Over the past few months, the situation in Spain has been changing, and the fierce fighting between the two sides indicates that this civil war is unlikely to end in the short term.
"Paper, sir, this is today's newspaper."
In the morning, Xiao Li walked in after knocking on the door and placed the three newspapers he bought on the table.
Zhou Changfeng, who had just finished eating the noodles, eagerly took it and started browsing quickly.
Later, during the daily morning meeting of officers, he talked about it to the officers present.
On the large table in the middle lies a tourist map of Madrid - middle and lower-level units naturally would not prepare a military map of a third-rate country thousands of miles away.
"...On November 20th, the rebels arrived in Madrid. A total of two divisions arrived on the outskirts of Madrid, with a total strength of about 25,000 people and hundreds of tanks." Yao Liangchuan pushed up his glasses and continued The introduction said: "The Franco government rejected the people's request and insisted on evacuating Madrid. It has now moved to Valencia in the southeast."
Zhao Hanfeng said in a deep voice: "It seems that the situation is not good, and it is said that the defenders lack combat artillery? It is difficult to deal with tanks like this."
"It's difficult, but it can still be resisted. When a tank enters the city, it will tie itself up and its flexibility will be greatly reduced. If the infantry is disconnected from the tank, the defenders will definitely organize manpower to get close to the tank and blast it as long as they are not stupid." Xue Can He said nonchalantly.
Xie Wancheng said "haha", "That also depends on the morale of the guard army. If the army's morale is slack and they see the iron can roaring towards them, they may collapse before fighting."
"The fact is that the Madrid militia is seriously lacking in training, and the government has deserted on its own. It's really..." Zhou Changfeng spread his hands and changed the topic, "But I believe they can still hold on in the short term."
Aren't you contradicting yourself? How did you come to this conclusion?
The surprised Zhu Lizhuo asked: "Why do you say this? The time, place, and people are favorable, and the capital of Spain is not occupied now. How can it be defended?"
"No, on the contrary, they have the right location and good people." Zhou Changfeng replied firmly.
Since September, the war situation has increasingly shifted towards the National Army. With the fall of de la Reina, just over a hundred kilometers away from Madrid, the door to Madrid was wide open.
The overwhelming National Army claimed that they would be able to march on the streets of Madrid by mid-October at the latest, which is the Spanish traditional festival "Running of the Bulls", and the commander, General Leo, even arrogantly claimed that he would go to the famous Rio de Janeiro. Have a drink in a café on Lanvia Avenue.
Two wings of the Italian Air Force fully joined the battle in the name of volunteers. They airdropped leaflets with threatening words such as "If the citizens do not launch a riot to harass the defenders, then the National Army aircraft will wipe Madrid off the face of the earth." .
Since the number of aircraft in the Republican Air Force was small and the models were old, air superiority was seized by the enemy, and the sky almost became a paradise for enemy aircraft to fly freely.
However, on November 29, the situation suddenly changed - a fighter squadron belonging to the Red Eagle Corps took off for the first time to participate in the battle. Seven Bf-109B fighter jets were put into the interception mission. They rose to high altitude in advance. , and then dive and attack the invading enemy.
In this way, the Italians, who had been free and easy for dozens of days, were suddenly attacked in the sky above Madrid.
Escorting the bombers are 6 CR-32 fighter jets, which can be said to be the pinnacle of biplanes. Their horizontal maneuvering performance and dogfighting capabilities are very good. However, they are still useless against high-speed monoplanes.
Just like cavalry archers playing with sword and shield soldiers, the Bf-109s, who had the advantage in speed and height, repeatedly carried out dive attacks, pull up and climb tactics, but the CR-32s were unable to cope with it. This cycle continued until the Italians fled in panic, and then they began to disperse and hunt.
Of the 13 BR-20 bombers, 6 were shot down and 4 were damaged, and none of the 6 CR-32 fighters survived.
【BR-20】
【CR-32】
This was the first time that people had witnessed the fighter jets of foreign volunteers coming to defend Madrid's skies. Citizens ignored the air raid warnings, came out of air raid shelters and basements one after another, and gathered in the streets to watch the air battle.
More than a dozen of the downed Italian pilots landed in the city after parachuting. Some of them were tied to wooden frames and burned alive by angry citizens, while others were beaten to death. The defenders only captured four of them. .
After the establishment of the Madrid Defense Committee, Major General Miguel was appointed as the commander of the garrison. However, because the garrison was very poor in weapons, equipment and training, it was rumored that he was actually just an unlucky guy who was picked out to organize the surrender ceremony.
Although many citizens are determined to defend their homes, there is never a time when the world is completely united, so thousands of citizens still fled the capital through the only two remaining roads in the east of Madrid.
The British military observation group sent a report back to London, claiming: "... lacked necessary weapons and ammunition, anti-aircraft firepower was minimal, food supplies could only last a week, and the citizen militia had no formal training and did not even know how to Repairing the malfunctioning machine gun..."
The attitude of the United States is more pessimistic and straightforward. The attaché of the embassy clearly stated in the report: "...the escape of those cowardly guys has ruined Spain...The power gap between the two sides is too great, and Madrid will fall within 72 hours." ...We need to consider recognizing the national army regime after evaluating the situation..."
On the first day of December, the Ming Dynasty's embassy in Spain evacuated together with the last batch of dozens of Chinese citizens stranded in Madrid. They sent back a telegram stating: "...the rebels are now approaching the university town in the northwest suburbs of the city. Guns The sound of artillery was so dense, it was almost like the blast of firecrackers on New Year's Eve... The defenders suffered numerous casualties, wounded soldiers were everywhere, and ammunition seemed to be running out. The capital may fall in the near future..."
While reports from all sides are generally pessimistic, that doesn't mean everyone thinks so.
"It's wrong to think so. Both they and you have ignored two variables."
In the Wenhua Hall, Lin Xi put down his pen and met the eyes of several other cabinet ministers.
"Stop being so pretentious. Could it be that you have learned about some changes again?" Li Guangyuan urged, seeming to be a little tired of Lin Xi who often spoke half-talk.
The latter coughed twice and said: "Two brigades of international troops are about to arrive and will go into battle soon; in addition, if the situation is critical, the German volunteer corps will also join the battle."
Yu Shenhua hesitated for a moment and then said thoughtfully: "What is the military's estimate of this? Will this battle last for a long time, or will it soon become one-sided?"
He is in charge of diplomacy and is naturally very sensitive to this aspect because it involves issues of approval or denial of the future Spanish regime.
Lin Xi, who looked helpless, shook his head and replied: "The General Staff Office of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion is also divided into several factions, each holding its own views. The situation is still undecided. Let's wait for a while and wait and see."
"The longer the fight is, the better it will be difficult to separate and drag on for three to five years." Li Guangyuan took a sip of hot tea, feeling a little hot, and blew it again, "Just two batches of ordnance and material transactions, a few dozen Ton of gold will be obtained. If the time is longer, I will try to earn 150 tons."
(End of chapter)
