The chaos has been exacerbated by the fact that the Spanish government has a poor state of rule over many places, with many autonomous regions and some Anarchian followers not welcoming volunteers from abroad or even paying little attention to the government.

At the same time, the same is true in the Spanish government, where there are many positions and factions, and not everyone welcomes the arrival of volunteers.

As for the large amount of weapons and equipment provided by the German Society for the International Brigade free of charge, some people were moved by this reason.

"Missing a full ten wagons of weapons?" The circumference was surprised.

Adjutant Miller enumerated without hesitation, "Yes sir, only four cannons have arrived. In total, there was a shortage of 200 rifles, 30 heavy machine guns, and 1 million rounds of ammunition. ”

It doesn't matter if you don't have a rifle, but even a little less of the heavy machine gun and the main lethal gun that are the backbone of the fire can have a significant impact on the overall combat power.

This is also a European battlefield, although the level of both sides is not high, but the intensity of the battle should not be underestimated.

Artillery's reputation as the god of war is not for nothing, and the Guide to Modern Warfare once stated that "in plain or desert terrain, artillery causes 75% of casualties; in hilly or undulating terrain, 63%; In forest or town terrain, it accounts for 50%".

And what about howitzers? And what about anti-tank guns? And what about anti-aircraft guns? Troops lacking so much heavy equipment may still be able to serve as second-line troops in Asia, but in Europe they can only be used as cannon fodder to fill in the line.

Isn't this a blatant pit man?

Zhou Changfeng, who was very dissatisfied, called the headquarters and directly questioned Schroeder about the matter.

The latter was also very helpless, telling him that this was an unauthorized move by the local troops of the Republican Army, who had secretly withheld a considerable amount of weapons and equipment, and stated that they had been temporarily borrowed because of the urgency of the war.

But obviously, this is borrowed and not repaid.

"Mr. Commander, you are an experienced general, you know very well how big the impact of the lack of heavy equipment is, I am responsible for the lives of thousands of volunteers, who came to fight the invaders, not to leave their homeland to send them to their deaths."

Schroeder on the other end of the phone sighed lightly, "Sorry boy, the gap between reality and ideals is always big." I'll try to deliver some more equipment to you, there's only so much we can do at the moment. ”

At this point, Zhou Changfeng, who had expressed his attitude, couldn't say anything more, so he could only thank him.

After hanging up the phone, he scolded the Spaniards for being unkind, and the officers next to him were also angry - we have come all the way with a lot of blood, and we still have to suffer this trouble?

Everyone is from the army of an industrial country, who is accustomed to fighting in such conditions of lack of guns and artillery?

It doesn't matter if it's tragic, no matter how tragic it is, can there be those battles in Europe? But at least you have to get all the equipment.

"These bastards, Spain is a mess under their governance, here's why!" Miller exasperated.

Miller is an American, from Virginia, who studied at the Virginia Military Academy, but did not serve after graduation, but was a reserve officer, usually working as an automotive engineer, and is now twenty-four years old, which is the age of temper.

"I don't really mind the collapse of the current government in Spain, as long as it is not ▇▇▇ elements who come to power, anything can be changed." Roald, who had not said much, said calmly.

Chrétien took a puff of his cigar, spit out a smoke ring, and said helplessly: "They lack a unified program, they are constantly infighting, and their organization is sloppy, which is quite fatal." ”

Zhou Changfeng calmed down for a moment and said slowly: "But we can't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, this is the basic principle. The thing about equipment... Wait. ”

It's really speechless to get into trouble when you first arrive.

In the following days, in addition to receiving the equipment that arrived, Zhou Changfeng has been working on adjusting the existing establishment and training regulations.

In terms of establishment, the 50th Brigade originally had three battalions, 71, 72, and 73, as well as an engineer company, a field hospital, and a battalion-level artillery group.

But this was obviously too rudimentary, so Zhou Changfeng pulled out a company of the 73rd Battalion, which lacked equipment, and changed it into a communications company; Replace the supplementary company with the reconnaissance company; The more than 130 Austrian volunteers who had just arrived were organized into anti-aircraft and anti-tank detachments.

Although a considerable part of the weapons and equipment originally allocated to the 50 Brigade was withheld, the remaining amount was still quite large, including:

1,800 Mauser Kar98k rifles, 200 Steyr MP34 submachine guns, 120 MG13 light machine guns, 30 MG34 general-purpose machine guns, 20 GrW34 80mm mortars, 4 FK16 75mm field guns.

In addition, there are 2,000 M35 steel helmets, 2,000 M30 gas masks, as well as some gasoline generators, Atsc33 telephones, radio stations and other technical equipment.

It can be said that the light weapons and equipment are very good, and they can even be called luxurious.

The submachine gun of this year is not an iron shell that uses stamping technology, but the product of a practical cutting process, and the receiver and bolt of MP34 are milled, sharpened and drilled out of high-quality steel little by little, with excellent texture.

The MG34 is a direct reflection of German craftsmanship, which is almost equivalent to cutting several pieces of steel weighing up to 50 kg into the main parts, and it takes more than 150 man-hours to manufacture it.

The Germans were willing to provide these expensive new weapons for free, instead of prevaricating with the old water-cooled heavy machine gun MG08?

But... Light weapons are so cutting-edge, why do heavy weapons pull their hips?

You must know that the FK16 75mm field gun is remodeled from the old gadgets of the European war, compared with the cutting-edge Le.FH18 105mm howitzer.

[Historically, in order to circumvent the contract, the Germans covered up the development of weapons, and set the number of many new weapons at 18, thus pretending to be a product of the European war. We do not change it so as not to interfere with understanding. 】

The artillery group, which was originally made of twelve, now has only four guns, or a three-inch light artillery, what can this do?

The lack of heavy equipment made Zhou Changfeng quite anxious, and after thinking about it, he was disappointed in the Republican Army a little more.

Heard that several factions have been engaged in a fierce power struggle lately? Even on the outskirts of the provisional capital Valencia, there were egregious incidents of blatant attacks?

These Spaniards, who can't hold up the wall in the mud, can't count on it, and now they can only rely on themselves.

Zhou Changfeng, who was in a bad mood, left the office of the villa and walked to the outer station for a walk.

As he walked, he saw a group of young warriors gathering around a middle-aged man with great interest, who was chanting something aloud.

After questioning, he learned that this middle-aged man was a writer and poet from the United States, and that everyone was now listening to him read his works with great interest.

"Isn't the United States forbidding citizens to come to Spain? How did you get here? Zhou Changfeng asked curiously.

The middle-aged man replied disappreciatively, "But the trade did not stop, I hid in the cargo hold of the ship, and I arrived in five days." ”

just 5 days？？？

At this time, someone next to him was not to be outdone: "In order to leave Russia, I was directly under the train carriage at that time." ”

A young Frenchman sighed and said in a deep voice, "You have at least made it there." Half a month ago, while crossing the Pyrenees, my good friend fell off a cliff......"

(End of chapter)