"Report to His Majesty the King! …… No, wait! I'll be right here! Assemble the guard battalion for me! ”

After hanging up the phone, Marshal Navarro, who was full of gray hair and looked quite vicissitudes, looked even more melancholy, and what he had been fearing for a long time finally happened.

The marshal glanced at the clock on one side of the room, and it was 11 o'clock in the evening in five minutes.

"Ann, prepare the car!"

Navarro commanded the guards, and behind his usual firm words, there was a little-known helplessness and gloom. After quickly putting on his military uniform, the marshal walked briskly out of the door.

Along with the news of the mutiny of the front-line soldiers, the Spanish army command was accompanied by sparse gunfire. Although it is only a dozen kilometers from the front line, since March 25, the night here has been so calm that only the sound of the wind has been.

When Marshal Navarro arrived at the headquarters, many officers were also rushing to the headquarters, and the sound of gunfire in the distance from time to time made people feel the uneasiness in the air. The signal soldiers galloping on horseback and the infantry assembling in twos and threes, the calm on the surface of the previous undercurrent was gone.

"Which unit is abnormal?" As soon as the marshal entered the door, he hurriedly asked the officer on duty.

"It was reported that we had lost contact with the 4 infantry regiments deployed on the first line of Mount Gibraltar, the Yester Infantry Regiment deployed on the second line reported that they were surrounded by mutinous forces, and the Cáceres Infantry Regiment reported being attacked by the British!"

"What?" The old marshal hurried to the map, glanced at it, and his expression immediately became grim.

The officer from before followed closely behind the marshal, "Now the Jester Infantry Regiment should still be confronting the mutinous troops, and the telephone line leading there has been cut!" We sent a communications corpsman, and there is no new news yet! The Cáceres Infantry Regiment can still be contacted, but they are in a terrible situation! ”

Navarro turned around and was about to say something, when he saw a staff officer bring an officer in a gray military uniform from outside the door.

"Marshal, this is a liaison officer sent by the German marines!" After the staff officer finished speaking, he left, and the German ** officer saluted a standard German military salute, and then said in an impure Spanish:

"Your Excellency, Marshal. The Norman second lieutenant of the 1st Royal German Hussar Regiment came to inquire on the orders of his superiors, your army seems to be in an abnormal situation at present, and does it need our army to send troops to assist? ”

Navarro looked at the German in surprise, his tone was firm, but his tone seemed a little arrogant to the marshal.

"Please convey my apologies to the commander of your army on my behalf, our troops deployed at the front are in some trouble, which may well lead to a hole in our blockade of the British army, and we will deal with this situation ourselves as soon as possible! I'm afraid it's your army that needs to be careful. I think that the British troops in the fortress of Gibraltar may well take advantage of the chaos to threaten your artillery positions and camps! If necessary, our army will send troops to protect your army! ”

"Your Excellency, I will convey your intentions to your superiors! In addition, our commander hopes that the equipment and specialists of our army will be safe and sound tonight, and he does not want to see any diplomatic disputes between the two countries! ”

After saluting, the officer walked away quickly.

It was only after a few seconds that Navarro's calm face regained a deep sense of melancholy.

"Tell General Montto to send troops to the Germans at once, as many troops as he can, at any cost. The safety of those German officers and soldiers and heavy artillery must be guaranteed! Other than that. I am now going to the mutinous troops, and this confusion must cease before dawn! Otherwise......"

"Yes!" The staff officers faithfully carried out the order, but it did not matter whether Marshal Navarro's new order could be conveyed smoothly. The Germans he had to "protect" had already suffered casualties.

"Machine guns! Machine gun! Suppress the opponent's firepower! ”

In the open field, such a loud voice could have been heard far away, but at this time, only the crisp sound of gunfire and the occasional explosion were heard.

Rows and rows of Mauser rifles were no longer firing in the same orderly manner as they had been at the beginning, and the Maxim heavy machine guns and Firebird light machine guns were still roaring as hard as they could, but they were a little thin. Neither Kleist nor the planner of the bombardment plan did not think that these guns would really come in handy, and the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps composed of more than 1,000 soldiers in defensive operations was only a reinforced battalion. Fortunately, neither the soldiers nor the officers let their guard down when the enemy attempted to sneak attack. They spotted it in time and began to fight back.

