The specific criteria for defining a tank ace vary from country to country, but at least one thing is common: the number of enemy tanks destroyed rather than enemy infantry killed.

February 14th, Valentine's Day, is a very important day of the year for most young people in Europe and the United States, especially unmarried young people, and Conrad is no exception. At the age of twenty-six, he has a very beautiful fiancée, a nurse in a German army hospital, and the two met while on vacation in Paris, and the romance is needless to say. Originally, both of them had applied for a vacation and were preparing to spend Valentine's Day together in the south of France this year, but a paper expedition order made Conrad's dream of joining the Multinational Joint Rapid Reaction Force come to naught, and even the high war allowance could not appease his deep thoughts about his fiancée.

Towards noon, the Spanish Royal Guard and the soldiers of the Multinational Combined Forces, who were guarding the entrance to Raimondo Street, once again repelled the attack of the ** armed forces. Looking at the dense corpses on the street in front of him, Conrad unscrewed the kettle and poured a sip of cold water into his mouth in a daze, Valentine's Day is not the most terrible thing to spend with his lover, what is terrible is to be in a strange and bloody battlefield like now, watching a shuttle of machine gun bullets knock down those who rushed from the opposite side, watching a cannonball instantly blow many people to pieces, and then looking at the streets where corpses and stumps are piled up and blood is flowing, Conrad can no longer find the excitement and pride at the beginning of the battle.

By far the largest consumption of ammunition for the machine guns on this tank, the soldiers in charge of logistics brought in a cart of ammunition from the central station in the middle of the morning, but the shells were still not replenished. Loader Hahn counted and reported that there were only 28 ordinary grenades left and 29 armor-piercing shells, which would hardly hold out into the night if the ** armed forces continued to attack at this frequency.

"Ensign, eat something!"

After learning the lesson of being sniped by the other side in the morning, except for replenishing ammunition, Gun Commander Abel and the others did not dare to expose themselves to the car at all. By the wall lamp in the inner compartment of the tank. Able opened a box of canned beef with a can opener, then handed the can to Conrad along with a spoon.

Conrad took the can and spoon without saying a word, but after only one bite he felt a strong churn in his stomach, and he quickly dropped the spoon and took a steel helmet in his hand and vomited. However, except for the piece of sauce meat that he had just swallowed, he had only spit out a little sour water for a long time—he hadn't eaten since the battle had started in the early morning.

"It's okay!"

Albert patted Conrad's back moderately, even though they were the same age. But Eber joined the army at the age of 18, participated in the last two battles of the attack on Canada as an infantryman, and later volunteered to be transferred to the armored force, and was the commander of a Type 1918 assault gun when he invaded Russia, but on the way to Moscow, he ran over an anti-tank mine, which resulted in the car being destroyed and injured, and was sent back to China for treatment, not to mention, and missed the fierce fighting in the first half of the German-Japanese war. Although he is silent on weekdays, Albert's artillery skills are very good, and he has achieved outstanding results in many training exercises. Thus at the time of selecting the members of the Tiger-1 crew. He was easily selected and assigned to the No. 036, the 36th Tiger-1 tank group in all of Germany.

In contrast, Konrad, who graduated from the East Prussian Panzer Academy in 1927, was slightly less experienced and was selected more on the basis of his knowledge and talent in tank command. And the other three people in this group also have their own characteristics: either they are very balanced in various abilities, or they are very outstanding in one aspect.

After vomiting enough, Conrad shook his head and said that he didn't have much of a problem, and that the overly thick smoke combined with mental tension and the bloody scene in front of him could easily make a person with little experience in this situation. At this time, Hahn, who was sitting below Eber's side, continued to spoon the contents of the can into his mouth—the strong man had been busy all morning, and his vest was completely soaked with sweat.

The infantry outside, whether they were soldiers of the Spanish Royal Guard or soldiers from the multinational joint forces, also took the opportunity to rest and deal with the wounded. The embarrassing barricades had already been battered by the guns of the opposing side, and the infantry had to retreat to the houses on both sides to continue the resistance, leaving only a lone Tiger 1 tank in front of the street. Fortunately, it is. The weapons in the hands of the attackers, whether it was the original 37mm infantry gun, or the explosive packs, cluster grenades or even 75mm rapid-fire guns that followed, did not really pose a threat to this solid tank, and the ** militants did not even rush to within 30 meters of this street crossing.

