Chapter 280: Asante War
The warship construction by Spain and Italy did not trigger the European naval arms race, but after the French loudly announced plans to build six ironclad ships within the next five years, a small-scale European naval arms race still broke out.
The reason for the outbreak of the naval arms race was simple: the French’s high-profile naval expansion aroused the wariness of other countries.
Perhaps even France did not expect that they originally only wanted to counter the alliance of Spain and Italy in the Mediterranean region, but instead attracted the attention of Britain and Germany in the North Sea region.
The French possessed the world’s second fleet, and they still made a big show of expanding their navy—this was not clearly challenging the British naval hegemon status?
The British were not polite at all either. Just a few days after France announced its shipbuilding plan, they announced their own shipbuilding plan.
Since the French announced they would build six ironclad ships within the next five years, the British naturally chose to keep up, similarly announcing they would build six ironclad ships within the next five years.
Following closely was Germany. When it came to wariness of France, Germany might be even more severe than Britain.
The reason Chancellor Bismarck formulated the policy to isolate France was precisely because the wariness of France within Germany was quite serious, even reaching the level of “fear.”
Of course, this was not Germany fearing the current France. The so-called fear actually referred to Germany fearing France’s retaliation against Germany after its revival.
Precisely because of this, the German government resolved to do everything possible to prevent France’s revival, to control France’s threat within a certain scope as much as possible, and to launch war in time to destroy France when it could not be prevented.
Of course, Germany’s speed of building ironclad ships was definitely not as exaggerated as that of Britain and France. Germany still had a massive army scale, and with no colonies to generate income, it was not as wealthy as Britain and France in financial aspects.
Like Spain, Germany also announced it would build four ironclad ships within the next five years to strengthen its High Seas Fleet strength.
After Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also announced its shipbuilding plan. The Austrian government planned to build two ironclad ships within the next five years to match the strength of the Italian Navy.
Among all the great powers, the country with the worst geopolitical environment was probably, besides Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Germany’s neighbors were the European steamroller Russian Empire to the east, the former European hegemon France, the British across the northern coast, the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the south, and Italy separated by Switzerland—it could be said to be surrounded by several great powers.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire’s environment was no better. To the north was the powerful German Empire, to the east was the formidable enemy Russia, similarly in a four-front war position.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire had an estuary, its location was even worse than that of Italy, a Mediterranean country. The Italian Navy only needed to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean to reach the ocean, while the Austro-Hungarian Navy had to first go from the Adriatic Sea at its doorstep to the Mediterranean, then cross the strait or canal.
More fatally, the Adriatic Sea was a bay narrow east-west and long north-south, with the Apennine Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula on its east and west sides respectively.
This meant that the Austro-Hungarian Navy would not only be blockaded by Britain at the two Mediterranean estuaries but might also be blockaded by Italy at the Adriatic Sea estuary.
The reason the Austro-Hungarian Empire followed Italy in building its navy was precisely to prevent Italy’s blockade. Although relations between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were not too bad, they could not be considered too good either.
If not for the marriage alliance between the Spanish Royal Family and the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Family alleviating relations between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to some extent, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s defenses against Italy would have been even stronger.
Although most European great powers participated in this small-scale naval arms race, there was also a country indifferent to the naval expansions of various nations, which was the Russian Empire.
After Alexander II was assassinated, Russia became low-key in Europe. Tsar Alexander III feared following in his father’s footsteps, rarely participating even in government decision-making, especially in the reforms promoted by Alexander II, where Alexander III rarely offered advice, acting only as a ruthless signing machine.
Although this did indeed avoid assassination attempts by extreme anarchists on Alexander III, it also made Russia’s reforms deviate from the direction expected by Alexander II.
In the short time since Alexander II was assassinated until now, the Russian government had already abolished multiple decrees related to reforms, just short of directly announcing Alexander II’s reforms as illegal.
Under such chaotic circumstances, the Russian government naturally would not join the European naval arms race. For the nobles controlling Russian politics, the Russian government’s precious finances could not be spent on the navy; maintaining the existing naval scale was already sufficient.
Even Carlo did not expect that Spain merely signing an order for two ironclad ships with Italy would trigger the entire European naval arms race.
