History will remember many interesting things, such as the fact that not all Germans supported Führer Accardo, and not all Germans were on the side of Franco's National Army.

At least 100 Germans sided with the Republican Army, who joined the Republica* team to fight against the Spanish National Army, supported by Führer Accardo. Most of them were those who fled Germany in 1933 when Accardo's exclusion officially began*. These exiles made their way to war-torn Spain and were incorporated into the 11th and 12th International Columns.

These two columns were made up of volunteers from 17 different countries, including France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries, who rushed in the most direct way to support the Spanish people in their war for freedom.

Many German volunteers were assigned to fight in the Thälmann Battalion, named after the German leader* Ernst Thälmann, who was arrested by order of Accardor after the Reichstag arson and sent to the SS concentration camp south of Kiel, where he was killed a few days later.

This battalion, composed mostly Germans, took part in some of the worst battles of the Spanish Civil War, breaking through the Cáceres encirclement and becoming one of the few encircled troops to escape Ascension, sniping the German 8th Panzer in Salamanca for two days, covering the safe retreat of most of the friendly forces.

They had lost half of their men in the last battle, but the battalion flag with the scythe and axe motif still fluttered on the position. Guarding the road between Madrid and Valencia, they withstood the onslaught of the National Army, and eventually earned themselves honor and respect.

Now the battalion was placed in the most important defensive area of Madrid, where it was used to withstand the onslaught of the German SS 2nd Panzer Division. They fought with the national army building by building, fighting to the death room by room, and the positions they held on to were already in ruins when they were finally lost.

"Boom!" a shell exploded not far away, and a cloud of dust fell from the temporary headquarters of the Tellermann battalion. The battalion commander of the Tälmann battalion grabbed the non-stop phone, shook off the dust from his body, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Hey, what mission?"

"At one o'clock in the afternoon! We will launch an all-out counteroffensive! Retake the lost part of Madrid! Prepare your battalion!"

"Oh God! We still have 173 soldiers! The Tälman battalion is gone! Sir! It's been four days since we submitted our evacuation request! Now you're telling me to fight back? What are you kidding? The commander of the Tälman battalion replied with a smile in his eyes.

There was another buzzing sound in the sky, and three German export DO-217B medium bombers of the Spanish National Army flew through the sky, greeting the main position of the Republican defense not far away.

This aircraft was a simplified version of the German Do-217A bomber, which was reduced in speed and accuracy, but still defeated the Italian bomber and won the order of the Spanish National Army. However, the number of purchases is a bit frustrating for the German Dornier company, and Spain only needs 17 such aircraft, which is really not comparable to Germany's own order of 300 aircraft.

Because the Spanish National Army itself is scarcely numerous, this expensive Do-17 plane flew high over the battlefield, dropped some bombs for a little fun, and then left in a hurry.

The bomb exploded in the distance, billowing smoke, the ground trembling beneath your feet, and the faint sound of the collapse of the house was chilling. The war has entered a white-hot stage, with both sides investing a large number of troops, and all kinds of new weapons appearing one after another, and at the cost of increasing losses on both sides.

During the battle for the southern block of Madrid, a tank commander of the 2nd SS Panzer Division recalled attacking a section of the Republican line, a row of bunkers guarded by Basque miners: "We didn't notice the slightest movement, but we all knew how brave the miners were. We have fought them countless times, and we have been impressed by their tenacity, ferocity, and tenacity. ”

"We had to push forward about 200 meters away from their defensive positions and fire at the holes in the black holes in the barricades. When a bullet hits, it kicks up a puff of white smoke, and the machine gun holes on the pillbox are not clear for a few seconds. ”

"There was a brave Wehrmacht captain rushing to the front, and he even opened the hatch of his tank from time to time and stuck his head out to confirm his head. It's hard to believe it's real. So I fired dozens of rounds at his tank and reminded him to be careful—we were used to communicating with each other in this way, which was much more convenient than a walk-in. ”

In fact, the war was much more brutal than the commander of the German tank forces, who was later awarded the Iron Cross, could describe it. Soldiers of the Republican Army threw grenades behind the breastwork, often risking attacks on the tracks of German tank units with explosives packs. Someone carefully aimed at the observation hole in the tank and the air fence attack, often after a single attack, the Germans would find many warheads in the gaps of the tank.

