Empire Rise: Spain-Chapter 41: Rebellion Quelled

Vitoria, although the second largest city in the Basque Country, was ultimately just a small city with a population of less than 100,
The Spanish Army’s cannons were devastating strikes like divine punishment for such a city, and with the positions of the Basque rebels already known long ago, this offensive battle was fought very easily.
After receiving the Spanish Army’s bombardment, the Basque rebels quickly lost morale.
Some Basque rebels even still didn’t understand how they had become rebels; not long ago, he was just an ordinary worker in a factory.
“Where is Member of Parliament Enrique? The Government Army has reached Vitoria, why is there no news at all?” Basque rebel leader Mattis Anhatol looked panicked in the face of the Spanish Army’s bombardment and ordered people to go find Member of Parliament Enrique.
It had been agreed upon that Mattis Anhatol would temporarily hold position without moving, Enrique would use his relationships in the Senate to scout the Spanish Army’s situation, and then decide whether to surrender or continue fighting based on the situation in Zaragoza.
But now the Spanish Army had reached their doorstep, how could there still be no news from Member of Parliament Enrique?
About ten minutes later, a soldier came to with panicked eyes: “General, Member of Parliament Enrique is missing!”
“What?” Mattis Anhatol’s eyes showed seven parts shock and three parts panic as he instantly stood up, ignoring the pain of his thigh hitting the table, and said incredulously: “What did you say? Member of Parliament Enrique is missing?”
“Yes, General. We went to Member of Parliament Enrique’s residence; not only is Member of Parliament Enrique gone, his wife and children are also missing.” The messenger soldier took two breaths before answering.
Bang!
Mattis Anhatol plopped back down on the stool, his eyes showing seven parts despair and three parts hatred: “Damn traitor, everything is over, he ruined the Basque Country and betrayed us!”
In the current situation, how could Mattis Anhatol not see that Member of Parliament Enrique had actually prepared long ago, and even the arrival of the Spanish Army might have been orchestrated by Member of Parliament Enrique.
Facing the Spanish Army’s siege now, he could not escape.
Also because of the previous agreement with Enrique to hold position without moving, Vitoria had over 3,000 Basque soldiers inside the city.
Once Vitoria was occupied by the Spanish Army, these over 3,000 Basque rebels and he himself would all fall into the hands of the Spanish Army.
“General, what should we do?” His subordinate looked at Mattis Anhatol somewhat anxiously, the panic in his eyes visible to the naked eye.
Mattis Anhatol was also hesitating. Should they go all out and fight the Government Army to the death, or surrender early to seek Primó’s forgiveness?
Although the current situation clearly favored direct surrender, would Primó forgive him?
Thinking of his fate after surrendering, Mattis Anhatol began to waver, his eyes filled with confusion and regret.
He regretted being blinded by interests and agreeing to launch a rebellion threatening the government together with Enrique. He regretted even more believing Enrique so easily without keeping an eye on him, allowing Enrique’s family to escape Vitoria.
“General, the Government Army has entered the city!” Before Mattis Anhatol could think it through, a soldier suddenly rushed in, panting heavily as he said.
“What? What about our army?” Mattis Anhatol stood up abruptly again, his eyes filled only with despair.
“The Government Army seems to know our army’s positions; the outer troops surrendered after a few rounds of artillery barrage, and now the Government Army is heading towards us.” The soldier continued.
“It’s over, everything is over. Damn Enrique, you are the Basque Country’s sinner, you will go to hell!” Mattis Anhatol finished this sentence full of hatred, then seemed to lose all strength, saying to the two soldiers in front of him: “Surrender, surrender! God is not on our side, God has abandoned us!”
After the two soldiers received the order and left, Mattis Anhatol’s face instead became calm, his eyes lifelessly glancing at the door before closing it.
“Enrique, I wish you go to hell soon! God, please punish the sinner who betrayed the Basque Country!”
Bang!
Thud!
The Basque people surrendered, Primó led the army to easily occupy Vitoria and captured all the rebel Basque soldiers.
After confirming that Basque rebel leader Mattis Anhatol had already committed suicide, Primó left 5,000 soldiers to maintain order in Vitoria and seek opportunities to recapture Bilbao in the north, while he himself led the remaining main force eastward to Zaragoza.
Since the Basque people had been dealt with, it was now time to settle things once and for all with the Catalans.
Primó had participated in the First Carlist War; he knew that the existence of the Carlist faction was a scourge for Spain now, an destabilizing factor.
Therefore, Primó decided to thoroughly deal with the Carlist faction in this war, completely eliminating the trouble of internal strife for Spain.
As the saying goes, one must stabilize the interior before repelling external threats; if even Spain’s minor internal troubles could not be solved, how could Spain achieve revival and return to the throne of the European Powers?
In Zaragoza, a not very intense offensive battle was underway.
The reason it was not intense was that the Catalan army had little desire to attack, as if perfunctorily going through the motions like a long-married couple.
Of course, it was also because the Spanish Army’s artillery was truly fierce.
Facing the enemy’s dense artillery bombardment, the Catalans’ morale had long fallen from its peak at the start of the rebellion to the bottom.
Blocked outside Zaragoza for so long, the Catalan army had not even gotten close to Zaragoza.
Within the Carlist faction, discussions about this war had never stopped.
After being blocked at Zaragoza, Carlos VII knew things were bad.
Originally, the united Catalans and Basques could influence most of northern Spain.
But now the Catalan army was directly blocked at Zaragoza, and the Basque people could not resist the Government Army at all.
With the situation developing like this, victory was impossible no matter what, and the countermeasures proposed within the army were one more unreliable than the next.
For example, going south to Valencia, bypassing Zaragoza to insert directly into Madrid.
Were the Government Army fools? Even if they could reach Madrid, could they break through Spain’s capital in just a few days?
If they could not break through Madrid in a short time, the Zaragoza army would definitely come to reinforce. Then facing the pincer attack from the Madrid defenders and the army from the Zaragoza direction, they would die even more miserably.
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