The presence of the powerful Tiger tank did make the infantry breathe a sigh of relief, otherwise with their strength and firepower, this rudimentary defensive line would have been broken through more than once! However, this does not mean that they can rest easy, after all, the problem of ammunition replenishment is there, and they don't know what weapons those attackers will get next time. Although the armed forces of this country are not powerful, they are equipped with a variety of weapons. In their arsenal, there are guns and planes obtained from the French before 1915, as well as artillery and chariots purchased from Germany, Austria, the United States and even Italy, and under the rule of Alfonso XIII, the soldiers throughout Spain are far from being as serious and conscientious as the armies of other countries. In the shadow of their minds, the inspectors sent by Madrid not only did nothing, but often colluded with local officials.

In addition, the revolutionary forces had been infiltrating Alfonso XIII's army for more than a decade, and when the revolution broke out, they often brought their troops into the revolutionary camp. In previous battles, the Multinational Coalition Force had been attacked more than once by militants wearing Spanish government uniforms, and in this morning's battle, Conrad and his team saw many of these figures.

"Luiser, contact the battalion headquarters to see how the other crews are doing! Also, ask them if they can provide aerial reconnaissance and fire support in the afternoon! ”

After feeling a little better, Conrad instructed the mechanics (the Tiger crew of five usually consists of a commander, gunner, loader, mechanic, and driver) to contact the higher command again, after they had been told that the Spanish Air Force would be responsible for their air cover mission, but they had not seen Spanish fighters fly past the vicinity for the entire morning. Not to mention reconnaissance and fire cover.

Below, the voice of the mechanic trying to contact his superiors was quickly heard:

"Land! Land! This is the island of G, here is the island of ......"

Conrad sighed alone, he felt that the battlefield here was terrible, not at all like the scene in Russia, when he was surrounded by many companions, his own fighters came at the moment, and there was strong artillery support, and most of the actions were as orderly as textbooks.

This time. How Conrad wished he had heard the friendly and confident voice of the German pilots saying "Okay, let's fix them" in the headphones, but this was Spain, and the Luftwaffe had not sent any combat units except for the transport of troops and equipment for the combined forces, and although the navy had deployed an aircraft carrier battle group in the northern and southern seas of Spain, so far they had not directly intervened in the Spanish Civil War, but more of a vigilance.

A few minutes later, there was finally a response on the radio, and the good news from the command was that the other five tank crews had successfully held their respective defense zones. The logistics unit will try to deliver ammunition again before the evening. The bad news was that something happened to the Spanish Air Force, which was supposed to support the defense of Madrid, as they were attacked by ** militants at the airport in Alcocón, and some of the pilots fled. The others, whether they surrendered or took refuge, they all became armed people anyway. In order to prevent the more than 20 combat planes there from being used by the adversary, the Spanish government fighters that took off from Arganda launched two attacks on the area and destroyed some of the planes that did not have time to fly away, but most of them had already flown to the area controlled by the armed forces in northern Spain. This result means that the Spanish government's air force near Madrid will be greatly reduced, and the remaining combat aircraft will shift their mission from ground support to air alert in the near future.

Hearing this, the crew of the tank compartment responded with silence, even if they had not participated in actual combat, they had seen the power of ground attack by the Luftwaffe or Army Air Force in their daily training and exercises, a dive bomber could change the outcome of a skirmish, and if the opponent was a group of militias with little formal training, then an attack from the air would demoralize them or even retreat without a fight.

Think of these. Conrad, who was a little depressed, pushed open the tank hatch above his head, but he did not poke his head out to target the enemy, but sat in his place and looked up at the sky, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, but there was a bad smell in the air, and the whole street was as silent as death, and even the sound of the wind could not be heard.

In this way, Conrad kept looking at the sky. The tiredness of his body and mind gradually came up, and he gently closed his eyes and fell asleep unconsciously.

