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At 8 o'clock in the morning on May 17, Madrid time, the Spanish ambassador to China, Claudio, had sent the conditions proposed by the Chinese side back to China. The conditions put forward by the Chinese were so harsh that even harsh words would be sufficient to express the humiliation suffered by the Kingdom of Spain. Prime Minister Torres almost ordered Ambassador Claudio to refuse the Chinese side, but his anger disappeared at the thought of the squadron that had landed in the southwest of the Kingdom of Spain and was preparing to advance into the heart of Spain. If the Kingdom of Spain does not agree to China's request, maybe more squadrons will land in Spain, and Spain's final fate will be the same as that of the United States, becoming the second Western country to be destroyed by China in this war!

On the one hand, Prime Minister Torres sent a telephone call to Admiral Rivera and asked him to go to the palace with him to inform King Alfonso XIII of what kind of measures Spain was going to take to meet the demands of the Chinese side!

Alfonso XIII was furious after seeing the conditions proposed by the Chinese side brought by Prime Minister Torres: "The Chinese are too arrogant, they completely regard Spain as a defeated country, and I will never agree to such conditions!" ”

Prime Minister Torres and Admiral Rivera both bowed their heads, not wanting to touch Alfonso XIII's brow at this time. They also knew that the conditions proposed by the Chinese side were too harsh, but now Spain has agreed to the conditions of the Chinese side. Is there any other way?

It was hard to wait for Alfonso XIII to vent his anger. Prime Minister Torres said, "Your Majesty." Whether we agree to China's demands or not, we need to respond within 24 hours, otherwise the Chinese will attack us and no longer give us a chance to negotiate peace! ”

After hearing this, Alfonso XIII still had an angry look on his face, but a trace of fear involuntarily flashed in his eyes. He had already questioned Admiral Rivera in detail, and knew that Spain would not be able to withstand the attack of the squadron. If the war is carried out to the end. There will only be one fate for the Kingdom of Spain, and that is to be destroyed by China. And the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain will fail again, and he will become the king of a kingdom and die abroad! This is absolutely unacceptable to him.

"Your Excellency, what should we do now?" Alfonso XIII asked for help. Although he is an ambitious monarch, he is still a master of the six gods and has lost his sense of proportion.

"General de Rivera, I need an exact answer, our army, can we defeat the Chinese? No matter how big the price is. As long as you can defeat the Chinese, a qiē is worth it! Prime Minister Torres looked at Admiral de Rivera. If there is a silver lining. He did not want the Kingdom of Spain and China to sign such a humiliating treaty.

Admiral Rivera was a little hesitant, as the commander of the Spanish Army, he naturally knew the strength of the Spanish Army very well! Although he thought that although the Spanish Army was not strong, it would at least not be too bad in the world. However, the battle in Gibraltar completely sobered him up. One division of the Chinese Marine Corps annihilated an infantry division of the Spanish Army and also blocked the attack of three other infantry divisions. Although this is very much because the Chinese marines are supported by heavy naval fire. But Admiral de Rivera also saw the gap between the Spanish Army and the squadron! There is no doubt that in the face of a strong squadron, the Spanish Army has no chance of winning! Even though less than 200,000 Chinese troops have landed in southwestern Spain, Admiral de Rivera believes that even if the Spanish Army mobilizes to 1 million, it is estimated that it will not be able to withstand these squadrons. What's more, the ** team will continue to increase their troops, they have more than two million troops on the North American battlefield, and they can easily crush Spain to pieces!

"Prime Minister, the Spanish Army is not yet capable of defeating the Chinese, and the gap between us and the Chinese is too big! Weapons and equipment, soldiers' suzhì and even tactical thinking, etc., cannot be compared with the Chinese! Admiral Rivera said with a flushed face. It would be a great shame for him to say this in person. However, his answer now concerns the fate of Spain, and he does not dare to talk nonsense, otherwise, Alfonso XIII will definitely tear him apart!

