The Third Reich in Desperation

Gambala is worthy of being the best famous general in contemporary Italy. He discovered the loopholes in the deployment of the Republican Army in the north, and proposed a sure-fire combat policy.When this plan was translated to everyone, it was immediately nodded and approved by most of the Spanish National Army generals present.

"Fight against the Basque capital Bilbao on both sides with the 5 German armored divisions in the north, and use a total of 10 divisions with a superior force of 15 troops to crush the 6 Republican Army in the north. Then divide the troops into two groups and attack Santander Launch a concentric attack with Gijon, and finally complete the encirclement in Birbach. The estimated combat time is 30 to 60 days, and the goal of the campaign is to occupy the entire territory of Asturias."

The translated strategic plan did not come from Gambala.Instead, sitting across from Gambala, smiling Rommel!

Franco, who was sandwiched between the German and Italian officer corps, glanced at Gambara. The expression on the other party's face said everything. His plan was confirmed by the German commander!

Gambala swallowed, and re-examined the young commander from Germany in surprise.

Originally, Gambala thought that Rommel's rank of major general, like those idiots in Italy, was obtained by flattery.And Rommel's inaction in the early stage, and his performance of staying still, strengthened Gambala's point of view.

Until this moment, when Gambala heard Rommel's exact speculation about his plan, he believed that this young and outrageously young German general in front of him was by no means mediocre!

Like Gambala's reaction, the Italian generals behind him were even more shocked.

This plan was formulated by them and the contemporary Italian general Gambara after repeated deduction.In the end, the young German major general summed it up lightly.

Being able to do this at least shows that the opponent's military quality is by no means inferior to Gambala!even........

Ignoring the astonishment of the Italian officer corps, Rommel said with an expression that had long been thought of: "The strategic goal of this plan is indeed worth a try. But the problem is that once the Republican Army dispatches a group of reinforcements to Burgos north, they will You can gather the broken troops on the front line and establish a blocking position. In this way, it will take at least one more week for your army to complete the campaign goal, which is too long."

After listening to the translation, Gambala, who was relieved from the shock, stared into Rommel's eyes and insisted: "It's worth it. Compared with your risky and radical plan, my plan is safer and safer. War, always The goal is the final victory. What the two sides compete is the result, not which side's tactics are more dazzling."

Rommel did not choose to argue with Gambala, but nodded and said: "In any case, our plan does not conflict. I suggest that the five German armored divisions in the north be temporarily assigned to the command of the Italian Expeditionary Force Command , and jointly implement the strategic policy of Admiral Gambala. The Desi United Corps under my command will continue to implement the established plan. In this way, we can also share the pressure for each other."

This time, after the translator sent by Spain finished talking about Rommel's ideas, Gambala finally did not refute.After listening to the translation, Franco also happily stated that he would lead the main force of the National Army to launch a large-scale simultaneous attack on Boso Blanco on the southern front in response to the offensives of the German and Italian expeditionary forces.

"I agree."

"I agree."

..........

The commanders from the three countries reached a rare high degree of consensus.

In this way, a three-way joint offensive plan with no technical content was drawn up.The whole plan is very simple to sum up, that is, you hit yours, and I hit mine, and we will fight together without interfering with each other.

At this time, Rommel realized how wise it was for the head of state to come to Spain to transfer the German mechanic.At least, he can command the 6 Spanish divisions under his command as he pleases.

When parting, Gambala and Rommel said goodbye in a friendly way: "I hope that the future military cooperation between our two countries will be as smooth as today."

After hearing this, Rommel raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Such a coincidence, I also think that the cooperation between our two countries will definitely not be less in the future."

There are some words that Rommel did not say, for example, there will definitely be a leading party in the military cooperation between Germany and Italy in the future.And this leading party will definitely not be Italy.

Text Chapter 93 The Republican Army's Plan

"General, it seems that the Italians don't believe our battle plan." A short lieutenant colonel followed behind Rommel, expressing his disdain for the Italians.

