The Red Eagle Legion is a combat unit and a training unit. I believe you have what use it is?
The Spaniards are responsible for the logistics supply. How can anyone believe that they are so inefficient and chaotic?
Zhou Changfeng glanced at this good-looking young woman and said calmly: "Captain, the Red Eagle Legion is not responsible for supply lines and transportation tasks."
The latter calmly replied: "But, Mr. Commander, I have the right to supervise and conduct temporary trials."
The background color of her collar stripes and epaulettes was orange, and Zhou Changfeng knew that this was the color of the German military police.
Interesting, when did the Spaniards even give this power to the Germans?
But think about it, the Germans are the boss now. Although the Spaniards bought the weapons with real money, the Germans are the only ones who are so considerate and even send people to help in the battle.
"It seems that the Spaniards have finally realized that they cannot improve efficiency by themselves." Zhou Changfeng took a deep look at her and nodded: "Forty-eight hours, if the time is exceeded, I will directly order a retreat."
For some reason, Zhou Changfeng suddenly thought of a guy named Hurd in history.
Since the Customs of the Qing Dynasty is undoubtedly a rich and fertile vacancy, anyone who goes there will make a fortune from it. However, the appointment of the Englishman Hurd changed everything. His unremitting efforts made the Customs and Taxation Department very efficient, creating a huge profit for the Qing Dynasty every year. Huge income of tens of millions of taels of silver!
Letting foreigners take care of customs duties is humiliating, but... it smells so good! Hart can be said to be a proper hero of the Qing Dynasty, and he did not wear the feathers on his head for nothing.
And now, the Spaniards actually allow the Germans to "supervise the war" in disguise? This is really dumbfounding.
"A strange guy." Captain Chris muttered.
Chris is actually a member of the German Social Security Department. She is affiliated with the General Investigation Bureau, but she stays in the office most of the time and does not go out in the field much.
Staatssicherheit means "national security", and its abbreviation is Stasi, which is "Stasi".
Carrying out intelligence work against Britain, France and Russia is the basic task of the General Investigation Bureau. It is rare for a field mission to be given, so she naturally attaches great importance to it.
You must know that the Iberian Peninsula, which is now in chaos, has almost become a paradise for intelligence personnel. As all kinds of cutting-edge weapons and equipment are unveiled one after another, colleagues from various countries are eagerly collecting data and information.
In order to move around more easily, she became a military police officer and joined the Red Eagle Legion.
This time it was not just to convey combat orders, but also because the commander of the 50th Brigade was Akito, who was obviously very valuable.
But Zhou Changfeng had no intention of chatting with Chrissy - the battle was still undecided, so how could he have the time to talk about other things?
Due to his high concentration, Zhou Changfeng, who had not eaten for most of the day, did not feel hungry at all. He did not breathe a sigh of relief until he confirmed that the left wing position was finally stable.
Only then did the feelings of fatigue and hunger hit.
Facing Chris who seemed to want to stay at the command post, he was exhausted and said patiently: "My unit does not need to supervise the battle. Captain, you'd better go to the rear and supervise the Spaniards."
Chris, who was ordered to be expelled, left, took off slowly in the Fi-156 liaison plane under the sunset, and disappeared into the increasingly dark horizon.
Cannons roared and gunfire continued.
Maybe in normal times, more than forty hours are just an ordinary day that passes by in a flash, but here, countless lives are lost every minute and every second.
The attack of the Russian Eighth Division was almost without interruption or pause. The artillery bombarded the infantry, and the infantry charged the artillery. From time to time, tanks accompanied the attack.
The 71st Battalion is responsible for defending the left-wing position. This large position has been blown beyond recognition by ferocious artillery fire. In some places where many shells have fallen, as soon as you walk up, the soft soil can be submerged up to your ankles.
The total area of the B3 position where the battle was fiercest was only two square kilometers. The fortifications that looked extremely solid before the war had long been razed to the ground by artillery fire - after all, the civil fortifications could not compare to the permanent reinforced concrete fortifications.
The bodies of the dead soldiers on both sides were also blown into pieces by artillery fire that did not distinguish between enemy and friend. Blake sent platoon after platoon of reinforcements, but they were often killed and wounded within a few hours.
After dark, there were still dots of fireballs burning in front of the position, some were large or small, and the largest ones were destroyed T-26 light tanks.
Throughout the night, Russian infantry detachments continued to try to penetrate behind the battle line. Some were discovered and repelled by the defenders, while some successfully took root in the middle of the position and became spikes stuck in the throats of the defenders.
At a quarter past two in the morning, Zhou Changfeng in the headquarters raised his hand and glanced at his watch, deciding to get some sleep before dawn.
When he fell into a deep sleep, Real, hundreds of kilometers away...
