One Hundred and Forty One Madrid Changed Hands

"Woo... woo..." Mixed with the sound of turbulent airflow, the shrill cry made the hair stand on end, and it still seemed so clear and harsh on the streets of Madrid full of gunfire. 【First release】

"Pay attention to the sky! Enemy planes!" An officer of the Republican Army pointed to the sky to remind his comrades in arms, but he was hit by a machine gun that swept over just as he showed his head, and fell face up in the trench with blood on his face. , the body is still trembling.

The Stuka swooped down to an almost right angle, and accurately dropped a bomb on the Republican Army's position. With a loud noise, rubble and broken glass splashed in all directions, mixing arms and fingers, throwing the bomb into the trench. Hordes of Republican soldiers sent to heaven.

The Stuka bomber dropped the bomb and took off to high altitude, while the anti-aircraft firepower on the ground crazily fought back at the tail of the plane, and the ammunition of various machine guns and rifles was sprayed into the sky as if they didn't need money. But what awaited them was the Spanish Air Force he-51 that covered the Stuka bombers at low altitude.

"Comrades! Pay attention to the front! Those bastards from the National Army are coming up again!" A machine gunner looked at the officer who fell beside him, helped the helmet on his head, and looked at the National Army who was coming up from the opposite side. The soldiers shouted loudly: "Let them taste our power!"

"Boom!" A gunshot rang out. Then followed by the second shot, and then the machine gun roared, and the position that had just become silent because of the bomb dropped by the Stuka immediately became noisy. The Spanish Republican Army used their flesh and blood to form an unbreakable position. .

"Hello? Is it the 2nd company? This is the battalion headquarters! Yes... yes... the position has been taken by you? Very good! Stay there! Until I give you new orders! You can arrange people to rest... ...but the position must be secured! Yes! Long live the Führer!" A battalion commander of the Grenadier Regiment of the 2nd Panzer Division of the German SS commanded the people on the other end through a walkie-talkie.

Then he put down the microphone in his hand, walked up to an officer who was sitting in his battalion headquarters looking at a map of downtown Madrid, and reported at Lizhenghui: "Lieutenant Colonel! Our army has captured the eye-catching restaurant in the fifth street." , a squad of soldiers from the 2nd company is setting up defenses around there."

"How about the losses? The enemy launched some partial counterattacks in the afternoon, and the National Army heard that 54 people were killed in battle." The SS lieutenant colonel took a sip from his water glass and asked.

"Report. Three people were killed and 19 were injured in our battalion yesterday." The battalion commander said very distressed: "To be honest, the National Army is far less brave and tenacious than the Republican Army. Their victory is entirely due to new equipment and us. "

"To be honest, we are still not used to this kind of endless war of attrition in the city. In the wild, the 2nd SS Armored Division can advance tens of kilometers or even farther every day, and the losses are negligible , but in the streets of Madrid,

The same loss can only lay down a few insignificant streets. "The lieutenant colonel officer said with a sigh.

He seemed to think of something suddenly, and asked again: "What about our hunting team? How is it doing in the city?"

"The performance of the hunting team is very good as always, and they seem to be in heaven in the city." The battalion commander mentioned the hunting team, his face improved a lot: "The report they submitted yesterday said that they killed at least 49 Republican soldiers and officers. But most of the results we can't verify."

"There is no need to take the risk of verifying these achievements. Those who lie about their achievements will die in the end, because every time they exaggerate their achievements, their superiors will send him to a more dangerous place next time." The lieutenant colonel waved his hand and smiled. He said: "That is no different from chronic suicide."

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, it is worth noting that some snipers also appeared in the Republican Army, and one of us was killed by the enemy's snipers." The battalion commander continued to report: "They learned our tactics, and they are very Quick. I think once the war turns into a war of attrition, then they will have more snipers trained."

The lieutenant colonel smiled wryly: "There is no way. We can lure our opponents to do wrong things, but there is no way to prevent them from doing right things."

In the distance, shelling began again.

"Franco suspects that there is the headquarters of the Republican Army here. They are shelling the area they suspect." After tapping on the map, the lieutenant colonel said to the battalion commander: "However, General Bork thinks that the other party's headquarters should be in our In the direction of attack, so I brought 7 tanks, and in the afternoon, I will cooperate with your troops to capture this school here. I hope to gain something."

"I heard that there are some problems in the country now, and small-scale rebellions are happening in some areas... Is it true?" The battalion commander finally asked the question he cared about: "Some new recruits It is said that the head of state is liquidating the Junker nobles, making the domestic army unstable."

