Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 38: Overconfident Carlos

Primó truly lived up to being Spain’s stabilizing pillar.

With Primó there, the Spanish Army naturally wouldn’t face the risk of division. The united Spanish Army had quite strong combat desire when facing the Carlist faction rebels.

On February 17, 1870, the Spanish Army led by Primó encountered the Basque rebels in the La Rioja region, and both sides immediately engaged in fierce firefight.

Although the Spanish Army still had many shortcomings compared to the French Army, when facing the Basque rebels who were inferior in both numbers and equipment, it was truly like a father beating his son, leaving no room for temper.

The Basque people could indeed muster over a thousand muskets, but they couldn’t even gather double-digit cannons.

Hoping to defeat the Spanish Army equipped with a large number of cannons using line infantry tactics was no better than hoping the Spanish Army would directly surrender.

But Spain was neither Italy nor France; it didn’t have that tradition of surrender.

After being bombarded by Italian cannons（Italian-made cannons）, the Basque people instantly behaved themselves.

This was also the greatest difference between a regular army and militia hastily assembled by commoners: discipline and morale.

As soon as someone panicked and started fleeing, it was a heavy blow to the Basque people’s army. The panicked mood spread through the Basque people’s army like a plague, quickly affecting the entire army’s morale.

For a makeshift army composed entirely of commoners, once morale collapsed, the army collapsed.

The subsequent scenario goes without saying; after suffering hundreds of casualties, this Basque rebel force very straightforwardly chose to surrender.

Although this wasn’t all of the Basque rebels, for the Basque separatists, it was no different from a blow to the head.

The Basque army they had painstakingly assembled couldn’t hold out even a day against the Spanish Army, collapsing completely in just an hour and a half.

Among this, the artillery deployment alone took more than half an hour, and the actual combat time between the two armies was even less than an hour.

By the time the news of the successful annihilation of the Basque vanguard by the Spanish reached the Carlist faction side, it was already February 18, a day later.

Although Carlos VII was somewhat surprised by the speed of the Basque army’s collapse, he certainly wouldn’t regret the Basque people’s losses.

In fact, not only would he not regret it, Carlos VII was even somewhat excited at this moment.

Because he believed he had found the key to defeating the Spanish Army, an opportunity for a perfect flanking maneuver against the Spanish Army.

Why did Carlos VII think this?

Because the location where the Spanish Army encountered the Basque people was in La Rioja, the southern part of the Basque and Navarre regions.

Meanwhile, the current Carlist faction rebels had successfully moved west from Catalonia into Aragon, positioned to the southeast of the Spanish main force.

If the Carlist faction’s army could pass through Aragon into southern La Rioja, it could join the Basque army in northern La Rioja to achieve the plan of encircling the Spanish Army.

No matter how strong the Spanish Army’s combat effectiveness, once surrounded on two sides, they were doomed to escape the palm of the Carlist faction’s hand.

Carlos VII took a map and silently calculated his plan in his mind several times, ultimately feeling this was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed.

Several senior military officials in the Catalonia army also echoed Carlos VII, which made him full of confidence, thinking that the Catalans’ boasting about Primó’s military talents was actually just average.

On February 18, the Carlist faction rebels marched toward Zaragoza in the Aragon region.

Zaragoza was located in the central position of the Aragon region; advancing could achieve the encirclement of the Spanish Army in the La Rioja region, retreating could serve as the first defense line to protect Catalonia’s safety.

This was also one of the reasons for Carlos VII’s full confidence, because he felt his plan was simply perfect, considering both the success and failure of the encirclement, with corresponding ways to deal with each.

If Carlos VII could see the problem, would Primó not see it?

Of course not.

In fact, after Primó’s led Spanish main force entered the Castile-Leon region in southern La Rioja, they immediately split into two routes to deal with the Basque and Catalonia rebel forces.

Primó’s plan was to prioritize the annihilation of the Basque people, then thrust directly into Catalonia through Navarre and northern Aragon, thoroughly completing the entire suppression of rebellion action.

He led the main force of the Spanish Army, about 30,000 troops, north to La Rioja, ultimately encountering the Basque people’s army.

The other branch was a smaller force of only about 10,000, but they carried dozens of cannons, with the purpose of organizing a defense line in Aragon before Primó dealt with the Basque people, preventing Catalonia rebels from taking advantage to enter Castile-La Mancha region from Aragon and Valencia, threatening Spain’s heart, Madrid.

It was still that reason: Zaragoza, because of its central location in Aragon, was extremely important for both attack and defense.

The branch force responsible for defending against Catalonia rebels also chose Zaragoza as the focus of defense, and upon arriving in Zaragoza, immediately constructed artillery positions.

From this perspective, Carlos VII actually had some military insight.

But fatally, Carlos VII never imagined that Primó had split his forces in advance; he still thought the entire Spanish main force was in the La Rioja region.

By the time the Carlist faction rebels painstakingly arrived in Zaragoza, they were greeted by 10,000 Spanish troops waiting in strict formation and dozens of cannons.

The Carlos rebels also had cannons.

But their cannons were all antiques from a dozen or even decades ago, far inferior to the latest advanced cannons recently purchased by the Spanish Army in terms of rate of fire, range, and accuracy.

The artillery duel between the two sides showed a huge gap, and the soldiers’ experiences were worlds apart.

The Spanish Army side could calmly cope with the enemy’s cannon bombardment, because the enemy was far behind in both cannon quantity and advancement.

But for the Carlos rebels, the experience was far from pleasant.

Even for those Catalonia separatists, seeing someone in front of them bombed into several pieces was an absolute visual shock.

Just one glance could make the Catalonia separatists seriously reflect on their stance.

And for those commoners brainwashed into the rebels, the cruel war scenes were a massive shock to the soul.

How had ordinary people ever seen such scenes? Moreover, it currently looked more like they were unilaterally taking cannon fire.

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