Division Commander Sakarov completely witnessed the whole process in the artillery mirror. The commander of the 30th Regiment, who just now said triumphantly, "We will definitely achieve a breakthrough this time," was very embarrassed.
He hesitated: "They...how dare they attack indiscriminately?!"
The scene just now made Sakarov's mind drift back to more than ten years ago. After a while, he said leisurely: "Fortunately, there are not many such people. The other Spaniards are just a group of guys busy with internal strife."
At this point, the Tsarist Russian intervention forces had basically exhausted their energy. The two brigades and four regiments had suffered varying degrees of losses and needed a period of rest.
For the volunteers who still held on tenaciously under such a ferocious offensive, the 8th Infantry Division's initial doubts turned into fear - their tenacity seemed to have gone beyond the scope of normal people.
Even though their bodies were bruised and their clothes were in rags, they still used all weapons and means to resist the attacks again and again, and then fought to the end together with the arriving reinforcements, as if they didn't care about their own lives.
At the same time, in the headquarters of the 50th Brigade, Zhou Changfeng asked again in a hoarse voice: "Where are the Germans? Have they made contact?"
"I don't know, they are still implementing radio silence." A communications staff officer replied.
At this time, a booming explosion sounded.
No one cared. Everyone was already used to this routine bombardment.
Suddenly, a 152mm high-explosive bomb hit directly above the command post. Five kilograms of TNT exploded instantly, and a huge shock wave swept across dozens of meters in radius!
Almost all the brigade personnel in the headquarters were knocked to the ground, dizzy, and their ears were ringing.
Zhou Changfeng, who staggered to his feet, looked around the dusty surroundings and subconsciously took a deep breath, only to be choked and coughed repeatedly.
Has the headquarters been exposed? Impossible, otherwise there wouldn't be just one shell dropped. It was obviously a missed shell.
Fortunately, the headquarters of the 50th Brigade was built quite solidly - three partition walls were built separately; the top was covered with logs, and a thin steel plate was laid on top and bottom, and the middle was filled with soil. A large-caliber artillery shell was fired.
There is still no news about the troops who launched the counterattack in the battle plan. Although I received news yesterday that they arrived at the battlefield at about ten o'clock, who knows whether it went smoothly.
It can be said that the 50th Brigade has been completely crippled and may collapse at any time. It is completely relying on the spirit of "the last five minutes of the decisive battle" to hang on.
Now, any variable could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
"Sir, enemy infantry has been observed in area D1 entering the offensive starting position."
"What?"
What Zhou Changfeng didn't know was that just last night, another brigade of the National Army crossed the Tejo River. After a few hours of hasty rest, they were thrown into battle.
At the moment, it seemed that there was only one choice left before him, but it was undoubtedly extremely difficult.
Worried that the brigade headquarters would be destroyed by the shells just fired, Chretien hurried over and said with relief when he saw this: "We have tried our best, Xia, we should retreat."
At this moment, the sound of the aircraft engine suddenly reached everyone's ears.
However, the air raid siren that was supposed to follow was not heard.
"Plane!" Someone rushed into the command post and shouted: "Our plane!"
Zhou Changfeng walked out of the command post and looked up to see six aircraft flying slowly in three two-plane formations.
Single engine, inverted gull wing, fixed landing gear, you don’t need to think about it to know what they are.
He turned around and ordered sternly: "Follow standard procedures, launch smoke bombs to mark the enemy!"
According to several brochures on air-ground coordination printed by the Red Eagle Corps themselves, the artillerymen immediately fired two red smoke bombs, one on the left and one on the right, towards the newly discovered enemy attack starting position.
Six Ju-87A "Stuka" dive bombers flew over the 50th Brigade's position, then adjusted their course and dived towards the target in an attack formation.
The current Stuka is only an early model and does not have the "Horn of Jericho" that can make a sharp sound.
The Stukas dived at a large angle and dropped SC-250 250kg aerial bombs one after another. Fragments flew everywhere. Hundreds of National Army soldiers who had just been preparing to launch an attack were in bad luck!
"Boom! Boom!"
Rolling smoke pillars rose into the sky, and some body parts were blown hundreds of meters away.
Seeing this scene, the exhausted 50th Brigade couldn't help but cheered in unison.
Twelve rounds of 250kg aerial bombs dropped by six Stukas quickly disrupted the offensive that the National Army was about to launch.
