The confused soldier quickly caught up with Zhou Changfeng and his party, and then conveyed the sentence as it was.

For a moment, Miller, Chrétien, and several staff officers all looked at Zhou Changfeng in unison, magical and a little strange.

Chrétien smiled slightly, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Xia, always remember that a man who knows romance will never lack the love of girls, but that is just entertainment, if you want to enter the palace of marriage, you must be steady." You should explain the situation to your fiancée before you come here. ”

At this moment, Zhou Changfeng, who was speechless, could not hear such words, he felt that he was definitely full of black lines now!

No, why did Xia Xiaoshi come all the way over? Wouldn't that be exposed?

He then went outside a tent next to him, and the two "reporters" were brought over.

As soon as one of them met, he reluctantly bowed his hand and said: "Chief Zhou, you are really a living ancestor, if this self-talking and leaving thing is shaken out, it will cause a big mess." ”

As soon as these words came out, Zhou Changfeng naturally understood that the point of the matter was that his whereabouts had been detected!

He looked left and right at the two of them and asked, "Who are you?" Outside the factory? ”

The other person smiled and sighed: "You should be glad that we are not from other factories, the outside world has not found any clues, it is the princess who thinks that you are suddenly infected with a strange disease, so she checked it, so she ......"

Outrageous! What's the matter with the woman? Everyone else didn't care, why was she found out?

After thinking about it, Zhou Changfeng felt that this could only be attributed to her understanding of medicine and having been secretly spying on herself.

"......" he took a deep breath and asked, "What did she say?" ”

"I don't know, we haven't repaid it yet."

"Is there anything else to explain?"

"Uh... Not really, we went to several brigades to make sure you weren't there. Now... Naturally, it is better to go back quickly, otherwise if other people in the outside world inadvertently find out, it will be a big trouble. ”

But to be honest, Zhou Changfeng felt that if it was really discovered, the Military Justice Department of the Ministry of War would be amused when he was sentenced to a fault.

There are only two corresponding main crimes in the military law of the Ming Dynasty, either mutiny or absconding, but because the international brigade is not the army of a certain country, but an international volunteer organization, and it is not hostile to the Ming Dynasty, the crime of mutiny is not established.

Therefore, it can only be sentenced to absconding, and the crime of absconding by soldiers is divided into three degrees:

The first class is peacetime, without tasks, with fifty rods and one year in prison;

The second class is also usual, but performing routine tasks, such as maintaining public order and stability, suppressing bandits, etc., will be punished with fifty rods and three years in prison;

The third class is wartime, with 80 rods and five years of detention, that is, being confiscated into the army instead of being imprisoned. At the same time, it continues to be subdivided, and if it escapes in front-line combat, it will be 100 rods and eight years of detention. If the consequences are serious, the penalty can be met.

It is estimated that the inquisitors are speechless - other people abscond because they are afraid of death and suffering, and it is really a rare thing to lie about being sick and absconding to other battlefields.

According to the written law, it is basically to be sentenced according to the second class, take dozens of sticks, and then experience free accommodation for a few years.

At that time, it depends on whether the war has begun, and once the war starts, with the start of large-scale military expansion, he will still be transferred to a front-line unit.

No matter how bad it is, that is, they will be transferred to idle posts for a period of time, and when the number of divisions is expanded by several hundred during the war, or after a basket of regiment commanders and brigade commanders die on the front line, all kinds of experienced and qualified officers will be thrown to the front line.

It is not uncommon in history to see cases of prisoners confiscating the army, making meritorious contributions to crimes, and wearing shackles.

As for the question of the nature of politics, that is secondary, and the Ming Dynasty's management of this aspect... It is difficult to explain in a word, and it is required that officers cannot join any party faction, and no one cares what party or faction it was before, and it is enough to quit.

But this is actually a laissez-faire, and all kinds of trends of thought between the government and the opposition are dancing wildly in a group of demons, with everything on the left, center, and right, and they can't be managed even if they want to.

"You shouldn't know the situation here, there will be a big war soon, and I can't leave even if I want to." Circumference shrugged.

"But... Can ......"

One of them didn't know what to say, but the other interrupted him and said seriously: "I don't know when someone in the outside world will notice it, and it may not be discovered for a few days or months." Chief Zhou has to weigh it well, if it happens, I'm afraid he will go to prison. ”

"I'll leave when this battle is over." Zhou Changfeng said with a disgusted face: "This ghost place in Spain looks at me and is incurable." ”

You're a bit of a contradiction, aren't you?

