In fact, it is not that easy for Spain to explode its troops. After all, the combined population of Spain, the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon is only about 8.5 million. Without implementing the national mobilization system, it can gather up to 30,000 to 50,000 troops.
Moreover, in order to control the Kingdom of Naples, which has a population of 2 million, Spain has dispatched 20,000 troops to station in Naples. First, it is to guard against the French counterattack. Second, it is to suppress the Naples uprising.
In this way, Spain can dispatch troops to attack Morocco, up to 30,000, including 10,000 in Aragon. However, according to Marin, attacking Morocco would require 50,000 troops. After all, it was a battle to destroy the country. You must know that at the end of the Warring States Period, the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Chu State, but Wang Jian led the entire Qin State's 600,000 troops. Morocco did not have many troops in the Chu State, but it also had tens of thousands of scimitar cavalry, and its combat effectiveness was no worse than that of the Chu State at the end of the Warring States Period. Therefore, Spain had to dispatch at least 50,000 troops.
Moreover, in addition to the 50,000 army, the military strong people must be almost 40,000 to 50,000. In this way, Spain would have to send 100,000 young men to destroy Morocco.
It is actually easy to find young and strong people, and you can just go to the people to catch husbands. However, it is difficult to find men with experience in fighting. If it is an ordinary border conflict, it is nothing to bring more recruits. However, in an important battle like the national destruction war, you will definitely not be able to join the recruits. Otherwise, once the army is defeated and destroyed by the recruits, it is not the other party but yourself.
But the problem is one, the number of men who have received military training or know how to fight in the whole of Spain is at most 50,000. When 20,000 people have to be stationed in Naples, Juan III can use the most people, with only more than 30,000. Moreover, these more than 30,000 people cannot be taken away. Because there are also troops stationed on the border.
Fortunately, because of the blockade of the Pyrenees, the Aragonian Kingdom's defense against France was much easier. As for Portugal, it should have no courage to provoke Spain. But after all, Juan III still lacked 20,000 main combat troops...
"Or why should we hire German mercenaries?" At this time, Juan III's wife and Maximilian I's daughter, Queen Margaret of Austria, gave a very good advice.
As a German, Margaret, Queen Castilla of Austria, naturally knew the combat effectiveness of German mercenaries. According to the current European mercenary combat power list, Marin's North Sea army ranked first; Swiss mercenaries were close to each other and ranked second; while ordinary German mercenaries ranked third; next were French mercenaries; the second was Italian mercenaries.
However, it is impossible for French mercenaries to fight for Spain, and the Italian mercenary Juan III and his wife looked down upon. So, what is left are Marin's North Sea mercenaries, Swiss mercenaries and ordinary German mercenaries.
But Juan III, who had just finished his visit to the North Sea, learned that two of Marin's legions were hired and left by England (they didn't know that Marin had a 50,000 army, and they thought that more than half of Marin's army had been hired and left by England). Therefore, it was probably difficult for them to hire 20,000 troops from Marin.
As for the Swiss mercenaries, nearly 18,000 people have been kidnapped by Austria. The remaining Swiss mercenaries are fighting for sovereignty with the Habsburg family in Switzerland.
Therefore, after all, only ordinary German mercenaries met their requirements.
To this end, Juan III sent representatives to Germany, intending to hire 20,000 German mercenaries to fill the shortage of troops.
According to the current commission of 3 Finneys per day for each German mercenary, the commission of 20,000 German mercenaries is only 60,000 Finneys, which is 1,000 gold coins. Even if you hire a year, it is only 365,000 gold coins. Of course, considering the higher salary of the officers and the problem of food consumption, it is estimated that the daily cost is 80,000 to 100,000 Finneys. In a year, the expenses are estimated to be about 500,000 gold coins.
If it were an ordinary country, it would definitely not be able to afford such high military expenses. However, through two monopoly trades of Indian spices, the Spanish royal family made huge profits of up to two or three million gold coins. Even though Spain spent a lot of money to use the Kingdom of Naples and other places, the fiscal balance was still one or two million gold coins. Therefore, today, Spain has the full financial resources to fight a war of destruction.
Moreover, the time for real combat may not take a year. If it goes well, it may end in a few months. In short, the earlier the war ends, the smaller the expenses will be. This is also the reason why Juan III asked Ferdinand II for Gonzalo de Cordoba. Because famous generals commanded the battle, the winning rate was higher, and the earlier the war ended.
But no matter what famous general is used, no matter how early the war ends, it will always be used for half a year. This is the best situation. If the situation is bad, it will be far more than half a year. Therefore, the consumption of this war will be an astronomical figure, which is enough to consume Spanish finances.
...
In fact, Marin's suggestion that Spain annex Morocco was a conspiracy in itself. Because Spain's finances are too strong now. The fiscal revenue of two or three million gold coins is arrogant in Europe.
In this era when mercenaries dominate, having money means having strong military strength. Therefore, Marin was also a little scared about Spain's wealth through the spice trade.
Why? The Spanish are so rich, it is easy to use money to build ships and destroy the navy. Once Spain regains its interest in America, Marin will probably regret it to death.
Therefore, it is best to spend the money. In this way, Spain will have no money to expand its navy, and Marin will be at ease.