At 9:49 a.m., more than ten kilometers southwest of Talavera, a company of the 8th Infantry Division of the Tsarist Russian Intervention Force, which was on alert, suffered an unexpected surprise attack.
After a short shelling, dozens of Panzer III, Panzer II, and Panzer I tanks rushed in in a wedge formation, followed closely by thousands of motorized infantry.
The frontal width of their attack was more than a kilometer wide. Facing the rolling torrent of steel, more than a hundred Russian troops were almost helpless, and their positions were easily broken through by the Red Eagle Legion.
After days of attacks, the Tsarist Russian Intervention Force, Italian Intervention Force, and Spanish National Army were all exhausted, and only part of the other rotating troops had arrived.
The Germans who had accurately timed the attack were like punching a sleepy man. The armored battalion and motorized infantry regiment, which were as comfortable as a fish in water, began to boldly break through in depth, regardless of the fact that they were trapped behind enemy lines.
On a front line about thirty kilometers wide, the Red Eagle Corps was the spearhead of the attack, with the 11th International Brigade on the right, the 105th International Brigade on the left, and the 14th Republican Army Division in the rear. The counterattack was maneuvered and deployed overnight. The troops launched a large-scale attack on the enemy forces on the south bank of the Tejo River!
The defense lines of the Russian Eighth Infantry Division were like hastily built wooden sheds that were kicked to pieces.
The unstoppable Red Eagle Legion completely penetrated more than ten kilometers in depth in just a few hours, and reached the Tejo River in one breath, dividing the Tsarist Russian intervention army and the Spanish National Army in two.
The two surging international brigades also attacked fiercely, and all the defense lines were in a hurry for a while.
Directly south, the 32nd Infantry Regiment of the Russian 8th Infantry Division was attacked by the 11th International Brigade, which was basically composed of volunteers from Tsarist Russia.
Hence such a ridiculous scene - two Russian armies fighting fiercely on Spanish soil.
Later, the tank crews of the Red Eagle Legion encountered an opponent they had never seen before - the T-35 tank, a multi-turret heavy tank with a total of five turrets, a frontal armor as thick as 50mm, and a total combat weight of more than 50 Ton.
These bulky guys were transported across the river from the north bank with great effort by the Russians. They were originally intended to be used in subsequent attacks, but unexpectedly their first battle was to help stabilize the crumbling position.
The characteristics of multiple turrets offset the German tactical advantages. Three T-35s and eight T-26s worked closely together to repel two sieges by the Red Eagle Legion tank battalion. The motorized infantry regiment used the Pak35 anti-tank gun. Shooting at them does no good either.
Seeing that the torn hole might be sewn back, the commander, Colonel Felix, was extremely anxious because his own plane had just left and there seemed to be nothing he could do now?
At this time, he suddenly saw a heavy anti-aircraft artillery battery being deployed not far away, so he immediately ordered them to rush to the front line for support, regardless of whether it was appropriate.
In order to prevent these bulky, tall anti-aircraft guns from being discovered by the enemy when they were deployed, the German army placed dozens of smoke canisters on a front line of about one kilometer to block sight.
Braving the stray bullets that flew from time to time, the NAG900 heavy truck dragged the Flak36 88mm anti-aircraft gun to a place only one and a half kilometers away from the enemy's forward position. The anti-aircraft artillery soldiers jumped out of the car, quickly deployed the artillery, and The wicker box containing three shells was moved down.
When the clouds of smoke gradually dissipated, the Russian army was surprised to find out why four artillery pieces suddenly appeared on the opposite side?
"Boom!"
An 88mm PzGr tracer bullet flew out of the muzzle at a speed of more than 800 meters per second, drawing an obvious white light in mid-air.
Two seconds later, the shell accurately hit one of the T-35s. The 50mm armor was easily penetrated. The shell penetrated into the interior and exploded, killing the crew inside and detonating the ammunition accumulated inside.
The T-35 was like a lit firework, spitting flames in all directions, and the turret was lifted several meters away...
"The situation is very good, Xia. The Russians and Spanish have reduced their defense lines. It seems that several units have been separated. Now it is their turn to be beaten!"
At the headquarters of the 50th Brigade, Blake called to report the changes in the observed situation.
Now, the offensive and defensive momentum is different.
Looking at the map again, Zhou Changfeng felt that the tight string in his heart finally relaxed.
He breathed a long sigh of relief and said leisurely: "It's over."
As he said that, he turned around and walked towards the back passage, but as soon as he took two steps, his vision went dark and he collapsed to the ground.
