On August 17, 1869, Carlo, accompanied by his three trusted confidantes, Ricciotti, Carman Esposito, and Drew Rosso, as well as dozens of servants, cooks, tailors, and physicians personally selected by his father, Vittorio Emanuele II, and a palace guard of about 500 men, set sail on a ship bound for Spain in a grand procession.
Carlo was quite satisfied with the palace guard his father had entrusted to him. At Carlo's strong request, most of the soldiers in this palace guard had participated in the Italian unification wars, and many of them had served under Garibaldi.
The combat effectiveness of these soldiers was assured, and with Ricciotti, Garibaldi's second son, in command, their loyalty was also guaranteed.
Furthermore, the families of these soldiers would also accompany Carlo to Spain, which was another means of ensuring their loyalty.
Simply put, from now on, these soldiers would be entirely under Carlo's command. Carlo would also need to provide them with military expenses and weapons in exchange for their absolute loyalty.
With this foundation of 500 men, it would be much easier for Carlo to expand his personal guard in the future. After all, building an army, in addition to carefully selecting the commanding officers, also requires some lower-level officers who have truly experienced war to accelerate the army's formation and shape the soul of an elite force.
On the largest ship in the fleet, Carman Esposito and Andrew Rosso were looking at the vast Mediterranean Sea with excited expressions, their hearts particularly stirred.
Upon learning that Carlo was an Italian prince, they were extremely excited. They had initially thought Carlo was just a noble's son, but they hadn't expected his status to be even higher than they had imagined.
A few days prior, when they learned from Carlo that he was about to go to Spain to be crowned king, their shock was unparalleled.
This also led to both of them expressing their enthusiastic agreement when Carlo invited them to Spain.
After all, with their commoner status, they didn't have many good avenues for advancement in Italy, and it would be very difficult to rise higher.
There were also quite a few excellent graduates like them, and Italy didn't have much space for them to freely develop their skills.
But going to Spain would be completely different. Carlo didn't have many capable people under him, and they were among his most trusted confidantes, so they would naturally receive ample training.
Although they would initially only serve as deputy captains of Carlo's palace guard, Carlo also promised that this palace guard would soon be expanded to a brigade-sized force.
Both Carman Esposito and Andrew Rosso would be able to serve as regimental commanders in the expanded guard brigade. This was a much better future than staying in Italy, as their lieutenant's rank would only allow them to command at the company level.
At this time, both of them were completely devoted to following Carlo, and they had both persuaded their families to accompany them to Spain.
The two guys, one fat and one thin, weren't fools; they knew they had to do something to show their loyalty in order to gain Carlo's trust and heavy reliance.
Carlo acknowledged their efforts. If these two individuals demonstrated genuine capability, he would embrace the idea of seeing them develop into independent leaders within the Spanish army. However, if their skills were more average, they would likely serve in less significant roles within departments such as the Ministry of Defense or the General Staff.
After several days of sailing, the fleet finally approached Barcelona in the Catalonia region.
The port of Barcelona seemed to be packed with people, surrounded by crowds, apparently welcoming Carlo's arrival.
"Your Majesty, Regent Serrano is already waiting for you at the port." Seeing Carlo's slight confusion, Prim stepped forward and said with a smile.
Upon hearing Prim's words, Carlo realized that Serrano had arranged these crowds in advance to ease his arrival in Spain.
If Carlo had arrived in Spain without anyone to welcome him, and the public showed no reaction, it would lead to awkwardness for both Carlo and the government that selected him as king.
Carlo nodded, his smile unchanged: "Where is Mr. Serrano?"
Following Prim's guidance, Carlo and his entourage slowly walked onto the port under the escort of the guard and headed towards the location of the Spanish government.
The moment Carlo stepped onto the port, the band that had been prepared on the port immediately played the Spanish national anthem, "The Royal March."
This song was perfectly suited for the occasion, not only highlighting the importance of welcoming the new king but also emphasizing the Spanish monarchy and giving Carlo sufficient face.
"Your Highness!" The members of the Spanish government all bowed to Carlo.
Since Carlo had not yet sworn allegiance to the constitution or been crowned King of Spain, he still held the status of an Italian duke at that time. However, the oath could be taken at any moment, unlike the coronation ceremony, so everyone maintained a respectful demeanor towards Carlo.
Prim and Serrano smiled as they introduced various officials of the Spanish government to Carlo. He made his entrance into Barcelona to a warm welcome from numerous officials.
This was just a stopover. After a brief rest, Carlo would embark on the journey back to Madrid with the officials.
The good news was that although Spain didn't have many kilometers of railway, it did have nearly 5,000 kilometers of railway lines. And Barcelona, as a major city on the east coast, naturally had a railway connecting it to Madrid.
But the bad news was that the railway at this time was extremely slow, and the riding experience was far inferior to that of later generations.
For Carlo, the journey from Barcelona to Madrid might be even worse than the bumpy days on the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the good news was that once he returned to Madrid, Carlo could reside in the vast Royal Palace of Madrid.
This was a luxurious palace, reportedly the third-largest royal palace in Europe, surpassed only by the Palace of Versailles and Schönbrunn Palace. This also reflected the extravagance of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty; at least in terms of the royal family's food, clothing, and daily expenses, the successive Bourbon kings of Spain had not been stingy.
On August 23, 1869, Carlo finally arrived in Madrid, and Prim also returned to the political center of Spain after many days.
Although Carlo wanted to tour Madrid in 1869, after several days of travel fatigue, Carlo had no energy to think about anything else.
The thoughts of the accompanying officials and soldiers were the same.
On the first day of arriving in Madrid, Carlo simply took his confidantes and servants to the Royal Palace of Madrid and slept soundly in the clean king's bedroom that had been prepared for him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Support my work and gain access to 15 advanced chapters at [email protected]/Dannycifer.