Since November, after Spain has formally signed three agreements with the Ming Dynasty, its Ministry of Finance has issued an executive order that all precious metals in its stockpiles be melted down to support the war effort.

The first batch of molten gold was more than 100 tons, with a total value of about $100 million, not including silver. Thirty percent of the real money was loaded onto a ship and shipped to Guangzhou, and finally to Nanjing; In addition, half of them were shipped to Berlin.

The first batch of ordnance materials loaded and shipped in Guangzhou included 50 Type 26 tanks, 120 Type 12 80mm howitzers, 300 Type 28 80mm mortars, 26,000 Type 21 rifles, 400 Type 20 heavy machine guns, and a large number of bullets and shells.

As early as the European War, the Ming Dynasty made a large amount of war money is already familiar with this, and the delivery speed can be described as quite fast, and it must be able to get five-star praise from buyers.

While the ministers in the Mandarin Hall were discussing with great interest how they could "extract" more real money from it, on the other side of the world, on the Iberian Peninsula......

The sunny winter in Madrid, with its temperate continental climate, made her day and night temperatures as high as 8-12°C in the last month of Qiyuan 7936.

Madrid can be said to be a special "tale of two cities", in addition to the city, there is also a huge university town in the northwest suburbs.

The former capital of the Spanish Empire has long since lost its glory, and the city has been reduced to ruins by shelling and air raids.

The university town, where knowledge and wisdom were inherited, was reduced to a killing ground filled with blood and fire, and the ground was littered with broken bricks, empty cans, bullet casings, and pages and shredded paper shredded by the blast wave.

Also due to the temperate continental climate, Madrid also receives much more frequent rainfall in winter than in other places.

In the drizzling rain, the mutilated corpses rotted in the muddy water that had accumulated in the craters, the wounds of the corpses were swollen and deformed, and the bare yellow-white fat was covered with wriggling maggots.

"Lucio! How many bullets did you collect? ”

"A hundred... Oh no, one hundred and twenty! And four grenades! ”

At dawn, in the morning light and mist, two young men in their early twenties were collecting usable ammunition among the corpses of both friend and foe in the area.

Their movements startled a few swarthy crows pecking at the dead man's eyes, and they fluttered and flew up, but the two of them did not panic at all, they were used to it.

From October onwards, the main forces of the National Army, under the command of General Leo, marched along Paseo de Toledo towards Madrid, in an attempt to quickly take the capital.

The Nationalist Army, which was bound to be well equipped and trained, and with the direct help of the Italians, could not be described as sharp.

As a result, the Republican side lost the courage to defend the capital, and after the airport fell into enemy hands, the Nationalist army was only 20 kilometers away from the city, so the government quickly decided to evacuate.

However, the militia and the citizens of Madrid did not give up hope, and despite the lack of weapons and ammunition, they were well organized and had high morale, and resisted the ferocious onslaught of the national army with their flesh and blood.

In the face of the enemy's superiority in land and air, as well as the scorching firepower, the defenders of the whole platoon and company fell to the position, so to speak, using their own blood and lives to slow down the pace of the enemy.

As the sun leaps above the horizon about thumb height, the mist begins to dissipate and visibility improves.

The two young militiamen each carried three or four rifles on their shoulders, and the canvas bags they carried were also full of the ammunition they had collected, but at that moment they seemed to hear strange movements.

The sounds of "squeak" and "puff" came from a distance, and the two stood there and listened for a moment, then looked in that direction with wide eyes.

After a while, I saw a hideous tank in sight, followed by two, four, and eight......

A tank company of the Nationalist Army, about two dozen Italian-made CV-33 ultralight tanks and Russian-made T-26 tanks are coming straight here!

"They didn't shell first?"

"Run! They're trying to sneak attack! ”

The frightened duo ran away, shooting into the air as they retreated.

As they ran, they were so tired that they couldn't breathe, but suddenly they saw three soldiers in different military uniforms and two motorcycles parked next to them.

A black-and-gray jacket, a hammer-compass shaped cockade, and a Steyr MP34 submachine gun, this is a group of the second platoon of the armored reconnaissance company to which the Red Eagle Regiment belongs.

Obviously, the language barrier between the two sides, and the chatter and gestures finally figured out the current situation.

"Tank!" An exempt soldier suddenly pointed northwest and shouted the word panzer.

A few people followed the sound, and they could vaguely see rows of tanks in the thin morning mist that was about to dissipate in the distance.

The junior non-commissioned officer who led the team put down the binoculars, pulled out his flare gun and loaded it with an orange flare, which was fired into the sky, followed by a red one.

Orange means to spot enemy troops; Red indicates that the enemy is in an offensive position and is entering the alert area.

Although the three Germans remained calm, the two militiamen were a little unable to sit still.

After a while, when the last wisps of mist cleared, the roar of tank engines could be heard from behind.

Tanks painted with a distinctive dark gray paint appeared, and the Iron Cross was very conspicuous; The turret hatch of each tank was open, and the commanders wore headphones, half exposed, constantly communicating with each other through gestures and radios.

Immediately, they spread out in a two-way column to both sides, turned into a horizontal line, and slowly stopped.

"Enemy armored vehicles, eleven o'clock direction! Get ready for battle! ”

One by one, the commanders retracted into the turret and closed the hatch.

The four II command tanks of the company that were originally at the front of the line stood still, while four platoons of 20 Type II B tanks drove forward, lined up in a line.

In this way, just a few minutes later, the first tank battle in history broke out 4.3 km northwest of the university town of Madrid.

The Fiat CV-33, which weighs just over three tons, is so weak in firepower and armor that it poses little threat with only machine guns.

"No waste of firepower! Don't shoot those little things! The captain in the command car ordered loudly.

How could the Fiat CV-33 be like a toy car at the moment, and the 6.5mm heavy machine gun on board could penetrate the frontal armor of the No. II tank?

However, the T-26 is quite ferocious in terms of firepower, and the 45mm long-barreled cannon can be proud of all opponents in this era.

"Boom!"

At a distance of less than 600 meters, a 45mm armor-piercing shell easily pierced the turret of a tank II, penetrating the armor and exploding inside!

This UBR-243 type shell is actually an APHEBC, that is, an armor-piercing high-explosive shell with a small amount of explosives inside the warhead.

The Type II B tank, numbered 112, immediately stopped, and there was no movement, only wisps of blue or black smoke drifting out of the gaps, and the flesh and blood of the tankmen fused with steel.

(End of chapter)