The Red Eagle Legion is a combat unit and a training unit, what is the use of believing you?

The Spaniards are responsible for the logistics supply, and they are inefficient and chaotic like this, how can people believe it?

Zhou Changfeng glanced at this good-looking young woman, and said lightly: "Captain, the Red Eagle Legion is not responsible for supply lines and transportation tasks. ”

The latter calmly replied: "But, Mr. Commander, I have the right to supervise and provisional trial. ”

The stripe of her collar badge and the background color of her epaulettes were orange, which Zhou Changfeng knew was the color of the German military police.

Interestingly, when did the Spaniards even give this power to the Germans?

But think about it, now the Germans are the masters, although the weapons were bought back by the Spaniards with real money, but the Germans are the only ones who are so intimate and even specially sent people to help in the war.

"It looks like the Spaniards are finally realizing that they can't be effective on their own." Zhou Changfeng glanced at her deeply, and said, "Forty-eight hours, if it exceeds the time, I will directly order a retreat." ”

I don't know why, Zhou Changfeng suddenly thought of a guy named Hurd in history.

Because the Qing Customs is undoubtedly rich in oil and water, anyone who goes will make a big profit from it, but the British Hurd took office to change everything, and his unremitting efforts made the Customs and Excise Department quite efficient, creating a huge income of tens of millions of taels of silver for the Qing Dynasty every year!

Let the foreigners take care of the tariffs, humiliation is humiliation, but... It smells so good! Hurd can be said to be a proper hero of the Qing Dynasty, and his crown flower feather was not taken for nothing.

And now, the Spaniards actually allowed the Germans to "supervise the war" in disguise? It's really laughable.

"A strange guy." Captain Chrissy muttered.

Chrissy is actually a member of the German Social Security Department, and she is part of the General Investigation Directorate, but spends most of her time in the office and doesn't go out much.

Staatssicherheit means "national security", and its letter is abbreviated as Stasi, which means "Stasi".

Carrying out intelligence work against Britain, France, and Russia is the basic task of the General Investigation Bureau, and it is rare for her to carry out a field mission, so she naturally attaches great importance to it.

You must know that the Iberian Peninsula has almost become a paradise for intelligence officers - with all kinds of cutting-edge weapons and equipment appearing one after another, colleagues from various countries are hungry to collect information and information.

In order to make it easier to move around, she made up a gendarme and hung under the Red Eagle Legion.

This time it was not only because of the transmission of combat orders, but also because the commander of the 50th Brigade was a clear man, which was obviously very valuable.

But Zhou Changfeng has no intention of chatting with Chrissy at all - the battle is undecided, where does he have the leisure to talk about other things?

Due to his high concentration, Zhou Changfeng, who had not eaten for most of the day, did not feel hungry at all, and he was not relieved until he confirmed that the left flank position was finally secured.

That's when fatigue and hunger hit.

Facing Chris, who seemed to want to stay at the headquarters, he said patiently: "My unit doesn't need to supervise the battle, Captain, you'd better go to the rear to supervise those Spaniards." ”

Chrissy departed, taking off in the Fi-156 liaison plane in the setting sun, and disappeared into the darkening sky.

The sound of artillery rumbled and the gunfire continued.

Maybe in normal times, forty hours is an ordinary day that flies by in a flash, but here, countless lives fall every minute and every second.

The offensive of the 8th Division of the Russian army was almost uninterrupted and stopped, and the artillery bombarded the infantry and the infantry rushed after the artillery bombardment, and from time to time there were tanks accompanying the attack.

In charge of defending the left flank was the 71st Battalion, a large area of which had been blown beyond recognition by ferocious artillery fire, and in some places where the shells had fallen so much that the soft earth could reach the ankles as soon as it was walked.

The B3 position, which was the most heavily fought, had a total area of only two square kilometres, and the fortifications that had looked so strong before the war had long since been razed to the ground by artillery fire – civil fortifications were no match for reinforced concrete permanent fortifications.

The bodies of the dead soldiers on both sides were also blown to shreds by indiscriminate artillery fire, and Blake sent platoon after platoon of reinforcements, but often within a few hours of dead and wounded.

After dark, there were still sporadic fires burning in front of the position, large and small, the largest of which were destroyed T-26 light tanks.

Throughout the night, Russian infantry detachments constantly tried to penetrate the rear of the battle line, some of which were discovered and repulsed by the defenders, while others managed to take root in the middle of the position and became spikes stuck in the throats of the defenders.

At a quarter past two in the morning, Zhou Changfeng in the command raised his hand and glanced at his watch, deciding to sleep more or less before dawn.

When he fell asleep, hundreds of kilometers away, Real ......