"This matter is true, and we can't hide it." The lieutenant colonel snorted coldly: "My family has sworn to stand by the head of state. Those who don't know how to praise will naturally be wiped out one by one."

"But I heard from the logistics department that the chaos in the country has affected the production of ammunition, and there are also problems in the mine. Is the method too drastic? There are still barrels for our battalion The quantity of "ammunition" is somewhat insufficient, and now several batches of "ammunition" we have here are copper-cased bullets imported from Italy."

"Just be content with it. The 2nd Armored Division has always used inferior ammunition and machine gun barrels made in Spain because of the relatively long distance. Barcelona just got a batch of supplements." The lieutenant colonel is obviously also worried about the supply: "General Bork has sent a telegram to the head of state, requesting the head of state to meet the supply of weapons for the frontline troops."

"Is it really so serious?" The battalion commander sighed: "Then this time the grenade was updated because of the shortage of supplies? Even the wooden handle was cancelled, leaving only a warhead, and the surface was cut into pieces. Piece by piece, it looks a lot rougher than the old grenades we used before."

"You are wrong this time." The lieutenant colonel said with a smile: "General Bork has seen the power report of the new grenade, and it is indeed stronger than the old grenade. Although the throwing distance is about 10 meters shorter, the cost It has decreased by 20%, and the production speed has increased by 70%. With this improvement, you can use twice as many grenades as before. Do you think it is good or bad?"

"It would be great if the fuze could be improved." The battalion commander smiled and scratched his head in embarrassment, but still said something dissatisfied.

The lieutenant colonel pointed at the battalion commander with a smile: "You! I heard that it is indeed improving, but I just don't know how effective it is."

Thinking of the domestic turmoil, the battalion commander was a little worried: "I hope our hometown is fine."

"It will be fine! Don't worry!" The lieutenant colonel patted the battalion commander on the shoulder, pointed to the door and said, "I'm going back to the headquarters in the afternoon, so I won't dawdle here. Look at this, if you The attack went well, and tomorrow we will be able to drive the Republicans out of Madrid."

"Long live the head of state!" The battalion commander stood at attention and saluted.

"Long live the head of state!" After speaking, the lieutenant colonel changed hands and walked out of the battalion command post on the front line.

In the afternoon, the attack began.

The characteristic sound of German machine guns cutting wood began to appear on the battlefield. The assistant shooter held the ammunition belt of the machine gun bullets and fed them into the machine gun. A few Republican soldiers who showed their heads and fought back.

The tank track chain rolled up the dirt and dust and rolled forward. Covering the infantry behind, they carefully jumped into one bomb crater after another. Sandbags and road wheels for maintenance were hung in front of the No. 3 tank. This is the "additional armor" that the tank soldiers installed on their tanks. A moment can save one's own life.

Across the low wall, the German soldiers fired with long guns and short cannons, hitting the opposite position with white smoke. Most of the infantry retreated behind the wall after firing, and began to pull the bolt and push it up, reloading their Mauser 98k rifles.

A soldier's rifle jammed and had to pick it upside down and kick the handle on the bolt with his foot to get the jammed cartridge out of the chamber because the arm was not strong enough to pull the jammed bolt free. It took him a long time to fix his rifle again and fire on the opposite side again.

Due to the lack of copper mines in Germany, Germany has been forced to promote steel-cased ammunition in its own country. This kind of ammunition cannot be stored for a long time, and it is easier to get stuck and affect shooting than copper ammunition. However, the advantage is that it can be manufactured more quickly, and it can make up for the insufficient production of copper shell ammunition. Although it affects the use to a certain extent, most soldiers are still used to this relatively deceptive bullet.

Another attack began. The shells pierced the sky and turned the teaching building of a school in the distance into ruins. The glass was shattered and the walls collapsed. Scattered around, no one took a look when German soldiers passed by bending over.

Among the ruins, the battle flag of the Ernst Thälmann Battalion of the Republican Army was completely buried under the rubble. A German war reporter took a camera to record the achievements of several German soldiers passing by. In the image of them, their faces were covered with dirt and their snow-white teeth were smiling happily, not paying attention to the sound of explosions and billowing smoke in the distance.

The battle was much easier than expected. In the afternoon, Franco's army announced that it had taken control of the entire urban area of ​​Madrid. Although resistance continued, sniper fire was still occasionally heard two weeks later. Organized resistance had indeed been crushed, however, and the republican army withdrew from the half-ruined capital of Madrid.

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