As a polar bear growing in the cold zone, he is full of yearning for the sun and sand of Spain, especially hoping to have some in-depth communication with the fiery Spanish beauties.

But Repin didn't expect that the Spanish execution of his dream would unfold in this way, being tied up into rice dumplings by a group of rude fascist bandits, and then thrown into a damp and foul-smelling prison.

As the captain of the Komsomol Ship, Lepin received great attention, being beaten, abused, and molested by fascist bandits more than once, and almost every day after his detention was either interrogated endlessly or hysterically beaten.

Touching his already swollen cheeks, Lipin knew that even his mother would not recognize him now, and that he would continue to be abused, and he doubted that he would ever leave Spain alive.

Not only Repping, but also the other 71 crew members of the imprisoned Komsomol were eagerly hoping that the party and the state would come to rescue them, and they were convinced that the party and the state would not forget their class brothers.

So is there a rescue plan?

Yes, on more than one occasion, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs issued the most severe warnings and protests to the Spanish National Army, demanding that they immediately release the Komsomol and its crew, and that compensation and apologies must be made for it.

It's just that the diplomatic cannons are not very useful, because of the connivance of Britain and France, as well as the backing of Germany and Italy behind the scenes. The Nationalist Army did not take the warnings of the Soviet Union seriously. Even intensified the persecution of Soviet sailors. It was even ready to prosecute all Soviet sailors on charges of illegal entry.

In this case. The People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs could only try to find out the news, and the real rescue work was transferred to the KGB. As the head of the KGB station in Spain, Rakorov suddenly felt that Alexander had been scolded by the headquarters for not destroying the Canary-class heavy cruiser in time. If the Soviet crew could not be rescued again, it would really be a dead end. You must know that Comrade Andrei's patience is very limited, and the incompetent bureaucratic waste in the KGB often ends worse than the counter-revolutionaries.

Especially this time. The headquarters also sent one of the most elite Vympel special forces to demand the safe rescue of the Soviet crew at any cost.

"According to the intelligence we know. Our crew was not held in the local prison of Ferrol, but in a special detention center of the Navy. This detention center is staffed by die-hard Emilio. Mora's ultra-fascists guarded it. No Emilio. With Mora's permission, no one is allowed to enter the detention center...... Luckily, our people got the architectural drawings of the detention center, and they also contacted the sailors who had served their sentences in the detention center, and the basic information was ......"

Alexander. Alekseevich listened carefully to Rakorov's report, memorized every word of his words, and constantly marked something on the floor plan of the detention center.

When Rakorov left, Alexander . Alekseevich slowly said to the squad leader under him: "Judging from the layout of the detention center and the actual reconnaissance situation in recent days. Attacking from the ground is not a good option, the enemy is too well guarded around it. The casualties of our assault are too great, and we will completely lose the suddenness of our ...... And in the end, even if they can successfully attack and rescue the hostages, they will not be able to take them away. ”

After a brief silence, Alexander. Alekseevich continued: "The only feasible option for us is to land directly on the roof of the detention center by helicopter, deal with the guards from the top down, and then retreat from the air. ”

A squad leader asked, "But the enemy has a lot of jailers, and our West-2 helicopter (S11) has a very limited carrying capacity, so if you want to enter and disengage vertically, you will inevitably need a large number of helicopters...... But we don't have that many helicopters! And even if there are so many helicopters, crowded in such a small airspace at the same time, the consequences if they are shot down are unimaginable! ”

Alexander. Alekseevich nodded and said slowly: "Your reminder is very meaningful, but as for the problem of helicopters, China has already helped us come up with a way, which will support our operations by four of the latest West-3 helicopters, and our original West-2 helicopters are only responsible for surveillance and fire support." ”

The West-3 helicopter, that is, the S12 of the Sikorsky company. With a large amount of financial and technical support, Sikorsky finally completed it in the second half of 1935, and the three prototypes produced were quite good, and in January 1936 the General Armament Department could not wait for mass production.

By the end of March 1936, after a surprise overtime, two more pre-production models rolled off the production line. According to the original plan, we are going to try it out first, and improve it as you go. But before the Red Army Army Aviation Unit could receive it, Spain had this kind of thing. The two pre-production models and two prototypes were immediately sent to Spain by an urgent packing ship. Pilots, mechanics and a complete set of spare parts were also transported during the same period.

In Li Xiaofeng's words: "This is to rescue the class brothers!" ”

On April 1, the helicopters were transported to Santander, and after a period of intensive acclimatization training, four West-3 and 12 West-2 helicopters flew directly onto the deck of the aircraft carrier Moskva, which had just rushed to Spain.

At 0:00 on April 10, the aircraft carrier Moskva, escorted by the USS Smolensk (formerly Fort Collins), the cruiser Red Voronezh (formerly Emden) and two destroyers, began to approach the port of Ferrol.

