The Third Reich in Desperation

Due to the slow speed of Franco's National Army going north, Rommel's German-Spanish Combined Corps stopped in Madrid for repairs, and the Italian Expeditionary Force had no desire to go south.Therefore, the government of the Republic got a brief respite and reorganized the scattered troops that had been drawn back from all directions.

During this period, the Spanish Second Republic established two armies totaling 2 people to defend Catalonia.The Army Group on the Southern Front was directly rebuilt by the troops brought back by Francisco. After supplementing more than 23 government soldiers, Francisco dismantled his 7000 troops and evenly organized them into the People's Guard with a total of 5000. .

The Southern Front Group Army with a total of 7 troops is: New First Division, New Second Division, New Third Division, New Fourth Division, New Fifth Division, Temporary Sixth Cavalry Division, Temporary Seventh Garrison Division, and Temporary Eighth Garrison Division.

Among them, the new first division to the new fifth division are all standard infantry divisions, under the jurisdiction of 3 infantry regiments, 1 bicycle reconnaissance battalion, 1 division directly under the elite battalion, 1 engineer battalion, 1 communication battalion, 2 machine gun companies, 3 infantry supplementary companies, 3 ambulance convoys, and dozens of gendarmerie teams.Each division has an average standard configuration of 1 people, densely deployed along the Ebro River, trying to keep future invading enemies west of the Ebro River.

The 3500-strong Temporary Sixth Cavalry Division was placed by Francisco in the city of Tarrega, where it was handed over to the Northern Front Army, as a "two-way reserve force" that could go both north and south.Of course, the arrangement of the Temporary Sixth Cavalry Division in the city of Tarrega was not just because Francisco was worried that the Northern Front Army would make mistakes.As the most important transportation node in Catalonia, the Temporary Sixth Division in Tarrega City can also quickly go south along the highway to serve as a reserve team to support various parts of the southern line.

The remaining two garrison divisions with less than 8 people have a high ratio of government soldiers and soldiers, and the ratio of government troops to the People's Guard is even close to one to one.These two divisions were arranged east of the broad Ebro River defense line, leaving a relatively safe rear to establish a long field defense line.According to Francisco's plan, the main task of these two divisions was to stay in the rear and establish a defense in depth.At the same time, recruit recruits from the Catalonia region, expand the scale, and seize the opportunity to form two large-scale divisions with combat effectiveness.

The Northern Front Army of the Second Spanish Republic, without the support of the Ebro River, has twice the size of the Southward Army, with a total of 2 troops.Almost all the troops under its jurisdiction were withdrawn little by little from the previous front by the government of the Republic, which also led to the accelerated fall of many defense areas.However, the government of the Republic at the moment couldn't control so much, and quickly reorganized these scattered troops into 15 infantry divisions.

Almost all of these squeezed out troops were regular soldiers.Although the combat quality of individual soldiers is still a lot worse than that of German soldiers, it is much better than the soldiers of the People's Guard of the militia nature.Therefore, despite the fact that the number of infantry divisions in the Northern Front Group Army is smaller than that of the Southern Front, the combat effectiveness is much higher.However, unlike the Southern Front Army brought back by Francisco, the Northern Front Army lacked heavy weapons and transport vehicles, and could only form a "pure infantry division" with extremely poor mobility.

Unlike Francisco, the commander of the Army Group on the Southern Front, the commander of the Army Group on the Northern Front is a middle-aged general Sarkozy who has no prestige.Under the command of Sarkozy, the Northern Front Army combined the lessons of the previous Madrid defense battle and deployed 15 divisions in a dispersed manner to avoid being wiped out by the enemy at one time.A total of 15 people were evenly deployed in 15 medium and large cities between Zaragoza and Huesca.

In this way, the Northern Front Army did get rid of the danger of being wiped out all at once, but it also caused the various troops to be unable to support each other, making the entire Northern Front Army no cohesion at all.

However, although Francisco had great opinions on the deployment of the Northern Front Army, he had no choice but to give up because he was beyond his reach.

After all, the Catalonian campaign that is about to start in the near future is an asymmetrical defensive battle between disadvantages and strengths.In such a battle, there is really not much else the Republican Army can do except defense.

..............

In the city of Menorca on the island of Menorca, teams of soldiers of the Spanish Republican Army in khaki uniforms line up for training.

As the last island in the hands of the government of the Republic, Menorca, with an area of ​​668 square kilometers, has assembled an elite republican army that is about to carry out secret missions.

8000 people, this is the maximum mobile force that the Second Republic can come up with.And their mission is to seize La Palma Island, which is under the control of the National Army and covers an area of ​​728 square kilometers.

Contrary to Mecano Island, which is economically backward and sparsely populated, La Palma Island, which covers an area of ​​728 square kilometers, has a larger area and a population of 7.And La Palma Island has a large area of ​​forest, distributed in the developed agriculture of the coastal plain, producing bananas, tobacco leaves, vegetables, sugar cane, fruits, grains, grapes and so on.also.There are also winemaking, sugar, flour and other factories on La Palma Island.Handicraft industries such as logging, fishing and embroidery are also developed to a considerable extent.

