"One week, it only takes one week, and we can completely annihilate the 300,000 main forces of the Republican Army in Madrid." After a Spanish staff officer translated Rommel's opening remarks, the atmosphere of the pre-war meeting was mobilized to the highest level in an instant.

This pre-war meeting was convened at the suggestion of Franco. The purpose of the meeting is to unify the plan of action for the next decisive battle.

Rommel, who had been standing still, suddenly proposed to take on the main attack task, and even injected a stimulant shot to everyone attending the meeting. It was the most powerful army in the entire Spanish theater, and it had been on standby and fully organized from the beginning of the war. At the thought of the imminent dispatch of the German-Spanish Combined Corps, everyone present couldn't help but be excited.

However, Rommel's goal of annihilating the main force of 300,000 Republicans within a week is too far away.......

Although everyone understands that once the main force of the 300,000 republican army in Madrid is completely annihilated. The Nationalist Army, on its part, would be able to form an overwhelming superiority over the Republican Army in terms of numbers, and would be able to straighten the line between Madrid and Gradara, eradicating the huge salient of the Republican Army deep behind the Nationalist Army's front and allowing the Nationalist Army to concentrate its forces further. However, how easy is it to completely annihilate the 300,000 main forces of the Republican Army?

After a senior Spanish staff officer under Franco marked the battle situation on the map, all eyes fell on the German and Italian officer corps sitting on the left and right sides of the conference room.

The Nationalist Army, which was fighting on Spain's home turf, actually had to rely on the German and Italian expeditionary forces. Therefore, the real say in this meeting lies with the German and Italian officer corps.

General Gabala, who was the commander of the Italian Expeditionary Force, was the first to speak: "I personally have reservations about General Rommel's strategic goal of annihilating the main force of the 300,000 Republican Army in Madrid within a week. ”

I saw Admiral Gabala pointing to the military map with a telescopic pole and said: "As we can see, the Republican Army has three ring lines of defense on the periphery of Madrid. Among them were more than 100,000 National Guardsmen armed with German weapons. "When it comes to equipping German weapons, Gabala's bite is particularly heavy.

However, Rommel did not show an embarrassed expression after listening to the translation, but made a gesture for Gambal to continue.

Gamballa was also unceremonious, and continued: "Even if the Italian troops move south from Burgos, the Spanish National Army goes north to Brunette. It will be difficult for us to annihilate this army of 300,000 men. Even if we can do it eventually, it won't be done in a week. ”

"On the contrary, we could have adopted a more robust strategy." Gabala shifted the telescopic pole upwards and pointed to a red circle: "Here, the Basque and Asturias, the important industrial areas on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Once the Italian army under my command can launch a campaign on the Northern Front in conjunction with the five German armouring divisions in the north, it will be able to take it completely, thus cutting off the Spanish Republican Army from France and further isolating the Republican Army. ”

Gambala deserves to be regarded as the best famous general in contemporary Italy, and he has spotted the loopholes in the deployment of the Republican Army in the north, and has proposed a decisive combat policy. When the plan was translated to the public, it was immediately approved by most of the Spanish National Army generals present.

"Flanked Bilbao, the capital of the Basque Country, with five German divisions to the north, and crushed the 60,000 Republican troops in the north with a superior force of 150,000 men in 10 divisions. The troops then split into two directions, launching centripetal attacks on Santander and Gijón respectively, and finally completing the siege at Bierbach. The duration of the campaign was expected to be between 30 and 60 days, and the objective of the campaign was to capture the entire territory of Asturias. ”

The strategic plan that was told by the translator did not come from Gambala's mouth. Rather, sitting across from Gambala, smiling Rommel!

Franco, who was sandwiched between the German and Italian officer corps, glanced at Gambala, and the expression on the other party's face said everything, his plan was all said by the German commander!

Gambal swallowed, and looked at the young German commander in front of him in surprise.

Originally, Gambala thought that Rommel's military rank, like those rice buckets in Italy, was mostly obtained by sloping his beard and beating horses. And Rommel's inaction in the early stage and his inaction strengthened Gambala's view.

It was only at this moment that Gambala heard Rommel guess his plan without fail, and he believed that the German general in front of him, who was too young to speak, was by no means mediocre!

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

This plan was formulated by them and the contemporary Italian star Admiral Gamballa after repeated deductions. It turned out to be a complete inventory of the young German major general's understatement.

Being able to do this at least shows that the other party's military literacy is by no means worse than Gabala's! Even........

Ignoring the surprise of the Italian officer corps, Rommel said with a look that he had already thought of: "The strategic objectives of this program are indeed worth trying. The problem, however, was that once the IRA sent a group of reinforcements north to Burgos, they could gather the rout on the front line and establish a blocking position. In this way, if your army wants to complete the campaign goal, it will take at least one more week, which will take too long. ”

After listening to the translation, Gambala, who had recovered from the shock, stared into Rommel's eyes and insisted: "It is worth it, my plan is safer than your risky and radical plan." Wars are always aimed at the final victory. The two sides play with the result, not which side's tactics shine brighter. ”

Rommel didn't choose to argue with Gabala, but nodded and said, "Anyway, in fact, our plans are not in conflict. I propose that the five German divisions in the north be temporarily placed under the command of the Italian Expeditionary Force Command to jointly carry out the strategic policy of Admiral Gambara. And the German-Spanish Combined Corps, which I commanded, continued to carry out the established plan. In this way, we can also share the pressure for each other. ”

This time, when the interpreter sent by Spain finished explaining Rommel's thoughts, Gambal finally did not refute it. After listening to the translation, Franco was also happy to say that he would lead the main force of the Nationalist Army to launch a large-scale attack at Bosoblanco on the southern front at the same time in response to the attack of the German and Italian expeditionary forces.

"I agree."

"I agree."

..........

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

In this way, a three-way joint offensive plan with no technical content was drawn up. The whole plan is very simple, that is, you fight yours, I fight mine, do it together, and do not interfere with each other.

At this time, Rommel realized how wise the Führer had been to come to Spain to transfer the German mechanics. At the very least, he could command the 6 divisions of Spanish troops under his command as he pleased.

When parting, Gabala and Rommel said goodbye amicably: "I hope that the military cooperation between our two countries in the future will also be as smooth as today." ”

Rommel raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? With such a coincidence, I also think that the cooperation between our two countries will not be less in the future. ”

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