The Spaniards do not want to lose Catalonia, which not only accounts for more than a quarter of the territory, but also has a series of complex problems.

The most important thing is that the Spanish do not want another country to appear on the Iberian Peninsula.

Back then, there was Portugal, which was enough for the Spaniards to have a headache. They finally defeated the Portuguese, and now there is Catalonia.

Most importantly, Catalans are also seriously hostile to Spain.

After all, the Spaniards have suppressed Catalonia's independence for three hundred years.

While the Spanish were hesitant, the Ming Dynasty had already begun to provide heavy weapons to the Catalans. Every day in Barcelona, ​​many weapons captured on the Russian battlefield were shipped.

Catalans were surprised to find that many weapons had Spanish markings on them.

These weapons originally belonged to the Spanish army, but now they were transported across the ocean and brought back by the Ming Dynasty.

The funniest thing is that there are actually weapons produced by the Barcelona Arsenal.

Moreover, the ammunition for these weapons is also produced by the Barcelona Arsenal. Now the Catalan militia can use it without any obstacles, and even the problem of ammunition supply has been solved.

The Catalans also sent people to follow the Ming people to screen the prisoners in the prison camps. As long as they were Catalan soldiers. As long as they declared to join the Catalan militia and swore allegiance to Catalonia, the Ming Dynasty would release them. them.

For a time, Catalonia's armed forces showed a trend of explosive growth.

Especially those guys who were released from the prisoner of war camps. These are the army themselves, and they can be directly taken to the battlefield without training at all.

The training of the Catalan army by these people is more efficient than that of the Ming Dynasty instructors.

Because they have natural language advantages, they can communicate perfectly with locals without the need for translation.

They are the locals...!

As the Catalan armed forces become stronger, the Spaniards become more frightened.

Unlike the Catalans, their people were able to get out of the Ming Dynasty prisoner-of-war camps. However, all the most elite Spanish troops were lost on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Currently, a full 300,000 Spanish troops are imprisoned in Siberian prisoner-of-war camps.

These people are the main force of the Spanish army. Without these people, the Spanish army is now extremely weak.

To make things even worse, the Spaniards lost too much weapons and equipment in Ukraine.

The Spanish army is now in dire need of weapons, but two of Spain's three major arsenals are in trouble.

The Barcelona Arsenal is the territory of the Catalans. Even the workers there are nine out of ten Catalans. Now it is really difficult to get them to supply weapons to the Spanish army.

The Valencia Arsenal has been reduced to rubble by the Ming Dynasty. Even the processing equipment was blown to pieces, making it impossible to produce weapons.

The only Alawi Arsenal that can be used, but the raw materials of the Alawi Arsenal require steel. Especially artillery, which requires better gun steel than ordinary steel.

But the two largest steel mills in Spain are one in Valencia and the other in Barcelona.

In other words, the Alawi Arsenal has no problem with production, but there is no supply of raw materials.

Not to mention the equipment problem, the Spanish army cannot even solve the ammunition problem.

If things continue to develop like this, if the Spaniards continue to disagree with Catalonia's independence, it is very likely that Catalonia will declare independence on its own, and then...then it depends on the mood of the Catalans.

If the Catalans are in a bad mood, they can definitely go to Madrid.

The King of Spain must either wait to be captured alive, or flee overseas and become a king in exile.

When you come out to hang out, your strength will have the final say.

Francis had no choice but to find Ming Dynasty Dahong Zheng Sen again with full sincerity.

"Your Excellency Dahonglu, I am a small gift from our king, please accept it!" Francis became more and more likable, not doing anything imaginary, but only doing things that were practical.

This is a cane inlaid with a huge ruby, or a scepter is more appropriate.

The kings of Europe all like to have one of these in their hands.

"You're not going to bring your king's scepter over, are you? I can't stand this thing." Zheng Sen said jokingly when he saw the scepter.

"No, this is specially made for you by His Majesty the King. You see, your name is also engraved on it.

We found workers from the Ming Dynasty and made it specially." Francis turned the scepter, revealing the Chinese characters engraved with Zheng Sen's name.

"Oh!" Zheng Sen became interested and took the scepter excitedly. He looked carefully at his name on it and played around with it twice.

Holding it in his hand, Zheng Sen knew that it was made of pure gold. Otherwise, it would never be so heavy.

"Tell me, what new ideas does your king have?" Zheng Sen motioned for Francis to sit down and poured him a glass of wine as an exception.