As a small liaison aircraft, the cruising speed of the Fi-156 is only a few dozen miles. After flying for so long, Chrissy arrived at Real - an important material transfer place for the current strategic decisive battle. Dozens of trains pass by here every day. .
She came to the two-story building where the supervision team was stationed, and the chef on duty enthusiastically heated up a pot for her alone.
However, before the food was ready, someone came to report that the transportation of a heavy anti-aircraft artillery battery of the Red Eagle Corps had been delayed and the negotiations were fruitless.
Chris looked hard, stood up and left. The chef holding a German beef roll only saw her back disappearing into the night.
The city was dark under blackout. After driving two blocks, she got off the motorcycle and went straight to the heavy anti-aircraft gun battery waiting to be loaded onto the truck.
"Captain, tell me what happened."
"Uh... we are transiting here, but the Spaniards said that there are no available pallets and boxcars for the time being."
Chris was a little puzzled. There was a train in the opposite direction parked on platform 3 dozens of meters away.
Since it's not bound for the front line, it shouldn't be something important. Wouldn't it be enough to split a dozen wagons? An anti-aircraft gun battery doesn't take up much freight.
So she took several German military police to find the person in charge here - Major Diaz, an officer of the Republican Army's baggage force.
After being woken up in the middle of the night, Díaz was still bleary-eyed and angry.
Facing Chris's question, he raised his head slightly and replied firmly: "Captain, the transportation capacity is limited and it is normal for there to be insufficient carriages. There will be free carriages in the morning or noon."
"Time is of the essence. I saw a train going in the opposite direction was replenishing coal and water. It could use its carriages and only needed ten cars."
"No, it has its own transportation mission."
Dias knew very well that the thirty-odd wagons contained the property of senior government officials—when the decisive battle began, he would naturally have to transport away the property in his name from several nearby cities.
"What's the luck?"
"Strategic materials, rare metals, chromium, molybdenum..."
Although the lights were dim, Chris, relying on her experience in her own job, was still keenly aware of the logistics officer's averting eyes.
"Nothing is more important than the war right now, and combat units must arrive on time."
After saying these words, she walked to Platform 3 regardless, and several military policemen quickly followed.
A somewhat uneasy Dias tried to dissuade them, but still did not stop them.
Before the Republican soldiers next to them could get closer, they were frightened to a halt by the military police using submachine guns.
A military policeman took out a long-handled pliers from the tool box, came to a stuffy tank car, cut the iron chain with a click, and then forcefully opened the door of the car.
Chris picked up the flashlight and looked inside, her face suddenly darkened.
Expensive mahogany sofas, cabinets, chairs? Fine Chinese porcelain? Soft Persian rug?
She turned her head and asked coldly: "Is this your 'strategic material'?"
At this moment, Dias seemed to feel like he was going to break something after his lie was exposed. He said angrily: "Captain, who allowed you to check the special cargo without authorization? Our patience is limited!"
The frosty Chris stared at him and said calmly: "I repeat my request, unload these things and let the anti-aircraft gun battery load the vehicle."
"You have no right to manage these things! Leave here immediately..."
"boom!"
Diaz, whose face was full of disbelief, covered the wound on his chest and fell back to the ground, while Chris still maintained the posture of holding the PPK pistol.
She looked around and said calmly: "The Republican Army Headquarters issued an order on the 16th, allowing the Red Eagle Corps to have the same law enforcement rights as the Republican Army's military police units. Now, I have three counts of dereliction of duty, deception, and malicious delay in the deployment of combat units. He will be executed immediately for the crime. I ask you to immediately unload the carriages and connect them to the train on the opposite track."
After she finished speaking, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Diaz was still alive, so she took another shot.
The sound of the gunfire was like a reminder. The soldiers around him started to move cautiously. They swarmed up and began to throw down the expensive property one by one.
An hour and a half later, four Flak36 88mm anti-aircraft guns, a dozen Busin NAG900 heavy-duty trucks, and more than a hundred officers and soldiers boarded successfully.
With the whistle blowing, the train headed towards Talavera in the fading hazy night.
June 21st, morning.
The bloody and cruel battle continued. In addition to the Russian Eighth Division, the National Army's 96th Brigade also entered the battle.
The corpses of Russians and Spaniards who fell in front of the positions were scattered all over the place, but many of the corpses could no longer be called corpses and could only be called body parts.
Under the enemy's shelling, bombing, and charges, entire squads and platoons of soldiers from the 50th Brigade died on the battlefield. The front line was in a hurry, but every time a platoon of reinforcements arrived, they would be exhausted again within a few hours. It seemed that no matter how many reinforcements there were, there would always be only a handful of defenders left on the position.