As a small liaison aircraft, the Fi-156 had a cruising speed of only a few dozen miles, and it took so long for Chrissy to reach Rear, an important material transfer site for the current strategic decisive battle, where dozens of trains pass every day.

She came to the small two-story building where the supervision detachment was stationed, and the cook on duty was very enthusiastic to boil the oil for her alone.

However, before the food could be prepared, someone came to report that the transportation of a heavy anti-aircraft battery of the Red Eagle Regiment had been delayed, and the discussion was fruitless.

Chrissy got up and walked away, only to see her back disappear into the night, only to see her back disappear into the night.

After driving two blocks through the darkness of the city, she rolled over from her motorcycle and found the heavy anti-aircraft battery waiting to be loaded.

"Captain, tell me what's going on."

"Uh... We are in transit here, but the Spaniards say that there are no board cars and boxcars available for the time being. ”

Chrissy wondered a few dozen meters away at Platform 3 where a train was parked in the opposite direction.

Since it is not going to the front, it should not be an important thing, isn't it enough to split a dozen wagons? An anti-aircraft gun battery can't take up a lot of wagons.

So she took a few German gendarmes to the person in charge of the place, Major Dias, an officer of the Republican baggage unit.

When he was woken up at night, the sleepy-eyed Dias was still angry with getting up.

In the face of Chrissy's questioning, he raised his head slightly, and replied firmly: "Captain, the capacity is limited, and it is normal that there are not enough carriages, and there will be empty carriages in the morning or noon. ”

"Time is of the essence. I saw a train in the opposite direction being replenished with coal, and it was possible to call its carriages, which only required ten cars. ”

"No, it has its own transport mission."

Dias knew very well that the thirty or so wagons were filled with the property of high-ranking government officials—the decisive battle had begun, and it was natural that he would have to take away the property in his own name in several nearby cities.

"What's the transport?"

"Strategic materials, rare metals, chromium, molybdenum, ......"

Although the lights were dim, Chrissy, with the experience she had gained in her job, was keenly aware of the logistics officer's gaze.

"Nothing is more important now than war, and combat units must arrive on time."

After saying this, she walked towards platform three without hesitation, and several gendarmes followed quickly.

Dias, who was a little uneasy, tried to dissuade them, but still did not stop them.

The Republican soldiers next to them were frightened by the military police's submachine guns before they could move forward.

A gendarme took out a large plier with a long handle from his toolbox, went to a stuffy tanker, cut the chain with a "click", and then forcefully opened the door.

Chrissy picked up the flashlight and shone it inside, and her face suddenly became gloomy.

Expensive mahogany sofas, cabinets, chairs? Exquisite Chinese porcelain? A soft Persian rug?

She turned her head and asked coldly, "Is this your 'strategic material'?" ”

At this moment, Dias probably had a sense of breaking the jar after being exposed to the lie, and said angrily: "Captain, who allowed you to inspect the special cargo without permission?" There is a limit to our patience! ”

The cold Chrissy stared at him and said calmly: "I repeat my request, unload these things, and let the anti-aircraft gun company load the car." ”

"You don't have the authority to manage these things! Get out of here now......"

"Bang!"

With a face full of disbelief, Dias clutched the wound on his chest and fell to the ground, while Chrissy remained in the position of holding a PPK pistol.

She looked around and said lightly: "The Republican Army Command issued an order on the 16th, allowing the Red Eagle Regiment to have the same law enforcement rights as the Republican Military Police units. Now, I immediately execute him on three counts of dereliction of duty, deception, and maliciously delaying the deployment of combat units. I ask you to empty the wagons at once and connect them to the train facing the tracks. ”

After speaking, she saw through the corner of her eye that Dias was still not out of breath, so she shot again.

The sound of the gunfire was like a talisman, and the surrounding soldiers trembled into action, and they rushed up and began to throw down the expensive possessions in one go.

An hour and a half later, four Flak36 88mm anti-aircraft guns, more than a dozen Busin NAG900 heavy trucks, and more than 100 officers and men successfully boarded the vehicle.

With the sound of the whistle, the train headed in the direction of Talavera in the hazy night that was about to fade.

June 21, morning.

The bloody and brutal battle continued, and in addition to the 8th Division of the Russian Army, the 96th Brigade of the Nationalist Army was also engaged in the battle.

The corpses of Russians and Spaniards who had fallen in front of the battlefield were scattered all over the place, but many of them could no longer be called corpses, but only body fragments.

Under the enemy's shelling, bombardment, and charge, the soldiers of the 50th Brigade sacrificed their entire squads and platoons on their positions. The front line was in a hurry, but every time a platoon of reinforcements arrived, it would be exhausted again within a few hours, as if no matter how many reinforcements there were, there would always be only a handful of defenders left on the position.

