.

There’s no help for it; the information dissemination in this era is just so slow. Manuel Massias y Caduza could still receive the news the next day, but Andrew, far away in Borneo, would take at least several days to receive the message.

Upon receiving the news, Manuel immediately convened a military meeting and announced Carlo’s order to expand the forces in the Congo Territory.

Even though half of the 20,000 troops in the Colonial Defense Corps are indigenous soldiers, forming this 20,000-strong army is still quite difficult.

Fortunately, a batch of officers could be sent from Spain, which somewhat resolves the issue of officers for this sizable defense corps.

Troop strength could be temporarily summoned from the local indigenous people of the Congo Territory, and additionally, some indigenous soldiers could be transported from the nearby Guinea Colony and Moroccan Colony.

Manuel was naturally aware of the reason behind Carlo’s order to expand the military; plantation raids are something Spain does not wish to see, and whoever raided Spain’s plantations must inevitably face Spanish retaliation.

"The recent events have caught His Majesty the King’s attention, and we must ascertain who exactly attacked the plantations in a short period and ensure they pay the appropriate price," Manuel Massias y Caduza first made his demand during the military meeting.

Because of insufficient military strength, Manuel Massias y Caduza did not bear too much responsibility for the plantation raid.

However, as the commander of the only garrisoned force in the Congo Territory, it is impossible to say he bears no responsibility whatsoever.

Especially knowing that Carlo has already taken an interest in this matter, Manuel Massias y Caduza wanted to quickly uncover the true culprit behind the plantation raid and bring them to justice to prove his capability to Carlo.

The military meeting was attended by not only the commanders of the Defense Corps but also some key officials from the colonial posts.

After all, Manuel was about to announce Carlo’s orders, and these orders also required cooperation from the officials in the Congo Territory.

At the same time, these officials can provide some perspectives that might not occur to the military officers. As long as they can identify the true ringleader sooner, Manuel would not mind letting these officials share some credit.

"General, the ones with the power to raid our plantations are likely some local indigenous tribes, such as the Zande people, Baka people, etc.

Since we cannot ascertain who exactly raided the plantations, we might as well treat them all the same and simultaneously attack these indigenous tribes.

These indigenous groups surely know who the actual ringleader is, and unless they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the ringleader, under our successive offensives, someone will certainly reveal the truth." An official made their suggestion.

The indigenous people in the Congo Territory are divided into different tribes and ethnic groups, but their appearances are similarly black.

For Spaniards, it’s genuinely challenging to distinguish which tribe or ethnic group they belong to.

However, this inability to distinguish is the best form of distinction; since there’s no way to differentiate which tribe they belong to, treat them all as culprits for the plantation raids.

As the saying goes, better to wrongly kill a thousand than let one go; as long as all major indigenous tribes in the vicinity are within the Spanish army’s attack range, they can ensure the culprits for the plantation raids are also among them.

As for those indigenous tribes who are mistakenly harmed, they can only blame their bad luck.

If any indigenous tribe wishes to avoid being mistakenly harmed, they can only reveal who the real ringleader is. Once the ringleader is identified, the subsequent matters become easy to handle.

Of course, should these indigenous refuse to disclose, there’s an equally effective way to deal with it. After all, the construction of Spanish colonies requires enormous labor force, and there’s no concern for the survival of these black laborers.

Transport them to various Spanish colonies for construction, and once the construction is complete, cleverly dismantling the bridge by slaughtering them all is an equally permanent solution to the problem.

Hearing the official’s suggestion, Manuel’s eyes lit up, and he unhesitantly said: "This is a good approach, let’s try this first.

Though one issue is our troop strength is too small, it seems we must first borrow some forces from Southern Morocco and Guinea."

To simultaneously attack several major indigenous tribes would require at least several thousand troops. Presently, the Congo Territory barely boasts this one Colonial Defense Corps, with a troop strength of 2,300, which is evidently insufficient to simultaneously attack several indigenous tribes.

Fortunately, the Guinea Colony and Moroccan Colony are not too far from the Congo Territory, and if executed swiftly, the troops from Guinea Colony might even be transported to the Congo Territory within a few days, as the railway between Guinea and the Congo Territory has already been completed long ago.

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