Moreover, even if Spain occupied Morocco, it would be absolutely difficult to be stable. Because most of the Arabs and Berbers in Morocco are nomadic peoples. What are the characteristics of nomadic people? Naturally, everyone is a soldier. As long as they are a middle-aged man, riding a horse and waving a scimitar, they are very difficult to deal with. Moreover, the biggest feature of nomadic people is that you can't catch up with him...
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! Even if Spain can conquer Morocco, it will definitely be able to control a few important cities in Morocco in the early days. As for the vast countryside, it will definitely be the world of Arab herders and Berber herders. At that time, the money used to suppress those herders who are good at maneuvering will be a bottomless pit and waste Spanish finances...
Of course, if the Spaniards support it, Morocco will permanently become Spain's second homeland in just a few decades. From then on, Spain's local area will nearly double.
However, the premise is that they are going to drive away the Arabs...
The local Berbers actually don’t matter what they believe in. Anyway, they were originally conquered nations. In the past, they also surrendered to the Byzantine Empire and were not unfamiliar with Christianity.
The Arabs are different. They are the most determined believers of Allah. Unless they are killed or driven away, it is difficult to force them to convert from Allah to Catholicism.
Therefore, in the future, the residents of Spain, which believe in Catholicism, and Morocco will definitely cause bloody storms due to religious issues. After all, the Spanish Inquisition is not a decoration. Faced with pagans, the Inquisition is a hell that cannibalize people...
Out of friendship, Marin has pointed out the direction for Juan III - driving away the Arabs and slowly guiding the Berbers to convert...
If Spain could patiently expel the hard-core Arabs and slowly turn the Berbers into the throne, it would be no big problem. However, the existence of a radical institution like the Inquisition would inevitably bring endless trouble to Spain. Anyway, Spain would definitely not have the energy to care about anything else in the future. The civil strife in Morocco alone would be enough to consume Spain's finances and energy...
...
Of course, those are things that will happen in the future. At the moment, what is very important to Marin is that Spain will definitely require a large amount of military rations this time...
Unfortunately, although Spain is a big country, it is mostly mountains and hills, and its agriculture is underdeveloped. Therefore, Spain has always been short of food and the prices of grain are also very high. Barcelona, ​​the largest seaport in the Kingdom of Aragon, is the place with the highest food prices in Europe. Marin has always liked to sell grain to Spain, a country with very high food prices.
Therefore, Marin suggested that Spain destroy Morocco was really a ill-intention. Because once Spain invaded Morocco, it would not only fall into the quagmire of religious disputes in the future, but now, the supply of military rations is first and foremost a huge trouble...
50,000 troops! Plus 50,000 people are strong, and 100,000 young and strong people eat horses every day. How much food does it consume? This is not about children who eat not much and the elderly and weak, but about 100,000 young and strong people who eat a large amount of food!
Even if calculated according to the low standard of one pound of food per person per day (bread is mixed with a lot of other things, such as wood chips, soil, etc.), 100,000 young and strong men consume 100,000 pounds of food every day. But 100,000 young and strong men definitely consume more than 100,000 pounds of food every day. In addition to the consumption of horses, this army consumes at least 150,000 pounds per day. In this way, the army's food consumption per month is estimated to reach 4.5 million pounds, which is 27 million pounds in half a year!
Of course, the Spaniards are not short of money now, but they are definitely short of food!
And what about Marin? What he lacks the most is food. So, once Spain starts to conquer Morocco, Marin's chance to make a fortune will come!
According to the normal price, Spanish grain prices are 2 Finney per pound of rye, which is more expensive to sell. The wheat is directly raised to 10 Finney per pound.
Therefore, for cost considerations, the Spanish army must choose rye for military rations, because the cost is the lowest. In this way, if 4.5 million pounds are consumed every month, the consumption of food and grass alone is estimated to reach 9 million Finneys in one month, which is 150,000 gold coins...
But this war will last for at least half a year, or even one or two years. Even if it is only half a year, the consumption of food will reach 27 million pounds, with a total price of up to 900,000 gold coins.
Marin Xin is not bad either. As long as she wins half of the order, it will be worth 450,000 gold coins.
Moreover, Marin decided to sell grain at a low price - your Spanish grain price is 2 Finney per pound, right? I only sell 1.8 Finney, and I will give you a 10% discount! In this way, the Spanish military will buy whose grain it is...
Even if it sells it to the Spanish army at 1.8 per pound, Marin made a big profit. Because in Germany, the retail price of rye is only 1 per pound. When it sells it to the Spanish army at 1.8 per pound, Marin has doubled its profit. After all, in Germany, the wholesale price of rye is only 0.7 to 0.8 per pound, which is less than half of 1.8 per pound...
...
So, when we learned that Spain really began to gather the army's intelligence, the Beihai country's spies in Spain immediately sent people back to China through the post station system and reported the news to Marin...
"Haha, the big order is here!" Marin, who received the information, laughed. Then, he ordered to send an envoy immediately to Toledo, the capital of the Kingdom of Castilla, to meet with Juan III, and talk about the issue of military ration supply. As long as we talk about this big order, Marin earned a large amount of income and then dealt with a batch of backlog of grain for the granary filled with grain in the Beihai Kingdom...
Anyway, Marin hopes that the longer the war in Spain conquered Morocco, the better. In this way, his food sales will be greater and the more money he can sell...
In short, Spain's invasion of Morocco was of great benefit to Marin, both politically and economically. If Spain and Morocco were fighting each other, then Marin was the profitable fisherman...
Chapter completed!