Chapter 201 A great harvest; your fiancée is here!

Author: Ninghai of Hanlin Academy in China

Chapter 201 A great harvest; your fiancée is here!

Perhaps shocked by the sharp offensive of the 50th Brigade, the National Army stationed in Talawela on the north bank of the Tejo River was silent and had no intention of taking the initiative.

A few teams that were carefully exploring by the river were also bombarded by artillery bombardment. The artillery turned the captured Italian military artillery into the gun port, fired more than a dozen rapid shots in one breath, then put away the artillery and quickly transferred it.

In this way, the two sides looked across the river, and the Spaniards on the other side watched helplessly as the volunteers happily swept through the countless supplies left by the Italians.

In terms of equipment, the 50th Brigade is not short of light weapons—Kar98k, MG13, MG34, MP34, S18-1000 and other things are first-class good things, but they lack the cannons to suppress the guns.

Although this battle did not wipe out the more than 2,000 Italian troops, it can still be called a complete victory. Anyway, it was not for the goal of the annihilation war from the beginning.

6 105mm howitzers, 12 75mm mountain cannons, 11 81mm mortars, and 3 47mm anti-tank cannons. These heavy equipment obtained will undoubtedly wipe out the dilemma of the 50th Brigade.

As for the rest, such as Carcano rifles, Breda light machine guns, Fiat heavy machine guns, etc., everyone disdained them. In Europe, where the per capita industrial country, the strange things of Italians are indeed unattainable.

For example, Breda Light Machine Gun, Roald's evaluation is "extremely bad, no place is reasonable."

The gun body is long, the barrel is short, the bolt structure is extremely complex, and the shell is often broken; the ammunition supply system is even more incompetent. In order to be able to use the five-round magazine of the Carcano rifle, the designer designed an exposed horizontal magazine for it, which is very susceptible to dust and get stuck.

The design of the entire gun is very strange and useless. I am afraid that even the bad guys who have been criticized will be at a disadvantage.

"Italian cannon..." Zhou Changfeng, who was excited, patted the barrel of a cannon, and then wondered: "Why are they so old?"

Someone pointed to the inscription on the cannon and replied: "This cannon was manufactured in 2015 and was manufactured by Skoda Arsenal. It is already in his twenties."

What Zhou Changfeng didn't know was that this cannon was actually the M15 type 104mm howitzer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the end of the European War, more than 200 were handed over to Italy. After the expansion and transformation to 105mm, it has continued to serve until now.

After all, the title of shame for a third-rate industrial country is not a false reputation.

At this time, Miller, who looked happy, came over and saluted: "Sir, the battle results have been reported to the headquarters. What will we do next? Evacuate or garrison?"

"Of course I'm staying here." Zhou Changfeng pointed his hand at the ground and smiled: "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that they will misjudgment the situation."

His premonition is reasonable. In fact, until now, the Italian army and the National Army have not yet figured out how much troops the other side is.

Although according to the information sent back by the informant, except for the 47th Brigade of the Republican Army, there is only the 50th Brigade of the International Brigade, which has just arrived.

Information shows that the brigade of the Republican Army did not participate in the war, which means that there were only more than 2,000 people from beginning to end, which was only equivalent to the 50th Brigade of the regiment-level unit fighting alone.

Then... they only took a few hours to defeat the Italian army's trenches and defend them, and built a regiment with complete field fortifications?

Who believes this? Anyway, Italians are unwilling to admit it, otherwise they will say they are useless.

Lieutenant Colonel Archid also knew this well, so he claimed that at least 5,000 enemy troops participated in the battle, accompanied by a large-scale field artillery group.

The Italian army and the General Staff of the National Army were greatly surprised by this. The emergence of the international brigade and the number of other troops of unknown number, why was such a field force sent to Talawela? What does this mean?

Does the Republican Army want to take the initiative to launch an offensive here to break the current deadlock?

If we speculate in this way, a heavy army 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 were the case, the other national and Italian troops attacking Madrid would be in danger and would probably have to retreat immediately. In this way, Madrid, which had been surrounded by three sides for half a year, was rescued.

