The past three days had been the most violent and bloody of Conrad's life, and he couldn't count how many people had fallen in front of his Tiger-1. The Spaniards, to be exact, half-soldiers, half-civilian anti-government-armed forces, could not shake this German tank with unprecedented armor and unprecedented firepower, and at least in this respect, the German engineers who designed and built it could be proud of their work.

But now, Conrad and his crew had to embark on the road of retreat, along with the evacuation of the coalition infantry who had been fighting together for three days and three nights, for no other reason, their tenacious fighting did not help to change the situation that Madrid was surrounded by anti-government troops, and now Madrid's ground contact with the outside world was basically cut off, and the soldiers and materials from the outside world could not be transported in.

As a last resort, the headquarters of the coalition forces set up in Brest made the decision to abandon Madrid and retreat to southern Spain -- the coalition forces that entered Spain had already suffered repeated setbacks and suffered many casualties, and if anything happened to the more than 30,000 coalition troops guarding Madrid, and the countries that sent troops withdrew in anger, the so-called international security alliance would probably no longer have authority in the international community.

It was nearly noon, and Conrad, who had poked his upper body out of the turret, was not only dry in mouth and a little dizzy in his brain, but at this time he didn't dare to be careless, maybe a grenade would suddenly fly out of a window next to him, and any paralysis could leave him in this strange land forever.

The infantrymen on both sides of the road, regardless of nationality or rank, were disheveled and covered in mud, with their weapons hanging on their bodies in various postures, and followed the ranks southward with heavy steps. Anyone would be amazed when they first entered Spain with the swagger and confidence they were in, and then look at their current state.

At this time, Conrad was in little mood to evaluate the poor infantrymen, although his Tiger -1 was strong enough to withstand the various attacks of the Spaniards and still functioned normally. But the exterior is a bit miserable - the front hull is full of shallow craters, in some places it looks like a typical orange peel, the two headlights are long gone, even the commander's machine gun on the top of the turret that can be used for anti-aircraft fire and equipped with bulletproof shields is only a small half, and the external oil drums, water tanks, accessory boxes, etc., are basically destroyed and can no longer be used.

While Conrad was thinking about these depressing things, Gunner Abel poked his head out of the gunner's hatch that was open next to him, and he looked around vigilantly, and then said to Conrad:

"Ensign. A telegram came from the battalion saying that there was a Spanish rebel position ahead, and that we should cooperate with car No. 039 to go over and crush them first! ”

Hearing the word "crushing", Conrad squeezed out a wry smile on his face, and after a few more battles, his Tiger -1 was really only left with the combat method of crushing, if the Spaniards were more clever enough to blow up the last tanker truck in their troops, maybe they would not even be able to crush it in the end.

With a bitter smile to a bitter smile, Conrad still turned around, and No. 039 was just over twenty meters behind, and it was a Type 4-C tank. The total combat weight is 28 tons. Armed with a long-barreled 75mm gun and two 7.92mm G-7 tank machine guns, it was a notch smaller than the Tiger 1 in terms of size and firepower, but in the face of the Spanish rebels, who were desperately short of heavy equipment and armored vehicles. The Type 4 tank is still a formidable killer weapon.

"J Island, J Island! Follow me, attack forward! ”

Conrad made contact with the tank through the inter-vehicle radio and gestured backwards in concert. I saw a large puff of green smoke coming out of the tail of the 4-C tank, and the body of the vehicle shook and accelerated towards this direction, and the infantry flashed to the side when they saw this, and the acceleration performance of this medium tank really made Conrad and these Tiger-1 commanders envious.

When it was time to catch up with the Tiger-1, the Rut slowed down, and on the square turret sat a young German armored lieutenant, who was quite handsome. He turned his head. Let the wind blow the blonde hair on his forehead, and look at Conrad with a very friendly gaze.

"Dude, how are we going to fight?"

"The same old way! I'm in front, you're behind, pay attention to cover my flanks and backs! Conrad replied without much thought.

