Empire Rising: Spain

But the African natives are different. Besides hunting, a man’s primary role is to bear children and engage in warfare.

In the wars concerning the survival of the tribe, almost half of the male population can be sent to battle, and even many females can join the fight.

Although the Ashanti Tribe only has a population of over one million, if the chief puts in effort, he can muster an army of hundreds of thousands.

Of course, this doesn’t really count as an army; it’s merely natives wielding various outdated weapons.

Furthermore, the Ashanti chief doesn’t have much time. The Spanish ultimatum only gives 24 hours, plus the reason for Spain preemptively starting the war, leaving the Ashanti chief without enough time to gather troops, making mobilization of hundreds of thousands impossible.

Before the Spanish Army reached the Ashanti Tribe’s headquarters, the Ashanti chief organized about sixty thousand men to defend their headquarters.

These people wielded various weapons. There were firearms purchased from European colonists with gold, knives bought from European colonies, and even homemade wooden spears and stone axes from within the tribe.

Compared to the diverse weaponry of the Ashanti natives, the Spanish Colonial Defense Corps was equipped rather uniformly.

All were armed with standard issue Vitali M1872 Rifles, and due to the war, each person was provided with 50 rounds of ammunition, making the supply quite adequate.

The colonial rear was continuously transporting ammunition to the front lines, ensuring every soldier had enough bullets.

The consumption on the battlefield is inherently massive, and it might take hundreds or thousands of bullets to kill one person. Fortunately, the Ashanti Tribe had few decent firearms, and those they had were outdated European models, with some more likely to explode than to hit accurately.

Fighting such enemies gave the Spanish soldiers ample time to aim at them, significantly improving bullet accuracy.

Of course, artillery followed the same principle. The five Colonial Defense Corps had a total of 15 cannons, all brought to the front lines.

Although the Ashanti Tribe’s weaponry was diverse, and the majority were melee weapons, considering the tribe’s vast population of over a million, it was necessary to use artillery to quickly conquer the Ashanti Tribe’s headquarters.

The natives may not have fortresses built with reinforced concrete, but they do have makeshift barricades built with wood and mud.

Without artillery, these obstacles would become a hindrance to the Spanish Army’s advance. For the Spanish Army, they needed to occupy the entire Ashanti Tribe in a shorter time to prevent other tribes in the Federation from reacting and supporting the Ashanti Tribe.

Once the Ashanti Tribe is fully occupied, the Gold Coast Colony will send officials to completely take over these lands.

By that time, it would be too late for the other native tribes of the Asante Federation to react. Since the Ashanti Tribe is located in the heartland of the entire Federation, as long as the Spanish Army occupies the Ashanti Tribe, it means all the native tribes of the Federation will be gradually consumed by the Spanish Army.

As for these natives realizing and surrounding the Spanish Army in the central area, this is something the colonial government had considered before starting the war.

Providing the soldiers with enough bullets was precisely to avoid such a situation. If these natives dared to encircle the Spanish Army, they would face the full might of the Spanish Army’s assault.

There’s no need to be hospitable to these natives, and the Spanish Army definitely wouldn’t mind the expenditure of bullets. As long as they can kill these natives, even if it takes hundreds of bullets to kill one, it is absolutely worth it.