Episode 137 Doomed Victory or Defeat

Zhu Yourong listened to Xiang Xiaoqiang's words, and on the one hand, she felt that it made sense, she nodded, and then asked:

"Well, you have a point...... However, we stopped sending supplies to the Spanish coup army and instead sent them to Germany...... The Soviet government is not a child, and we are so obvious that they can't see the doorway? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang says:

"As for how to play with this wrist, how to make it look more convincing, that's a matter for the ministers. They have been engaged in politics for half their lives, and they are all scheming and calculating...... The state gives them a high sum of money, and it is at this time that they are used. …… Isn't it enough to let two young people in their twenties sit here and solve all the problems for them? ”

Zhu Yourong thought so. In this way, Xiang Xiaoqiang completely convinced her.

Before the afternoon meeting, Zhu Yourong first quietly called the relatively inconspicuous ministers of maritime affairs, instructed him to put forward this proposition at the meeting, and asked him to put forward it as his own at the meeting.

In this way, Zhu Yourong protected Xiang Xiaoqiang behind the scenes, avoiding the ministers from thinking that this proposition was a "slander" against Xiang Xiaoqiang and himself during the lunch break, so as not to make everyone think that Xiang Xiaoqiang was involved in politics in everything.

So, at the afternoon meeting, after the Minister of Maritime Affairs put forward this proposition, everyone thought that this was his attention, and no one guessed that this was actually the product of Zhu Yourong and Xiang Xiaoqiang, the "mom-and-pop shop".

However, because the Minister of Maritime Affairs was soft-spoken and advocated that the Northern Expedition was a "sensitive-sensitive issue," there were many ministers who opposed it. But Shen Rong, the soul of the meeting, did not make a clear statement, but thoughtfully remained neutral. The cabinet debated for an afternoon, and the topic almost changed from "which side to support" to "whether to go on the Northern Expedition or not". This problem is too big, let alone an afternoon, if you really want to argue, there will be no result for ten afternoons.

But some conclusions were drawn in the afternoon. Shen Rongxuan finally made a decision: Anyway, you can try it out according to this plan first. The first is to wait and see, because now everyone is waiting, and there is no need for Daming to jump out so early. However, if the Spanish coup army fails to take power quickly, and the war shows signs that it will continue, then Italy will certainly support the coup army first, and Germany will definitely have to follow suit. Then, Germany will also come to contact Daming. At that time, Da Ming could openly negotiate with Germany while increasing the volume of materials to Germany, and indirectly help Germany to support the Spanish coup army.

"At this time, it depends on whether the Soviet Union takes the initiative to come to us," Shen Rongxuan said, "The Soviet Union takes the initiative to come to us, and the initiative is in our hands." On the one hand, we can get the most out of it, and on the other hand, we don't have to worry about it. But if we take the initiative to go to the USSR, it is better not to look for it. ”

All the ministers were looking at him. Zhu Yourong couldn't help but ask:

"Shen Ge Lao refers to ......"

Hearing His Majesty's inquiry, Shen Rongxuan hurriedly headed in the direction of Zhu Yourong, bowed slightly, and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, the minister's opinion is that according to the consistent style of the Soviet Union and Stalin, if we take the initiative to go to him, it will be tantamount to sending him to the door for blackmail, and we cannot expect to get a little cheap. After all, while joining forces with our partner Germany to aid the Spanish coup army, we secretly took the initiative to negotiate with the Soviet Union on terms for betraying our friends...... This practice is too unsightly,

"Stalin is likely to seize on us, not only to deny us any benefits, but also to force us to stop aiding the coup army, otherwise he will make it public, ruining our relations with Germany and the international image of the Ming Dynasty...... He might even go one step further and force us to come to the aid of the Spanish republican government with the Soviet Union. Therefore, Your Majesty, the minister means that it is too much for us to take the initiative to go to the USSR. If the Soviet Union does not come to us on its own initiative, then we will wholeheartedly stand on the side of Germany and assist the coup army. ”

When Shen Rongxuan said this, no one objected, whether it was Zhu Yourong or the ministers. So, the one-day imperial meeting came to the final conclusion, that is, to act in accordance with Xiang Xiaoqiang's plan, which is also Shen Rongxuan's "revised version".

On July 18, this was the first time that the topic of the "Northern Expedition" was formally raised at a cabinet meeting. The ratio of cabinet ministers to those who are against is half to half. Shen Rongxuan did not officially express his position, and Zhu Yourong did not express his position.

……

It was the day after the Spanish army announced the takeover and the Spanish Civil War began. The Spaniards are martial, and the military intervenes in politics in times of crisis, which is regarded as a glorious tradition. Eighty percent of the officers and men of the entire Spanish Army sided with Generals San Jurjo, Mora, and Franco. At least in the Spanish Army, the hearts and minds of the people were immediately visible.

With the famous radio call sign "The sky is cloudless" announcing the start of the coup d'état on July 17, coups broke out simultaneously in military camps from Spanish Morocco to the southern part of Spain proper. The few officers who were staunch supporters of the left-wing government were immediately executed. Fanatical right-wing people poured into the streets and began to drag out left-wingers who usually had names and surnames to kill them.

At the same time, in the lands controlled by the left-wing government, the killings began. The left-wing government first exterminated intellectuals associated with Catholicism at once, and then indiscriminately hunted down all those suspected of being pro-right in society. After the war, 16,832 priests, monks and nuns were killed by the left-wing government.

