A cannonball exploded in the distance, bringing up a cloud of black smoke and countless broken stones, and a half-collapsed house shook a few times, but finally did not collapse with the explosion, still stubbornly supported there, looking full of half-dead desolation.

In a makeshift trench dug in the street, a Republican militiaman crept cautiously until he got into the barricade, got up, slapped the dust off his body a few times, and lifted the crooked steel helmet above his head.

"How's it going?" a Republican officer sat in the corner, wiping a small pistol, their neighborhood was an important strategic stronghold, so the IRA deployed 1,000 men here for defense, and these days they repelled several attacks by the Nationalist Army and lost dozens of soldiers themselves.

This is still the outskirts of Madrid, and the battle between the two sides has reached a fever pitch. The soldiers of the two armies fought desperately against each other in several narrow blocks, and the two armies went back and forth, and the positions changed hands several times, sometimes killing and wounding dozens of people on both sides in order to fight for a building.

"The Germans are really good snipers, most of the soldiers we sent out to snipe them were killed, I just came back from a sniper team, they killed two people, but I didn't even see a shadow of the Germans. The soldier sighed and said, "At least for now, we have nothing to do with the German snipers." ”

"Those snipers are like hunters who come to hunt, they have a great impact on our morale, many of our comrades died on the position so inexplicably, and now few soldiers dare to show their heads on the position, which directly affects our shooting accuracy. The officer said: "A lot of ammunition was wasted, but the enemy's casualties were reduced." ”

"I don't think our biggest problem is the snipers. Mr. Major. The soldier pointed to the end of the street in the distance through a narrow shooting hole, and said, "Behind the corner over there...... Yes, on the other side of the building, there were two German P-3 tanks, yes, P-3, not Tin cans like the P-2, they were really big guys. ”

After he finished speaking, he withdrew his hand and avoided the shooting hole, for fear of becoming the prey of the German snipers: "It seems that they are planning a large-scale attack, and we lack weapons to deal with tanks on our side, so we have to find a way." ”

"This time they're going to lose. The officer smirked, then pointed to the rear of the barricade: "Just now, a comrade from the Soviet reinforcements drove over a T-26 tank. ”

As he spoke, he inserted his wiped pistol back into the belt at his waist, then stood up and said, "This time we'll let the German tanks taste like they've been killed!" ”

As he spoke, a shell exploded on one side of the barricade, and with this loud bang, a puff of smoke rushed into the barricade, and then instantly spilled out of several machine-gun holes outside the barricade. The soldiers in the barricades were coughing with smoke, and everyone was slapping the dust on their bodies.

Another shell exploded not far away, and the increasingly dense artillery fire showed that the Nationalist army was ready to attack.

"Ahem, ahem. These bastards, the cannonballs are getting more and more accurate. The officer took off his military cap, poured dust on it, pouted and complained: "Before each attack, just shoot a few hellish shots to remind us not to sleep! Next time I don't even need to set up a guard post." ”

"I went out for a cigarette, and the bastards started attacking and there was no time to smoke. The officer grabbed a steel helmet from his side, buckled it to his head, and lowered himself and walked out the back door of the barricade, and before he had taken two steps, something hit the barricade behind him, and he felt the ground tremble under his feet, and then he was pushed by a wave of air and staggered.

He struggled for a moment, stood firm, and turned back to see the collapsed barricades, and the Nationalist soldiers who were slowly approaching not far away, and behind the dense soldiers, there were two German P-3 tanks used to press the formation.

It seemed inevitable that it would be lost, without the cover of the barricades, and not knowing how long the Soviet tank behind it would last, the officer hurried to the rear, swerving as he ran around dodging the flying bullets and the rubble under his feet.

When he ran a few dozen paces away, a bullet hit his thigh accurately, the bullet passed through the fat, cracked bones and sliced veins with a crunching sound, and finally flew to the ground not far away, bounced a little dust. The IRA officer twisted and fell to the ground, letting out a scream that was drowned out by the artillery fire.

On the German position not far away, several German officers were in the trenches using the latest scissor periscopes to observe the situation on the battlefield, and beside them, a group of recorders and engineers were surveying and mapping the site and recording the number of records.

"The Führer's own design of weapons is indeed very powerful, and the Wehrmacht should continue to procure such weapons, which are very useful against enemy forts and tanks. One of the officers removed his eyes from the scissor periscope and commented in an admiring tone, "What do you think?"

