The city of Ferrol held out for only three days before declaring the "fall", which was a heavy blow to Franco, who was ambitiously planning the Battle of Madrid. Because just a few days ago, he was boasting about Guderian, declaring: "Ferrol is a castle that will never fall, and it is impossible for the Russians to take it!" ”

But who would have thought that only three days later, Franco's face was swollen, and the speed of Ferrol's "fall" may be record-breaking.

"Thirty thousand defenders! It only lasted three days! It's 30,000 pigs, and you can't catch them all in three days! ”

Franco, who heard the news, almost suffered a brain bruise from exhaustion, especially when the Popular Front newspapers claimed that more than 24,000 defenders had been captured.

Well, this is a humiliating achievement, and the Nationalist army, which claims to live with Ferrol, surrendered when it suffered only 6,000 casualties, and the majority of these 6,000 casualties were contributed by the navy, led by the sunken Republics and the Spaniards. The Nationalist Army suffered only more than 2,000 casualties, and it has to be said that this is also a group of wonders.

"What needs to be considered now is not the situation of Ferrol, but the next battle of Madrid."

Guderian was in no mood to read Franco's jokes, because the situation was quite bad, and once Tukhachevsky's troops moved south, it would mean a decisive battle around Madrid.

To tell the truth, Guderian was not very sure about this decisive battle, his troops were relatively depleted during this period, and the logistical supply was extremely difficult, and Tukhachevsky did not even have to confront him head-on. Just using delaying tactics can kill him.

That same evening. Guderian's report to Berlin states: "...... The situation is moving in an unfavourable direction. The logistical supply of our army was extremely difficult, and Halepsky in the direction of Malaga created countless troubles on the lines of communication of our army...... If the attrition of the troops cannot be replenished in a timely manner, in the next battle, our army will be in a completely passive ...... I desperately want to send more volunteers and more supplies to Spain! Otherwise, I have no choice but to go back! ”

So can Germany and Italy provide more aid? Theoretically it was possible, but in practice it was difficult, as the Red Navy intensified patrols at sea. Especially after the Leningrad directly launched the bombing and mine-laying of the port facilities in Cádiz, it was difficult for German and Italian supplies to be brought ashore, and a considerable part of the supplies were destroyed on the beachhead.

And in the face of such unreasonable direct intervention by the Red Navy, the German and Italian navies did not have many options, unless they went out to attack the Leningrad, but in this way, it was difficult for them to predict the next reaction of the Soviet Union, what if the polar bear went crazy again?

In this case, Germany and Italy have to transport some of their supplies by air. There's not much to do either. However, as we all know, the throughput of air freight is really limited. Moreover, the number of transport aircraft in Germany and Italy is limited, and the performance is just like that. What's more, the Soviet Union was not idle, and urgently replenished a large number of fighters.

Although the results of the previous air blitzkrieg of the Vulture Legion were brilliant, only the fighters of the international column were destroyed, and the loss of pilots was not large. As soon as the fighters replenished by the Soviet Union arrived, the next thing was to resurrect with full blood.

So after entering the end of December, the vulture corps, which had finally gained air supremacy, was under great pressure, and with the continuous blood transfusion of the Soviet Union, the vulture corps continued to lose blood. As the air attrition and strangulation warfare became more brutal, they could no longer afford to take care of Guderian's ground forces. Soon the advantage established by the surprise attack of the Germans was depleted.

In the face of all these unfavorable circumstances, Guderian believed that at this time, not to mention continuing the march to Madrid, even if he remained in Ciudad Real, would face great risks, and in order to avoid the possibility of the destruction of the whole army, he strongly demanded a temporary retreat and contraction of the front.

According to Guderian's vision, he should retreat to Córdoba in great strides, use the Guadalquivir River to build a strong defensive line to resist the Republican counterattack, and as long as he can resist this wave of attacks, the balance of power will still be at that time. Moreover, this period of defensive warfare can be used to fully stock up on supplies and prepare for the next stage of offensive operations.

As for the next stage of the offensive operation, Guderian believed that the focus should be on the direction of Malaga and Almeria, constantly encroaching on the ports of the Popular Front so that the enemy could not receive sufficient assistance, and then slowly approaching Madrid.

It can be seen that Guderian still wants to return to his original battle plan, or give priority to attacking the foreign aid channels of the Popular Front. And Franco still did not accept this plan, the reason is very simple, in Franco's opinion, Madrid is close at hand, and Tukhachevsky needs time to go south, why not take advantage of this time difference to capture Madrid in one fell swoop?

Franco thought that as long as Madrid was taken, the Second Republic would naturally collapse, and then there would be no need to continue the civil war at all, and he would win directly, how cool was this!

It can be seen that Franco is still a gambler at heart, and he has always underestimated the determination of the Popular Front to fight, thinking that as long as Madrid is recovered, it will be settled. In fact, the situation is far from that simple, and the risks of his plan are not ordinary. Let's put it this way, either a big win or a big defeat, there is no third possibility.

