The division commander Sakarov witnessed the whole process in the artillery mirror, and the commander of the 30th Regiment, who had just said triumphantly that "a breakthrough will definitely be achieved this time," was very embarrassed.

He hesitated, "They... How dare they shell indiscriminately?! ”

The scene just now made Sakalov's thoughts drift back to more than ten years ago, and after a while, he said leisurely: "Fortunately, there are not many such people." The rest of the Spaniards were just a bunch of guys who were busy fighting infighting. ”

At this point, the Tsarist Russian intervention army has basically run out of sharpness, and the two brigades and four regiments have suffered varying degrees of losses and need to rest for a while.

For the volunteers who still stubbornly held their ground in the face of such a ferocious offensive, the entire 8th Infantry Division had turned from initial doubt to fear—their tenacity seemed to have surpassed the scope of normal people.

Despite their bruises and rags, they used all their weapons and means to resist one attack after another, and then fought to the end with the reinforcements that arrived, as if they didn't care about their own lives.

At the same time, in the command of the 50th Brigade, Zhou Changfeng asked again in a hoarse voice: "Where are the Germans?" Have you gotten in touch? ”

"It's not clear, they're still practicing radio silence." A communications staff officer replied.

At this time, a booming explosion sounded.

No one cares, everyone is used to this routine shelling.

Suddenly, a 152mm high-explosive bomb hit the command directly above the command center, and the five-kilogram TNT explosive exploded instantly, and a huge shock wave swept a radius of dozens of meters!

The brigade commanders in the command headquarters were almost all knocked to the ground, dizzy, and their ears were ringing.

Zhou Changfeng, who staggered to his feet, looked around the dusty surroundings, subconsciously took a deep breath, and was choked and coughed.

Command exposed? It couldn't be, otherwise it wouldn't have just been a shot, apparently a missed shell.

Fortunately, the headquarters of the 50th Brigade was quite strong - three partition walls were built separately; The top was covered with a section of logs, a thin layer of steel was laid on the top and bottom, and the middle was filled with mud, so that a large-caliber shell was forcedly received.

The troops that launched the counterattack in the battle plan have not been heard from so far, and although the news received yesterday that they had arrived on the battlefield at about 10 o'clock, who knows whether it will go smoothly.

It can be said that the 50 th Brigade has been completely crippled and may collapse at any time, and it is completely relying on the spirit of "the last five minutes of the decisive battle" to hang around.

Now, any one variable could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

"Sir, the D1 area has observed that enemy infantry is entering the starting position for the attack."

"What?"

Unbeknownst to Zhou Changfeng, just last night another brigade of the Nationalist Army had crossed the Tejo River, and after a few hours of hasty rest, they were thrown into battle.

At the moment, it seems that there is only one choice left in front of him, but it is undoubtedly extremely difficult.

Worried that the brigade headquarters would be wiped out by the shell just now, Chrétien hurried over, and when he saw this, he was relieved: "We have done our best, Xia, we should retreat." ”

At this moment, the sound of the plane engine suddenly reached everyone's ears.

However, the sound of air defense sirens, which should have followed, was not heard.

"Airplane!" Someone rushed into the command and shouted: "Our planes! ”

Zhou Changfeng walked out of the command headquarters, and when he looked up, he could see six planes slowly flying in a formation of three twin planes.

Single engine, inverted seagull wings, fixed landing gear, you don't have to think about it to know what they are.

He turned around and commanded, "According to standard procedure, fire smoke bombs to mark the enemy!" ”

According to several booklets of air-ground coordination printed by the Red Eagle Regiment, the artillerymen immediately fired two red smoke bombs, one on the left and one on the right, at the starting point of the enemy attack, which had just been discovered.

Six Ju-87A "Stuka" dive bombers flew over the positions of the 50th Brigade and then adjusted their course and dived towards the target in an attack formation.

The current Stuka is still an early model, and there is no "Jericho horn" capable of producing a high-pitched sound.

The Stukas who dived at a large angle dropped one after another SC-250 250kg aerial bombs, fragments flew sideways, and hundreds of Nationalist soldiers who were still preparing to attack just now fell into bad luck!

"Boom! Rumble! ”

Billowing plumes of smoke rose into the sky, and some limb fragments were blown up hundreds of meters away.

When the exhausted 50th Brigade saw this scene, they couldn't help cheering in unison.

The twelve 250kg bombs dropped by six Stuka quickly dismantled the offensive that the Nationalists were about to launch.