However, this was good news for Spain. According to the historical process, the next few years were the last glory of ironclad ships.
By the last year of the 1880s, that is, 1889, battleships would be born, and ironclad ships would be swept into the trash bin of history.
Although there were still 8 years until 1889, it was actually just a blink of an eye. Warship construction took a long time; without two or three years, warships could not be commissioned into the navy.
An action like France’s high-profile construction of six ironclad ships might not even commission all six into the naval fleet by the time the battleship era arrived.
And the funds France invested in ironclad ships were real, meaning they could not abandon their construction.
When the battleship era arrived, Spain could vigorously build its own battleships and appropriately relinquish investment in ironclad ships.
Although it unwittingly triggered the European naval arms race, the Spanish government’s attention was not overly focused on the naval arms race itself.
After seeing off the Italian warship purchase delegation, the Spanish government decided to launch a war against the Ashanti Federation.
During this time, Spain’s sowing of discord among the various tribes of the Ashanti Federation was quite effective. At least, other tribes’ attitudes toward the most powerful Ashanti Tribe had become much colder, even leading to a fierce quarrel in the Ashanti Chieftains’ Council.
The cause of the quarrel was the Ashanti Chief’s encroachment on the interests of various tribes over a long period. Although on the surface the Ashanti Chief had no power to interfere in other tribes’ affairs, as the ruler of the entire federation, the Ashanti Chief’s implicit power was much greater than his apparent power.
This also led to considerable hatred from other tribes toward the Ashanti Chief and the Ashanti Tribe. After Spain’s provocation, it nearly caused internal strife in the entire federation.
Although it did not lead to civil war in the Ashanti Tribe, such a situation was already sufficient for Spain.
After all five colonial defense regiments were fully prepared, the Gold Coast Colony Government under Spanish rule used the excuse that Ashanti Tribe indigenous people had invaded Gold Coast land while hunting, issuing an ultimatum to the Ashanti Tribe demanding they hand over the indigenous people who invaded Gold Coast land within 24 hours and pay compensation to the Gold Coast Colony Government.
When the Gold Coast Colony’s original words were translated into the indigenous language and conveyed to the Ashanti Tribe chieftain, it immediately caused panic throughout the tribe.
It was worth noting that the Gold Coast Colony Government stated it had only discovered cases of Ashanti Tribe indigenous people invading its territory and not of other Ashanti Federation tribes invading Spanish territory, so the diplomatic ultimatum targeted only the Ashanti Tribe, and other tribes were not included in Spain’s actions.
It was precisely this extra statement from the Gold Coast that split the Ashanti Federation’s Chieftains’ Council into two factions.
One faction, led by the Ashanti Chief and some weaker indigenous chieftains, believed that Spain’s diplomatic note should be fully denied—after all, indigenous people were still hiding from Europeans, so how could they run onto Spanish territory?
They believed Spain’s claim of territory invasion was just an excuse; their real purpose was to annex the Ashanti Federation and annihilate all indigenous tribes under it.
The remaining larger-scale indigenous tribes believed that the main fault in this incident lay entirely with the Ashanti Tribe and had nothing to do with their other tribes.
Since it was the Ashanti Tribe’s fault, the responsibility should be borne by the Ashanti Chief and his tribe. Unless the Spanish openly invaded other tribes’ territory, they were unwilling to pay for the Ashanti Tribe’s mistakes—after all, those who died in war were their soldiers and population.
The Ashanti Chief was surprised to discover that the number of indigenous tribes supporting the second opinion was actually greater than those supporting the first.
If not for the lingering prestige of the Ashanti Tribe, even those small tribes would probably choose the second opinion.
This isolated scene made the Ashanti Chief extremely panicked. He tried to explain that the territory invasion claimed by the Spanish had not happened at all, but by now, the other indigenous tribal chiefs no longer believed him.
The Chieftains’ Council discussion fell into a stalemate. Because the Ashanti Chief was the highest chieftain of the entire federation, the number of chieftains supporting the second opinion held the majority, but it still could not lead the Chieftains’ Council to a final decision.
However, this stalemate was not a good thing for the Ashanti Tribe. Spain’s diplomatic ultimatum was limited to 24 hours; if the Ashanti Tribe could not hand over the culprits who invaded Spanish territory and pay compensation within that time, the Spanish army would mercilessly counter-invade Ashanti Tribe territory.
