Since he did not refuse, Alfonso began to assemble his army, as he had promised.

In his plan, Spain would mobilize 150,000 troops to France, but the number was too small to be paid, and it could not be used as an excuse to delay the war.

Spain currently has less than 150,000 troops at home and abroad, and it is normal for a temporary mobilization to drag on for a month.

Eugénie understood this, and no one could have imagined that France would be defeated in just a month or two.

In addition to preparing troops for France, Spain needed to maintain a military presence of more than 50,000 men on the east coast to ensure deterrence against Italy.

On the whole, Alfonso's three-month deadline for participation in the war is really not bluffing Eugenie, which can only be said to be relatively inefficient, but it cannot be said to be deliberately delaying at all.

On 4 September, the counterinsurgency forces in Cuba began to return, leaving only 6,000 men to assist the Provisional Government in maintaining order.

This was more than enough for the present Cuba, and in addition to the fact that the creation of the parliament calmed the mood of the population, the main reason was that 40,000 young laborers with the most radical ideas and the most enthusiastic about reform were brought to Spain.

The group will spend a month or two in a temporary prison in Spain, and then be assigned to various heavy jobs as needed.

It was also on this day that Alfonso learned about the basket that Asania had stabbed out, which was not big, but it was not small, and it was a bit of a sign that the king's life would be affected.

Looking at Rajoy and Asania who were trembling in front of him, Alfonso had a headache about what to do, and according to Adolf's advice, that is, to deprive him of his military position and retire on the spot.

Alfonso felt a little heavier...... In particular, Asania won the Battle of Lleida at the beginning, and he was vigorously promoted as a hero throughout the country, and he has a certain reputation throughout Europe.

On weekdays, he can be regarded as loyal, and Lleida did not surrender in such a dangerous situation, and this sudden mistake sent him home, Alfonso really couldn't bear it.

"Campos, what do you think?" Alfonso wanted to hear from the Prime Minister.

Campos's face relaxed, and it seemed that the king was not going to deal with it severely.

Although they did not have this idea themselves, officials and generals of Catalan origin unconsciously formed a political group, and they would take care of everything on weekdays, and they also interacted with each other a lot.

Campos naturally wanted to protect the two, but Alfonso didn't express his opinion just now, and he didn't speak for fear of getting burned.

"This matter must be a major mistake on their part, the army can't stay, and all the rewards for this counterinsurgency have been canceled." Facing the pleading gazes of the two, Campos changed his words and said:

"But considering that the two of them did not gain any benefit from this matter, their subjective malice was limited, and the follow-up treatment was relatively in place, my suggestion was to transfer the two of them to the prison department."

"Recently, we have taken too many prisoners, and the total number of prisoners is almost 100,000, most of whom are young and middle-aged.

It is necessary for us to properly manage this workforce, and Rajoy and the Asania army should be able to do well.

If you make a mistake again, you will be dealt with again with this one. "Campos is serious.

Alfonso glanced at Campos with a smirk, the punishment was lower than he thought, and he didn't believe it if there was no selfishness in it.

But he doesn't care, it's a trivial matter, just follow the Prime Minister's wishes.

……

The troops returning from Cuba went directly to Catalonia through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Deployment in this position, both to Rome and to Paris is very fast.

Troops from all over the country were also mobilized here, and with the original garrison on the Spanish-French border, the number of troops in Catalonia-Valencia reached 100,000 in a short period of time.

The large-scale troop movement could not hide the eyes of those who wanted to do it, and Prussia only tried to delay Spain's entry into the war through the ambassador's overt and covert lobbying.

Italy responded directly with partial mobilization, because the Austro-Prussian War had not been recovered by Rome not long ago, the number of Italian troops was still relatively large, and this mobilization actually reached 200,000.

Bluffing is quite bluffing, but Alfonso would love to see it.

Italy's economy is about the same size as Spain's, and maintaining an army of 200,000 without war is not only unbearable for the economy, but also for domestic politicians.

Such a large battle shows that the time for them to attack Rome is just around the corner.

Sure enough, as soon as Italy began to mobilize, the Pope sent an emissary to Spain, inviting Alfonso to Rome for deliberations.

Alfonso readily agreed that the Rome issue would best be resolved in the near future, and that it would not be fun if Italy stabbed in the back while Spain focused on Franco-Prussian warfare, but fortunately Italy had little patience.

The speed from Madrid to the border is much faster now than it was in exile, and the railways are not built much due to the cost constraints, but the roads are expanding rapidly.

The asphalt road links all the major cities of Spain, and it takes only two days to get to Valencia by horse-drawn carriage from Madrid and one day to Rome by boat.

Even so, when Alfonso arrived in Rome, it was already September 7.

He was greeted with great pomp and circumstance by the Papal States, much more solemnly than he had been when he first came.

Alfonso was wondering in his heart, it was more formal than when he came before, after all, he only controlled Catalonia before, but this is too solemn, right?

There are not a few kings and emperors who have visited Rome in the past, and they are not so formal, how can he be a Spanish king?

But he soon knew why—there wasn't a single French soldier on the scene!

You must know that you can basically walk two steps before you can meet the French patrolling.

Combined with the information obtained earlier, it is the matter of these two days that the French withdrew the Roman garrison.

Having lost the protection of France, Rome wanted to put some pressure on Italy through him, so he temporarily changed the arrangements for his reception.

"France has softened ......" Alfonso thought for a moment, it could not be a coincidence that France had just withdrawn its garrison in the past two days.

It must have been seen that Italy was taking a hard line to mobilize its troops directly, and that France was unwilling to open a second front for Rome, which allowed the soldiers to withdraw to the country.

In this way, Paris has given up on Rome, and the only one who can save the Pope is Spain...... This treaty may be easier than he thought.