On January 26, 1938, Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, fell under a powerful offensive by the Allied forces.

On 8 February, the last CA-controlled stronghold in Figueres, the last stronghold controlled by the IRA, fell and 250,000 IRA troops were disarmed after crossing the French border. The next day, the National Army and the Intervention Army reached the Franco-Spanish border, completely cutting off the Spanish Republican Army's land connection with other countries.

On 11 February, the entire territory of Catalonia was occupied, and the 46-day campaign of Catalonia ended in the complete victory of the national army.

After the fall of Catalonia, the situation of the republican junta deteriorated dramatically.

On February 27, Chamberlain and Faraday took the podium together at about the same moment.

"On behalf of the United Kingdom, I officially recognize the legitimacy of the Franco regime in Spain and sever diplomatic relations with the republican government, hoping that the warring parties in Spain will return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and bring peace to the Spanish people as soon as possible!"

"We officially recognize the legitimacy of the Franco regime in Spain and establish diplomatic relations with it at the ambassadorial level. At the same time, we strongly condemn the interference in the internal affairs of other countries by Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Soviet Union! ”

March 3, the Spanish Republican Army naval base in Cartanach, the main deck of the cruiser "Liberty".

"Hey, guys, we can't let those officials who don't know how to command anymore command us!" A Spanish naval lieutenant stood on the No. 2 turret of the Liberty and shouted to the excited sailors below, "The war is over, and they have no reason for us to bury the republicans!" ”

"That's right! The war is over! "Let the damned Azania die, I'm going home!" "Let us go back, we've fought for you, and that's enough to do it." The sailors on the main deck shouted in response.

Inside the bridge, a group of officers locked the hatch and looked nervously at the angry sailors on the deck.

"Captain, what are we going to do?" The first mate asked the captain with a pale face.

The captain didn't seem to be flustered at all, he even poured himself a glass of red wine, shook the wine glass, and said with a sneer: "What should I do?" Hum! You, go and give the highest lieutenant in that station, Mr. Color, a look! ”

The first mate shook his head again and again, joking, he was being blocked in the bridge like a rat, now give them some color? What's the difference between that and shooting at a powder keg around you?

"Coward!" The captain glanced at his first mate, then snatched the rifle from one of the guards next to him, and walked to the porthole to aim at the lieutenant, who was still giving a passionate speech.

"Smack!"

The lieutenant, who was still speaking, shook his body with the sound of the gunshot, glanced at his chest in disbelief, and slowly collapsed on the turret.

"As long as I live, the Liberty will always be loyal to the Republic!" The captain slapped the gun back into the guard's hands.

The sailors below watched in amazement as they watched what was happening in front of them, until the roar of one of the sailors pulled them back to reality.

"Rush! Avenge Mr. Lieutenant! ”

The sailor's cry was quickly echoed by the other sailors, who raised their rifles and rushed towards the bridge.

"Fire! Fire! The Republican Army doesn't need traitors! Inside the bridge, the captain drew his pistol and fired through the porthole as he ordered the officer guards who were loyal to the Republican Army around him.

A scuffle began, with people on both sides shooting at each other through the narrow portholes, and people falling and replacing them.

The other warships on the cruiser Liberty noticed the mutuality on the Liberty and wanted to come to their aid, but they were soon treated in the same way as the Liberty - their sailors also mutinied.

After all, most of the peace-loving sailors who wanted to end the war were in the majority, and most of the officers on the bridge of the "Liberty" were quickly wiped out, and only a small part remained stubbornly resisting under the leadership of the captain. The first mate cowered behind an iron bench and listened to the bullets "whizzing" overhead, which frightened him, and he gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "Damn! Damn it! I can't die here, I can't die at the end of this war! ”

The captain, who had used the bridge as a cover, had exhausted the bullets in his pistol, and he retracted to change the magazine of his pistol, at which point he found the first mate, shivering behind a stool.

The captain skillfully loaded the pistol with magazines and yelled at the first mate, "Bastard! Raise your head, grab your gun, and shoot! ”

With that, he raised himself again and shot bullets at the sailors outside.

"I can't die here...... I can't die in this ......," the first mate repeated mechanically, then drew the pistol at his waist and aimed it at the back of the fighting captain.

"Smack!" The captain stopped firing, gave him a look of his chest in disbelief, like the lieutenant he had killed, and then turned and collapsed on the ground, staring blankly at his first mate.

"Sorry...... I can't die in this ......," the first mate looked at the captain with tears streaming down his eyes, and fired several shots.

"Republican...... Country...... Hooray......" The captain closed his eyes with blood streaming from the corners of his mouth.

"Hey, hey! Cease fire! Cease fire! The captain is dead, and we don't need to fight anymore! The first mate, who had killed the captain, shouted and stood up, wanting everyone to cease fire and live for himself.

But neither of his wishes was fulfilled - there was no ceasefire, and he did not survive.

The first mate who stood up was clearly a good target, and almost all the sailors abandoned their original aim and aimed at him instead.

"Damn it......" The first mate muttered a grumble as he stared at the muzzles of the countless black holes, and then was shot into a sieve by countless bullets and collapsed on the ground - just like the captain he had killed.

The exchange of fire lasted for a long time, and in the end the outnumbered mutinous sailors were victorious.

After they seized the "ownership" of the ship, they did not forget to help their partners on other warships, and after several defective officers were breathing, the "Freedom" started its engine and leaned towards the other warships that were still fighting.

The sailors ran to the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine gun positions, and under the instructions of the mutinous soldiers of other warships, they aimed the anti-aircraft fire originally used against the enemy planes at the die-hard officers and men on their own warships, and then pulled the trigger for firing.

With the fire support of two 47mm anti-aircraft guns and more than a dozen large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns on the "Liberty", the die-hard officers and men were quickly wiped out, and of course, the warships that were "friendly helped" also suffered various kinds of damage, both large and small.

An hour later, the victorious mutinous officers and soldiers gathered in the port.

"What are we going to do next?" Countless sailors were asking the question, and then all eyes were on one of the highest-ranking naval colonels among them.

"Gentlemen, we have to leave Spain." After a moment's thought, the colonel said, "We want peace, but this demand is obviously not available to both warring parties now, so we can only leave Spain and go to the surrounding countries to wait for the war to be completely over!" ”

"Mr. Colonel, which country shall we go to?" One of the sailors asked, confused.

"France!" The officer replied, "The Mediterranean is now full of Italian warships, and we cannot go to the Mediterranean side, but only to the Bay of Biscay through the Strait of Gibraltar!" ”