※※※※※※※※

The coastal city of Bucau in southwestern France, the temporary forward command of the Multinational Joint Rapid Reaction Force.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the situation in Spain is now extremely bad, our ground forces are facing the most serious challenge, if Arganda is also captured by the Spanish rebels, then the whole of Madrid will be encircled, and then our tens of thousands of soldiers in Madrid will have only one way to break out!"

The low-voiced speaker was Italian Army General Primovia, currently deputy commander of the multinational joint force and commander of the peacekeeping operation in southern Europe, who in the past week or so had the highest casualties of any other army, with more than 1,000 killed and 3,000 missing and captured, a figure that even exceeds the number of casualties and captures of other countries' troops combined.

The reason for this is not difficult to understand, but the top Italian generals insisted that their troops fought bravely but always lacked fire support, and often used this to blame other countries for their lack of help.

However, just this morning, more than 9,000 Italian soldiers in charge of guarding Alcocón lost their armor and collapsed in the face of the attack of 4,000 Spanish ** armed forces, which directly led to the occupation of the Spanish air base in Alcocón by ** armed forces, and the situation in the Madrid area further deteriorated. However, instead of admitting their mistake, the Italian generals shifted the blame to the Spanish government, blaming the Italian line of failure due to the mutiny of their government forces.

"Does the general have any good advice?"

Turkish Army General Fatidoris Rais, Deputy Commander of the Multinational Joint Forces, and Commander of the Eastern Europe and West Asia Region, clasped his hands in front of his chest and had no superfluous expression on his face.

"Troops, troops, troops! Not only to increase the troops. We also need to provide our ground troops in Spain with sufficient ammunition, supplies, and air and sea fire support! Primo, Wia immediately changed his impassioned tone.

"But our joint forces deployed in Europe have already sent out all their combat personnel!"

French Army Lieutenant General Prevet kindly reminded that France sent a total of 2,100 soldiers to participate in the multinational joint force, which was also their first international joint military operation after the war, but compared with the generals of other countries, French generals are always cautious in such international military meetings.

Primovia did not answer directly, but turned his attention to the commander of the African zone operations of the multinational joint force, the commander of the German African Corps, General Erwin Rommel.

Rommel raised his head and glanced coldly at the Italian general, which seemed to say, "You Italians have messed up the situation and are embarrassed to call for more troops." Due to the relatively stable situation in the African region in recent years, the strength of the multinational joint force in the African region is less than 10,000. But these thousands of soldiers were the most combat-ready in the entire coalition - 4,000 German troops, 3,000 Turkish troops, and more than 2,000 soldiers of other nationalities were mostly armored units, and although they were not the earliest coalition units, they were the highest quality under Rommel's tutelage.

"If it goes well, 8,000 coalition soldiers from the African zone will be ashore in southern Spain tomorrow morning! But with the current situation in Spain, I think it will take at least four to five days for them to get to Madrid! ”

"Can't it be faster?"

Apparently their hopes were pinned on the combined forces under Rommel's command, and of course they would be even more satisfied if Rommel's other unit, the German African Corps, could be transferred to Spain, which was recognized as one of the most powerful ground forces in the world. It consisted of armoured units and mechanized infantry, a level of mechanization that even the German Imperial Guards could match. It is also the best embodiment of the courage, tenacity, hardship and solidarity of the African German soldiers.

Rommel shook his head resolutely. Armored forces have their own incomparable advantages in both offensive and defensive areas, but for the time being, they cannot be quickly transferred and deployed by air. At the same time, he also saw the inner thoughts of this group of generals. But without the order of the German High Command, the 200,000 elite soldiers of his African Corps would not go anywhere.

"The combined forces deployed in Hawaii are obviously not to be counted on!"

The expression on the Italian's face told people that he was very, very lost, and just when everyone didn't know what to say, he spoke again:

"I have already reported the situation here to the country, and if the situation does not improve after tonight, it is very likely that our Italian government will make a decision to send additional ground and aviation forces separately!"