"This kind of weapon, the battlefield table is very good, if possible, it should be assigned to the company-level troops as rapid fire support. The other officer nodded, then looked back at the engineer next to him, "Sir, do you think it's possible to reduce the cost further?" ”

"It should be possible, now not only the Wehrmacht, but also the National Army is interested in purchasing this kind of weapon, and after the production increases, the price will be correspondingly cheaper. The engineer thought for a moment and said.

At this time, two German soldiers with new weapons returned, one carrying an iron pipe more than a meter long and about 150 mm in diameter, and the soldier behind him carried something resembling a school bag and a submachine gun in his hand.

"Sir, the Iron Fist Bazooka is very successful, this weapon is very simple to aim and operate, and the power is very huge. The soldier carrying the iron pipe, that is, the bazooka, said excitedly: "This thing is really exciting." ”

"5,000! We're going to buy 5,000 of these bazookas, and 50,000 rounds of special ammunition. At the outskirts of the group, a Spanish National Army officer said anxiously: "Please be sure to reserve some of the production for us." ”

"The Italian military wants to order 15,000 of these Iron Fist bazookas. In the case of ammunition, we prefer to buy patents directly and introduce a production line for this weapon. It's easy to say in terms of price. The Italian military observer next to him also hurriedly said, for fear that if he spoke a little later, the order would be taken up by others.

"Everyone, don't be impatient. The German general at the head looked like a good old man with a smiling face, pressed down twice with his hand, and motioned everyone to be quiet: "This weapon is being installed in the Wehrmacht, and it has been named the 'Iron Fist Bazooka' by the Führer himself, and it is also a secret weapon in our army, and the production is not abundant, if you want to buy it, you will have to wait for a few more days." ”

As he spoke, a huge explosion was heard in the distance, and the turret of a German P-3 tank was lifted into the air, and a large cloud of flames was spraying from the body, and black smoke was soaring into the clouds, constantly tumbling, expanding and fading.

"T-26 tank! It's the Soviet T-26!" Hearing the explosion, an officer hurriedly looked in the direction of the explosion with a scissor periscope, where a P-3 tank was billowing smoke, and not far from the destroyed German tank, a Soviet tank with a completely different appearance and dark green paint was slowly turning.

"Boom!" The second P-3 tank fired, because it was very close, this time the fire accurately hit the Soviet tank on the opposite side, the shell tore a huge hole in the fragile and thin side armor of the Soviet tank, and the Soviet T-26 tank also emitted billowing smoke, and the ensuing violent explosion brought this skirmish tank battle to an end.

"Let's investigate! How much have we lost this time?" asked the German general, who was the leader, frowning. A German officer nodded, turned and left.

The officers of the Spanish National Army stepped forward to say some comforting words, and most of the joy of the success of the Iron Fist Bazooka just now was taken away for a while, and everyone's mood was ruined by the explosion of the P-3 tank, and everyone stared at the smoke not far away in silence, and the atmosphere fell to freezing point.

"Report that the two P-3s just now are tanks of the National Army, and there is only one mechanic and one commander in them who is a member of our Wehrmacht. The German officer who went to investigate rushed back after a while, panting and briefing his commander: "The five soldiers on the car were killed, the ammunition was hit and exploded, and the tank territory was distorted, but their sacrifice was still worth it, the nearby Republican army retreated, and we took about two blocks." ”

"What about the losses?" asked the German general, who was the leader.

"The 8th Panzer Division lost 17 killed and 76 wounded in the capture of Cáceres. A Wehrmacht staff officer heard the German general's inquiry and immediately stepped forward to report: "They then lost 41 killed and 193 wounded in the attack and defense of Salamanca. The battle was fought very fiercely, our army lost 5 tanks here. ”

After a pause, he continued: "After lifting the encirclement of Salamanca, the 8th Panzer Division went east along the Douro River and has now helped the Northern National Army to retake Zaragoza, and the latest loss report has not yet been reported. ”

The general turned to look at a young man in an SS uniform beside him, who immediately replied: "The 2nd SS Panzer Division recaptured Córdoba and went all the way south, unencircled Granada, and recaptured Malaga and Almeria all the way south...... Loss...... 113 officers and soldiers were killed and 695 wounded. ”

As he spoke, another shell landed in the middle of the street not far away, shattering the remaining glass windows, leaving behind a huge cloud of black smoke, and a deep crater in the middle of the road -- the Battle of Madrid seemed to continue, for a long, long time.