"Port 5, speed 20!"

Vilmots. Admiral Yankel, having given the order, habitually looked at the surrounding sea, and there was nothing in the bay south of the Bay of Biscay except for a few flocks of seagulls chasing the battleship. In the distance, the green coast of Spain looks so tranquil that the country is in the midst of a civil war.

With the order given, after a few tens of seconds, the "Archduke Friedrich", headed by the Austro-Hungarian fleet, first began to turn, and after a year and a half of comprehensive modernization, the old battleship, which had been almost twenty years old, seemed to be rejuvenated.

After the end of the naval exercises in 1934, all the capital ships of the Imperial Navy began to enter the shipyard one after another for modern refits, mainly to replace the power system and increase the anti-aircraft firepower and horizontal defense capabilities of the warships. The two "Mackensen" class battleships of the Imperial Navy were the first to complete the refit, the power system was replaced by the original 42 oil-fired boilers with 12 latest naval high-pressure heavy oil boilers, and the steam turbines were also replaced with the new Steyr multi-stage steam turbines, and the total power increased from the original 93,000 horsepower to the current 160,000 horsepower, an increase of almost half.

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Due to the addition of two layers of upper horizontal armor and the simultaneous increase in the depth of the width of the side anti-torpedoes, the standard displacement of the battleships of the "Mackensen" class increased to 43270 tons, so the speed increased to only 31 knots.

Another notable change is that the thickness of the upper part of the main turret has been significantly increased, the main gun has been replaced with the SKD35 380 mm/L50 main gun, the barrel length has been slightly increased, and the pitch angle has been increased to 42 degrees. The maximum firing range was increased to 43 km. The 16 150-mm secondary guns on the side were replaced with 8 twin 127-mm high-level guns and 8 105-mm twin high-level guns. In addition, the battleship was equipped with 8 quadruple Islya 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 8 quadruple and 8 twin-mounted 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, and the overall anti-aircraft firepower was greatly strengthened.

The fleet quickly completed the turn and began cruising in the Bay of Biscay.

After the start of the Spanish Civil War. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary "did justice" by declaring an arms embargo on Spain. In fact, Germany, Austria and Italy all supported the rebellious St. Huerjo's National Army, which not only provided weapons and equipment, but also sent a large number of "volunteers" with the aim of strangling the communist regime in Madrid.

In February 1932, the Popular Front, composed of the Spanish Communist Party, won the general election and came to power in Spain. As a result of the introduction of "public ownership" in the country, the contradictions between the government and the capitalists, the old aristocracy and the landlords intensified. The whole society was thrown into chaos.

The Spanish Communist Party accused the Catholic Church of being behind the creation of social contradictions, and pointed the finger at the church forces in the country. In 1935, at the instigation of Soviet advisers, the republican government ordered the closure of churches and religious schools and forcibly converted people, which undoubtedly added fuel to the fire.

The Spanish financial capitalists, large landowners, and bishops of the Church all supported the armed rebellion, and at their instigation, the colonies in Morocco first began to rebel. After that, it began to spread to Spain.

As traditionally Catholic countries, Germany, Austria and Italy supported the rebellious "national army". In France, because the "Popular Front" was also in power, the Bruno government supported the Spanish Republican Government, especially the Second International under the support of Soviet Russia, and provided the Spanish Republican Government with heavy weapons such as aircraft, tanks, and artillery, and also organized an "international column" of more than 30,000 people to enter Spain to fight with the Republican Army.

With the support of the Entente. The National Army began to land on the Spanish mainland, first capturing Seville and Málaga, and then the rebellion spread throughout the country, but the urban workers supported the "communal" republican government, while the traditional peasants supported the Catholic "National Army". For the sake of faith, the whole of Spain was divided.

By November. The "National Army" has occupied the provinces of Cádiz, Verfa and Seville in the south, as well as in the north in Galicia, Navarre, Old Castile and Aragon. The National Army was divided into two parts: the Northern Army, commanded by General Mora, and the Southern Army, commanded by General Franco. General Hurho established the National Military Government in Ceuta.

The shape shì was not favorable to the National Army, the main industry and state finances of Spain were in the hands of the republican government, and in the cities the workers had the republican government. In view of this situation, the Entente group simply went into battle and formed an intervention army of 50,000 men to go to the Spanish battlefield, and with the support of the Entente intervention forces, Franco's army finally stood firm.

Germany, Austria and Italy even dispatched naval fleets to blockade the Spanish coast, famously imposing an "arms embargo," but in fact the purpose was to block the way for Soviet Russia to aid the republican government.

It was early winter, and Yankel, dressed in a blue overcoat, stood on the bridge of the "Archduke Friedrich", thinking with some concern about the Emperor's personal order - which could lead to a war.

Just yesterday, a Russian fleet passed through the blockade of the German-Austrian fleet, entered the southern part of the Bay of North Scay, and then, under the watchful eye of the German-Austrian fleet, entered the port of Santander in northern Spain. The situation was immediately reported to the country, and the German-Austrian fleet received an order to monitor the Russian fleet as much as possible, but to avoid any conflict as much as possible.

This Russian fleet, which consisted of a cruiser and two destroyers, as well as a supply ship, was not very strong. But in peacetime, if there was a conflict with the warships of other countries, it was undoubtedly an act of war, so the German-Austrian fleet did not forcibly intercept the Soviet and Russian fleets and forcibly entered Spain.

But this morning, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian blockade fleet, Admiral Yankel, suddenly received an order from the emperor himself: if the Russian fleet leaves the port, it will be detained immediately, and if the other side returns fire, it can be sunk!

This was a declaration of war, and to the great pernation of Yankel, he sent back a telegram in which the Emperor told him to do as he was told, and that he would send a commissioner to explain the details of the situation.

Now that the commissioner sent by the Emperor had flown to Porto, Portugal, and was about to fly to Deportivo occupied by the Nationalist army, Yankel sent a cruiser to Deportivo La Coruña to pick up the commissioner, while he himself led a fleet in the Bay of Biscay to continue to monitor the movements of the Russian fleet.

This Soviet-Russian fleet remained in the port of Santander and did not make any action for a whole day.

The light cruiser "Krk" returned to the fleet from A Coruña, the transport boat was lowered on the warship, and after a while the figure of the head of the Imperial Military Intelligence, General Eichman, appeared on the deck of the "Grand Duke Friedrich". (A good event for pie in the sky, cool mobile phones are waiting for you!) Follow from ~ Dian/Chinese network public account (WeChat add friends - add public account - enter ddxiaoshuo), participate now! Everyone has a prize, now pay attention to ddxiaoshuo WeChat public account! (To be continued......) R1292