Empire Rising: Spain

To cultivate the technical talents urgently needed by Spain, Carlo ordered Steward Loren to collaborate with the government to establish technical training courses in several industrial cities in Spain, aiming to train a batch of personnel with certain technical capabilities within 3 to 6 months.

No high standards are set for these temporarily trained technical personnel; it’s sufficient if they can barely meet the technical talent demands of various factories.

Though 3 to 6 months of training isn’t long, as long as they gain some experience in using factory equipment, they’ll be less unfamiliar upon starting work in the factories.

Basically, hosting such temporary technical training courses in each industrial city can satisfy the short-term needs of Spain’s industrial development.

In the future, once the three constructed technical schools begin enrollment, these temporary technical training courses can gradually be canceled.

Currently, among all factory establishments of the Royal Family, the military factories have shown the fastest growth.

After all, the military has provided the military factories with a large number of orders, ensuring that military factories won’t lack orders for several years to come.

This also means that even if an economic crisis strikes in the future, military factories, backed by orders from the military, need not worry about being affected by the crisis.

As military factories remain robust, they can also assist steel plants and other factories to weather the economic crisis more effectively.

After all, producing rifles, cannons, and all kinds of bullets and shells requires a significant amount of steel, which is beneficial for steel mills.

Even factories producing various small parts have a better chance of overcoming this economic crisis.

Regarding concerns about a potential decline in orders after expanding production, Carlo isn’t particularly worried.

After this economic crisis, the tenth Russian-Turkish War will soon take place, focusing on the Balkan Peninsula, which will become even more bustling.

These wars will generate a large demand for weapons and ammunition. Although Spain’s military industry isn’t well-known, it’s capable of securing a share of the market.

Both parties involved in the Russian-Turkish War, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, are not very proficient in weapons production and heavily depend on importing weapons from abroad.

No matter which side we do business with, it can ensure that Spain’s military industry won’t face a significant reduction in orders in the future.

Moreover, countries in Latin America, as well as those in East Asia, are also targets for Spain’s cooperation, as they are weapon-importing countries.

As long as Spanish weapons aren’t far behind those of European nations, coupled with reasonable prices, there’s essentially no worry about sales.

At the end of June 1872, Carlo once again attended the annual graduation ceremony of the Royal Military Academy.

Compared to last year’s military graduates, this year’s graduates are more fortunate. They’ve encountered the Spanish Army’s reforms before even graduating, which means immediately upon graduation they will have positions equivalent to or higher than their military ranks.

Following the expansion of the Spanish Army, there are many vacancies for junior officers such as platoon leaders and company commanders. These fresh graduates mostly hold the rank of Lieutenant, aligning perfectly with these positions.

The first batch of military graduates waited a long time in the Deputy Platoon Leader positions, finally witnessing military reforms and gaining promotion opportunities to Platoon Leaders or even Deputy Company Commanders and Company Commanders.

The second batch of graduates is relatively lucky. Their minimum position is Platoon Leader, with even chances for direct promotion to Company Commander, a prospect the first batch of graduates didn’t dare to imagine upon graduation.

Considering the Guard Army will also undergo expansion, like the first batch of graduates, Carlo conducted a small-scale selection among the second batch of graduates, choosing a small number of officers to join the Guard Army.

These military graduates are quite eager to join the Guard Army. Despite being part of the Spanish Army, the welfare and benefits of the Guard Army are significantly better than those of the Royal Army.

Of course, the main reason is that the Guard Army is the private army of the Royal Family, with all expenses currently borne by the Royal Family.

To ensure the Guard Army’s loyalty, Carlo not only set compensation higher than that of the Royal Army, but also offered more substantial subsidies and clear condolence policies to alleviate worries for the Guard Army soldiers.

To the extent that, exaggeratingly speaking, if a soldier loses their life in combat, their family will receive considerable compensation, and all their children will be supported by the Royal Family through university, not only having priority for university admission but also exempt from all tuition fees from primary school to university.

Compared to the Royal Army, where condolence systems are unclear and the compensation is minimal, the treatment of the Guard Army is already quite exceptional.

Previously, the Guard Army only consisted of one regiment, with soldiers chosen selectively from the Royal Army. It was difficult for ordinary individuals to enter the Guard Army directly.

The selection among these young officers offers an easier opportunity to enter the Guard Army, and they will directly serve as officers in the Guard Army.

Officer treatment certainly surpasses that of ordinary soldiers, and for these graduates deeply influenced by the patriotic ideology at the academy, the Guard Army is an elite force dedicated directly to His Majesty the King. Joining the Guard Army is no doubt a great honor.

This year’s military graduates are fewer than last year but still number over 300. However, considering the need for a large number of junior officers following the expansion of the Royal Army, Carlo decided not to compete with the Royal Army.

After selecting a dozen or so officers of average performance from this batch of over 300 graduates, Carlo concluded the graduation ceremony.

The remaining 300 graduates will be assigned to various Spanish military units within a month, assisting in the army’s reforms.

Although they were just regular students at the academy, upon joining their units, they will be rising stars, at least at the platoon leader level, commanding at least several dozen soldiers.

Including the more than 400 graduates from last year, the Royal Military Academy has trained over 700 outstanding officers for the Spanish Army within these two years.

These 700 graduates are crucial to these reforms. After Spain officially expands its military, just the 6 infantry divisions alone require over 400 Company Commander positions.

Add to that 3 cavalry divisions and 2 artillery divisions, the previous reserve of junior officers in the Spanish Army was wholly insufficient.

Even if all 700 graduates are absorbed into the army, it merely suffices to meet the army’s needs.

However, it is certain that these graduates will have better military competence than those junior officers expelled from the army.

The Royal Military Academy is renowned for its rigorous training program for cadets. Carlo has personally inspected the academy’s training system without finding any major issues.

It’s safe to say that under the academy’s strict requirements, even if these graduates don’t turn out to be outstanding leaders, they are certainly more than qualified among officers at the company commander level.

After a few years of honing their skills within the army, they will be fully capable of taking on roles as battalion commanders or even regiment commanders. Spain didn’t produce any notable leaders during this period mainly because it didn’t participate in World War I or II, and many officer positions were monopolized by the nobility.

Earlier, Spanish officer and inheritance systems were hardly distinguishable, so expecting quality from such officers was unrealistic.

Junior officers have a significant impact on the army’s combat capability. Regardless of the higher officers’ prowess, their orders must be executed through various military levels.

These junior officers are responsible for task execution, and their military skills determine a army’s lower limits.

If an army’s junior officers are comprised of unmotivated individuals just coasting by, then no famous commander could lead such an army to display impressive combat capability.

Senior officers set the ceiling for a army’s combat capability, while its junior officers establish its floor.