In the Mediterranean in April, the warm breeze and the warm sunshine make you drowsy.

On a construction site near the coast, it was a different scene, with hundreds or thousands of workers carrying stone powder bags or wielding hammers and shovels; Trucks, horse-drawn carts and ox carts run the road leading to the construction site. Around the site, soldiers in peaked helmets and German summer uniforms patrol the busy place in groups of three or stand on a hill with spears on their backs.

"This is Battery 19, where it is planned to install 3 twin 150mm fortress guns! Now that the pedestal is complete, just wait for the artillery to arrive! ”

The man who spoke was a colonel officer with a drawing, and the general standing next to him looked much older, his wrinkled face slightly tired, but not lacking polish in the sun. The position where the two of them were standing at this time was the east side of the construction site. The No. 19 battery mentioned by the colonel was right in front of them, and although there was only a cement foundation at this time, it was not difficult to guess its size in terms of size and depth.

The general smashed his fist against the wall next to him, and the reinforced concrete structure was naturally unusually solid.

"Excellent! Next month, His Majesty will personally come to watch the anti-shelling test of the fortress, and the quality of our works must be guaranteed, and those who dare to cut corners will be severely punished! This is not just for Your Majesty, it is also our duty! Regardless of whether there will be war in the future, we must protect this excellent harbor! ”

"General, don't worry! It will definitely become the first fortress in the Mediterranean, and the empire will be proud of it! ”

The young colonel looked confident, knowing that the total budget of this fortress amounted to 9.8 million marks, which was enough to build 3-4 of the most powerful battleships. Here, 22 280-mm fortified guns alone are ready to be installed, and more 150 and 120-mm heavy guns are deployed on 5 main batteries and 20 sub-batteries, respectively, and 2 military airfields and 1 dual-use airfield will be built behind the fortress. After expansion and maintenance, the military port inside will be able to accommodate hundreds of ships.

The general silently looked ahead. This sea is so calm and beautiful.

Behind him, the port of Tunis is like a pearl on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Until a few months ago, it was French territory. Now the French are gone, the red-white-blue tricolor is gone, but the Tunisians have not received real liberation and freedom. The red, white and black tricolor flag was slowly raised, the faces of the new rulers were even more indifferent than those of the French, and more powerful armies were stationed one after another. For Tunisians. The war did not fundamentally change their fate, and they still lived under the "protection" of the powerful.

The romance left behind by the French soon faded with the wind, replaced by the German diligence and rigor. The Tunisians were at a loss and helpless for this huge and rapid change, and the only thing that made sense to them was that the Germans needed a lot of labor to build, and many people were able to fill their bellies.

The Hafs dynasty, which once brought strength and prosperity to Tunisia, has long since disappeared, and all that remains is a few Islamic-style palaces and buildings. The current titular ruler of Tunisia is the decaying Hussein dynasty, which was virtually wiped out after the French invaded and forced to sign the Treaty of Baldu at the end of the 19th century. Their king is weak and incompetent. The officials were ignorant and greedy, and when the French surrendered and the Germans entered Tunisia, they quickly showed a positive and cooperative attitude. After just one day of negotiations. The king of Tunisia promised the Germans all the powers that the French had enjoyed, including the financial and diplomatic powers of Tunisia, on the condition that the wealth and status of the king and his officials would be retained.

At the end of January, the German government sent a new governor of Tunisia, Sir Souss, a Prussian nobleman who also temporarily assumed the post of supreme military commander of the Tunisian colonial army. The so-called Tunisian colonial army includes 50 German officers and more than 1,100 German infantrymen originally attached to the German Expeditionary Force, as well as nearly 2,000 officers and soldiers of the Turkish Expeditionary Force. In addition, the Governor is armed with a local police force composed of Tunisian locals.