The law as a social convention disappeared. Now, whether in the coup d'état or in the government-controlled areas, the social order is dictated by mass organizations. The restraints disappeared in an instant, and people got the feeling of liberation that they had not been able to obtain for a long time, and the despicable cruelty of human nature that had been hidden and suppressed in their hearts poured out. The Spaniards found that those whom they had once envied, hated, disliked, and even who had pinched their own IOUs could do whatever they wanted under the pretext of "punishing the enemy." Murder is no longer punishable by law, but is an "act of justice". On both sides, there has been a spike in indiscriminate killings of innocents.

For a time, the territory controlled by the two sides of Spain was covered with blood. And at this time, the war had just begun, and more people died under the butcher's knives in the rear of the two factions than on the battlefield. Spain entered one of the darkest periods in its history.

……

The left, while controlling the government, has few decent troops. At the very beginning of the war, it was almost entirely thanks to the fanatical left-wing people who spontaneously took to the streets with all kinds of weapons, singing the Internationale and chanting the slogan "Nopasalam (they will not succeed)!" In a Parisian Commune-like, tragic and romantic mood, the army was formed and went to the front to fight the coup army.

In Madrid, Catalonia and Asturias, the Bolsheviks formed the "Gorky Battalion", the "Marx Battalion" and the famous Fifth Regiment. All of a sudden, "The Internationale" resounded through the streets and alleys of Madrid, and not only young men, but also the elderly, women, and children, armed with all kinds of weapons and tools, poured into the streets singing songs, organized into squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, and brigades, and then charged at the military camps that had already taken a coup d'état......

This situation has affected most of the international population in Madrid. Journalists from all over the world were deeply moved and sent back touching reports to their respective countries. This is also one of the reasons why when the Comintern later formed the "International Column," people from so many countries, regardless of party affiliation, actively responded to the participation.

Because in the first days of the coup, the coup army only controlled some parts of southern Spain. Moreover, the main force of the coup army was still the colonial army in Spanish Morocco, that is, the direct army under Franco. These main forces needed to land in Spain from the sea. By this time, although the army had largely rebelled, the Spanish navy and air force remained loyal to the government. They drove gunboats, submarines, etc. into various ports in the south to prevent the Moroccan rebels from landing, and at the same time the rebel barracks on the gunboats. In this case, many areas that responded to the coup were not met by the army, and the coup failed.

On 19 July, in Madrid, a coup d'état by the armed guard was put down. In Barcelona and throughout Catalonia, the left-wing masses defeated the coup army in two days of bloody battles. Asturias was in the hands of the left-wing government, Oviado was surrounded, and Gijón's barracks were stormed by city dwellers and miners. In Malaga, Valencia, Bilbao, Santander and many other cities and provinces, the coup army also failed.

In the first days of the war, the coup army was almost in a desperate predicament. Not only is the vast majority of Spain's land in the hands of the left-wing government, but more importantly, Spain's major industrial centers, railways, ports, mines, and transportation hubs are in the hands of the left-wing government. Moreover, the country's gold reserves are still in Madrid, and they are also in the hands of the Spanish left-wing government. At this time, Spain's gold reserves were still the sixth largest in the world, which was quite impressive. This is the government's strongest capital to resist the coup army.

……

But while the coup army was fighting with a single-minded and distracting mind, there was no unity within the left-wing government. They lack a unified military command, compete with each other for power, and there are differences of opinion among the various factions.

The left wing was supposed to build a unified armed force from day one, but as a result each faction set about building its own army. The military operations of the various factions and regiments are often inconsistent, and it is difficult to coordinate with each other. Many of the militia battalions fought valiantly, but they fought on their own, with no clear military purpose and no clear picture of the situation in the immediate vicinity of the front line.

What is even more exaggerated is that several governments were formed on the territory of the left-wing republics at once. They are: the Central Government of Madrid, the Government of Catalonia, the Government of the Basque Country, and the Commission of Asturias and León.

In the early days of the war, there was a struggle for power within the left-wing government, and the left-wing people were fighting with a romantic passion. They have no discipline and lack of training, and when everyone is enthusiastic, it is easy for them to fight in a bloody battle in the face of a hail of bullets. But passion is something that can't last long. When the initial passion, romance and blood subsided, many people found that the "revolutionary-life war" was not as romantic as imagined, but cold death, hunger, and fatigue.

However, the coup army in the south became more and more courageous. They have strict discipline, long-term training, and the resilience of soldiers, and are more able to endure hardships and endure casualties. And they command unity, orders and prohibitions, and they are united in war as if they were one person. All those shortcomings of the republican army, the coup army did not have any.

In fact, until the final stage of the war, when the left-wing government was gone, the various factions within its party were still vendetta and purges, and the civil war within the factions continued. The streets of Madrid are still executing their own people in batches, which is exactly the same as the Great Purge, and even many of the charges are exactly the same as those of the Great Purge......

……

On July 20, the plane of the coup army leader, General San Hurjo, crashed, killing San Huljo. General Franco took over as the leader of the coup army. The command of the coup army is more unified and more efficient as a combat machine.

It was also at this time that the forces of the two sides began to balance and the Spanish war was likely, and many people began to be optimistic about the Spanish coup army. Germany, Italy, and Portugal began to send aid to Franco. The first consignments of German machine guns, artillery, tanks and military technicians were immediately shipped to Lisbon and other Portuguese ports. Salazar's Portugal opened its borders to General Franco. In the first days of the war, Portuguese weapons, and even individual units, were transported from Portugal to the areas occupied by the coup army.

……

Nanking.

The German ambassador to Daming called the Foreign Office and asked the Foreign Minister to take time to give him a chance to meet him.

So, the Foreign Minister called and reported Shen Rongxuan as soon as possible. They all know what it's all about.