Brett is right that Talavera, Madrid's gateway to the southwest, is now in a standoff.

If you can get it back... Or even if it is just a blow, it can relieve a lot of pressure in the direction of Madrid.

However, the Republican Army is now in the process of large-scale expansion, and there are not many troops that can actually be mobilized to participate in the war, and it is impossible to take the risk of mobilizing strategic reserves for this purpose.

The headquarters had originally planned to send the international column to the southern front shortly afterward, and the smaller unit of the 50th Brigade seemed a little inferior -

Let's say it's a lot, it's essentially just a regimental unit; Let's say it's less, the morale is high, the officers have a lot of experience, but the actual combat strength is much higher than that of a regiment.

This makes it ideal for a tentative offensive that would surprise the enemy in the direction of Talavera and may even cause miscalculations between the Nationalists and the Italians.

Zhou Changfeng told Schroeder about his intentions, and the latter was rather surprised.

"Xia, is this the wisdom of war in the Chinese style? I think this is a very risky move, you lack the necessary heavy weapons, and you will not be much more effective than the militia units in the plains. ”

"No, Commander, this is not a military adventure, this is a serious military operation."

"In my opinion, light infantry is not suitable for fighting in the plains." Schroeder's beard curled up as he spoke, "Mountains and hills are where they should be." ”

"That's right." Zhou Changfeng said solemnly: "Therefore, I will try to make my troops heavy enough to adapt to future battles." ”

"And where are you going to get heavy weapons?"

"Talavera. There was only one brigade of the rebels being reorganized, and a regimental battle group of the Italian army. ”

After a long time of talking, Schroeder was finally persuaded by Zhou Changfeng and reluctantly agreed to this idea, which seemed to him to be a weak attack on a strong one.

After submitting the application to take the initiative, the command of the Republican Army was naturally overjoyed.

I am worried that there are no additional troops to attract the enemy troops besieging Madrid, isn't this sleepy to send pillows?

Zhou Changfeng was also unambiguous, saying that it would take another month and a half of training time, and at the same time, he lacked heavy weapons, and asked for as many artillery pieces as possible.

The IRA command behaved in a difficult way, dragging its feet for a long time before reluctantly agreeing to hand over a reserve arsenal in Erin.

Erin is a small city located seventy kilometers southeast of Albacete.

After obtaining the authorization, the logistics officers of the 50th Brigade immediately organized a convoy of more than 20 trucks to go and rushed over overnight to sweep it away.

However, the next day, when the excited Zhou Changfeng went to check the harvest, he once thought that he was dazzled-

2 Le.FH16 105mm howitzers? 3 Skoda M15 75mm mountain guns? 2 Schneider 75mm field guns? In addition to this, there are some 37mm infantry guns and 2-pounder QF1 bang guns.

Regardless of the old European war antiques with a variety of models, these guns are not in very good condition, and the bolts of some guns are rusty, and most of the paint is peeling off.

Zhou Changfeng, who was speechless, looked at the ensign who led the team over, "Is this from the museum?" ”

The latter reluctantly replied: "The museum will at least paint them and clean them regularly." ”

Zhou Changfeng touched one of the mountain cannons very unpleasantly, and it turned out that his hands were covered with rust and dust.

No, what kind of attitude!

In the past, the interception of weapons and equipment could shift the responsibility to the local troops along the way, but now even the command of the Republican Army has come out like this?

Zhou Changfeng almost couldn't hold back his scolding, this is really a hot face and a cold ass.

Back last winter, at the height of Madrid's crisis, the 11th International Brigade, which had just been formed and had not yet had time for basic adaptation training, received an order to go to the front.

Despite being unprepared, the 11th Brigade did not hesitate to move to the front. Once in Madrid, they rushed straight to the front and suffered as many as half of the casualties in just forty-eight hours.

The 12th International Brigade, which arrived a few days later, was also thrown into the university town of Madrid, where the fighting was fierce, and they were almost completely lost in the twenty-day battle, with a 40% casualty rate, which was almost empty.

Zhou Changfeng sent a telegram to the headquarters, asking for a batch of open-made artillery to be transferred by name, but received no reply.

Until that night, he couldn't bear it anymore and called directly, but was told that all the weapons and equipment that arrived in Barcelona from Daming had been delivered to the Republican army on the front line, and there was no retention.

Although Zhou Changfeng just had the attitude of trying it at first, he was mentally prepared for the current situation, and he still had to rely on himself after all.

Schröder, apparently also quite unhappy with the unauthorized detention of weapons and equipment that did not belong to them by the Republican Army, chose to send a telegram to Berlin condemning such outrageous acts.

But such a "small mistake" turned out to be insignificant in the big picture, and his protests received only vague answers.

The only relief was the transfer of a batch of weapons to the 50th Brigade by Schroeder's order from the reserve warehouses of the Interbrigade, including:

4 Pak35 37mm anti-tank guns, 4 Flak30 20mm anti-aircraft guns, 8 Sorotong S18-1000 20mm anti-tank guns, and 500 Type .35 anti-infantry mines.

The S-type mine is a special type of mine, also known as the jump mine, which is different from the ordinary mine that explodes on touch, and a black powder ejection pack is added under the S-type mine. When the fuse is triggered, the main body of the mine is blown up to a height of about 1.5-2m.

Due to its unique mode of action, the warhead also contains about 400 steel balls or steel rods, and its killing radius exceeds 60m, which is extremely effective, and it is nicknamed "Bouncing Betty".

It has to be said that the Germans were very talented in developing how to make things more efficient and lethal, and the S-type mine was undoubtedly quite successful, and after the end of the war, this kind of jumping mine was copied and further developed by countries around the world.

Zhou Changfeng had considered directional mines before, but he didn't think much about jumping mines, because he felt that Daming should have already had similar research, and it might even be in experiments, but it had not yet been installed.

But now that he has got the Germans, he wonders whether he should bring one back, and he can compare and refer to it to some extent, and only after trying it can he know.

Over the next month or so, the entire 50th Brigade devoted itself to intense training, and the change to the German training regulations made many officers very uncomfortable, because many of them had different ideas from the education they received.

For example, in the most basic individual bunkers, in the German army's regulations, all kinds of foxholes need to build additional back (back) walls.

That is, after digging a pit, it is necessary not only to build an earthen wall in front, but also to build a wall in the rear, which is to avoid accidental damage caused by friendly fire from the rear, which is a relatively special offensive bunker.

And that's just a microcosm.

(End of chapter)