Strategically speaking, the situation will be reversed directly, which is something that the National Army cannot accept.

In the next few days, the 96th Infantry Brigade of the National Army organized several reconnaissance teams to cross the river upstream or downstream of the Tejo River, trying to find out the details of the opponents in front of them.

The 50th Brigade acted as if he was stubborn and continued to build large-scale construction at the base left by the Italian army, further expand and strengthen field fortifications.

The 47th Brigade of the Republican Army also made corresponding measures, and also dispatched reconnaissance units and patrol teams to operate everywhere within a radius of dozens of kilometers.

The actions of both are extremely misleading. Although the intelligence sent by the informants and spies unanimously proved that the Republican Army had no intention of launching an offensive, the General Staff of the National Army decided not to accept it after repeated consideration.

They quickly dispatched two infantry divisions, one infantry brigade, one field artillery brigade and some long-spike party militia units, with a total of 30,000 troops.

The Italian Intervention Army also cooperated quite well and sent the 26th Infantry Division, which was resting in Segovia, to the direction of Taravela.

In just a few days, the delicate balance on the long front seemed to be about to be broken?

For a time, the density of the army coming and going on the railway network was far greater than before, so it was naturally discovered by the reconnaissance aircraft of the Republican Air Force.

Aware of the opponent's abnormal behavior, the Republican Army Command speculated that the National Army had misjudged its intentions and was mobilized in advance to prepare for a defensive counterattack in order to prevent possible large-scale offensives.

After some discussion, the military advisers of the Staff Committee of the Republican Army, the German Society, suggested doing the opposite and firing a shot.

Since the opponent has dispatched so many units to the center line, the troops in other directions will naturally be less.

You might as well take advantage of the situation in the North or South Line and launch a counterattack, so that the National Army will lose sight of one thing!

One mistake, one step is wrong, so that you can gradually gain strategic initiative and reverse the situation bit by bit. After six to twelve months, you can find fighter jets to engage in a strategic decisive battle.

Overall, this suggestion is very appropriate.

However, the Republican Army Command was not interested in this. An argument similar to the "quick victory theory" was circulated among the government and senior generals, and the people also supported it. The newly appointed president also agreed very much.

The Republican Army believed that its troops were relatively sufficient now and had expanded to a huge scale of one million. At the same time, it also purchased a large number of weapons and equipment from Desert and the Ming Dynasty. The military power is not the same as before and is in the same condition as the strategic decisive battle.

The headquarters planned to mobilize four to six divisions first, then mobilize six divisions as the second echelon, and then use two divisions as reserves, with a total force of 150,000.

They plan to fight with the opponent in the first echelon first, lure the opponent to increase troops, attract their main force, and finally launch a strategic decisive battle; by then, the one with about 100,000 troops will definitely gain the upper hand.

No matter when, strategic estimate mistakes are very terrible.

Throughout human history, tactical glory cannot prevent strategic failures. Examples such as ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad are common.

“…the command ordered us to remain in our current state, except for the regular reconnaissance operations on the north bank of the Tejo River.”

When Zhou Changfeng, who was in the command center, learned about the general idea of ​​the Republican Army Command, he couldn't help but complain: "Is this a joke? Why do they have such an idea? Who gave them confidence?"

In fact, he didn't know the specific deployment, but relying solely on some of the dispatch information he learned, he could almost guess what the Republican Army was planning.

For example, four infantry divisions were heading here, and all troops on the South and North Lines received orders to "active attacks under any circumstances are strictly prohibited."

"This is indeed strange. They seem to be full of confidence." Kretien shook his head with helpless face.

"Although the Republican army now has many troops, their quality is very limited." Roald said calmly, "It is very risky to fight in this state. I don't think they can have an advantage."

"If this is true, then they are gambled with the fate of Spain! It's so stupid!" Miller said angrily.

In the newly built brigade department, a group of officers from the 50th Brigade were discussing.

How much water does this so-called million army have? Is there any idea in the upper class of the Republican army?

At first, due to the struggle between the factions within Spain, a large number of officers were excluded. Instead of joining the Republican Army, they went to serve the National Army.

