November 15, Republic 2777 (1936), Hanjing.

"Mr. Wen, our volunteers from the People's Revolutionary Federation have arrived safely in Barcelona today...... "Chief of General Staff Xin Jie reported to Wen Desi.

"Very good, then let them act according to the original plan...... Wen Desi nodded, and said with a smile: "Tell Yang Ning that their main task this time is to test weapons and tactics, and advertise our weapons, not to sell their lives to the Spaniards." You must control the pace of the war and don't go too far. The Republicans are all mud that can't hold up the wall, and we are paying to do things, not to volunteer......"

"Yes, Mr. Wen, our main purpose this time is to make money, hahaha......" Xin Jie said with a smile.

Spain is also a non-stop country, since the beginning of this century, Spain's long-standing monarchy began to crumble, the republicans continued to make trouble, and King Alfonso XIII tried to reform and achieved some results. During World War I, Alfonso XIII remained neutral and avoided Spain's involvement in the war, and later began to support the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera, which led to the revolution in declining Spain, and Alfonso XIII, who could not afford to maintain it, had to abdicate on May 5, 1931, and fled to Italy.

After the abdication of Alfonso XIII, the republicans came to power, and in the same year the Second Spanish Republic was established. But the new government was doomed from the outset to be short-lived. Because this government did not have the basic ideas that everyone agreed on from the beginning, Spanish society at that time was divided into two groups: the left wing favored public ownership, and the right wing favored private ownership; the left wing was more tolerant of regional autonomy, and the right wing demanded a "united Spain"; Catholicism was the object of rejection by the left wing, but it was a part of the life of the right wing. The extreme left has anarchic tendencies, and the right demands social order. And it divided the population half-to-half.

After the republican government came to power in 1931, it began to carry out drastic changes in society, implementing land reform and religious reform. Spain is a Catholic country, and the schools are almost exclusively ecclesiastical, and these schools have been forcibly disbanded. In addition, the implementation of disarmament, the closure of military schools, the restriction of religious missions, and other acts of forceful interference in Catholicism, these measures aroused the resentment of landlords and military generals, and also laid the seeds for the civil war.

This was followed by a right-wing revolt against Catalan autonomy, which was suppressed by the left-wing government. The agrarian policy did not work, and the anarchist peasants in the south announced the formation of communist communes, which were also suppressed. The Spanish Republic was increasingly divided and polarized politically, while centrist parties were in decline amid scandals and power struggles.

In 1933, the Left United Front collapsed before the election, and the Right Alliance won the election. So the right flank began to counterattack, and it was another lively one. At this time, the contradiction between the left and right forces in Spain was completely irreconcilable, and whether it was that side came to power, it was a complete negation of the other side. Basically, "I support what the other side opposes, and I oppose what the other side supports."

This year, the Popular Front, organized by the Spanish Communist Party, the Republican Party, the Socialist Party, and the General League of Workers, won the general election, and the domestic political conflict intensified, with armed fights, assassinations, and strikes on a daily basis. It is more difficult for a left-wing government to control the unrest than a right-wing government, which emphasizes order. So the right-wing parties demanded that the former prime minister declare martial law and not hand over power in order to prevent the country from falling into anarchy. General Franco, a strongman in military circles, also advocated martial law throughout the country, which was rejected by the former prime minister.

After the right-wing government obeyed the election results and handed over power to the left according to the procedure, the situation spiraled out of control. The problem lies on the left, where the people demand a more leftist policy and "go it alone" if they are not satisfied, and it is difficult for the left-wing government to make up its mind to crack down on the people who have pushed themselves to power. Riots broke out in prisons, and the impotent government granted amnesty to riot prisoners without parliamentary approval, adding to the unrest in the streets. The land was divided among the peasants in a looting manner, but the government issued a special announcement to approve it. As a result, the right-wing masses formed Falangist mass organizations to confront left-wing civil organizations, and the situation also got out of control. Only four months after the left-wing government came to power, it was recorded that "161 churches were burned, 269 people died, 1,287 were injured, 213 were murdered, 113 general strikes, 228 partial strikes and 146 bomb throws".

