In fact, it was not so simple for Spain to explode troops. After all, the current Spain, the Kingdom of Choice and the Kingdom of Aragon combined are only about 8.5 million. In the absence of a system of national mobilization, a maximum of 350,000 troops can be assembled.

Moreover, in order to control the Kingdom of Naples with a population of 2 million, Spain has sent 20,000 troops to garrison Naples. First, it was to guard against a counterattack by the French. Second, it was to suppress the Neapolitan uprising.

In this way, Spain was able to send up to 30,000 troops to attack Morocco, including 10,000 in Aragon. However, according to Marin, attacking Morocco would require 50,000 troops. After all, it was a war of annihilation. You must know that at the end of the Warring States Period, the Qin Dynasty eliminated the Chu State, but let Wang Jian bring the entire Qin State's 600,000 troops. Morocco does not have many soldiers and horses in the Chu State, but it also has tens of thousands of scimitar cavalry, and its combat effectiveness is no worse than that of the Chu State at the end of the Warring States Period. Therefore, Spain must mobilize at least 50,000 troops.

Moreover, in addition to the 50,000 troops, the number of people accompanying the army is almost 40,000 or 50,000. In this way, Spain destroyed Morocco, and it was estimated that 100,000 young men would need to be dispatched.

Qingzhuang is actually very easy to find, just go to the folk to catch a husband. However, it is difficult to find a man with experience in war. If it's an ordinary border conflict, it's okay to bring more recruits. But in such an important battle as the Great War of Annihilation, new recruits must not be recruited. Otherwise, once the army is defeated because of the recruits, it will not be the other party but oneself who will be destroyed.

But the problem is that there are more than 50,000 men in Spain who have received military training or know how to fight. With 20,000 men to garrison Naples, Juan III had the most at his disposal, just over 30,000. Moreover, the more than 30,000 people cannot all be taken away. Because, there is also a need to station troops on the border.

Fortunately, because of the blockage of the Pyrenees, the defense of France by the Kingdom of Aragon was much easier. As for Portugal, it should not have the guts to provoke Spain. But Juan III still lacked 20,000 main battle troops......

"Why don't we hire German mercenaries?" At this time, Queen Margrethe of Austria, the wife of Juan III and the daughter of Maximilian I, gave a very good advice.

As a German, Queen of Castile and Margaret of Austria naturally knew the fighting power of German mercenaries. According to the current European mercenary combat power list, Marin's North Sea Army ranks first; Swiss mercenaries are close in combat power and relegated to second place; Ordinary German mercenaries, on the other hand, were in third place; Next, there are the French mercenaries; The most inferior were Italian mercenaries.

However, it was impossible for the French mercenaries to fight for Spain, and the Italian mercenaries Juan III and his wife did not look down on them. Well, the rest are Marin's North Sea mercenaries, Swiss mercenaries and ordinary German mercenaries.

But Juan III, who had just finished a visit to the North Sea Kingdom, learned that two of Marin's legions had been hired by England (they didn't know that Marin had an army of 50,000, and they thought that more than half of Marin's army had been hired by England). Therefore, it is estimated that it will be difficult for them to hire 20,000 troops from Marin.

As for the Swiss mercenaries, nearly 18,000 have been kidnapped by Austria. The remaining Swiss mercenaries are fighting with the Habsburgs for sovereignty over Switzerland.

Therefore, in the calculation of the calculations, there are only ordinary German mercenaries who meet their requirements.

To this end, Juan III sent a representative to Germany, intending to hire 20,000 German mercenaries to fill the shortfall.

According to the current commission of 3 pfennig per person per day, the commission of 20,000 German mercenaries per day is only 60,000 pfennig, which is 1,000 gold coins. Even if you are employed for one year, it is only 365,000 gold coins. Of course, taking into account the higher salaries of officers, as well as the problem of food consumption, it is estimated that the cost is between 80,000 and 100,000 pfennigh per day. Over the course of a year, the cost is estimated to be about 500,000 gold coins.

In other words, ordinary countries will certainly not be able to afford such high military spending. However, through two monopolistic trade in Indian spices, the Spanish crown made windfall profits of up to two or three million gold coins. Even though Spain spent a lot of money on the Kingdom of Naples and other places, the fiscal surplus was still one or two million gold coins. Therefore, today's Spain has the financial resources to fight a war of annihilation.

Moreover, the time for real combat does not necessarily take a year. If it goes well, maybe the months will be over. In short, the sooner the war ends, the less it will cost. That's why Juan III asked Ferdinand II for Gonzalo. Morality. Reasons for Córdoba. Because, the famous general commands the battle, the higher the victory rate, and the sooner the war ends.

But no matter what famous generals are used, no matter how early the war ends, half a year will always be used. It's still the best-case scenario, and if it's bad, it's far more than half a year. Therefore, the consumption of this war will be an astronomical amount, enough to consume the Spanish treasury.

……

In fact, Marin's suggestion that Spain annex Morocco was itself a conspiracy. Because, Spain's finances are too strong now. The financial benefits of two or three million gold coins are proud of the whole of Europe.

And in this era of mercenary dominance, having money means having strong military power. Therefore, Marin was also a little frightened about Spain's sudden wealth through the spice trade.

Why? The Spaniards are so rich, it's easy to use the money to build ships and blow up the navy. Once Spain's interest in the Americas was reborn, Marin would regret it.

So, that money, it's better to spend it. In this way, Spain will not have the money to expand its navy, and Marin will be at ease.