Amid the Ashanti Chief’s angry and terrified mindset, the 24 hours quickly passed.
The Spanish army did not hesitate at all, openly invading Ashanti Tribe territory after nearly 20 hours had passed.
As the largest indigenous tribe in the entire federation, the Ashanti Tribe was located along the Volta River, occupying the nearby most fertile land and forests.
Those large and small tribes dependent on the federation were distributed along more distant riverbanks or around the Ashanti Tribe.
Some small tribes were squeezed inland by large tribes, able only to exchange gold dust and ore mined from inland gold mines with European colonists on the coast for grain to barely sustain their tribes.
The Gold Coast name was not earned in vain. For local indigenous people, gold here had little value—a handful of gold dust was worth less than a full meal.
European colonists seized large amounts of gold dust and ore from indigenous hands through various means, smelting them into gold before transporting it to Europe proper.
Of course, compared to seizing ore, European colonists preferred directly seizing gold mines.
This also made gold mines in local indigenous territory increasingly scarce, and the gold dust and ore they could use to exchange for grain increasingly less.
After the Spanish army completed assembly, it advanced north along the riverbank in great force. To avoid provoking resistance from the entire Ashanti Federation, the Spanish army’s offensive actions targeted only the Ashanti Tribe, with no intention of attacking other tribes for the time being.
Of course, this did not mean Spain would let the federation’s other tribes off. Once the largest Ashanti Tribe was annihilated, the other tribes would be next.
Evidently, these indigenous people did not have such clear awareness. They had originally worried whether the Spanish army would occupy their land along the way, but when many indigenous chiefs learned that the Spanish army only attacked Ashanti Tribe villages without touching their tribes’ villages or other territories, they ultimately chose to betray the federation.
Since the Ashanti Chief chose to use his position to oppress other indigenous tribes, he had to be prepared for those indigenous tribes to betray him.
Sometimes war was not the most terrifying thing—peace was. When the entire federation had a common enemy, no matter what deep hatred existed between tribes, they would always unite against the outside, relying on collective strength to ensure their safety.
But when these tribes had no common enemy, conflicts between tribes would be amplified, which was also why they ultimately chose to betray the Ashanti Chief.
This was exactly what the British did in history; Spain was just doing it a bit earlier.
Without help from the federation’s other tribes, a small Ashanti Tribe naturally would not be taken seriously by the Spanish army.
Spain mobilized five colonial defense regiments this time, over ten thousand troops, so conquering a small indigenous tribe was naturally easy.
When other tribes learned that the Spanish army had already launched an offensive against the Ashanti Tribe, they scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing back to their own tribes.
In the blink of an eye, the Ashanti Chief was left alone, his face showing a trace of terror and regret. He regretted exploiting those indigenous tribes too harshly, ultimately causing them to betray him when the external enemy arrived.
But there was no medicine for regret in the world. With no other tribes willing to help the Ashanti Tribe, its annihilation was only a matter of time.
As for those small indigenous tribes that chose to support the Ashanti Tribe in the chieftains’ council, relying on them to resist the Spanish offensive was fundamentally impossible.
More importantly, these small tribes’ living spaces had been squeezed inland, making them the farthest from the Ashanti Tribe near the riverbank.
The problem was, would these small tribes, for the sake of so-called federation rules, bring their scant population to help the Ashanti Tribe repel the Spanish army’s offensive?
The answer was of course no. Do not forget, it was the European colonists and the federation’s large tribes that forced these small tribes inland.
When the largest tribe was in trouble, how could these small tribes disregard their own interests to support them?
The reason they chose to support the Ashanti Tribe in the chieftains’ council was entirely because the Ashanti Chief’s prestige still lingered.
Once they fled back to their own tribes, it was a case of “the mountain is high and the emperor far away”—the Ashanti Chief could no longer control them.
Moreover, at this point, the Ashanti Chief could barely protect himself. Without a way to repel the Spanish army’s offensive, the Ashanti Tribe’s annihilation was only a matter of time.
These small tribes naturally did not need to worry about the Ashanti Chief’s retaliation—who would fear resentment from a man about to die?
