Probably shocked by the sharp offensive of the 50th Brigade, the National Army stationed at Talavera on the north bank of the Tejo River remained silent, showing no intention of taking the initiative to attack.
The few units that were cautiously leaning against the river to explore were also blown away by a blast of artillery fire. The artillerymen turned the muzzle of the captured Italian artillery, fired more than a dozen rapid fires at once, then put away the artillery and quickly moved it away. .
In this way, the two sides faced each other across the river, and the Spaniards on the other side of the river watched helplessly as the volunteers happily swept away the countless supplies left by the Italians.
As far as equipment is concerned, the 50th Brigade is not short of light weapons - Kar98k, MG13, MG34, MP34, S18-1000 are all first-class good things, but they lack body-barrel suppression artillery.
Although this battle did not completely annihilate the more than 2,000 Italian troops, it can still be regarded as a complete victory. Anyway, it was not the goal of annihilation from the beginning.
Six 105mm howitzers, 12 75mm mountain guns, 11 81mm mortars, and three 47mm anti-tank guns. These captured heavy equipment will undoubtedly eliminate the 50th Brigade's predicament.
As for the rest, such as Carcano rifles, Breda light machine guns, Fiat heavy machine guns and other weapons, everyone dismissed them. In Europe, where per capita was born in an industrial country, Italians' weird gadgets really can't catch everyone's attention.
For example, the Breda light machine gun, Roald's evaluation was "extremely bad, no part of it is reasonable."
The gun body is long, but the barrel is short. The bolt structure is extremely complex, and the high pressure of extracting the case often causes the cartridge case to break. The ammunition supply system is even more embarrassing. In order to be able to use the five-round magazine of the Carcano rifle, the designer is An exposed horizontal magazine was designed, which can be easily contaminated by dust and jammed.
The design of the entire gun can be described as very weird and tasteless, and I am afraid that even the much-criticized crooked handle will be defeated.
"Italian artillery..." Zhou Changfeng, who was very excited, patted the barrel of an artillery piece, and then wondered: "Why are they all so old?"
Someone pointed to the inscription on the gun and replied: "This gun was manufactured in 2015 by the Skoda Arsenal. It is already over 20 years old."
What Zhou Changfeng didn't know was that this artillery was actually the M15 104mm howitzer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the European War, more than 200 of them were handed over to Italy, and they were expanded and modified to 105mm and continue to serve today.
After all, the title of a third-rate industrial country and a shame of the great powers is not for nothing.
At this time, Miller, who looked pleased, came over and saluted: "Sir, the results of the battle have been reported to the headquarters. What should we do next? Evacuate or station?"
"Of course I will stay and guard here." Zhou Changfeng pointed to the ground and said with a smile, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that they will misjudge the situation."
His premonition was not unreasonable. In fact, until now, neither the Italian army nor the National Army had figured out how many troops the other side had.
Although according to the information sent back by the informant, in addition to the 47th Brigade of the Republican Army that had been stationed here for a long time, the only one who had just arrived was the 50th International Brigade.
Intelligence showed that the 50th Brigade of the Republican Army did not participate in the battle, which meant that from beginning to end it was just the 50th Brigade of more than 2,000 people, equivalent to a regiment-level unit, fighting alone.
Then... it only took them a few hours to defeat an Italian regiment that had dug trenches and built complete field fortifications?
Who believes this? Anyway, Italians are unwilling to admit it, otherwise they would be saying that they are useless.
Lieutenant Colonel Alchid was well aware of this and claimed that at least 5,000 enemy troops participated in the battle, accompanied by a sizable field artillery group.
The staff of the Italian Army and the National Army were greatly surprised by this. The appearance of the International Brigade and an unknown number of other troops. Why was such a field force sent to Talavera? What does this mean?
Does the Republican Army want to take the initiative to conduct an offensive here to break the current deadlock?
If you speculate this way, a heavy military group may be deployed in this direction. Will they continue to launch a large-scale offensive and achieve a breakthrough in one fell swoop?
If that happens, the other National Army and Italian troops attacking Madrid will be in danger and may have to retreat immediately. In this way, Madrid, which had been surrounded on three sides for half a year, was relieved.