At 9:49 a.m., a dozen kilometers southwest of Tarawera, a company of the 8th Infantry Division of the Tsarist Russian Intervention Army, which was on alert, was subjected to an unexpected surprise attack.

After a brief artillery bombardment, dozens of tanks III, II, and I rushed in a wedge-shaped formation, followed by thousands of motorized infantry.

The frontal width of their attack was more than a thousand meters, and in the face of the rolling torrent of steel, more than 100 Russian troops were almost helpless, and the position was easily broken through by the Red Eagle Legion.

After several days of attacking, the Russian Intervention Army, the Italian Intervention Army, and the Spanish National Army were exhausted, and only part of the other units in rotation had arrived.

The Germans, who had pinched the time, were like a punch to a sleepy man, and the armored battalion and motorized infantry regiment began to boldly break through in depth, without any regard for their own side behind enemy lines.

On a front about 30 kilometers wide, the Red Eagle Regiment launched a large-scale attack on the enemy forces on the south bank of the Tejo River with the 11th Intercontinental Brigade on the right, the 105th Intercontinental Brigade on the left, and the 14th Division of the Republican Army behind.

Several lines of defense of the 8th Infantry Division of the Russian Army were like hastily built wooden sheds, which were torn apart by a kick.

In just a few hours, the Red Eagle Legion completely penetrated a depth of more than ten kilometers and reached the banks of the Tejo River in one go, splitting the Tsarist Russian intervention army and the Spanish National Army here.

The two intercontinental brigades that came in surging also stormed, and all the defense lines were in a hurry for a while.

Due south, the 32nd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division of the Russian Army was attacked by the 11th International Brigade, which was basically composed of volunteers from Tsarist Russia.

Hence the ironic scene - two Russian armies fought fiercely on Spanish soil.

Later, the tankmen of the Red Eagle Legion encountered an unseen opponent - the T-35, a multi-turret heavy tank with five turrets, frontal armor up to 50mm thick, and a total combat weight of more than fifty tons.

These bulky creatures had been transported across the river from the north bank by the Russians with great difficulty, and were intended to be used for a later attack, but their first battle was to help stabilize the crumbling position.

The multi-turret nature offset the tactical superiority of the Germans, and three T-35s and eight T-26s worked closely together to repel two sieges by the tank battalions of the Red Eagle Regiment, and the motorized infantry regiment fired at them with Pak35 anti-tank guns.

Seeing that there was a possibility that the torn hole could be sewn shut, the commander, Colonel Felix, was very anxious, because his plane had just left, and now it seemed that there was nothing to do?

At this time, he suddenly saw a heavy anti-aircraft artillery company being deployed on the spot not far away, so he didn't care about it, and immediately ordered them to rush to the front line to support.

In order to prevent these bulky, tall anti-aircraft guns from being discovered by the enemy when they were deployed, the Germans placed dozens of smoke canisters on a front of about one kilometer to obscure the view.

Braving stray bullets flying from time to time, the NAG900 heavy truck dragged the Flak36 88mm anti-aircraft gun to a place only a kilometer and a half away from the enemy's forward position.

When the clouds of smoke gradually dissipated, the Russian army was surprised to find that four artillery pieces suddenly appeared on the opposite side?

"Boom!"

An 88mm PzGr tracer projectile flew out of the muzzle at a speed of more than 800 meters per second, marking a distinct white light in midair.

Two seconds later, the shell hit one of the T-35s with precision, and the 50mm armor was easily pierced, burrowing into the interior and exploding the ammunition that had accumulated inside.

The T-35 seemed to be lit fireworks, spitting flames in all directions, and the turret was flown a few meters away......

"The situation is good, Xia, the Russians and Spaniards have shrunk their lines, it looks like several units have been divided, now it's their turn to be beaten!"

At the headquarters of the 50th Brigade, Blake called to report on the changes in the situation that had now been observed.

Now, the offensive and defensive forces are out of shape.

Glancing at the map again, Zhou Changfeng felt that the string that was tight in his heart was finally loosened.

He breathed a long sigh of relief and said leisurely, "It's over." ”

As he spoke, he turned and walked to the back passage, but as soon as he took two steps, he felt black in front of him and collapsed to the ground.

The sense of hearing quickly vanished, and everything fell silent, and finally he lost consciousness completely.