"Don't believe it?" Rommel, who was walking in front of the lieutenant colonel, turned his head and said to the lieutenant colonel with a smile: "That's because they don't understand our combat effectiveness. That group only looks at the number of troops, and doesn't pay attention to weapons and equipment and combat The trained Italians do not understand that it is only a matter of cutting up the enemy with swift troops and crushing them one by one, which can cause the collapse of the enemy's entire army. At that time, a single armored force can defeat ten times as many enemy infantry!"

"As for their so-called famous Italian general Gambala..." Rommel snorted coldly: "I will show him, under the brand-new war mode, our German army's way of fighting!"

"General!" The short lieutenant colonel looked at Rommel with a little more admiration: "Then shall we go back to prepare for the next attack from now on?"

"Get ready..." Rommel waved his hand with a smile and said, "Don't worry about this, we'd better stay put. Let the Italians do it first, and when the Republicans leave, we will use Thunderbolt Charge at the speed of your strike."

The short lieutenant colonel was a little worried: "General, we have never been involved in the battle before, and now we are using the Italians to divert the tiger away from the mountain... Will there be some embarrassment afterwards?"

Rommel didn't even lift his eyelids, and said lightly: "We don't need to explain to the Italians, just like their famous general Gambala said, war depends on the result. Besides, we have already given them a better plan Yes, they rejected it themselves. When they encounter trouble, they can only solve it by themselves!"

.........

As the supreme commander of the Comintern column, Moraka knew very well that the Spanish Republican Army had a slim chance of winning in this war.It is only the belief in communism that supports Moraka and his troops to stay in Spain to fight.

Although the Comintern column has always been one of the main forces that the Spanish Republican Army relies on because of its high fighting spirit and combat effectiveness.However, even after several replenishments, there were only about 2000 troops left under Moraka.

This time, Francisco, the leader of the Spanish Republican Army, personally invited Moraka to participate in the internal meeting of the Republican Army, which made Moraka realize the seriousness of the situation.

In this internal meeting, Moraka heard that the northern front in Spain was shrinking, and that the last main force of the Republican Army remaining in the Basque Country was less than half the number of the enemy.

Granada, which was finally regained in the south, fell again.In the central direction, the German and Western United Corps, which has not been engaged in combat, also has an offensive trend.I heard that the German reconnaissance planes that rarely appear have been frequently spotted recently...

In the end, Moraka took the initiative to apply and lead the team to the northern defense line that was about to fall, and fight against the menacing Italian army in the most dangerous place.

The Comintern column of 2000 people, plus 3 people's guards equipped with Gew.1 Mauser rifles, were temporarily drawn from the three defensive lines outside Madrid.These are all the reinforcements sent by the Republican Army to the north.They did not go directly to the Basque front, but chose to assemble in Burgos, gathered the rout, and established a blocking position.However, no one can tell what to do when these blocking positions are penetrated.

Francisco, the commander-in-chief of the Republican Army, saw all these disadvantages.

On the battle map, the red arrow representing the National Army camp is constantly approaching the blue defense line of the Republican Army.Republican Army units in several areas have lost their designation numbers, disrupting the establishment.

Córdoba, which was supposed to be won by the Republican Army, has now become Franco's rear, constantly mobilizing the new troops of the National Army to the front.

Francisco has successively mobilized 2 divisions and 3 elite Republicans to the southern front.Those are full regular troops, but under the attack of Franco's concentrated superior force, these two divisions have now been reduced to the size of a reinforced regiment.First, the two disabled divisions were merged into one division, then downsized into one regiment, and then the fighting continued. It is estimated that these troops should be completely reimbursed.

Portugal's volunteer army, Romania's volunteer army, Morocco's volunteer army, and Franco's southern national army have received too much foreign aid.On the other hand, the only 2000 Comintern foreign aid remaining in the Republican Army had to go to the north to resist the attack of the Italians.