As soon as these words came out, some people were surprised, some people were silent, but most people understood the meaning behind it. For countries such as Germany, Turkey, France, Britain and Greece, Spain is a big burden that has been burdened with great effort and regrets, but for Italy, which has been aiming to expand its influence and expand abroad in recent years. This baggage becomes a very tempting delicacy.

By the time Primovia said this, Rome had already made a decision and was making a final effort to win the understanding and support of Germany and Turkey.

Looking at the hypocritical faces of the Italians, the generals of various positions in the joint forces had their own ideas, some waited to see the jokes, some only hoped that the troops sent by their own countries would not suffer too many losses, and of course, there were those who expected the Italians to make the situation worse.

※※※※※※※※

In his deep sleep, Conrad suddenly felt that someone was tugging at his arm. Thinking that he was on the battlefield, he was shocked and opened his eyes violently.

What appeared in front of him was the beige-painted bulkhead of the tank, an environment he was all too familiar with.

"How long did I sleep?"

"About ten minutes! There are some situations ahead, and the enemy may be attacking again! ”

Conrad was asking himself, but he immediately heard a familiar voice, and he turned his head to see that it was Gun Commander Eber, who seemed to be tugging on his sleeve just now.

Conrad felt his back and feet tingle as he searched his brain for the last memories he had before he fell asleep.

Abel said succinctly.

Enemy......

When he heard this word, Conrad chuckled in his heart, this is the battlefield, and falling asleep on the battlefield is never what a commander should do, but he was really tired just now, and the surroundings were so quiet.

Abel turned his head and continued to stare at the main gun scope. After a while, several earthy yellow figures suddenly appeared around the corner at the end of the street, but after a few monotonous and crisp shots of rifles, they fell to the ground and did not move.

"There are tanks!"

Conrad's shouts almost startled the others, but everyone knew that he had the most sensitive ears in the crew, and could judge the model of the opponent's weapon by the sound, and the results were usually the same.

"Hahn, armor-piercing shells!" Conrad's eyes were fixed on the observation port of the commander's periscope.

"Yes!"

Without hesitation, the big man took out a shell from the magazine with a ring of striking black painted on the front of the warhead, which was a standard cap-piercing shell, capable of penetrating 100 mm of homogeneous armor at a distance of 1000 meters, and no tank in the world except the Tiger 1 itself could block a blow from this armor-piercing shell at this distance.

The soldiers of the Spanish armed forces did not know about this situation. Before this, many of them had never seen tanks at all, and even if they had seen them, they only saw the old "Stone 1", "Stone 2" tanks equipped by the Spanish government army or a few American-made and Italian-made tanks, which obviously could not be compared with the German-made deleted tanks or even the latest Tiger -1 tanks in terms of firepower and defense, and at the same time, the armed commanders used weapons that could not deal with them again and again to deal with them, but from another angle, they could be used** There are also not many weapons to choose from.

Time passed minute by minute, and the gunshots on the street continued, but most of them were issued by rifles, as if they were warming up for the ** behind. After a few moments, Conrad finally saw a gun barrel at the corner at the end of the street from his vantage point, followed by a yellow-green painted tank body, a gray track hit, and a turret of the same color.

"Fire!"

With Conrad's order, Eber, who had already included the tank that had not yet fully "appeared" in the cross circle of the sight, decisively pressed the firing button, and the astonishing recoil and terrifying roar all showed the great power of this 88 mm gun, and after only one second, the shell accurately hit the target more than 800 meters away.

It was Conrad's first real prey after he switched to the Tiger-1 crew, and in the opinion of Gun Commander Eber, such a shot would be nothing more than a reaffirmation of the terrible power of the 88mm gun and send a group of poor tankers to hell, and he indifferently watched through the sight as the target was enveloped in flames and smoke, and the barrel was blown away along with the ugly turret. Under such a violent explosion, no one survived.

When the smoke cleared, all that was left on the other side of the street was a black, still burning ruin. At this time, Conrad said a sentence from his mouth:

"The American M1919 Hamiton medium tank, with a total weight of 18 tons, is equipped with a 40-fold warp 47 mm gun, 35 mm frontal armor, and a maximum road speed of 40 kilometers per hour!"

"Vulnerable!"

Eber's assessment is very simple.