Therefore, the quality of the Republican Army has always been worrying, and it is filled with a large number of militia and ordinary people who have been conscripted and have been defeated.

The Red Eagle Legion has been spared no effort to train these troops. It has taken half a year to make them look like a regular army.

But just now I have learned a few moves and am thinking about fighting the ring?

What is this? Isn’t this a typical “advantage lies in me”?

"What can I do? These guys not only joke about their fate, but also sent deaths with soldiers and civilians. This is the sorrow of Spain." Zhou Changfeng said, while picking up the red wine bottle and pouring half a cup into the goblet. "It's simply hopeless."

It has to be said that the Italians are really good at enjoying it. Even if the defeated 79th Infantry Regiment cannot be regarded as a long-term residence, its various daily necessities are still very complete, and some things can even be called luxury.

Not to mention, there are more than a dozen electric fans left behind. There are all cookers and kitchen utensils in the field kitchen, and there are many boxes of chocolate, canned fruits, candies, and even finely packed red wine in the supply warehouse.

These things made the 50th brigade enjoy the food and enjoyed it.

What is even more surprising is that a dental tent is opened next to the field hospital, with a complete range of tools inside.

As a long-standing problem that has accompanied the history of human development, dental diseases can be seen everywhere, and the army is naturally no exception. Due to the harsh battlefield environment, soldiers often have no time to pay attention to their oral hygiene, and rotten teeth are almost inevitable, so the figure of dentists can always be seen in the army.

As a Norwegian reserve officer, Roald's usual job was a dentist, and he had his own clinic; now that he had a full set of equipment, he started his old career in his spare time.

Zhou Changfeng was also fortunate to experience the experience of filling teeth in a foreign country. Although he felt that it was not in a hurry, Roald insisted on dealing with it as soon as possible.

The "wavy" tooth drill is grinding on the first molar, then the residual caries are removed with a probe and a spoon, then the acid etching is performed with a phosphoric acid solution, and finally the copper amalgam is filled. This is the result.

"Okay." Roald put the tool back on the iron plate next to him and smiled: "Xia, now you don't have to worry about your toothache in the future."

The soreness before made Zhou Changfeng feel lingering. He covered his face and walked out of the tent, but met Miller who came to ask for instructions.

"Some journalists are coming, sir, are we going to allow them to come in?"

"Reporter? How many people?"

“Six.”

Zhou Changfeng casually explained: "It is prohibited to move freely. The four areas of A1, A2, B1, and C1 are not allowed to enter, and other places must also take photos with you."

The reporters who were allowed to enter the garrison were very excited and took photos along the way, as if they wanted to record every grass and tree here on film.

However, in addition to the real British, French and American war correspondents, there are two Ming people pretending to be journalists.

Someone asked to meet with the commander of the 50th Brigade to interview his views on the situation of the war, but Zhou Changfeng definitely disagreed and refused the interview request.

The other reporters just spread their hands to express their regrets, but the two wise men were not.

As they wandered around, they kept beating the soldiers who were accompanying each other, "What kind of person do you think your commander is?"

"Very young, very energetic, full of Eastern wisdom."

"I think so too. What I can't understand is why he didn't go to the 105th Brigade? They are all Orientals there."

"Maybe he doesn't want to be identified?"

The soldiers chatted casually, but it had nothing to do with the weapons and the specific military information such as the deployment.

These words made the two reporters who claimed to be from the Ming Dynasty look at each other - could this be the case?

The feeling of being so close to the truth made them very excited, but it was difficult to reveal it. They didn't know how to indirectly identify their identity, because in the eyes of Westerners, most Chinese people look similar.

Fortunately, there is no way out. After wandering around the camp, they happened to meet Zhou Changfeng and his group who were heading to the front line for inspection.

Although they were more than twenty meters apart and had passed each other without stopping, the two "reporters" were still very happy.

Damn! I definitely admit my mistake in this appearance, it is definitely him!

They could no longer hold back their anger, and said to an officer who was walking next to them: "Please tell the commander of Je that his fiancée is looking for him!"

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!