The 30 People's Guards that were originally left outside Madrid have now been demolished in sevens and eighties.About 4 people were successively transferred to major theaters to fill in the gaps.Including the 1 people who are now following the Comintern column to the northern line, the size of the People's Guard in Madrid has been reduced by 5!

Not only the southern and northern lines gave Francisco a headache, but the German-Spanish United Corps, which was crawling on the central front, constantly challenged Francisco's psychological bottom line.They are just placed here, without dispatching a single soldier, but they contain the 25 People's Guard of the Republican Army plus 3 regular troops.

Can't go on like this!Francisco is determined to make some changes. At least, he cannot let the main force of nearly 30 stay here and wait for death.

It is not a problem at all for the reinforcements transferred to the northern front to rely on gathering routs to establish several blocking positions.What is worrying is the nearly 20 National Army on the southern front. This is the main force in Franco's hands, and they are more concerned about fighting than the Italians and Germans.Once they are allowed to occupy an inch of land, it means that the Second Spanish Republic has lost an extra inch of land.

Although Francisco knew that among these enemy forces, the German army under Rommel had the highest combat effectiveness.After all, the Germans defeated the French elite, known as the strongest army in Europe, in the Ruhr.According to literal calculations, the current German army should be the new First European Army.

However, Francisco also got enough information.He has now roughly determined that the combined German and Western Corps deployed in the middle will not exceed 10 people.Among them, the German army has only one division.Relying on the three solid lines of defense west of Madrid, it is entirely possible to resist the opponent for more than two months.

If you think about it carefully, the 20 people's guards staying in the three lines of defense can definitely fight for more than 2 months.Using this time, you may be able to win a turning point.

Must plan ahead!If the current stalemate cannot be broken, no matter how many troops remain behind in Madrid, it is impossible to make a comeback.Instead of sitting still and waiting to die, it is better to take the initiative to attack.While there is still buffer space, hurry up and mobilize the 5 People's Guard in Madrid to cooperate with the 3 government troops to defeat Franco's troops on the southern front.

Even if Rommel's German-Spanish United Corps took the opportunity to attack Madrid, the People's Guard could rely on twice the strength and geographical advantages of the opponent to fight back and forth. 2 months!As long as the troops going south can achieve the greatest results within 2 months and defeat the National Army on the southern front.They will be able to return to Madrid and counterattack the German and Western United Corps.

At that time, the Republican Army can regain the initiative!

Text Chapter 94 Frontiers in Madrid

On September 1936, 9, Spain's second government had huge differences because of Francisco's plan to go south.A large number of government officials opposed the transfer of the capital's defense forces. For this reason, Francisco resisted all opinions and forcibly promoted the march of the southward troops.

As a compromise, Francisco acquiesced to the relocation plan of the Spanish Republican government.According to this plan, the Spanish Second Republic will move its capital from Madrid to Valencia in the southeast.In this way, even if Madrid falls, the southward troops taken away by Francisco can return to Balibia, which is southeast of Madrid, faster than the enemy occupying Madrid.

Francisco scoffed at this kind of cleverness.If Madrid is lost, even if he can bring the southward troops back to Valencia, he will be powerless.On the contrary, if the government of the Republic can stay in Madrid, it can motivate Madrid's 20 People's Guard to resist with high morale.

Sure enough, after learning that Francisco led the main force to the south, the government of the Republic moved the capital to Balumbia.The morale of the officers and soldiers of the People's Guard stationed in Madrid immediately dropped sharply.They were originally just a temporary militia formed by a group of patriots, and they persisted until now with their patriotic enthusiasm.As a result, the government they defended desperately abandoned them at the most critical moment!

This is blatant betrayal!Every soldier of the People's Guard spurs from the bottom of his heart those government officials who are greedy for life and afraid of death.At this critical moment, government officials are not thinking about how to lead the way, but how to protect their own safety.