And Then The Spaniards Came...
On September 2nd, 1861, the war in Europe was dealt another drastic blow. And once again, no one saw it coming. Midday on the 2nd, two Spanish battleships and fifteen frigates, loaded with 15,000 Spanish Marines, invaded the French West African colonies with relative success, and only minimal hostility from the French and natives living in the area.
The next assault came within twelve hours, when two more Spanish battleships, and twenty frigates loaded with 25,000 Marines assaulted Algeria from the beaches. The result was not the intended one. While able to secure three small towns, the garrison in Algeria fought with bravery and courage not seen in mainland France. Spanish troops took a beating, losing several thousand men, with minimal gains. [-5000 regulars from the assaulting Spanish force.]
(Spanish troops assaulting the Algerian beachhead)
The next assault was probably the most ambitious military exploit that Spain had performed in its recent military history. Nearly twenty four hours after the initial West African assault, 70,000 Spanish regulars moved across the border, and sacked two medium sized French towns, nearly burning each to the ground. 50,000 of those troops fell back to the Pyrenees to establish a defensive line, while the remaining 20,000 moved behind French lines in an attempt to disrupt enemy forces, infrastructure, and gain intelligence. While initially successful in their attempts at destroying French infrastructure, the success was not to last. At the command of General Patrice Mac-Mahon, the Spanish troops were cut off attempting to return to the defensive line in the mountains. After a day of heated battle, 7,500 Spanish soldiers lay dead, with the remaining surrendering to French forces. France had not lost the day completely after all. [-1 infrastructure to France, -20,000 Regulars to Spain.]
(Spanish troops assaulting a French town)
The failures of Spain did not end there. Spanish command had ordered an additional 10,000 regulars to be placed in Catalonia, in case the defensive line needed reinforcements, but also to maintain order. The Catalonians, with their fierce sense of independence, had not seen this type of occupation in years. Riots broke out near immediately upon the arrival of Spanish troops, resulting in the entanglement of the 10,000 regulars in putting down this armed uprising. [5000 armed Catalonian nationalists rising up around the Barcelona area, -1 stability to Spain.]
And thus, The European Civil War was in full swing...