In early March, General Benck arrived in Tunisia with ships received from Italy. Here, these Italian-built warships will go to the dockyard for a complete overhaul, a change of livery, and the necessary modifications. After that, they will be assigned to the soon-to-be-formed German Mediterranean Fleet. This formidable fleet will be commanded by Admiral Shepal and Admiral Benck as deputy commander and commander of the Tunis naval base. In order to construct a defensive system for the night, the General Staff of the German Navy sent a group of excellent fortress engineers, and after a detailed geological survey, they were sent to the Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, Erich? Under the leadership of Colonel Raeder, the design plan for the Tunisian fortress was developed, which was subsequently affirmed and praised by the Admiralty.

With drawings, the construction of the fortress was not all smooth sailing. At this time, there was no decent industry in the whole of Africa, and the cement, steel bars, cannons and parts used for the construction of fortresses, as well as anti-submarine nets and mines for port defense, all needed to be transported from the German mainland, so the progress of the project had a lot to do with the transportation of materials. This time. There are usually two routes to transport supplies from mainland Germany to Tunisia, one is entirely by sea, i.e. from the home port, bypassing the north of Scotland and then heading south, and the other is by rail to the southern ports of Austria-Hungary before being loaded on ships across the Mediterranean. Either way, it's a long way to go. In particular, when the Strait of Gibraltar was in British hands, German ships had to risk disguising themselves as ships of other countries if they wanted to cross it, otherwise they had to make a detour to the Cape of Good Hope and finally cross the Suez Canal along the African coastline into the Mediterranean. Of course, the latter way is not easy to follow, the efficiency of unloading and loading in the territory of Austria-Hungary is not high, the degree of security and secrecy is not complimentary, and there have been cases of forcible inspection of materials, for which the German Foreign Ministry repeatedly protested to the Austro-Hungarian government, but received only a vague answer.

Despite this, the supplies needed for the construction of the fortress have arrived in Tunisia, a port city in North Africa that has recently shown a very different vitality than it used to be. A large number of builders from Germany arrived one after another, and almost every day ships flying the German flag sailed in, and the docks became the busiest place, where large quantities of supplies were unloaded. In Lagulet, the outer harbor of Port Tunis, the old fortified fortress was largely demolished and replaced by a new, larger and more modern fortress. In the inner harbor of Tunis and around the city, there are military docks, airfields, barracks, repair factories, munitions factories, airship bases. A wide variety of facilities are under construction in an orderly manner.

Compared to the vibrant Tunisia, Gibraltar is more like a patient who has just experienced a serious illness, full of devastation and miserable! The British troops in the fortress of Gibraltar had not really run out of ammunition and food, but the morale in the interior of the fortress was already very low, and their psychological defenses were far more fragile than the fortifications of the fortress.

At the foot of the mountain of Gibraltar, negotiations are underway.

General Roque sat gloomily on one side of the conference table, and his officers were all dejected. Last week. They attacked with hope, trying to take advantage of the civil strife in the Spanish army to eliminate the threat of German heavy artillery, but they did not expect to encounter stubborn resistance from the other side, and the attacking troops not only suffered heavy casualties, but also lost the last bit of confidence. From the next day, the Germans resumed shelling until General Roque sent an envoy to ask for negotiations.

On the other side of the table, General Ludendorff and General Schwarter of the German delegation sat with their heads held high, and Major Kleist, who had distinguished himself in that battle, was given a final position. On the same side sat three Spanish delegates, three officials sent by the King of Spain to be exact. There are no military men. Nor did they have a voice.

After receiving a secret telegram from the country, Ludendorff's attitude became very resolute: "Either surrender unconditionally, or continue to fight!" ”

The British were as silent as the Spaniards.

"Our artillery can raze the mountains of Gibraltar to the ground!" The Germans were frightened. "More artillery and ammunition are on the way! Fleets, planes, and airships will also join the fray! ”

At this time, the British had to worry about their future, and so did the Spaniards.