More than thirty hours of fierce fighting left both sides exhausted - whether it was the Russian interventionist army or the Spanish National Army, both sides suffered a bloody blow in front of the rock-solid positions.
On the artillery position, empty shell casings were piled up into a hill almost half a man high, and the barrel life of many artillery pieces was exhausted.
The complex and complete multiple field defense system and the extremely tenacious fighting will deeply shocked every unit of the 50th Brigade that attacked and besieged.
8:23 a.m., two and a half hours countdown.
The Russian Eighth Infantry Division removed the 16th Brigade, which suffered heavy losses, and put in the 30th Infantry Regiment of the 15th Brigade, which is currently fully equipped.
At the same time, the remaining thirteen available T-26 light tanks of the tank battalion assigned to the Eighth Division were also reorganized, intending to launch a final strong attack and break through the last line of defense on the left flank of the 50th Brigade.
Zhou Changfeng, whose eyes were bloodshot, stood up in front of the artillery mirror and ordered: "Brigade headquarters company and signal company, organize reinforcements to go to positions D2 and D3."
Miller, who also looked haggard, replied in a deep voice: "Sir, they ran out of troops three hours ago."
Only then did Zhou Changfeng remember that he had ordered these two units to dispatch personnel for reinforcements in the early morning.
More than a dozen eyes from the command center fell on him, and he felt his hands shaking slightly - did he need to fight to the end? If the Germans had not arrived on time, wouldn't the 50th Brigade have sacrificed in vain?
After hesitating for two seconds, he took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Field supplementary company, engineer company, lightly wounded people... no matter what, gather forty people to reinforce. Gentlemen, the decisive moment is often the last five minutes."
The hysterical Russian soldiers shouted "Ula" and attacked the last line of defense on the left wing. The regiment divided the six infantry companies into twelve echelons. After one round, there was another round.
The tanks stopped about 200 meters away from the position, firing and strafing continuously to suppress any exposed defenders' firepower points.
8:57 am, two hours countdown.
The volunteers had just repelled another round of attacks, and dozens of Russian soldiers were retreating in embarrassment.
Now, there are only twelve people on the D2 position with a frontal width of more than 300 meters. They come from five different companies, including British, French, Americans, Canadians, Belgians, and Norwegians.
Corporal Nathan was the highest ranking among them, and everyone accepted his command by default.
He found the field phone buried under a corpse and was surprised to find that it was still working.
"D2 calls the bird's nest, please send reinforcements. We only have twelve people left!"
"Reinforcements are being held back by blockade fire. They are trying to get through the blockade area. Please hold on."
At this time, someone shouted sharply: "The enemy is approaching!"
The attacks came one after another, leaving the defenders with little room to breathe.
Eleven eyes fell on Nathan. After a strange silence, an Englishman said: "I don't want to be captured by these guys."
Nathan glanced around at everyone present, and everyone nodded.
There are no extra words, just a look and an action are enough.
He shouted into the microphone: "A large number of enemy troops are approaching. There are only two hundred yards left. We can't stop them! We require all available firepower to cover the D2 area! Broken Arrow! Repeat, Broken Arrow!"
On the other end of the phone, Miller was stunned for three seconds. After a moment, he said in a deep voice with red eyes: "It's an honor to work with you."
At the front of the D2 position, they probably felt that there were not many living people here, and the Russian army didn't even bother to cover it with artillery fire before attacking.
Dressed in rags and with blood and mud on their faces, twelve volunteers from all over the world held their weapons tightly and quietly waited for the final moment.
But they did not fire, because once they fired, the invading enemy would definitely lie down.
"Sing a song, the Internationale?" a Frenchman suggested.
"No, I don't believe that." The British man refused immediately.
"We should pray to God." said an American.
"I don't agree, I'm an atheist." The Frenchman said proudly.
The infantrymen of the Tsarist Russian Intervention Army had already approached to a distance of tens of meters, and even their faces could be seen clearly.
The whistle "beep beep beep" sounded, and they carried Mosin-Nagant rifles with bayonets and launched an attack together.
9:09 a.m., one hour and fifty minutes countdown.
"Dong-dong——"
The dull sound of artillery came from the rear of the position. This was the artillery group of the 50th Brigade firing, and the shells would fall in a few seconds.
Corporal Nathan suddenly thought of a sentence, and now there was no room for him to think more. He shouted loudly: "Fight for your freedom and our freedom!"
"Boom!" The first artillery shell fell on the position.
The remaining eleven people were slightly startled, and then they all shouted in unison in their native languages. English, French, and Norwegian were intertwined and echoed on the dilapidated D2 position.
Immediately afterwards, dense shells rained down.
Their figures, their voices, and the seventy to eighty Russian soldiers were all shrouded in the fire and smoke of the explosion.
(End of chapter)