Hearing quickly disappears, everything becomes silent, and finally he loses consciousness completely.
The military doctor who rushed over ignored the blood stains all over his body. After the examination, he took off the stethoscope and said with a smile: "He is asleep, don't disturb him."
Different from the stereotype, commanding a large army in combat is also a very tiring task. It is far from being as easy as strategizing and pointing out a few words on the map. It can be said to be an activity that requires both physical and mental strength.
In the past four days and three nights, Zhou Changfeng had only rested for twelve hours in total, and most of them were fragmented periods of dozens of minutes. The quality of his sleep can be imagined.
He slept extremely deeply and dreamlessly during this sleep. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was already on a train that was moving "clanging, clanging, clanging".
A battalion of the 14th Division of the Republican Army and the 11th International Brigade took over the position of the 50th Brigade; the 3rd Russian Division and the two brigades of the National Army in the west have been completely separated and surrounded; the 3rd Italian Army in the east Seeing that the situation was not good, the 26th Division decisively withdrew to the north bank of the Tejo River.
As expected, more than 20,000 people in the west are already on their plate, and victory in this counterattack is within easy reach.
Zhou Changfeng stared out the car window for a long time, and finally sighed softly: "I'm afraid this is a victory that leads to failure."
The next afternoon, the 50th Brigade returned to Albacete, where the International Brigade was organized.
There were more than 2,600 people at the time of departure, but now there are less than 2,000 casualties including minor and serious casualties. The death rate of more than 25% is exaggeratedly high.
The organization of the entire brigade no longer exists. In theory, there is no need to repair it. Disbanding on the spot is probably the best option.
Historically, during the Hwachuan Blockade, which lasted for thirteen days, the 58th Division's combat attrition was approximately 30%, and this was already a very tragic battle.
At the headquarters, Zhou Changfeng proposed to Commander Schroeder to resign, but the latter did not refuse.
"Thank you, you have created a miracle."
"It's not me, it's us."
With complicated eyes, Schroeder stood up straight and gave a standard salute with raised hands, and Zhou Changfeng immediately returned the salute.
After a moment, he hesitated and said: "To be honest, sir, I think the hope of victory in this war... is very slim."
Schroeder smiled and asked a question that sounded easy to answer but was difficult to answer, "Are you willing to engage in a battle where you are guaranteed to lose?"
Zhou Changfeng did not hesitate, "If necessary, of course I will."
"A battle that must be lost may be for the victory of the battle; a battle that must be lost may be for the victory of the war." Schroeder said calmly: "If the war is bound to be lost but you still resist to the end...that is to defend Dignity, retaining a trace of the will to fight, if given up, it means true death.”
He was silent for a while, then added: "Berlin has asked to stop organizing volunteers. Maybe when winter comes, the international brigade will leave Spain."
This is the inevitable result of politics. The Anglo-French Non-Intervention Committee has been putting pressure on the German Society for more than half a year, and its attitude and methods have become increasingly tough. There are also differences within the German Society.
At the same time, the Spanish government is also deliberately reducing its publicity to the International Brigade - as an ancient country that has been glorious for hundreds of years, the Spanish have a strong sense of national pride.
Even if the original intention of the International Brigade is noble, they are a group of foreigners after all, and they have been allowed to play the leading role in the civil war. This is undoubtedly a thing that hurts the national self-confidence.
The day before it was disbanded and split up, the 50th Brigade organized a simple ceremony to commemorate this unit that had only existed for more than three months.
Chretien delivered a speech instead of Zhou Changfeng, "...We don't know what the future will be like, but we have been here and resisted. We hope that the world will have a better tomorrow, without war, discrimination, or oppression. Decades later , if possible, I think we may be able to return to the place where we once fought. Here I sincerely thank and bless everyone."
The three camp flags of the 50th Brigade are all in dilapidated condition, covered with bullet holes and traces of gunpowder smoke, making it difficult to make out the words on them; the brigade flag is relatively better.
Blake, Chretien, and Roald each kept three camp flags, while the brigade flag was given to Miller by Zhou Changfeng.
Before leaving, in addition to various notes and pamphlets from this period, he also brought a .35 type mine with the warhead charge removed.
In fact, he was still a little hesitant about whether to take an MG34 along with him, but since it was too troublesome and not very necessary, he gave up.
In the early morning of the 26th, Zhou Changfeng boarded a train to the small border town of Puigcerda.
(End of chapter)