"Okay!" With that, the young lieutenant looked at the infantry around him, "Aren't we going to take them with us?" ”

Conrad shook his head, "The battalion command didn't say it, it may be up to us to solve it ourselves!" ”

Although it is said that it is so. But Conrad knew very well in his heart that the infantry was not only tired, but also that there was no morale at all now, and even if the German infantry here were put on it, the effect of the battle would definitely not be good. It was originally a bit risky to attack the enemy's infantry positions with tanks alone, but fortunately, the Spanish rebels did not have strong anti-tank capabilities, and after the German-American war, the German Army strengthened the research on the defense against infantry-in-the-box attacks. However, this did not mean that German tanks were completely unafraid of enemy infantry, as anti-tank rocket launchers, large anti-tank grenades and mines, heavy explosive packs, and larger cluster grenades still threatened their tracks, roofs, and other relatively weak parts.

As the newest and most powerful tank in the German Army, the Tiger 1 is unprecedentedly defensive, and with a 4-C tank as a countermeasure, Conrad has every reason to believe that he will be able to get the job done. You must know that even in the Russian Civil War, the powerful Soviet Russian army has never been able to destroy a single Tiger 1 tank.

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Berlin, Germany.

"No, we will not withdraw the German troops that fought in Spain as the Multinational Joint Rapid Reaction Force, which is now 35,000 men, and will maintain this number until the end of the Spanish Civil War!"

At the regular meeting of the Supreme High Command, in the face of the questions of some generals, Count Olivon Kahn, Minister of War, Field Marshal and close friend of the Emperor, gave a clear answer in a very affirmative tone.

But with this increase in the number of Italians, their total strength in Spain had reached 112,000. Although most of these troops are still amassed on the southern coast of Spain, some people are already beginning to wonder if our German army has lost confidence and motivation! ”

When it comes to the Italians and their sizeable troop of troops, some German generals are very excited.

"94,000 to be exact. Most of their infantry regiments are not at full capacity, and their equipment is not very good! ”

Olikarn added very calmly, something that many people tend to overlook. In addition, the Italian Army units had shown themselves to be combative in some of the previous battles, and their artillery and armoured units had shown a serious lack of training, and only their air force was passable, but this was achieved only when the Spanish Revolutionary Armed Forces had almost no aviation units.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is one thing that we cannot ignore. That is, the influence of the Italians in the international arena is expanding dramatically and to a certain extent poses a threat to the authority of our Germany, the world's leading power! ”

Erich Ludendorff, a former chief of the Army's General Staff who has now retired from the ranks of front-line generals to become the Army's chief military adviser and senior royal adviser, still has a voice. Don't look at him is almost 70 years old, but his body is still very tough, and the aggressive spirit in his bones is beyond the reach of some juniors.

At this time, another veteran in his sixties, Admiral William Zuxiong, the current commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, held a similar opinion:

"At present, 50 percent of the capital ships of the Italian fleet are operating in the eastern and southern seas of Spain, which greatly exceeds the number of ships we have deployed in the waters near Gibraltar! In order to ensure our control over the Strait of Gibraltar, I believe that we should strengthen our military presence in this area as soon as possible! On the naval side, I implore Your Majesty and the High Command to consider sending one or two additional aircraft carrier battle groups and a battle fleet! ”

"It seems that the Army should also increase its presence at the Gibraltar Fortress. There are now less than 3000 soldiers there! Ludendorff then said something that was inconvenient for Admiral Zuchon to speak as an admiral.

As the convener of this military conference. Tatsuten, who had spoken very little since the beginning of the meeting, was in no hurry to express his opinion now, but not because he had lost interest in military issues. But after one war after another, the way he thinks about problems has changed a lot. In his view, Germany now no longer needs to enhance its international influence through an invasion or armed intervention, its vast colonies are sufficient to provide all the resources needed by this empire, its army is the best equipped, most well-trained and has the most combat experience in the world, the soldier class has good quality, good treatment, good morale, the officer class has a reasonable age structure, strong professional quality, and a strong self-motivation, plus the war against Japan has just ended. The German army did not need to gain valuable military experience through large-scale intervention in the Spanish Civil War, as the Third Reich in another world did, and Gibraltar, the most valuable territory on the Iberian Peninsula, was already firmly under the black, white, and red flag.

For these reasons. Chen Tian was not in favor of sending troops to Spain on a large scale from the beginning, on the contrary, he hoped to investigate the combat effectiveness of the armies of various countries by sending multinational joint forces, and now that the Italians are rushing into this battlefield, Chen Tian is even more happy to be a bystander, he expects that the Italians will only end up running into a wall.