"Surrender unconditionally! Otherwise, everyone will suffer! An elderly Spanish delegate muttered under his breath that in fact the Spanish government was already very busy. They showed remarkable efficiency in the event of a mutiny, and the next day the mutinous army returned to their barracks, and three days later a reliable army took over their positions. The officers who led the mutiny were identified as spies for the British, while others were allegedly seduced by the British, and the perpetrators were subsequently court-martialed. The main responsibility is all on the British.

The British did not refute this, and were powerless to refute it.

Ludendorff and his delegation were not interested in investigating the truth of the facts, and the German government was no different. In a diplomatic communication sent to the Spanish Government on 3 April, the German Government argued that the Spanish had violated a treaty that had previously been signed, namely, that they had failed to "effectively blockade the British fortified fortress of Gibraltar before the arrival of the main German forces" and that the German Government "could not trust the capacity of the Spanish Government and the army". Accordingly, the good-faith proposal of the German Government for the "proper management of the area on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar" by the German and its allies should be handed over. to "guarantee that the interests of the Allies will not be violated in similar incidents."

Just a day later, Russia and Turkey expressed their support for the German government's proposal and were willing to send troops directly to join the administration.

France, Italy, Greece and other countries have expressed their understanding, while the British have no mood or ability to intervene except to express extreme indignation and helpless contempt.

The Spanish government is facing unprecedented isolation.

Alfonso XIII and his chancellor wanted to settle the dispute with money rather than land, but the German government simply rejected his proposal and threatened him with force. Marshal Navarro resigned as commander-in-chief soon after the mutiny, and the king then appointed the younger and tougher General de Rivera as the new commander-in-chief. In the case of Gibraltar, although there was a majority in the Spanish government who believed that compromise should be done, General Rivera and some of his generals believed that they should defy the power and turn to Austria-Hungary for help. The chancellor and many ministers were disturbed by this proposal, but Alfonso XIII, fearing the loss of the support of the army, did not immediately accede to the request of the German government and sent someone to secretly seek assistance from Austria-Hungary.

The Austro-Hungarian diplomats showed a more positive attitude in this matter.

Soon, Berlin learned of this and instructed the delegation negotiating in Gibraltar to put pressure on the British, with the threat of force if necessary.

On 6 April, the Hipper fleet set sail from the port of Cádiz and arrived at 3 p.m. in the waters west of the fortress of Gibraltar. Subsequently, land planes from Malaga also flew in to gain momentum.

On 7 April, after four days of negotiations, British troops in Gibraltar surrendered to the German forces under their commander, General Roque. In exchange, General Roque was given a ticket to the United States, and he was also allowed to take his personal belongings, including a case of fine cigars.

In the early morning of 8 April, the German flag was slowly raised on the top of Gibraltar, and a new page was opened in the history of the Mediterranean. After clearing a safe shipping lane, the main force of Hillball's fleet entered the military port of Gibraltar.

The story apparently doesn't end there, and on April 11, the German Gibraltar Regiment received a secret order to carry out an operation codenamed "Blitzkrieg".

At 10 p.m. on April 11, a battalion of "Stone 2" tanks, a "broadsword" armoured combat battalion, a "Trojan" armoured transport battalion, and three cavalry companies under the leadership of Major Rommel set out from the barracks in Malaga to the south.

At 11:35 p.m. that night, with the cooperation of the fleet in the port, the Germans took full control of the port city of Malaga, and the city hall, police station and barracks were all occupied, and this action officially opened the prelude to the German-Spanish dispute.

At 1 a.m. on 12 April, Rommel's troops broke into the city of Marbella, south of Malaga, and just half an hour later, the city fell. Subsequently, a large number of infantry troops were stationed in the city and fortifications were built overnight. After this, Rommel's vanguard assault force continued south, and they were less than 50 kilometers from Lalinea and Gibraltar. At the same time, the German troops stationed at the Gibraltar fortress were also ready to respond, and in addition to bringing some of the available artillery into combat readiness, the four large Belta guns that arrived at the fortress were also designed. Kleist's Marines and the vanguard of the Gibraltar Regiment gave the Germans more than 2,000 troops here, supported by the formidable Shepar fleet.