To add insult to injury, some Republican soldiers would heroically leave their bunkers, shouting and pointing at their comrades to open fire, and at such a close distance, the German tankers could beat them into a sieve with a slight aim. In some cases, the cone-shaped tongue of fire from the tank's guiding machine gun could even sweep a large area of valiant republican soldiers within a small area.

The war was going on, and the large-caliber howitzers that Italy supplied to Franco were the most popular support weapons for the German armored forces, and although these slightly bulky cannons were not as light as Krupp's new howitzers, they saved them the trouble of transporting them from Germany, and the disadvantages of being easy to maneuver were not unbearable in positional battles like Madrid.

Another round of shelling began, with shells piercing through the air and whistling loudly, falling on the streets, carrying dirt and gravel tens of meters into the sky. Buildings have been torn apart by shells, smoke and dust are billowing from the streets, and the bodies lying on the streets are no longer cared for, and people on the edge of hell are no longer in the mood to bury their bodies for others.

On one occasion, Franco's He-51 fighter unit purchased from Germany went on a bombing mission (because of the I-16 and the Me-109, this old fighter can only do such auxiliary missions now). The bombing lasted only eight minutes, but when they returned, they found bullet holes in the fuselage of almost every plane.

The Soviet Air Force fought hard in the skies over Madrid, taking off again and again to intercept the bombed He-51s and Do-217Bs, and as a result, these poor I-16 fighters were slaughtered by the Me-109 hidden in the sky clouds, and in a few days, the Soviet Air Force was shot down over Madrid with a full 29 planes - although most of the pilots parachuted out, but still suffered heavy losses.

The German and Italian air forces, which had gained partial air supremacy, began to bomb Madrid violently, at first carefully avoiding civilian facilities, but after the ban was lifted, they began to attack any target they could reach. Numerous civilian facilities were damaged because of the accuracy of the bombing.

Luftwaffe DO-217 bombers and Italian Air Force Marquis de Savoy bombers visited Madrid, and in order to reduce the damage caused by the ground fire of the Republican forces, the bombing was generally carried out at night, destroying hospitals and tall buildings, and injuring countless Madrid civilians.

In order to improve the accuracy of the bombing, three new German planes were secretly sent to Spain for testing, and this aircraft was called Stuka and the military code name Ju-87. Featuring an ugly but practical Seagull-like curved wing, the aircraft carried two modified 20 mm cannons as sustained ground attack support fire, and could carry 900 kg of bombs, including a 550-pound bomb hanging from the belly.

Führer Accardo ordered the dive bomber to be fitted with a strange whistle so that it could let out a terrible scream when diving at high speed, accompanied by a huge explosion that would easily break the enemy's will to resist.

The entry of three Stuka bombers pushed the Battle of Barcelona, one of the most important battles of the Spanish Civil War, to a new level* - on the same day, the 8th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht broke through the outer lines of Barcelona under the cover of Stuka. The three Stuka also lived up to expectations, destroying four large bunkers and cutting off two roads outside Barcelona.

After three days of fierce fighting, German armored forces took the port of Barcelona by Shunlì, a successful assault that nearly doubled the distance traveled by Germany and Italy to Spain, and in turn forced the Soviet supplies to Barcelona to Valencia, increasing the transportation time and distance.

The loss of Barcelona added to the already close collapse of the Republican Army's defenses on the Madrid side. For a time, Gandesa was lost, Binaros was lost, and Rutere was lost, and even the port of Valencia, which should have been far from the rear, became precarious, and the balance of victory in the Spanish Civil War had begun to tilt in favor of Franco's army.

At this time, another piece of good news came back to the Führer's residence in Berlin, the capital of Germany - Marshal of the Soviet Union Tukhachevsky was arrested on charges of espionage and treason, and his carefully planned framing plan succeeded, and the Soviets themselves got rid of the pillars of their army!

Accardo was in a good mood when he learned of the outbreak of the Soviet purge, and even invited Mercedes father and daughter to dinner together in the evening, and this German star-like "quasi-couple" dined together in the most luxurious hotel in Berlin, and by the way, it was worth the overseas assets of the Bai Lanhua Group that was about to be sold.