"Your Excellency Da Honglu, the Kingdom of Spain has decided to follow the order of the Generalissimo. It will formally surrender to the Ming Empire, and then...then recognize the independence of Catalonia.

And we promise to keep the existing boundaries intact. Both sides are not allowed to change the current boundaries without permission!"

Francis was very polite and repeated the words of the King of Spain to Zheng Sen.

Zheng Sen nodded, shaking the scarlet wine in his hand, and said: "I figured it out! This is good..."

Zheng Sen played a long note! Francis, who had just put down his heart, felt his heart rise again.

"But our Ming Dynasty's conditions have changed." Zheng Sen said with a smile.

"Has it changed? How has it changed? Your Excellency Dahonglu, this...!" Francis was shocked. He did not expect that Dahonglu, the most powerful country in the world, would actually break his words like this.

"Yes, our commander's order has changed again.

This time, not only do we need Catalonia to be independent, but if you stop it, war will be inevitable." Zheng Sen said slowly.

"Then...the Ming Dynasty's conditions are...!" Francisco did not dare to speak loudly, so he could only scream like a mosquito.

"It's very simple. The whole of Spain is open to the Ming army. Also, we must have the right to station troops in Spain. And we must have corresponding benefits!

For example, the Kingdom of Spain needs to bear all the military expenses of the army stationed in Spain, and the Kingdom of Spain is obliged to provide the necessary supplies and armaments for the army stationed in Spain.

Oh, and the Kingdom of Spain also needs to allocate a number of ports for the Ming Dynasty Navy to dock.

Some ports will be built into Ming Dynasty naval bases. Of course, Ming Dynasty will not plunder your territory.

The Ming Dynasty will lease these ports, and the Ming Dynasty will pay you the corresponding Ming Dynasty silver coins every year. The lease period is... one thousand years!"

With a smile on his face, Zheng Sen once again explained what diplomacy is.

Diplomacy means using the most polite language to make the most shameless requests.

"This...!" Francis was completely shocked that Ming had made such an excessive request.

If it agrees to Ming's request, Spain will no longer have sovereignty.

Moreover, the Ming Empire will be like a nail, wedged deeply into Spain's body. From now on, even if it is thrown away, it will not be able to get rid of it!

Even, to some extent, the Ming Empire will affect the political life of the King of Spain.

"Your Excellency Da Honglu, this condition is too harsh. I...this...! Can we discuss it again..." Francis, who was eloquent, could not even organize his words smoothly.

"Mr. Francis, I am informing you of these conditions, not discussing them with you.

I know you can't make the decision either!

You'd better go back and ask your Majesty the King what he means now!

But as an old friend, I have to remind you.

The last time you told me, let me wait for one day. But you asked me to wait for you for two weeks. The result... As you can see, the terms of the negotiation became like this.

This time, you can also delay. But I don’t know what the terms of the negotiation will be.

Wish you good luck! Your God will bless you." Zheng Sen waved his hand to see the guest off.

"Your Excellency Da Honglu! Your Excellency Da Honglu!" Francis wanted to say something else, but was dragged out by Zheng Sen's men.

"Surrender, Spaniards. There is nothing you can do!" Zheng Sen looked out the window, where Francis was being driven away like a dog.

"My lord, we have talked with the Portuguese envoys. They are willing to transfer Porto Port to the Ming Navy as a military base.

In addition, Portugal also allows us to have the right to garrison troops. We can also garrison troops in Lisbon!"

"Smart Portuguese people, how can they compare with Spanish people.

You go and tell him that the Ming Dynasty agreed to their request. We will send people to Porto to build a port, and we hope that the King of Portugal will provide us with convenience and sufficient manpower and material resources."

"promise!"

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"Blackmail, this is blackmail!" Spanish King Juan Carlos angrily smashed the crystal glass in his hand.

Wine as red as blood was splashed everywhere.

"Carlos, we have no choice." Sofia looked at her husband helplessly.

This princess from the Habsburg dynasty has known the cruelty of politics since she was a child.

The military is just a continuation of the means of political struggle.

In such a struggle, there are only losers and winners. The winner has everything and the loser loses everything.

"If we had defeated the Ming Dynasty, maybe our demands would have been even more excessive.

Carlos, Ming Dynasty did not deprive you of the throne, which is already a mercy. After all, we were the first to declare war." Sofia sighed.

At the beginning, he tried his best to dissuade Carlos from declaring war on the Ming Dynasty. He only provided some supplies to the European coalition forces to make them look good.
To be continued...