"Damn the Spaniards!"

Lying in the trenches, General Ludendorff cursed the Spaniards angrily, according to the treaty signed between the two countries, the Spanish army must continue to maintain the blockade of the British fortress of Gibraltar until the main German army arrived. However, it was not the time for the general to imagine how to punish the Spaniards, to give him the German infantry, which he could have defeated a single English or French infantry, but now he was given a well-made Ruger pistol, which was of little use in medium and long range combat. Poor Ludendorff had to protect himself first, just like everyone else.

The illustrious staff officer was somewhat aggrieved by his situation, while Colonel Bauer and the other experts on the side were distressed by the four large Berta guns, and the bullets that flew sideways on the canvas-covered cannons from time to time were not at all pleasant, and the sparks that bounced off were extremely unpleasant to them.

Despite the warm winds of the Mediterranean, the temperature here at night is very low. Crouched on the edge of the icy trench and wearing a cold helmet, Kleist stared ahead with an equally cold gaze.

In the darkness of the night, fierce battles are going on.

"3 times in a row, 20 people in a row to strengthen the firepower in the south! Harman, take four boxes of machine gun bullets to the machine gun battle position in the southwest corner! Lars, let your men keep an eye on the east and west, in case the enemy steals from those two loaves! ”

After a series of orders, Kleist continued to keep his eyes fixed on the south side of the position, from which the enemy was attacking. Although the attackers had no artillery and limited machine-gun fire, there were quite a few of them, as can be seen from the dense gunfire. For the young commander, it was no longer necessary to study how the British got here through the lines of the Spanish army, and the language and weapons of the attackers indicated their origin. At present, the most important thing is how to use the soldiers, weapons and ammunition in your hands to resist the enemy's attack. Kleist knew that the Spanish army had suffered heavy losses in previous battles, but the British army was no better. This time they launched an unexpected attack, the cause and the goal seemed very obvious, everything was caused by these 4 big Berta.

"Onward! Advance! ”

Slogans with a thick Scottish accent were heard in the cold air, and the air south of the position became agitated. For their own reasons, neither side had used flares at this time, and everything in people's sight flickered under the criss-crossing flying bullets.

As time passed, the German soldiers began to sense the approaching side. They kept repeating the action of shooting. Shoot at the dark shadows they see or seem to see.

The attackers continued to advance under the cover of night, while the soldiers responsible for providing fire support kept firing at the German positions. It doesn't matter if those bullets hit the human body or the dirt.

In the dark of night, people on both sides were constantly shot, and the wails of wounded people continued to reach people's ears, and these voices invisibly increased the fighting spirit of the soldiers on both sides.

Kleist's eyes narrowed, he was looking for what he wanted.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of this German Marine Corps over the attacking British army was not the weapons and terrain, but the experience and tacit understanding that the soldiers had accumulated year after year. In the 1st Royal Hussar Regiment, which was directly under the command of the Kaiser, soldiers were strictly selected from various units and military schools. Its individual combat capability is beyond doubt. Their tactical prowess in the team is what sets them apart.

When Kleist was appointed commander of the Marine Corps, the young commander, while excited, was also uneasy about commanding a veteran force because of his seniority. The beginning of the battle. He gave orders seriously and nervously. I am afraid that I will lose the battle because of my own command negligence. As the battle progressed, his mind gradually settled down. A good veteran is not only able to carry out the orders of his superiors well, but also to supplement the commander's deficiencies with his experience.

Lying in the trenches, the soldiers were still shooting calmly. The sound of "click-click" bolts was incessant, and bullet casings with light smoke fell silently on the dirt.

In the hands of the soldiers, the M24 wooden-handled grenades silently waited for their time to perform. Like the Mauser rifles, they were the signature weapons of the German infantry. It is powerful and has a long throwing distance, whether it is positional defense or field combat. They are all good companions that the infantry can rely on.

"Throw grenades in the front row!"