After several years of tearing each other apart between the left and right wingers, I now feel that petty fights are not enjoyable, and that a good fight will not solve the problem. The attacks of the left and right wingers, the failure of government reforms, and the dissatisfaction of the old forces and religious figures led to the confrontation in the long run, and finally the Spanish Civil War finally broke out in mid-May this year (two months earlier than the original time and space), which was also a general outbreak of various social contradictions in Spain.

On May 5, 1936, the Spanish colonial forces in Morocco and the Canary Islands rebelled at the instigation of generals Franco and Emilio Mora. The riots quickly spread to the local cities of Cádiz, Seville, Zaragoza, Burgos, etc., and right-wing parties responded one after another. Most of the army and air force units (about 120,000 people), as well as the Moroccan "Foreign Legion", took part in the rebellion.

Taking advantage of the government's hesitation, the rebels quickly occupied Spanish Morocco, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and the northern and southwestern provinces of the Spanish mainland, and on May 20 established the "National Defense Ruling Council" in Burgos, in an attempt to flank Madrid from the north and south, and then seize power throughout the country.

At this time, the international community's response to the Spanish Civil War was divided into three factions, Germany, Italy, and Portugal supported Franco, while the Soviet Union, Hungary and other countries supported the republican government. In the end, the United States, Britain, France and other countries are left, they are dealing with the economic depression at home, and they are not interested in paying attention to this matter, but these are not neutral countries, they are also tendentious, and the difference between them and the Soviet Union and Germany is that they only did not end up directly. For example, the United States is selling supplies and arms to both warring sides at the same time, making a lot of war money.

China did not take sides at first, but appealed to other countries to remain neutral in the League of Nations and tried to mediate between the Spanish forces, but with great success. Well, this is just a superficial effort to gain prestige, but Wen Deji has already seen through everything, and he knows that this civil war will not stop at all until one side is completely defeated. Privately, they are still selling supplies and arms, earning money from the left and the right.

However, after seeing that Germany and the Soviet Union were gone, China ceased to remain neutral and began to provide assistance to the republican government.

According to the standards of the general government, the republican government of Spain is a group of people who are comic for left-hand sticks. These people are all ultra-left lunatics, and they are more ruthless than their enemies. The most important thing is that they still do not forget to fight among themselves in the current situation of the great enemy. It would have been impossible for him to help them if he had done so. But let's not forget that Mr. Wen is also a businessman.

"That's right, the Spanish republican government is a bunch of left-hand sticks. I hate the left stick, but I don't hate the gold of the left stick! it's just business......" Wen Deji had a meaningful smile on his face.

The greatest advantage of the republican government in the civil war was that the national gold reserves were in their hands, and Spain was the sixth largest gold reserve in the world, with a total of more than 800 tons. In other words, the republican government has more than 800 tons of gold in its hands, not counting the private gold they looted during the murder of right-wingers and the infighting, and the most conservative estimate is thousands of tons.

Such a large sum of gold, in the history of the original time and space, was earned by the Soviet Union more than half. Stalin was not an idealist, he was much like Wendehei, he was a very realistic person. He will come to the aid of the republican government, not for the sake of doctrine, but for the sake of gold. This can be seen from the fact that the Soviet Union sold weapons and materials to the Spanish government, and demanded that all gold be paid as payment. There is also an inexplicable reason, which is to send those left sticks in the Soviet Union to Spain to be consumed. That's right, Stalin was also a person who hated the left stick very much, and during his time in power, the left stick could not get ahead, either in labor reform or was marginalized.

Of course, China has the same purpose, it's all business. Such a large sum of gold is too eye-catching, and Mr. Wen is not willing to let the bearded man make too much money, so easily. As a result, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, China was open to selling weapons to the republican government, and also demanded that the other side pay for the goods in gold.

So far, relying on various weapons, medicines and supplies, China has earned 87 tons of gold from Spain, and this money can already build three Yamato-class ships. However, this little income is not enough for Mr. Wen to be satisfied, you must know that the Soviet Union in the original time and space earned 400 tons of gold during the Spanish Civil War.