"Then why didn't you leave early?" The man was speechless, and hesitated, "You... Put aside this to make a fuss, and timely stop loss is the hard reason. ”

"Of course I can walk away on my own." Zhou Changfeng sighed, stretched out his index finger and pointed around him, and said with a wry smile: "There are a bunch of ambitious guys here, but they haven't realized that the mud of the Franco's Mansion can't support the wall. ”

"It's... What does it have to do with you staying? ”

"It's simple, when this battle is over, we should evacuate this place. It's a few to die less, and I'm not at ease if someone else is in charge, and it can be regarded as a beginning and an end. ”

Hearing him explain like this, although the two had a stomach full of words to say, they finally swallowed it.

Hey, people with personalities are indeed unusual, and they can't be persuaded to slip away.

They immediately took their leave, and immediately set off for their return, intending to send a telegram to the consulate in Toulouse when they reached the big city in the rear.

On the front-line position, several soldiers chatted and filled sacks with shovels and sand; Someone next to him was holding a cigarette and shouting who had a match or a lighter.

Zhou Changfeng, who looked calm, looked at such a scene and was slightly distracted, these people from all over the world obviously have their own lives, but they are willing to come thousands of miles and overcome all difficulties for the "enemy" they have never met, and throw themselves into the highly dangerous battlefield.

According to statistics, only a staggering 7% of Intercontinental volunteers are able to leave Spain unscathed.

Even without taking into account the wounded, the rate of pure death was as high as 30 percent, which was an exaggerated figure in the thirties.

Later generations have received mixed reviews of them, with some looking up to them as great and noble role models for humanity, while others see them as a group of lifeless sacrifices in pursuit of illusory ideals.

Whether it is right or wrong involves everyone's position and concept, and I am afraid it is difficult to truly evaluate them fairly. This is history, and everyone has a different view of the same thing.

But in any case, the actions of the Intercontinental Brigade are destined to leave a strong mark on the monument of human history.

On the eve of the clouds and the darkness of the city, a group of people, with the ideal of defending basic rights, discarded their own contradictions and prejudices, overcame many obstacles, and came to the war-torn Iberian Peninsula to participate in a doomed war.

"After the ideal is shattered by reality, such behavior will be rare again, and self-interest will be the first thing after all."

Zhou Changfeng exhaled a smoke ring, stared at it and slowly dissipated, then snuffed out the cigarette butt.

The contradictions accumulated in Spain for hundreds of years are irreconcilable and are bound to undergo a complete baptism, but the republican government, which is full of infighting and chaos, cannot be sustained.

It had been a succession of defeats before, but now with the support of the International Brigade and the Red Eagle Legion, and the purchase of a huge amount of ordnance, it was not easy to stabilize the situation, and as a result, a strategic decisive battle was immediately about to be held.

It's like a gambler who has finally filled the hole, and now he is holding the only chips and planning to stud.

Obviously, it is unlikely to win, and even a draw is unlikely, and Zhou Changfeng is pessimistic about it.

Looking at the international situation, the Anglo-French Committee on Non-Interference has been trying its best to mediate, and in the past few months, Berlin has been somewhat shaken.

I'm afraid it won't be long before the Intercontinental Brigade and the Red Eagle Legion will be ordered to evacuate.

Britain and France are now eyeing that they will soon recognize the Nationalist Army as the legitimate regime in the event of a clear strategic imbalance between the two sides, or in other words, as long as the Nationalist Army has a superior military advantage.

Therefore, Zhou Changfeng can basically assert the direction of Spain, and when this decisive battle comes to an end, he will immediately get out of this smoky ghost place.

This is the first time he has experienced a large-scale battle of hundreds of thousands of troops, and it is expected that both sides will spare no effort to put in all the hole cards they have.

It can be said that this will certainly be a magnificent modern land and air war, and it will also be the first time in human history.

Zhou Changfeng is looking forward to it, hoping to learn from it and accumulate some useful lessons.

Interestingly, according to a briefing issued by the International Brigade Command, the new combat units and weapons and equipment of the Red Eagle Regiment a month ago have been refurbished and can be put into battle on time.

The aviation forces received more than two dozen of the latest Bf-109C fighters, thirty Ju-87A "Stuka" dive bombers, twelve He-111B bombers, which made their debut.