Guderian was not a gambler, and as a military strategist, he rationally analyzed that continuing to attack Madrid would be a dead end, and naturally resolutely opposed Franco's battle plan. came and went, and these two people also carried it.

Anyway, the public said that the public was justified, and the mother said that the mother was reasonable, and the lawsuit went all the way to Berlin and hit Hitler's desk. Suddenly the mustache was also in trouble, as a politician, he preferred Franco's plan, the political significance of Madrid is self-evident, the recovery of Madrid will be a heavy blow to the Soviet Union and the Second Republic, maybe Franco foresees that scene will happen?

However, for the German officer's Su zhì, the mustache also understands, especially the tactician master at the level of Guderian, he said that the risk is quite high, how dangerous should it be?

After a long period of thinking. Hitler nevertheless decided to embark on a military adventure. A win is a big victory in politics. If it fails, it will be paid for by the Spaniards, and it will be done!

As a result, the German volunteers and the Nationalist army, who had been in the city of Real for more than ten days, restarted their chariots and rushed towards Madrid with a bang. However, their commander-in-chief, Guderian, did not seem confident in this operation, and in this wave of attacks, he did not put the German volunteers at the spearhead of the attack, but put the Spaniards in front and let the Spaniards play the vanguard.

What is the reason? It was Guderian who was very worried about trapping his troops, and the Spaniards were in danger. And once the limelight is not right, with the mechanized level of the German volunteers, it is still possible to break out of the encirclement.

And this arrangement also won Hitler's tacit approval, probably in the eyes of the mustache, urban warfare has always been cruel, there is no reason to let the elite German soldiers shed blood for the Spaniards, let the Spaniards take the lead, and then the German soldiers will reap the fruits of victory at about the same time, this is the most correct plan.

Franco also complained about this. But who told him to be short-handed? He didn't have the courage to argue with the German godfather, so he could only pinch his nose and approve of the plan.

The battle began on 28 December. It is similar to the routine of the last assault battle, first the plane bombs, and then the army rushes. The difference is that this time the results were much worse. Obviously, the last time the International Column Air Force and the Republican Air Force were taken by surprise, and most of the fighters were destroyed on the airfield. And this time they are highly vigilant, and the vulture army naturally can't take advantage of it.

On this day, a large-scale air battle broke out over Madrid, even though the Germans' Bf109b had a certain technical advantage over the I-15 and I-16, but in the face of the international column air force that was in full formation, the Germans were not particularly good. Although they shot down many Soviet fighters, they failed to seize air supremacy. Especially after advanced fighters such as the MiG-1 and Yak-1 joined the battle, the only advantage of the Vulture Legion was also neutralized.

The two sides fought hard in the air, and in Pokryshkin's words, it was an air marathon, and only those who persevered to the end won the victory.

In the first three days of fighting, the National Army (including the Vulture Regiment and the Italian Volunteers) lost 72 fighters, including 47 fighters; And the Republican Army (including the international column) lost 89 fighters, including 61 fighters. Overall, it's a tie.

However, as the fierce battle in the air continued, especially after the seventh day, the national army collapsed abruptly, for the simple reason that the attrition could not keep up with the replenishment. Although the consumption of the Republican Army was also very large, they could barely hold on to it under the 24-hour continuous production supplement of Soviet factories.

The next situation made the Germans very faceless, and after being consumed by the Soviet Union, air supremacy was declared to change hands, and then it was their turn to enjoy the Soviet planes riding on their heads and.

And this war of attrition, which is not particularly large-scale, tells the Russians that the quality of weapons is very important, but the quantity is even more important. In a world war that may break out in the future, combat attrition is an unavoidable issue. If a weapon cannot withstand such attrition, then there is no need for it to remain on the battlefield.

That is, from that moment on, the Politburo and the Central Military Commission began to adjust their future plans, and began to comprehensively examine the existing and already launched weapons. The weapons allocation programme has even been reprogrammed and a tiered system has been established.

The best, most high-end weapons will be equipped only to a small number of Guards, while the rest of the units will be equipped with weapons that are mature and reliable and ready for mass production. For example, the T-34, which has just been finalized, according to the original plan, it will immediately replace the BT-5 and BT-7 into large-scale service with the troops, but according to this new plan, the BT-7 will continue to be mass-produced until the day when the T-34 solves all production problems and can be mass-produced.

The same goes for the I-153 and I-16-24, originally the MiG-1 and Yak-1 will replace their storage zài, but to tell the truth, whether it is the MiG-1 or the Yak-1, the all-metal structure of their production is more complicated, and it consumes a lot of aluminum alloy. Even with the help of the Americans, the Soviet Union was rapidly expanding its aluminum alloy production capacity, but far water could not catch up with the fire.

In this case. The Politburo believes. It still makes sense to maintain the production lines of the I-15 and I-16 for the time being. At least at the height of the Spanish aerial strangulation war, it was the I-15 and I-16 that could keep up with the consumption, and the MiG-1 and Yak-1 were too expensive and had limited capacity.