Terrified though he was, the Ashanti Chief still decided to organize troops for a desperate fight. They had once repelled a British offensive, although relying on the federation’s strength, the Ashanti Tribe had contributed the most force among them.
Now, although facing Spanish colonists alone, the good news was that the Spanish colonists’ strength was far inferior to the British Empire.
If they could defeat the Spanish colonists alone, not only could it change the isolated situation in the chieftains’ council but also rapidly elevate his own prestige, allowing him to regain control of the chieftains’ council situation.
During the Ashanti Federation’s heyday, this nation composed of multiple tribes had a total population of over 4 million.
But with the continuous invasions by European colonists severely squeezing local indigenous living spaces, plus successive wars, the Ashanti Federation’s population rapidly dropped to over 3 million.
As the federation’s largest tribe, the Ashanti Tribe currently had over 1 million population, which was also the confidence behind the Ashanti Chief’s final decision to fight desperately.
African indigenous tribes were different from European countries. European countries’ mobilized troops were limited because many people were needed for various industrial production, commercial activities, and so on.
But African indigenous people were different. Besides hunting, men’s greatest role was to have children and fight wars.
In tribal survival wars, nearly half the male population could be sent to the battlefield, and even many females could join the war.
Although the Ashanti Tribe had only over 1 million population, if the chieftain made an effort, he could still muster hundreds of thousands of troops.
Of course, this could not really be called an army—just indigenous people holding various backward weapons.
Of course, the Ashanti Chief did not have that much time either. Spain’s diplomatic ultimatum gave only 24 hours, and with Spain launching war early, the Ashanti Chief simply did not have enough time to muster manpower, let alone mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops.
Before the Spanish army reached the Ashanti Tribe’s main camp, the Ashanti Chief organized about 60,000 to defend his main camp.
These people held all sorts of weapons. Some were muskets bought from European colonists with gold, some were knives purchased from European colonies, and even wooden spears and stone axes made within the tribe, etc.
Compared to the motley weapons on the Ashanti indigenous side, the equipment of the Spanish colonial army was quite uniform.
All were standard Vitali M1872 rifles, and due to the war, each was equipped with 50 bullets—ammunition could be said to be quite ample.
The rear colonies were continuously transporting ammunition to the frontline, ensuring every soldier had sufficient bullets.
Consumption on the battlefield was enormous to begin with; possibly hundreds or thousands of bullets might not kill one person. Fortunately, the Ashanti Tribe had few decent muskets; their limited muskets were not only outdated European products, some even had a higher chance of exploding than hitting.
Fighting such enemies, Spanish soldiers also had enough time to aim, effectively improving bullet hit rates.
Of course, the same applied to cannons. The five colonial defense regiments had a total of 15 cannons, all of which were brought to the frontline.
Although the Ashanti Tribe’s weapons and equipment were motley, with the vast majority being cold weapons, considering this tribe’s scale of over a million population was still very large, using cannons to quickly conquer the Ashanti Tribe’s main camp was also very necessary.
Although the indigenous people had no reinforced concrete fortresses, they had simple obstacles built with wood and mud.
Without cannons, these obstacles would hinder the Spanish army’s offensive. For the Spanish army, they needed to occupy the entire Ashanti Tribe in shorter time to prevent other tribes in the federation from reacting and coming to support.
After fully occupying the Ashanti Tribe, the Gold Coast Colony would dispatch officials to take over these lands comprehensively.
By then, it would be too late for the Ashanti Federation’s other indigenous tribes to react. Because the Ashanti Tribe was located in the heartland of the entire federation, as long as the Spanish army occupied it, it would mean all the federation’s indigenous tribes would be devoured one by one by the Spanish army.
As for these indigenous people reacting and besieging the Spanish army in the central area, this was something the colonial government had already considered before launching the war.
Issuing sufficient bullets to these soldiers was precisely to avoid such a situation. If these indigenous people dared to besiege the Spanish army, they would face the Spanish army’s full offensive.
There was no need to be polite to these indigenous people; the Spanish army would absolutely not feel sorry for bullet consumption. As long as it could kill them, even using hundreds of bullets to kill one indigenous person would absolutely be worth it.
6000-word second update, sorry for being a bit late