However, if you want to make more gold, you have to play on your own, and the Soviet Union also went into battle shirtless to get that Spanish gold reserve. The Spanish republican government is a heap of sticks, but it is not a fool, and if China does not show clear support, how can they be willing to hand over the gold?

As a result, China began to unequivocally support the Spanish republican government, and also promised to send a volunteer army of no less than 50,000 people to help the republican government put down the rebellion. After this expression, the Spanish government was happy, and in September they happily secretly transported 320 tons of gold to China, on the one hand, as payment for the purchase of weapons and materials, and on the other hand, it meant that the war was entrusted to the safekeeping. Of course, they didn't put all the gold in China, the Soviet Union got 180 tons, and Britain and France got 30 tons each.

Of course, the Chinese volunteer army is not really going to help, the main purpose is to conduct actual combat tests of some new weapons, as well as to advertise some export versions of weapons through actual combat. In other words, Spain was used as a weapons testing ground and advertising shooting ground. This kind of good thing that others spend money to let themselves test weapons, how could Mr. Wen miss it?

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18 November, Barcelona.

Barcelona was in the hands of Franco's National Army a few months ago, but they were kicked out before their butts were hot.

Immediately after the right-wing rebellion broke out, the Spanish left-wing masses immediately responded to the call of the Popular Front and took up arms to defend the regime, and within two days a total of 300,000 people had signed up for the militia, the People's Guard. Rebellions in large and medium-sized cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga and Bilbao were quickly quelled. The right-wing National Army controlled only Andalusia in the south and Galicia, Navarre, and Old Castile in the north.

The left-wing IRA, on the other hand, controlled all industrial and political centers, major ports, communication arteries, and important agricultural areas. At the same time, they are the legitimate government and have thousands of tons of national gold reserves. If you look at it this way, the republican government has a completely overwhelming advantage, with land, money, and righteous reputation, it seems impossible to lose.

But in the history of the original plane, they just lost, lost to Franco, who had no money, no territory, and no reputation. With a good hand full of cards but losing panties, you can imagine how wasteful this gang is. Still, at least for now, it looks like they're still in the upper hand.

At this time, in the headquarters of the People's Revolutionary Union Volunteer Army, a group of People's Revolutionary Union officers were discussing the current situation in Spain.

"Guys, I think we'll be back in three months at most......" Major-General Yamashita Fumi, a senior officer of the Volunteer Army from Japan, looked very confident, and said in a slightly accented Chinese: "The republican government has an absolute advantage, and the Nationalist Army has no chance at all." ”

"General Yamashita, I'm afraid not. Brigadier General Ilhan from Turkey did not approve of it, he frowned and said: "According to what I have learned in the past few days, I think the quality of the Republican Army is worrying, not so much that they are armies, but that they are civilians who take up arms, and even the militia is a little stronger than them." What's more, now that Germany and Italy are also stepping up their aid to Franco, I am absolutely sure that this war will probably last a year......"

At the beginning of these two, everyone expressed their opinions one after another, and the conference room suddenly resounded with Chinese with various tones.

Of course, the volunteers sent by China this time will not just go on their own, and at this time, the junior brother will not be on the list? Isn't it in vain that so many junior brothers have been raised? The multinational joint force, not to mention the combat effectiveness for the time being, will look tall and lofty as soon as it is said.

Therefore, the officers and soldiers of this volunteer army include all the countries in the People's Revolutionary Union, and they are all together according to the strength of the country and the distance. Japan, the strongest of the younger brothers, sent a brigade (equivalent to the Chinese brigade), Turkey, the nearest one, two regiments from Belarus and Iran, one regiment each from Afghanistan, Siam, Nepal and Arabia, one battalion each from Kurdish, Armenia, Chile and Paraguay, and Bhutan and Sikkim were so small that they sent some logisticians.

China, as the leader of the alliance, naturally produced the most people, a whole division. The Ninth Mechanized Infantry Division has all changed its body and has become a volunteer army, and the division commander, Lieutenant General Yang Ning, is naturally also the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.

Seeing the little brothers arguing, Yang Ning knocked on the table and said, "Everyone, you seem to have made a mistake. We came this time mainly to do our own business, not necessarily to help them win, and it doesn't matter how long the Spaniards will fight. ”