"Your Majesty, in that case, then we can only bow to the Chinese and accept their conditions!" Prime Minister Torres said with some sadness. After all, this war had nothing to do with Spain, but because they wanted to recover Gibraltar, it turned out to be a great disaster for Spain.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, is there no other way?" Alfonso XIII was a little entangled. He aspires to become one of the greatest kings in the history of Spain, but this humiliating treaty will be a stain on him that will not be erased for the rest of his life.

"Your Majesty, if we don't want Spain to be destroyed, we can only accept the conditions of the Chinese!" Prime Minister Torres said.

"Prime Minister, the conditions of the Chinese are too harsh, is it possible to make them withdraw their current conditions? We are willing to throw in the towel, but we do not accept such harsh conditions! Admiral de Rivera said.

"General de Rivera, Ambassador Claudio has made it very clear that this is a decision made by the Emperor of China himself, which cannot be changed, and we have no right to refuse! Otherwise, it means that the war will go on for us! Prime Minister Torres said.

Admiral Rivera was silent. Even if he was a confidant of Alfonso XIII, he could not bear such a responsibility.

"Your Excellency, is it possible for us to ask other countries for help? For example, the Germans, let them mediate from it, at least make China's conditions less harsh! Alfonso XIII said.

"Your Majesty, this is no longer possible! The Chinese only gave us 24 hours, and now many hours have passed! Even if you find the Germans to mediate, it will be too late! In addition, the Germans will certainly not help us, they want our war with the Chinese to continue forever. They don't care how much we will pay in this war, as long as we can help them drag the Chinese, they will be satisfied! Prime Minister Torres said angrily. If it weren't for Germany's prodding, Spain might not have been involved in this war!

"Damn the Germans, they're so despicable!" Alfonso XIII scolded.

"His Majesty, although this time we lost to the Chinese, and even paid a heavy price. However, it also gives us a chance! Spain has always been neutral, and although Spain has been preserved, it has also lost a lot of opportunities! This time the world war will obviously end with the victory of China's allies. However, it can be seen from the fact that the Germans continue to cause trouble for the Chinese, and there are also many contradictions between China and Germany. After the war is over, in order to compete for world hegemony, the two countries will definitely break out into a fierce conflict or even a war. When the time comes, Spain will have a chance! This time, we won't sit back and we'll be fully prepared! Prime Minister Torres said firmly. This war was a disaster for Spain, but it was also an opportunity for Spain to get out of its former self-reliance!

The eyes of Alfonso XIII and Admiral de Rivera lit up. Obviously, they also figured out this qiē and knew what it meant for Spain. If there were another world war, Spain would have been able to prepare for it before the war, and perhaps it would have been able to make a shame. Moreover, the next world war is likely to be a great war between East and West, and Spain will be able to take advantage of the situation to regain the territory seized by China!

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, let Ambassador Claudio agree to the Chinese's conditions! We failed this time, and we will definitely not fail again next time! Alfonso XIII said firmly!

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Prime Minister Torres nodded.

At half past five o'clock in the afternoon of May 17, 1913, Beijing time, Claudio, the Spanish ambassador to China, on behalf of the Spanish government, contained in the "Memorandum of Understanding on the Conflict between China and Spain in Gibraltar". The Kingdom of Spain paid a heavy price for this, as stipulated in the Memorandum, the Kingdom of Spain would pay China 50 million Chinese dollars in compensation for military losses, and at the same time, the Kingdom of Spain would recognize China's ownership of the Gibraltar Peninsula. In addition, as compensation to China, the Kingdom of Spain also needs to cede the Balearic Islands to China!

There is no doubt that this treaty was a humiliating treaty for Spain. However, it also made Spain see the gap between China and other powers in the world, so that Spain began to accelerate its development, especially in military development. The ambitious Alfonso XIII and Admiral de Rivera began a military campaign, devoting all the country's financial resources to the development of military power. Especially after De Rivera became the prime minister of Spain, he put military preparations in the first place. This made Spain a military power in a short period of time, and in the future war, it dragged a large part of China's military strength!