At about 5 o'clock, when the sky gradually turned white, the improvised helicopter on board the Moskva took off and began to head for Ferrol. When all the helicopters left deck, the aircrew rushed to the deck from the hangar to load up the full tank of carrier-based fighters and torpedo bombers, and soon after, 12 Il-5Ks that took off quickly caught up with the helicopter formation. Began to escort the formations.

6 o'clock sharp. While the Spaniards were still asleep on the boat. Alexander. Alekseevich's boys had already arrived in the sky above the detention center by helicopter, and with the fire support of the West-2 helicopter, the resistance of the Spanish jailers was quickly shattered, and the signal flags quickly descended from the West-3 helicopter hovering in the air, and in less than three minutes, they took control of the guards and the commanding heights around the detention center.

At the same time, other Vympel operatives also quickly infiltrated the detention center, easily annihilating those fascists who tried to resist stubbornly. In fact, in the face of semaphoras, who had been trained in the rescue of hostages, the resistance of these fascist bandits was hardly worth mentioning. They have no indoor CQB training at all, even if there are a large number of them, but they always interfere with each other, or they are in a mess.

Ten minutes later, when the surrounding Nationalist forces had not yet figured out what had happened, the Vympel found the imprisoned Soviet sailors. Fifteen minutes later, the entire crew was taken to the roof. Four West-3 and six West-2 took away 52 crew members in the first wave.

"We'll be picking you and the rest of the crew in forty minutes, hold on!"

Looking at the departing group, Alexander. Alekseevich nodded heavily, the next forty minutes will be related to the lives of the remaining 20 crew members and his special combat personnel, no matter what, he must hold on!

"Sue sù helicopter. Fly as high as you can, the enemy's fire is not strong. I don't need their fire support for the time being, I'll instruct them if I need to! ”

Alexander. Alekseevich was well aware of how fragile the West-2 helicopter was, and to put it mildly, it was a flying machine that could be shot down with a rifle. Although he and his lads were in great need of aerial fire support, he did not want the pilots of the West-2 to risk that if they were shot down, things would be in trouble.

Besides, the firepower of the Spaniards was not strong at all, their scattered return fire was like a joke, and the few elite Nationalists were overwhelmed by the PK machine guns from the commanding heights. Before the National Army organized a large-scale counterattack, Alexander. Alekseevich knew he was safe.

And according to the plan developed before the war, the navy would also be responsible for attracting enemy fire, starting with Alexander . Alekseevich's escorted I-5K fighter jets have begun to strafe and drop bombs at the Nationalist warships on the docks. The subsequent batch of torpedo planes will also be launched into the attack soon, and the Spaniards may have to focus on the dock side for the time being, and will not have time to take care of them.

The facts are also with Alexander. Alexievich's estimate is about the same as when Emilio. When Mora learned that the port had been hit by an airstrike, he did ignore the small situation at the detention center. Because for the Nationalist Army, the most important thing now is the navy, and the next stage of Franco's troops to cross the sea will require a large number of ships and escort ships. And in the future, ships will be needed to transport arms from the German-Italian godfather.

So during this period of time, Mora is trying his best to get another boat, and the boat he got is neatly docked on the dock, if these ships are destroyed in the air raid, it will really be fatal!

And one of Mora's worries was that the air raids were directed at the Canary and Barriali in outfit. These two cruisers are the hearts and minds of the Nationalist Army, and they will be counted on in the future!

As for the detention center, he considered it to be nothing more than a trick of the enemy to distract from the view, and in his words: "The whole of Ferrol is under our control, and what waves can a few workers and militia make!" ”

Obviously, Mora, who had never heard of helicopters, did not know that it was not the workers' armed forces and militia that attacked the detention center, but Maozi's most elite special forces. And to tell the truth, the National Army under Mora is the same thing, it is okay to bully and bully the Second Republic in an outburst, compared to the elite Mao Zibing, it is simply scum.

So half an hour after the battle broke out at the detention center, Alexander . Alekseevich did not receive much of a challenge, and even his lads firmly controlled the situation and suppressed the scum National Army to the point of immobility.

It was at this time that torpedo bombers from the Moskva arrived at the battlefield and, after circling the direction of the port, they launched an attack on the Canary and Barali on the outfitting docks, guided by signals from ground workers and militiamen.

Aviation torpedoes of 450 mm caliber were dropped one by one. Then he rushed quickly towards the two heavy cruisers on the pier.

Thundered! Thundered!

The explosion violently threw a large cloud of smoke into the sky. When the torpedo machine left. The entire outfitting dock is already in flames.

