The plane carrying the Ming Dynasty military expedition landed smoothly at Barcelona's Anprat Airport. It was just when the sun was setting in the west, and the soft sunset glow made the entire western sky blush.
Barcelona is located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea to the east. It is Spain's largest port city and trade, industry, and economic center. In addition, it is also a famous Mediterranean tourist destination and a famous historical and cultural city.
A few days before the arrival of the military expedition team, three cargo ships that set sail from Guangzhou at the beginning of the year also arrived at this port and unloaded a large amount of weapons and equipment.
There are nineteen people in the entire expedition team. In addition to four officials from the Ministry of War, there are nine people from the Army, four from the Air Force, and two from the Navy.
This civil war was destined to have no naval battles worthy of reference, so the Ming Navy was not interested. Except for Zhou Changfeng, who represented the Marine Corps, the other person was also from the naval aviation unit rather than the ship unit.
After resting for a night at the hotel where he stayed, early the next morning, He Yao, the staff officer of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, who was in charge of the inspection, summoned everyone and assigned tasks one by one.
The arriving custom-made weapons and equipment are being distributed one after another, and the task of some people is to accompany these weapons and equipment to the Republican Army training units to record their performance.
The other group of people went to the headquarters of the Republican Army in various cities to decide on their own to examine combat modes and tactics.
In this way, among the people present, only Zhou Changfeng was left to be assigned.
He Yao was quite hesitant. He felt that this Marine Corps boy could go anywhere, but it seemed inappropriate to go anywhere.
So he simply decided to ask Zhou Changfeng himself for his wishes, "Do you have any ideas? Let's hear it."
So much autonomy?
The latter was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "I heard that the two sides are fighting fiercely in Guadalajara. I think it is better there."
He Yao secretly sighed that this boy lived up to his reputation and went to dangerous places without any hesitation. He nodded and said: "It's not good for you to go alone...Chen Guangyun!"
"Here!" A young man wearing round glasses responded.
"You go with Zhou Changfeng."
"yes."
"There are several divisions and brigades from both sides gathered there," He Yao's eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them, and he said seriously: "You two must pay special attention to your own safety."
The Ming Dynasty military expedition team did not come to Iberia for vacation, so after assigning tasks, everyone quickly prepared to go to their respective destinations.
Zhou Changfeng's impression of his temporary partner Chen Guangyun is just two words - wretched!
He is short, has small eyes, and wears round glasses... Although it is too one-sided to judge people by their appearance, Zhou Changfeng felt that this guy was also not very good on the inside, and he was disgusting just by looking at him.
His uniqueness is that he is proficient in ordnance identification. The weapons and equipment he has memorized by heart may have four digits. At a glance from a distance, or by comparing an unclear photo, he can identify eight digits. Inseparable, it can be called a human flesh search software.
And this is also the fundamental reason why he can be promoted all the way in the Ming Air Force. It can be said that he is the treasure of the reconnaissance aircraft unit.
"As of now, the two sides are still fighting each other on this long front, and the winner has not yet been determined. What do you think, Commander Zhou?"
"On the southern front, the rebels have captured Cordoba and Malaga. Next, if they want to break the current deadlock, they must choose a location on the central line for a breakthrough."
"Isn't it over there in Guadalajara? It is known that the rebels have two brigades and two divisions of the Italian intervention army, with a total strength of more than 30,000 people."
"The Republican Army has also put in reserve forces, and two international brigades have arrived one after another."
On the train from Barcelona to Tarancon, Chen Guangyun and Zhou Changfeng had been discussing the current war situation.
Guadalajara is located fifty kilometers northeast of Madrid and is the only way to the latter. Its importance is self-evident.
Prior to this, the Republican Army had struggled to resist the rebel offensive from the west towards Madrid. However, now, enemy forces, mainly Italian intervention forces, are attacking Madrid from the northeast.
As a result, Guadalajara became the inevitable place for a showdown.
About half a month ago, after giving the Republican Army a certain amount of tactical deception, the Italian army took it by surprise and suddenly launched an attack.
They had the advantage in strength and weapons and equipment. The two divisions of the Italian army successfully broke through the defense lines deployed by the Republican Army, which was caught off guard, and advanced thirty kilometers in depth, occupying more than a dozen villages and towns.
At the same time, the National Army detoured on the flanks to support the Italian army's frontal attack.
Facing the menacing enemy forces, the Republican Army quickly made arrangements and dispatched a brigade reserve team. Two international brigades that had just been formed were also quickly mobilized.
After the spring warmed up, the snow melted, and the resulting mud greatly affected the continued offensive of the Italian army. Not only tanks and trucks often got stuck in the mud, but also the runways of field airports, and the air force attendance rate was significantly reduced.
In this way, on a front line of about 20 kilometers in Guadalajara, the Republican Army successfully stabilized its position and blocked the enemy's offensive.
However, how could the other party give up easily?
After arriving in Tarancon, Zhou Changfeng and Chen Guangyun took the passes and documents specially approved by the Republican Army Headquarters, transferred to a three-axle, six-wheel heavy truck produced by the German company Fern, and headed north.
Naturally, precious transportation capacity cannot be wasted, so in addition to the two "Oriental distinguished guests", this truck also contains more than a dozen boxes of spare parts such as road wheels, leaf springs, and spark plugs for the No. II tank.
The straight-line distance between the two places was only more than 60 kilometers. In later generations, it would only take a few clicks of the accelerator and dozens of minutes. But now, the truck swayed and bumped along the way for ten hours before arriving.
The car suddenly swayed, as if it had rushed off the road into the wilderness? The drowsy Zhou Changfeng suddenly lost his sleepiness and looked out warily.
Sure enough, the driver actually drove the car off the road - because a series of vehicle wreckage was clearly visible ahead, with dozens of corpses scattered along a section of about 100 meters long, and some militiamen with guns on their backs were organizing civilians to clean up the scene.
Looking at the still smoking wreckage and bloody corpses, and then looking at the craters, it is not difficult to imagine what happened here before.
Zhou Changfeng saw that many of the destroyed vehicles were civilian cars, and most of the corpses on the ground were civilians.
Seeing this heavy truck going down to the field beside the road and trying to go around, a militiaman quickly ran over and blocked in front of the truck, waving: "Hey! Stop, stop! Come and help pull these junk trucks to the side!"
The bearded driver refused directly. He raised his hand hanging outside the car window and shook it, "No, no, no, the front line needs my cargo. It's very urgent!"
The suspicious militiaman walked around the truck and was immediately confused.
Oriental face? Two Chinese? Is this "goods" urgently needed by the front line?
"It's not them, it's the cargo, it's the tank parts!"
After struggling for a while, the militiamen stopped trying to stop him.
After driving far away, the driver turned to face the window and explained in unfamiliar French: "My wife and son are still waiting for me. I can't break my promise this time."
Let’s see if I can save some manuscripts in the past two days. In that case, I can add more at the beginning of the month.
(End of chapter)