The ground forces also received a number of III tanks, a dozen each of Type A and Type B, a total of thirty-one, and the Germans finally had tanks with a total combat weight of more than 15t.

As the clouds of the decisive battle approached, the headquarters of the Republican Army suddenly turned out of its own and handed over the last batch of ordnance delivered to Barcelona by the Ming Dynasty, including 30 Type 26 light tanks.

The International Brigade organized them into two 15-vehicle tank companies, which were immediately engaged in intensive training day and night.

The 101st and 102nd Tank Companies were sent to the front line after completing their initial training, and it was planned to continue training after they were attached to combat units, so that they could participate in the battle at any time.

Perhaps because the 50th Brigade was now at the forefront, the 102nd Tank Company was attached to it, along with 300 reinforcements.

It seems that the battle will start at any time, but in fact, everyone knows that there will be a period of gambling in the future.

After all, it is impossible to start a battle at this level as soon as it comes up, and it will take ten days and half a month to fight at the tactical level, the adjustment at the campaign level, and the game at the strategic level.

Both sides are successively moving their heavy military groups to this area, one south and one north, bounded by the Tejo River, with a confrontation area of up to 200 kilometers, and Talavera is the key to it, which happens to be at the central point.

Throughout early June, a steady stream of various information was fed back to the brigade headquarters, and Zhou Changfeng had been pondering the current situation.

According to the telecommunications reconnaissance, the enemy prisoners captured by the patrol team, and other factors, he was surprised to find that the 26th Infantry Division of the Italian Army had also been transferred?

This made him suddenly interested - wasn't that arrogant and stupid Enrique from the 26th Division? Is this a door-to-door delivery?

June 10, morning, sunny, hot, windless.

In front of a bank north of downtown Talavera, a black Alfa Romeo sedan slowly stopped.

Major General Antonio, commander of the 26th Infantry Division of the Royal Italian Army, got out of the car, took off his white gloves, took the map handed over by the adjutant, and quickly glanced at it.

Unlike the usual high-ranking Italian generals, Antonio was a very particular man, and he believed that in any situation he should face the public with the most dignified military appearance.

The romantic, often fashion-oriented Italians are commendable when it comes to designing clothes, at the very least, the tailor-made, well-cut general's gowns are very straight, the brim of the large-brimmed hat is spotlessly polished, and the long riding boots on the feet are shiny.

"The intelligence is too scarce, imperfect, too vague, it is not enough to rely only on aircraft reconnaissance, until now, you have not even figured out the main firepower and defense line of the other side, is this how you Spaniards treat the war?"

Antonio's evaluation made the commander of the 96th Brigade of the National Army and all the officers embarrassed.

Come on! We don't have a corpse vegetarian meal, so it's not easy to deal with this face-to-face opponent. In the past 10 days, the reconnaissance units dispatched have been small groups of a few people to large detachments of several dozen people, and there have been very few successes.

Obviously, the Italians did not want to listen to their explanations, or rather, it did not make sense.

This is war, how can you be blinded? There are no basic reconnaissance results, what kind of battle is there to fight?

Antonio then ordered his staff officers to draw up a reconnaissance plan, organize the reconnaissance units of the 26th Division to cross the river to reconnoitre, and find out the deployment on the south bank of the Tejo River.

The next day, at dusk.

Today, for the first time, the air forces of the Italian and Nationalist armies bombed the defensive areas of the 50th Brigade; At the same time, supply depots, roads, and bridges in depth were also subjected to air strikes.

Before the end of the war, the logistics supply was hit first, and both ancient and modern wars actually followed a similar core - paralyzing the opponent's supply lines.

Zhou Changfeng, who was in the reinforcement shelter department, looked at the dense numbers of the combat units on both sides on the sand table, and he imagined in his mind the possible deployment and the corresponding impact.

“…… Seven people were killed, 33 were injured, and 10 more were expected to die within 24 hours, given the severity of some injuries. Miller reported in a deep voice the damage from the airstrikes.

Zhou Chang didn't raise his head, but calmly replied: "Apply for air defense units to reinforce again." ”

"Yes."

It's not the first time I've applied, and I can't even remember how many times, but I haven't responded positively every time.

When the encoded electromagnetic waves are emitted, it is seven kilometers downstream of the Tejo River......

(End of chapter)