The military doctor who came in a hurry didn't care about the blood stains all over his body, and after the examination, he smiled while taking off the stethoscope: "He's asleep, don't disturb." ”

Contrary to stereotypes, commanding a large army is also a very tiring task, far from being as easy as strategizing and pointing a few words to the map, and it can be said to be an activity that combines both physical and mental strength.

In the past four days and three nights, Zhou Changfeng has only rested for twelve hours, of which most of them are dozens of minutes of fragmented time, and the quality of sleep can be imagined.

This night, he slept very deeply, dreamless, and when he opened his eyes, he found that he was already on the "clang" train.

A battalion of the 14th Division of the Republican Army and the 11th International Brigade took over the positions of the 50th Brigade; The 3rd Division of the Russian Army and the two brigades of the Nationalist Army in the west have been completely divided and surrounded; The 26th Italian Division to the east saw that the situation was not good, and decisively withdrew to the north bank of the Tagus River.

As expected, more than 20,000 people in the west are already on their plates, and victory in this counterattack is within reach.

Zhou Changfeng looked out of the car window for a long time, and finally sighed softly: "I'm afraid this is a victory that leads to failure." ”

In the afternoon of the next day, the 50th Brigade returned to Albacet, the place where the Intercontinental Brigade was formed.

There were more than 2,600 people at the time of departure, but now there are less than 2,000 people with light and serious wounded, and the proportion of more than 25% killed in battle is exaggerated.

The whole brigade no longer exists, and theoretically there is no need to reorganize and repair it, and disbanding it on the spot is probably the best option.

Historically, in the 13-day Hwacheon Resistance Battle, the combat attrition of the 58th Division was about 30%, and this was already quite a tragic battle.

At the command, Circumference offered his resignation to Commander Schroeder, who did not refuse.

"Thank you, you've done a miracle."

"It's not me, it's us."

Schroeder, who had a complicated gaze, stood up straight and saluted a standard hand-raising salute, and Zhou Changfeng immediately returned the salute.

After a moment's pause, he hesitated, "Tell you the truth, sir, I think the victory of this war is hopeful... It's slim. ”

Schroeder smiled and asked a question that sounded easy to answer, but difficult to answer, "Are you willing to fight in a battle that is sure to lose?" ”

Zhou Changfeng didn't hesitate, "If necessary, of course I will." ”

"A battle that must be lost may be for the sake of victory in the battle; A battle that is bound to be lost may be for the sake of victory in the war. Schroeder said calmly: "If the war is to be lost and still resist to the end... It is to defend dignity and retain a shred of the will to fight, and if it is abandoned, it means real death. ”

He was silent for a moment, then added: "Berlin has asked to stop organizing volunteers, and maybe when winter comes, the Intercontinental Brigade will evacuate Spain." ”

This is the inevitable result of the political role, and the Anglo-French Committee for Non-Interference has been exerting pressure on the German Society for most of the past six months, and its attitude and methods have become increasingly tough, and there are also differences within the German Society on this.

At the same time, the Spanish government is deliberately lowering its promotion of international travel – as an ancient, centuries-old country with a glorious history, the Spaniards have a strong sense of national pride.

Even if the original intention of the Intercontinental Brigade is noble, after all, it is a group of foreigners, and it is undoubtedly a matter of hurting the self-confidence of the nation that foreigners have been letting foreigners play the leading role in the civil war.

The day before it was disbanded and dismantled, the 50th Brigade organized a rudimentary ceremony to commemorate the unit, which had existed for just over three months.

Chrétien gave a speech in place of Zhou Changfeng, "...... We don't know what the future holds, but we have come and resisted, and we hope that the world will have a better tomorrow, without war, discrimination, and oppression. Decades from now, if we can, I think we might be able to go back to where we once fought. I would like to express my sincere thanks and blessings to everyone. ”

The three battalion flags of the 50th Brigade were all in tatters, full of bullet holes and traces of gunsmoke, and it was difficult to make out the words on them; Brigade flags are slightly better.

Blake, Chrétien, and Roald each kept the three battalion flags, while the brigade flags were given to Miller by Zhou Changfeng.

Before leaving, in addition to various notes and pamphlets from this period, he also brought with him a Type .35 jumping mine with the warhead charge removed.

In fact, he was still a little entangled in whether to take MG34 by the way, but because it was too troublesome and not very necessary, he gave up.

In the early morning of the 26th, Zhou Changfeng boarded a train to the small border town of Pucciseda.

(End of chapter)