Moreover, even if Spain occupied Morocco, it would definitely not be stable. Because, the Arabs and Berbers of Morocco are mostly nomadic peoples. What are the characteristics of nomads? Naturally, everyone is a soldier. As long as he is a man in the prime of life, riding on horseback and wielding a scimitar, he is especially a light cavalry, and it is very difficult. Moreover, the best characteristic of a nomad is that you can't catch up with him......

Even if Spain were able to capture Morocco, it would certainly only be able to control a few important cities in Morocco in the early days. As for the vast countryside, it must be the domain of Arab and Berber herders. When the time comes, the money spent on suppressing the herdsmen who are adept at maneuvering will be a bottomless pit that will drain Spain's finances......

Of course, if the Spaniards hold on. In just a few decades, Morocco will become Spain's second home forever. After that, Spain will nearly double in size.

However, the premise is - they want to drive out the Arabs......

The local Berbers, in fact, do not care what they believe. Anyway, they were originally a conquered people. Once upon a time, they had also submitted to the Byzantine Empire and were no strangers to Christianity.

Unlike the Arabs, they are the staunchest Allahists. Unless they are killed or driven out, it is difficult to force them to convert from Allah.

Therefore, in the future, the residents of Spain and Morocco, who believe in Catholicism, will definitely set off one bloody storm after another because of religious issues. After all, the Spanish Inquisition was no showpiece. In the face of the infidels, the Inquisition was a cannibalistic hell......

Marin, out of friendship, had already pointed the way for Juan III - to drive out the Arabs, and then slowly lead the Berbers to conversion......

If Spain had been patient enough to expel the hard-line Arabs first, and then slowly convert the Berbers, it would not be a problem. However, the existence of such a radical institution as the Inquisition would inevitably cause endless problems for Spain. Anyway, Spain will definitely not have the energy to care about anything else in the future. The civil strife in Morocco alone was enough to drain Spain's finances and energy......

……

Of course, that's all for later. For now, what is very important to Marin is that Spain will definitely need a lot of military rations for this large-scale military deployment......

Unfortunately, although Spain is a large country, it is mostly mountainous and hilly, and agriculture is underdeveloped. Therefore, Spain has always been short of food, and food prices are also very high. Barcelona, the largest seaport of the Kingdom of Aragon, is the place with the highest grain prices in Europe. Marin, on the other hand, has always liked to sell grain to Spain, a country with high food prices.

Therefore, Marin's suggestion that Spain destroy Morocco is really harboring evil intentions. Because, once Spain invaded Morocco, not only would it fall into the quagmire of religious strife in the future, but for now, the supply of military rations would be a huge trouble in the first place......

An army of 50,000! Coupled with 50,000 people and 100,000 young people eating horses every day, how much food will be consumed? This does not include children and the elderly and weak groups who do not eat much, but all of them are 100,000 young people who eat a lot!

Even at the low standard of one pound of grain per person per day (bread mixed with a lot of other things, such as sawdust, dirt, etc.), 100,000 young people would consume 100,000 pounds of grain per day. But 100,000 young men must consume more than 100,000 pounds a day, plus the consumption of horses, this army must consume at least 150,000 pounds a day. In this way, the consumption of food for the army is estimated to reach 4.5 million pounds every month, and 27 million pounds in half a year!

Of course, the Spaniards are not short of money right now, but they are certainly short of food!

And what about Marin? The last thing that is lacking is food. So, as soon as Spain began to conquer Morocco, Marin's chance to make a fortune came!

According to the normal price, the price of grain in Spain is 2 pfennig per pound of rye, and it is more expensive to sell it in big ways, and wheat goes up to 10 pfennig 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 you consume 4.5 million pounds per month, it is estimated that the consumption of grain and grass alone will reach 9 million fennig, or 150,000 gold coins, a month......

But this war will be fought for at least half a year, or even a year or two. Even if it is only half a year, the consumption of grain will reach 27 million pounds, and the total price will be as high as 900,000 gold coins.

Ma Lin's heart is not black, as long as he wins half of the order, it is worth 450,000 gold coins.

Moreover, Marin decided to sell grain at a low price - your Spanish grain price is 2 pfennig per pound of rye, right? I'll only sell 1.8 pfennig, so I'll give you a 10% discount! In this way, there is no need to ask whose food the Spanish military procures......

Even if it was sold to the Spanish army at 1.8 pfennig per pound, Marin made a lot of money. Because, in Germany, rye retails for only 1 pfennig per pound. Sold to the Spanish army at a price of 1.8 pfennig per pound, Marin had already doubled his earnings. After all, in Germany, the wholesale price of rye is only 0.7 to 0.8 pfennig, which is less than half of 1.8 pfennig......

……

Therefore, when they learned the intelligence that Spain had really begun to gather a large army, the spies of the North Sea Kingdom in Spain immediately sent people back to China through the post station system and reported the news to Marin......

"Haha, the big order is coming!" Marin, who received the information, laughed. Then he ordered - immediately send an emissary to Toledo, the capital of the Kingdom of Castile, to ask Juan III to discuss the supply of military rations. As long as this big list is discussed, Marin has a large amount of income in the account, and by the way, he disposes of a batch of backlog of grain to the granary full of grain in Beihai Country......

Anyway, Marin expected that the Spanish war against Morocco would last as long as possible. In this way, he will sell more food and make more money......

All in all, the Spanish invasion of Morocco would have been of great benefit to Marin, both politically and economically. If Spain and Morocco are competing with each other, then Marin is the fisherman......

Of course, in the long run, the Spanish sandpiper will eventually be able to eat the meat of this mussel. However, in the long process of eating mussel meat, Marin, the "fisherman", first had to cut a large piece of meat from the "sandpiper", even if he could not serve the "sandpiper mussel" in a pot, he could still eat it......