Strategically speaking, the situation will be directly reversed, which is absolutely unacceptable to the National Army.
In the next few days, the 96th Infantry Brigade of the National Army organized multiple reconnaissance detachments to cross the river in the upper or lower reaches of the Tejo River, trying to find out the details of the opponents in front of them.
The 50th Brigade, on the other hand, showed a posture of refusing to leave and continued to carry out extensive construction work on the original garrison left by the Italian army to further expand and strengthen field fortifications.
The 47th Brigade of the Republican Army also took corresponding measures, also dispatching reconnaissance units and patrol teams to operate within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
The actions of the two were extremely misleading. Although the intelligence sent back by informants and spies unanimously proved that the Republican Army had no intention of launching an offensive, the National Army Staff decided not to accept it after repeated consideration.
They quickly mobilized two infantry divisions, an infantry brigade, a field artillery brigade and some Falangist militia units, totaling 30,000 troops.
The Italian intervention forces also cooperated and sent the 26th Infantry Division resting in Segovia to the direction of Talavera.
In just a few days, the delicate balance on the long front seems to be broken?
For a time, the density of military trains coming and going on the railway network was far higher than before, which was naturally discovered by the Republic Army Air Force reconnaissance planes.
Aware of the opponent's abnormal behavior, the Republican Army headquarters speculated that the National Army had misjudged its own intentions and deployed troops in advance to prepare for a defensive counterattack in order to prepare for a possible large-scale offensive.
After some discussions, the military advisers assigned to the Republican Army's staff committee by the German Society suggested doing the opposite and shooting a false shot.
Since the opponent has deployed so many units to Talavera in the center line, there will naturally be fewer troops in other directions.
You might as well take advantage of the opportunity on the northern or southern front and launch a counterattack, so that the National Army will lose sight of one thing!
One wrong step, one wrong step after another, so that you can gradually take the strategic initiative and reverse the situation of the battle bit by bit. After six to twelve months, you can look for fighter planes for strategic decisive battles.
On the whole, this suggestion can be said to be very appropriate.
However, the Republican Army Command is not interested in this. An argument similar to the "quick victory theory" is circulated among the government and senior generals, and there is also a lot of support among the people. The recently elected president also strongly agrees.
The Republican Army believes that its military strength is now relatively sufficient and has expanded to a huge scale of one million. At the same time, it has also purchased a large amount of weapons and equipment from Deshe and the Ming Dynasty. Its military strength is not what it used to be, and it has the conditions for a strategic decisive battle.
The headquarters envisaged mobilizing four to six divisions first, then six divisions as the second echelon, and two divisions as reserves, with a total strength of 150,000.
They plan to fight the opponent with the first echelon first, induce the opponent to increase their troops, attract their main force, and finally launch a strategic decisive battle; by then, their own side with about 100,000 troops will definitely have the upper hand.
Any time, strategic miscalculations are terrible.
Throughout human history, tactical brilliance cannot prevent strategic failure. There are many examples of this at home and abroad.
"...Command orders us to maintain our current status, except for routine reconnaissance operations on the north bank of the Tejo River."
When Zhou Changfeng, who was in the headquarters, learned about the general concept of the Republican Army Headquarters, he couldn't help but complained: "Is this a joke? Why do they have such an idea? Who gave them the confidence?"
In fact, he didn't know the specific deployment, but just relying on some of the dispatch information he learned, he could almost guess what the Republican Army was planning.
For example, four infantry divisions are heading here. In addition, all troops on the southern and northern fronts have received orders to "strictly prohibit active attacks under any circumstances."
"This is indeed strange. They seem to be full of confidence." Chretien shook his head with a helpless expression.
"Although the current Republican Army has many troops, their quality is very limited." Roald looked calm and commented: "A decisive battle in this state... is very risky. I don't think they can take advantage."
"If this is true, then they are gambling with the fate of Spain! How stupid!" Miller said angrily.
In the newly built brigade headquarters, a group of officers from the 50th Brigade were discussing.
How much water does this so-called one-million-strong army have? Do the upper echelons of the Republican Army have any clues?