Whether it was the torpedo pilots who left or the militia onlookers on the other side of the pier, they all thought that under this offensive, the Canary and Bareari would not be finished. In the afternoon of the same day, the Cabinet of the Second Republic received the good news of the sinking of the Canary and Barali.

It's not that simple, though. Because neither the Canary nor the Barali were sunk, the aerial torpedoes dropped by the torpedo machines did not hit the two cruisers, but the outfitting docks. The explosions and smoke were caused by the torpedo hitting the dock.

To be exact, the Canary and Barali suffered only minor damage, as the torpedo explosion shattered the hull of their underwater troops, causing some of the compartments to flood. Overall, such damage is easy to repair.

However, the attack was not entirely ineffective, as the outfitting dock of the Ferrol Naval Shipyard was destroyed, the cranes used for outfitting operations were destroyed, and the progress of the two heavy cruisers was greatly delayed. Indirectly bought time for the Second Republic.

When the torpedo planes and fighters left the smoke-filled port area, Emilio was "watching" by the window. Mora's face turned pale as he had just received the news. The wings of the planes attacking the port were painted with red star emblems. Undoubtedly, this is the Air Force of the USSR! That is, the Soviets have officially intervened in the Spanish Civil War. It's even been done directly!

This is quite bad for the Nationalist Army, after all, their godfather, Germany and Italy, are still pretending to be neutral, and they are the signatories of the non-interference agreement.

The thought of the influx of Soviet Red Army into the Iberian Peninsula made Mora's heart sink. After a short thought, he immediately ordered: "Inform General Franco and the German and Italian governments of the news of the Soviet attack on us, quickly!" ”

Soon, the news of Ferrol's Soviet air raid on the whole of Europe left the British and French dumbfounded, who had previously thought that the Soviet Union's refusal to join the non-intervention pact was the highest form of resistance. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, people directly rolled up their sleeves and went into battle in person, which was tantamount to slapping their faces fiercely, not to mention, and giving them a kick in the crotch of their pants.

The Soviets did this, who will still take the League of Nations as a thing in the future?

The British and French felt an unprecedented sense of crisis, even stronger than the one created by Italy in Ethiopia in 1934, when the League of Nations had already lost face, not to mention the face, not even the pants!

Compared with Britain and France, the Germans and Italians had a much more complicated relationship, on the one hand, they were also shocked by the actions taken by the Soviet Union, and the reason why they signed the non-interference pact was that on the one hand, this pact was indeed beneficial to them, and on the other hand, they were not strong enough to resist Britain and France head-on, so they could only make concessions. And this time, the Soviet Union did not give Britain and France any face, and went up directly and slapped it in the face. This shocked Germany and Italy, who thought that it was time to reassess the strength of the Soviet Union.

Not only that, but more importantly, the actions of the Soviet Union are undoubtedly the best test, and how Britain and France react next will thoroughly expose the bottom line of British and French politics. If Britain and France could not substantially punish the Soviet Union, it would have completely exposed the weakness of the British and French governments. Then Germany and Italy don't have to be polite, just continue to kick their noses in the face. Conversely, if the Soviets were to go to the mines, they could also take a more secure diplomatic route.

Therefore, after learning the news of the Soviet air raid on Ferrol, in the face of the Spanish brother's pleas for help and shouts for coming out, both Germany and Italy were very calm. There was no real action except a few words of inextricable protest and condemnation in the diplomatic sphere, which was to wait intently for the reaction of Britain and France.

And did the British and French react? Yes First of all, diplomatic scolding is all old words that make people's ears callous—such as protests, strong condemnations, and indignation.

After scolding, the Soviet side only threw out one sentence: "This operation is to rescue Soviet citizens who have been illegally detained by the Spanish National Army." Moreover, the operation has been approved and cooperated by the democratically elected and legitimate government of Spain. ”

Anyway, the Soviets meant to say: "What are you scolding, the legitimate government of Spain has not said anything, it is your turn to scold the street, get out of the way and play!" ”

This statement made Britain and France angry, and naturally they refused to give up, so they took out the resolution of the League of Nations and the non-interference pact, saying that the Soviet Union had violated the non-interference pact.

To which Litvinov replied: "Our country did not sign the non-interference pact and does not recognize the legitimacy of the pact!" ”

At this time, the British and French were completely mad, and finally used the ultimate weapon: "The Soviet government must immediately stop unilateral actions and must immediately obey the resolution of the League of Nations, otherwise the Soviet government will bear every consequence!" ”

This was an ultimatum for Britain and France, and it is quite possible that if the Soviets did not budge, they might expel the Soviet Union from the League of Nations, as they did in the historical Soviet-Finnish war. This time, though, the Soviets once again surprised them.

Less than 12 hours after Britain and France issued this ultimatum in disguise, the Soviet government officially announced: "Withdraw from the League of Nations!" (To be continued......)