As the officers gave the order, the soldiers threw their M24s out as fast as they could, and the black objects flew silently in the air, and then landed on the hard ground and landed at the feet of the British.

After a few seconds, the air was boiling!

The space in front of the position suddenly brightened up a lot. The flames of the explosion and the flying shannuns were like huge golden chrysanthemums, and the British soldiers who rushed to the front with their guns had almost nowhere to hide, and hundreds of people fell in the first wave of grenade attacks. Hot blood splashes and cools in the dark.

As grenades joined the battle, the rhythm of light and dark exchanges in the land became more frequent, and people suddenly saw a lot more things, often after a grenade exploded, British soldiers who were not directly killed in the vicinity would be quickly shot by the defending soldiers.

The attackers showed no signs of weakness, Hale grenades began to explode near German positions, and Jim grenades, which had harvested the lives of countless Spanish soldiers at the foot of the mountains of Gibraltar and had been used by the Anglo-Indian colonial army, began to threaten German soldiers.

By the light of the explosion. The officers and men of the defending side began to realize the numerical superiority of the opposing side. Looking at the round British tropical military caps, many German soldiers had the feeling of seeing swarms of cockroaches, but unfortunately they did not have oversized insecticides in their hands.

The German machine gunners were sweating profusely, and their machine guns were pouring bullets from their guns, but the bullets seemed to sink into the dirt, and the attacking British soldiers looked unabated.

The other party is gradually approaching, but the artillery experts do not seem to be worried about these big guys falling into the hands of the British, no one proposes to bomb and retreat, and the 4 huge cannons in the ring position are silently watching all this, with their power, it is enough to deal with these British soldiers, but they are useless at this time.

In the rain of bullets, the lives of all races are constantly dying, and the result of them is the continuous forward pressure of the British front. At this time, even the officers on the German side were shooting desperately with their pistols, and the defensive fire was more dense than ever, but the attacking British soldiers seemed to be driven by a mysterious and terrible force that made them ignore their own lives!

Kleist had reason to curse the night, for he could not detect the enemy's movements in advance, and in such a case, if the British shifted their main attack to the east or west, he would have to adjust his deployment immediately. But he didn't say a word at the moment, and no one knew what his deep eyes were looking at.

It was only a few moments before his right flank, the position to the east, was attacked by the British. In that direction, after repeated transfers of the soldiers in charge of the defense, only half a company remained, and together with the officers, there were less than a hundred.

"1 Company, 4 Company, 5 Company, bayonet ready!" Kleist suddenly shouted.

The soldiers who heard the order did not hesitate, and although the defender's firepower was instantly reduced by nearly half, this did not mean that they had given up or retreated.

More than 400 outstanding German soldiers firmly raised their rifles with bayonets, and in front of them were a mixed force composed of British and African colonial troops, British and Indian colonial troops and some British native soldiers, numbering nearly 3,000!

In the darkness of the night, the position of Kleist and his soldiers was like a boat in the sea, in danger of being swallowed up at any moment. It was also on this night that General Ludendorff discovered a distinguished commander on the battlefield north of the Strait of Gibraltar, and his report was finally delivered to the Kaiser.

After reading that report, Chentian's comments were:

"Even I am afraid that I would not have used such a bold tactic in such a situation! Fight back! Major Kleist did a great job, he not only saved our Big Berta guns, but also let the dust settle on the Battle of Gibraltar! ”

By the time the Spanish troops arrived at the German positions, the British troops who had attacked from the fortress of Gibraltar had retreated, leaving behind corpses and the confidence to hold on. In the battle, which lasted 2 hours, the German marines lost 35 officers and 270 soldiers. According to the investigation after the fact, it was an unpremeditated contingency, but it was enough to be a historical opportunity.

Five days later, the German Olly Legion, consisting of 33,000 soldiers, arrived in the port of Malaga, with 170 tanks and armored vehicles, 350 artillery pieces and more than 80 aircraft, more than enough for a Gibraltar fortress, not to mention a convoy led by the battlecruiser "Goeben", and to the east of the Strait of Gibraltar, the mighty Sheppel's fleet was ready to go.