At first, due to the fighting between factions within Spain, a large number of officers were excluded. Instead of joining the Republican Army, they went to serve for the National Army.
Therefore, the quality of the Republican Army has always been worrying. It is filled with a large number of militiamen and ordinary people who have been drafted into the army, and they have been losing battles.
The Red Eagle Legion has been sparing no effort to train these troops. It has taken half a year to make them look like regular troops.
But now I have just learned a few kung fu moves and now I want to go to the ring?
What is this? Isn't this a typical "I have the advantage"?
"What can we do? These guys not only make fun of their own fate, but also bring soldiers and civilians to death. This is the tragedy of Spain." Zhou Changfeng said as he picked up the red wine bottle and poured half a cup into the goblet. "It's just hopeless."
I have to say that the Italians really enjoy themselves. Even though the defeated 79th Infantry Regiment cannot be regarded as staying for a long time, its various daily necessities are still very complete, and some things can even be called luxury.
Not to mention anything else, there are more than a dozen electric fans left behind. The field kitchen is fully equipped with cooking equipment and kitchen utensils, and there are many boxes of chocolates, canned fruits, candies, and even hardcover red wine in the supply warehouse.
These things really gave everyone in the 50th Brigade a feast and a lot of fun.
What’s even more surprising is that there is a separate dental tent next to the field hospital, which contains a series of complete tools.
As a long-standing problem that has accompanied the history of human development, dental disease can be seen everywhere, and the military is no exception. Due to the harsh battlefield environment, soldiers often have no time to pay attention to their oral hygiene. Rotten teeth are almost inevitable, so dentists His figure has always been visible in the military.
As a reserve officer in Norway, Roald's usual job is as a dentist and he has his own clinic; now that he has a full set of equipment, he can start his old profession in his free time.
Zhou Changfeng was also lucky enough to experience the experience of having his teeth filled in this foreign country. Although he felt that it was not a hurry, Roald insisted that it would be better to deal with it as soon as possible.
The dental drill is grinding on the first molar, and then the probe and pick are used to remove the remaining caries, then etched with phosphoric acid solution, and finally filled with copper amalgam, and you are done.
"Okay." Roald put the tools back into the iron plate next to him and said with a smile, "Xia, now you don't have to worry about toothache in the future."
The soreness from before left Zhou Changfeng with lingering fear. He covered his face and walked out of the tent, but met Miller who came to ask for instructions.
"There are some reporters here, sir, are we going to let them in?"
"Reporters? How many people?"
"Six."
Zhou Changfeng explained casually: "Free movement is prohibited. Entry is not allowed in the four areas A1, A2, B1, and C1. Photography in other places must also be accompanied by an escort."
The reporters who were allowed to enter the garrison were very excited and walked and took pictures, as if they wanted to record every plant and tree here on film.
However, in addition to several genuine British, French and American war correspondents, there were also two Akito who pretended to be reporters.
Someone asked to meet the commander of the 50th Brigade and interview him about his views on the war situation, but Zhou Changfeng definitely disagreed, so he refused the interview request.
The other reporters just spread their hands to express regret, but the two Mingren did not.
As they walked around, they kept insinuating the soldiers accompanying them, "What kind of person do you think your commander is?"
"Very young, energetic and full of Eastern wisdom."
"I think so too. What I can't figure out is why he didn't go to the 105th Brigade? There are all Orientals there."
"Maybe he doesn't want to be identified?"
The soldiers chatted casually. Anyway, it had nothing to do with weapons equipment, specific deployment and other military information.
These words made the two reporters who claimed to be from Ming Dynasty look at each other - could this be it?
They were very excited to be so close to the truth, but they couldn't show it, and they didn't know how to confirm their identity through circumstantial appearance, because in the eyes of Westerners, most Chinese people look similar.
Fortunately, the road is boundless. After wandering around the camp, they happened to meet Zhou Changfeng and his party who were on their way to inspect the front line.
Although they were more than twenty meters apart and passed by each other without stopping, the two "reporters" were still overjoyed.
Oh shit! This appearance is definitely correct, it is definitely him!
They could no longer keep their composure, so they said to an officer walking next to them: "Please go tell your commander that his fiancée is looking for him!"
(End of chapter)
