Fox of France

The Spaniards have been fighting those Mexican rebels in Mexico for several years, spent a lot of money, and owed a lot of debt. Recently, other colonies in America have also begun to experience various instabilities. In order to stabilize those colonies in America, in order to repay various debts that are coming due. The Spaniards had to start negotiations with the rebels.

After referring to France's successful experience in dealing with the Santo Domingo colony, Spain proposed to use the Santo Domingo model to solve Mexico's problems. Representatives of the two parties conducted negotiations in France for a month, and finally the Mexicans gained independence through redemption. Of course, they also owed the French a lot of money for this. On the other hand, the Spaniards not only paid off the loan with the money they got, but even had a lot of balance. Considering that this is more than the interest on the ransom, plus the money saved by reducing the garrison, various institutions and so on. The Spaniards did the math, and the Spanish government didn't seem to get much less money than when it controlled Mexico before.

The main reason for this situation is that the efficiency of Spain's search in Mexico is too low. The money that Spain actually gets from Mexico every year is actually quite limited. But on the other hand, Spain's excessive taxation in Mexico has caused complaints from the people, and it can be said that it is a heinous crime. There are two main reasons why the Spanish government did not get much money in the end: first, too much money was lost by those who handled it; A large part of the money obtained through excessive expropriation was consumed.

Of these two, the second type is fine, but the first type, um, people who can play tricks are very powerful and influential people. Their interests were actually affected. So for such a treaty, although the treaty brought back a lot of money, although the treaty still stipulates that Mexico is still a member of the Spanish Federation, and the King of Spain is still recognized as the head of Mexico. But these guys who have suffered economic losses still vigorously attack the Spanish government for losing power and humiliating the country.

In order to respond to these accusations, the Spanish government also needs to do something to safeguard national interests. So taking back Gibraltar is naturally the best choice.

First of all, this place is right under the eyes of Spain. Once it is taken back, all Spaniards can see it. Unlike those places in South America, the distance is far away, even if the area is unknown how many times that of Gibraltar, the Spanish people generally cannot see it. Even if it can't be taken back, at least the Spanish government's patriotic airs have been put on the air, isn't it?

Secondly, now the Roman Empire has put the hat of "Carthage" on the head of the British, and then the French jumped out and slapped the British on the ground of "telling you not to wear a hat". Apparently the UK is already a little bit on the verge of being pushed down by the crowd. At this time, they jumped out and yelled to take back Gibraltar. The British can't do anything to them. It can be said that there is basically no risk. If this is the case, why not yell?

And the Spaniards suddenly jumped up on this matter at this time, which is also very much in the interests of France. So much so that Napoleon said something like this: "Although King Carlos IV is generally stupid, he is still very smart in this matter."

Of course, to attract the attention of the British, it is not enough to just bluff. The Spanish navy was once very powerful. Once upon a time, in the age of sail not long ago, Spanish battleships were the largest and most powerful in the world. With a four-layer gun deck and 140 cannons, the "Holy Trinity" battleship is even listed as a "super first-class ship".

However, since entering the age of steam, Spain's navy has quickly fallen behind. Because of the lack of industrial capabilities, Spain's new warships have to rely entirely on outsourcing. And as we all know, true defense modernization cannot be bought.

The Spanish Navy can only import warships from France. Arms, especially warships, which represent the highest level of military technology, have surprisingly high profit margins when they are traded. This is especially true if this kind of trade also has the feeling of collecting protection fees. Just like the big dogs of later generations, the total price of the four fast frigates (Littoral Combat Ships) you saw was as high as 6 billion US dollars, with an average of 1.5 billion US dollars each. It is much more expensive than a 10,000-ton large drive in a big eastern country.

The situation in Spain today is very similar. They purchased five so-called armored cruisers from France. These warships spent enough money for the French to manufacture four super first-class cruisers. Of course, the high price is not because the French ask too much. In fact, for the old allies, the original asking price of the French is really not black. It's just that after the Spaniards in charge of the procurement and the French conducted difficult negotiations, the price of the French warship suddenly became much more expensive. As for why it happened, after difficult bargaining, the price of French warships in the final agreement has actually increased a lot. I really don't know about this. Not enough. In later generations, this situation often occurs in the arms sales cases of some countries.

Of course, after all, if you can force the British to hand over Gibraltar, that's all. If you really want Spain to fight, Spain will not. Because the ghost place of Gibraltar is too easy to defend and difficult to attack. That place is a steep rocky hill, and over the years the British have dug that rocky hill full of rat holes. In those rat holes, there are hidden emplacements here and there, and there are a lot of cannons hidden. These cannons have tested firing tables, and their firing circles can cover each other. So if you forcefully attack such a fortress, it is simply to give away the head.

But when the Spaniards again raised the issue of Gibraltar's ownership and asked the French for help, the French proposed another set of feasible means of attack.

This plan is to block the fortress of Gibraltar.

There is of course no problem with the land blockade of the fortress of Gibraltar. Because the land routes are all under the control of the Spaniards. But the supply of the Gibraltar Fortress has never relied on land. The Gibraltar Fortress itself is an important military port, and almost all of its supplies come from the sea.

Spain's sea power is not enough to block the fortress of Gibraltar. This is especially true after the technological revolution in the Navy.

But the emergence of a weapon made this blockade possible. This weapon is a mine. Spain can completely rely on mines and use the offensive mines at night to block Gibraltar.

Of course, doing so would be an act of war. However, Talleyrand said that as long as Spain does not recognize it, then France will believe that Spain was not the first party to attack. As for who laid the mines, maybe the Americans, who knows?