Not only did it make the decision to continue to maintain the production of the I-15 and I-16, but the Central Military Commission also ordered the General Armament Department to do two things: First, it was to study the low-cost improvement plan for the MiG-1, and the general direction was that the MiG-1 would continue to maintain an all-metal structure except for the nose and wings, and the tail would be changed to a wooden structure. Even at the cost of weight, production costs and production technology must be kept down. Secondly, the production capacity of imported 12Ybrs and M105 engines is limited, which can only give priority to the production of Yak-1, Su-1 and Ro-2. Including the MiG-1 and SB-2 began to switch to AM-34R engines;

Second, although the performance of the Yak-1 is ideal, and there is huge room for future upgrades, this fighter is still too expensive. It was necessary to develop a low-cost, mass-produced version of the low-cost and mass-produced version, preferably using the existing mass-produced M62 series air-cooled engines.

The first construction was a heavy blow to the MiG-1, because the aircraft was already suffering from a lack of power, and although the M105 was not as strong as the original 12Ycrs, it still had 910 horsepower. Today's AM34R only makes 800 horsepower. And there are still certain problems with reliability, plus the tail is changed to a wooden structure, and the weight of the guide zhì increases. This allowed the performance of the MiG-1 to continue to decline.

Anyway, compared with the Yak-1, the MiG-1, a genuine interceptor, does not live up to its name. Moreover, after the birth of the Il-2, the priority of this attack aircraft, which also uses the AM34 improved engine, is much higher than that of the MiG-1 and MiG-3, making the MiG series almost unwilling for the troops for a while, and even if it is produced, there is no engine available. Needless to say, its embarrassing position is not too much.

And the second one is very meaningful, because this one led to the birth of the La series of fighters. The La series quickly formed a high-low match with the Yak-1 and Yak-3, making up for the awkward exit of the MiG-1 and MiG-3.

Back in Spain, it seems that the battle in the air has been decided, and the Popular Front, which has air supremacy, should be awesome, right?

Hehe, it can only be said that these grandsons can't support the wall in the mud, even if they have an advantage in the air, but they have not been able to take advantage of this advantage, but they have made the National Army and the German Volunteer Army fight a little wolf.

Even at the beginning of the fighting, in the face of the attack of the Nationalist Army, the Republican Army was very mediocre or clumsy, and the problems exposed before were not improved in the slightest. With one part of the force on the verge of collapse, while the other part of the army was high in morale but poor in tactics, and the anarchists were dragging their feet, the national army steadily advanced towards Madrid.

At that time, Franco was very proud, he tilted his head and tilted his head to look at Guderian who was silent, and it was obvious that he was laughing at the conservatism and cowardice of the Germans.

"As I said a long time ago, the ones on the other side are nothing more than a rabble. Your Excellency, please throw your troops into the air and let us take Madrid back in one go! ”

To tell the truth, Guderian was a little embarrassed, this brilliant military strategist was indeed confused by the Spaniards' cousin, if it was his troops who had gained air superiority now, no matter how bad it was, it wouldn't have been like this, right?

In the face of Franco's urging, Guderian finally threw in part of the German volunteers. I stole it, and it almost became the straw that broke the camel's back, and the IRA almost collapsed like dominoes.

At the critical moment, the government of the Second Republic, on the one hand, called on more citizens of Madrid to take up arms to defend the capital, and on the other hand, it also scolded Tukhachevsky to the point of blood, and constantly sent telegrams to the Comintern, demanding that Tukhachevsky come to the king as soon as possible.

So what is Tukhachevsky doing at this time? After the capture of Ferrol, he organized part of his troops and began to close the border between Portugal and Spain, and severely prevented Portugal from continuing to provide assistance to the rebel remnants in the north.

On the other hand, Tukhachevsky let the troops rest and adjust their combat state before slowly moving south. It was only when the Second Republic was in a state of anxiety and crying that his troops reached Valladolid, some distance from Madrid.

However, it is very interesting that after arriving in Valadolid, Tukhachevsky did not rush to order the troops to go directly to Madrid, but made another wave of adjustments, anyway, to replenish fuel and maintain the engine or something. Such a toss and "wasted" two days.

And in the eyes of the Cabinet of the Second Republic, this is to see death and not to be saved, that is really to launch wave after wave of spat offensives, and really have the intention of drowning Tukhachevsky. Anyway, it's another flurry of chickens and dogs! When the National Army began to attack the city of Madrid, Tukhachevsky finally began to move again.

And Tukhachevsky's move, that's really fast! About 300 BT-5s loaded with infantry quickly rushed forward and rushed to Avila in just two days. Just as the Cabinet of the Second Republic was jubilantly waiting for Tukhachevsky to enter Madrid in order to save them from their misery, they were stunned!

Tukhachevsky's armoured group did not go to Madrid at all, and when they reached Ávila, his troops went straight south, and circled behind the National Army and the German Volunteer Army in the direction of Sevreros, San Martín de Baldeciias, and Escalona, preparing to capture Toledo, and see that the position was preparing to cut off the supply lines of Franco and Guderian! (To be continued......)

PS: I'm going out all day today, and the book review area can't be managed for the time being, so I hope you'll forgive me.