It has to be said that although the outcome of the centrists may be unflattering to both sides, Prim's hand does leave room for détente.

"Since they are not hostile, let's wait and see." Alfonso mused:

"Strength is fundamental, how many troops does Catalonia have now?"

Campos and Adolfo looked at each other and said proudly: "At present, our second rotation is coming to an end, and it is expected that in two months we will have 46,000 active troops and 40,000 reserves.

Including Adolf's 6,000-strong Progressive Guard (1,000 recruits) and elite police forces in various places, it is no problem to organize a field army of 100,000 people. ”

"Not bad." Alfonso nodded: "There are enough people to support a war, what about weapons and equipment?" ”

"The Chasebo rifle and the Armstrong cannon are ready. Military uniforms were designed and sewn 200,000 speckled camouflage uniforms at your suggestion.

The rest of the steel helmets, kettles, sabers, and the like are also ready, and the war machine is ready to use at any time. "Campos was pleased with the current state of the Catalan army.

"Really?" Alfonso was noncommittal, but he was not so confident, and he really didn't know what the combat power of the soldiers who had been trained for a short period of time for 4 months was.

You know, this number is close to the training time of German recruits in World War II, much smaller than the US Army in World War II, let alone other European armies of the same period.

"The existing equipment is okay, but the consumption of materials in the war will be very fast, I let you pay attention to the military industry, how is the development?"

After a while, Campos hesitated to speak: "It's not ideal, Britain, France and Prussia have refused to sell us recent production lines and drawings.

Britain was only willing to sell some finished products, and Prussia did not sell anything, saying that it would wait a few years.

France said that it could help build a production line for Napoleon guns, but the Napoleon guns were bronze guns and were too bulky, and we already had the same bulky Armstrong guns, so we were still considering them.

For the time being, we only have a few ammunition factories, and the production needs to be increased. ”

“……”

Co-authorship did not develop at all.

"Napoleonic guns are relatively backward, but first solve the problem, and then solve the problem of whether it is good or not, and immediately start laying it! It is better to buy the finished product line directly.

However, the price should be lowered, the Napoleonic cannon is very easy to make, everyone can make it, there is no need to look for them. ”

Alfonso was a little angry, how could he go on like this, the grain gradually got out of control, but the military industry began to be controlled by others, and then the other party suddenly reached an agreement with other countries, wouldn't he have to go to the battlefield with a burning stick.

Campos and they don't pay much attention to this, mostly because making it themselves is more expensive than buying.

Alfonso warned:

"It's not a simple matter of being manipulated by foreign countries, we have almost no navy, the other side directly blocks the port, and we have to buy goods from France.

You have also seen the situation in France, maybe when the fight will start, and the railway capacity will definitely give priority to supplying the domestic army. ”

Campos hesitated: "They shouldn't dare to rob the British and French transport ships, not to mention that we still have shore defense artillery ......"

He couldn't go on, because the other party could seize the merchant ships of other countries on the periphery of the port, and as long as they didn't kill people and handed them back, most of them would be fine.

Not to mention that Spain is still a great power, it has a temper, and it really comes to life and death, even if it sinks you.

Seeing that Campos understood the seriousness of the problem, Alfonso's tone slowed down:

"The weapons of Italy and Austria are relatively backward, so I will not mention them first. I asked you to contact the US arms dealers before, but if you don't, the US should be willing to do business in Europe, after all, it has nothing to do with them no matter how many people die. ”

"In contact, we have already bought 1,500 Gatling guns, and as for the production line, the demand for Gatling is not large, and the price offered by the other party is very high, and it is still being negotiated."

Obviously, Campos doesn't think much of the Gatling gun, which can currently shoot about 300 rounds per minute, which is very powerful, but in Spain, where there are no trucks and trains are not developed, bullet consumption is definitely a logistical nightmare.

Alfonso also understood this, so he didn't force it, but said: "Buy some more, there will probably be close to 1,000 companies in wartime, and a company will be equipped with at least 2 on average, not to mention that the loss of machine guns is also very large, and it is appropriate to expand to 4,000 units."

There should be at least one production line, don't care too much about the money, the money you get from the house will not be used up for a while. As for rifles, a line of Peabody rifles can be introduced. ”

The Peabody rifle is the kind of rifle that the Guards were equipped with at the beginning, with breech loading, single shots, and good performance.

This year, an upgraded version of the Scalp Bodie, the Martini-Henry rifle, has been produced in the UK on an experimental basis, and will be officially installed in two years.

Due to participation in the tender competition, the Martini rifle is not kept secret.

Alfonso was tempted by this stronger, faster, less recoil rifle, but the British did not sell it, and he had no choice but to resort to the original American version.

……

With Alfonso's directive, Catalonia introduced production lines on the one hand and increased spot purchases on the other.

The originally deadlocked negotiations were passed in an instant, and with the power of not being short of money, all kinds of production lines and weapons were loaded onto cargo ships and continuously shipped to Catalan.

Alfonso didn't want to import everything from foreign countries if he could, but Spain not only had a small population, but also had a low literacy rate, only slightly higher than Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary among the great powers, and it was really impossible to find a few military talents.