However, the loyal, courageous, and strong military traditions of the German Empire were not as "open-minded" as their own monarchs, and their belief that no country would be allowed to match or even override Germany, although Spain was not Germany's traditional territory. Geographically, however, Southern Europe was Germany's backyard, and the Mediterranean was an important link between Germany's African colonies and its homeland, and a rising, belligerent Italy was unacceptable to them. In their view, even if they did not fight the Italians head-on, they would not be able to make a big show in Spain.

Judging from the current sobriety, only Chen Tian and some far-sighted people can see the true face of the Italians - they are still far from the real rise! In Spain, the Italians not only showed the world the considerable military power of the "New Roman Empire", but also let people see their tyranny - just one Barcelona massacre, the Italian army killed 100,000 innocent civilians, although they repeatedly claimed that they fired their guns with the approval of King Alfonso XIII of Spain, although the Germans killed far more Japanese civilians in the bombing of Japan, but for most Europeans, the Italians were the most terrible. The most intolerable!

While Ludendorff finished expressing his opinion, the generals were still thinking. Chen Tian glanced back at Andres, who was sitting at the back of his side. The Crown Prince of the German Empire now holds the rank of Captain in the Military Staff of the German High Command. Everyone here is very clear about the emperor's good intentions, and this heir to the imperial throne is also gaining everyone's respect and trust through his humility and seriousness.

Whenever the generals expressed their opinions, Andres would look at the general carefully, occasionally bowing his head and quickly recording something in his notebook, and on such occasions, he never interjected a word.

Next, Tatsuten looked at Ollie again. At the beginning, this tactical genius also supported a large-scale invasion of Spain, and even took the initiative to ask Ying to command this close battle, but after more in-depth exchanges and communication with Chen Tian, he gave up this view. As Chen Tian said, "What Germany lacks is not war, but to calm down and examine the lessons of its past few wars!" Instead of spending a lot of money on military expenses to show off force in Spain, it is better to spend more effort on practical issues such as how to improve the logistics of the army, develop new equipment, and support and improve old equipment! ”

At present, the German Navy has four major fleets: the mainland, the Far East, the Pacific and the Mediterranean, and the army is strategically divided into four major areas: Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Among them, Ollie, Kahn personally served as the commander of the European Corps.

It was responsible for the defence of the German homeland and the German overseas presence in Europe, and the other three corps were commanded by Generals Erwin Rommel, Karl von Rundstedt, and Wilhelm von Nolendorff.

"The opinions of General Zuxiong and General Ludendorff are very good!"

This is a very polite opening sentence, just say it. Chen Tian took a serious look at every face here, each of these people sat here by virtue of their real talent and meritorious accumulation, Chen Tian can see many valuable qualities from them, loyalty, bravery, seriousness, decisiveness, wit, humility, etc., etc., it can be said that these are the representatives and models of outstanding military talents in the late 20s of the German Empire, but to control these elites and this powerful military machine, it is not enough to rely on the fanaticism of war.

"We are closely monitoring the situation in the Iberian Peninsula every day, and we will not allow anyone to infringe on the sacred dignity and honor of the German Empire, nor will we allow any country to infringe on the interests of the Government and the people of the German Empire. We should not hesitate to give a strong counterattack to the provocations of those with bad intentions! At the same time, we must also maintain a rational attitude to look at the problem calmly! The Italian government had obtained our understanding and consent before sending troops to Spain, and the King of Spain and his government sought our help and that of other European countries with a very urgent attitude! So, I think we can send more troops to the Gibraltar fortress and the Mediterranean region appropriately, but without much fanfare, let alone too many troops! Here I would like to make only one suggestion from my personal point of view: to form a predominantly African army, to be sent to Spain for a short period of time to replace the German soldiers currently fighting there; The Navy sent three additional air squadrons to Gibraltar. The Air Force has also strengthened its military presence in the south of France and Tunisia! ”

At such a military meeting, the emperor's "personal opinion" was not the final decision, but it basically set a general direction for everyone. Next, several generals, including Rommel, added some of their own views, saying that in the past wars, the advantages and disadvantages of African soldiers were obvious to all, and the generals were all in favor of the proposal of transferring African soldiers, which could not only achieve strategic objectives but also reduce the casualties of native soldiers. As a result, it was quickly decided to draw African colonial troops into a new corps to replace the 3.45 million German soldiers who were fighting in Spain. Unlike the previous African Colonial Corps, this force will no longer be dominated by pure infantry, but will account for more than a quarter of the armored troops, and a large number of African officers will be appointed. (Full Text)