Thirty hours of intense fighting left both sides exhausted – both the Russian intervention forces and the Spanish National Army, both of which were battled in the face of rock-solid positions.

On artillery positions, empty shells were piled up almost half-man-high hillocks, and the barrel life of many guns was exhausted.

The complex and complete multi-field defense system and the extremely tenacious will to fight deeply shocked the various units of the 50th Brigade that attacked and besieged it.

At 8:23 a.m., the countdown is two and a half hours.

The Russian 8th Infantry Division replaced the 16th Brigade, which had suffered heavy losses, and put in the 30th Infantry Regiment of the 15th Brigade, which is currently fully manned.

At the same time, the remnants of the tank battalion assigned to the 8th Division, with thirteen available T-26 light tanks, were regrouped with the intention of launching a final assault to break through the last line of defense on the left flank of the 50th Brigade.

Zhou Changfeng, whose eyes were bloodshot, stood up from in front of the artillery mirror and ordered: "Brigade headquarters company, communication company, organize reinforcement detachments to go to the D2 and D3 positions." ”

Miller, who also had a haggard face, replied in a deep voice: "Sir, they ran out of troops three hours ago. ”

Only then did Zhou Changfeng remember that he had already ordered these two units to send personnel to reinforcements in the early hours of the morning.

More than a dozen eyes from the command fell on him, and he felt his hands tremble slightly—do you need to fight to the end? If the Germans had not arrived on time, wouldn't the 50th Brigade be a futile sacrifice?

After hesitating for two seconds, he took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Field Replenishment Company, Engineer Company, Slightly Wounded...... Anyway, get forty men together to reinforce them. Gentlemen, the decisive moment is often the last five minutes. ”

The hysterical Russian soldiers shouted "Ula" and charged the last line of defense on the left flank, and the regiment divided six infantry companies into twelve echelons, rushing one round and another round.

The tanks stopped about 200 meters from their positions, firing and strafing to suppress any exposed defenders' fire.

At 8:57 a.m., a two-hour countdown.

Volunteers have just repelled another round of attacks, and dozens of Russian soldiers are retreating in disarray.

Now, there were only twelve men on the D2 position, which was more than 300 meters wide on the front, and they came from five different companies, including British, French, Americans, Canadians, Belgians, and Norwegians.

Corporal Nathan was the highest-ranking of them all, and everyone accepted his command by default.

He found the field phone pressed by a corpse and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was still usable.

"D2 call the bird's nest, please send reinforcements, there are only twelve of us left!"

"Reinforcements are being stopped by blockade artillery fire, they are trying to get through the blockade area, please hold on."

At this time, someone shouted: "The enemy army is approaching!" ”

The attacks came in waves, and the defenders had little room to breathe.

Eleven eyes fell on Nathan, and after an eerie silence, an Englishman spoke, "I don't want to be captured by these guys. ”

Nathan glanced around the crowd, and everyone nodded.

There are no superfluous words, a look, a movement is enough.

He shouted into the microphone, "A large number of enemy troops are approaching, only two hundred yards, we can't stop them!" We ask for everything available to cover the D2 area with fire! Broken Arrow! Repeat, broken arrow! ”

On the other end of the phone, Miller was stunned for a full three seconds. After a moment's pause, he said in a deep voice with red eyes, "It's an honor to work with you. ”

At the front of the D2 position, probably because there were few living people here, the Russian army didn't even bother to cover it with artillery fire before the attack.

Dressed in rags and with blood and mud on their faces, twelve volunteers from all over the world clutched their weapons and waited quietly for the final moments.

But they did not fire, because as soon as they fired, the invading enemy would surely lie down.

"Sing a song, Internationale?" A Frenchman suggested.

"No, I don't believe that." The Englishman immediately refused.

"We should pray to God." An American said.

"I disagree, I'm an atheist." The Frenchman smirked.

The infantry of the Russian intervention army had approached a distance of several tens of meters, and even their faces could be seen clearly.

The whistle sounded, and they charged in unison, armed with their bayonet-mounted Mosin Nagant rifles.

At 9:09 a.m., the countdown is one hour and fifty minutes.

"Knock-knock-"

The dull sound of artillery came from the rear of the position, it was the artillery group of the 50th Brigade firing, and the shells were about to fall in a few seconds.

Corporal Nathan suddenly thought of a word, and now there was no room for him to think more, and he cried out: "Fight for your freedom and ours!" ”

"Boom!" The first shells fell on the positions.

The other eleven were slightly stunned, and immediately shouted in unison in their native languages, English, French, and Norwegian intertwined, echoing in the broken D2 position.

Immediately afterward, a dense stream of shells rained down.

Their figures, their voices, and the seventy or eighty Russian soldiers were shrouded in the flames and smoke of the explosion.

(End of chapter)