La Palma Santa Cruz Port on La Palma Island is even one of the largest ports in Spain!

Such a large island with a good foundation, easy to defend and difficult to attack is the ideal location for the Second Republic to move its capital next.

That's right!This is the next retreat prepared by the government of the Second Spanish Republic for itself.While Franco's National Army was advancing like a broken bamboo, the government defended by the Republican Army considered the way out again and again.

"Sir, why did we go to seize an island? Shouldn't we stay on land and take on the rebellious national army?" A Republican colonel asked his superior with two questions in a row, Lieutenant General Dex, the commander of the Menorca Division as the commander of the island seizure operation.

Looking at the colonel who had just been appointed as his own staff, Lieutenant General Dex sighed and said, "I understand your feelings, but our mission is equally important, and it is worth fighting for."

The colonel looked suspiciously at Lieutenant General Dex with expectant eyes, and he was expecting to hear a reason to stay here.This reason is obviously not to find another refuge for the timid government.

Dex thought about it, and felt that there was no need for him to keep concealing it, so he let go and told the colonel: "In fact, the Catalan campaign was not just a defensive campaign along the Catalan border. The purpose of this campaign is to use the entire territory of Catalonia to consume the rebel forces as much as possible. To do this, we must ensure the safety of the republican government that moved to Catalonia."

"That's why we need to seize La Palma Island and move the government out of Catalonia, so that our two armies can freely entangle with the rebels." Dex looked at the distant sea with firm eyes. Speaking of.

Body Chapter 1 The Childe Family

"Hi, Reinhardt!" A Wehrmacht liaison officer saluted Reinhardt, standing at attention.

After receiving Reinhardt's gesture to indicate his report, the liaison officer took out Rommel's telegram to Germany: "Führer, according to the account of the senior general captured by Major General Rommel in Madrid, the Spanish Republican Army also communicated with Franco received as much foreign aid as the national army."

"Oh?" Although Reinhardt also knew that the Republican Army would receive assistance, he still wanted to see how much foreign aid the Spanish Republican Army could receive after being changed by himself: "Tell me in detail, What kind of foreign aid did the IRA get?"

"Yes." The liaison officer reported respectfully: "The two lieutenant generals of the Republican Army who were captured in Madrid confessed that their troops received a large amount of armaments provided by Mexico. In addition to the German equipment we sold to them, the People's Guard of the Republican Army has the most equipment. The equipment belongs to Mexico."

For Mexico, which publicly expressed its support for the government of the Second Spanish Republic, Reinhardt already knew that it would provide a lot of assistance to the Republican Army, so he did not show the slightest surprise, and made a gesture to the Defense Force liaison officer .

The liaison officer who saw Reinhardt's gesture did not hesitate at all, and continued: "A major general of the Spanish Republic who knows the inside story told us that they also received assistance from the Comintern column, but not much."

Hearing this, Reinhardt showed a smug smile.If he hadn't cheated the batch of gold sent to the Soviet Union to Germany in history, the aid received by the International Column for the Republican Army would have been at least 10 times higher.

Today, the Republican Army is weaker than in history, not to mention, Germany has also gained more benefits than in history.With the 500 million tons of gold obtained by cheating alone, Germany no longer has the need to launch World War II.If it weren't for knowing that the Soviet Union had an angry thunderstorm plan, and that France and Germany were unlikely to reconcile, Reinhardt would not have rushed to develop German armaments like a duck on the shelves.

However, before Reinhardt was too proud, another unexpected news followed.

"What's more, Major General Rommel seized more than 95 7.92mm*57mm German-made bullets in Madrid."

"Wait!" Reinhardt almost jumped up and said in surprise, "You mean that Rommel seized more than 95 German-made bullets?"

"That's right." The liaison officer affirmed with confidence in his eyes: "This is recorded in the telegram sent by Major General Rommel."

Something is wrong!Reinhard squinted his eyes and thought quickly. As far as the number of bullets he sold to the Republican Army was only 100 million, the purpose was to prevent the Republican Army's People's Guard from having too much ammunition to fight back against the National Army.But now Rommel has seized 95 German-made bullets in Madrid alone, which is obviously unreasonable.

If it is said that the bullets consumed by the Republican Army and the bullets not stored in Madrid are less than 5 in total, Reinhard will definitely not believe it even if he is killed.

Then there is only one possibility, that is, the Republican Army has another channel to import German-made bullets.And this channel is a channel that hides from him and the German government.

Reinhardt was no longer in the mood to listen carefully to the results report later.All he could think about was the second channel.

"Investigate! Strictly investigate! Not only must the domestic Gestapo be launched, but Rommel must also send someone to find out about the captured Spanish politicians. This is an act of treason and absolutely cannot be tolerated!" Reinhardt immediately issued an order to Ross An emergency order, he would never tolerate such a loophole under his nose.

You know, if something goes wrong somewhere, or if an organization breaks away from his supervision, there will be a consequence that he fears most.In that history, there were many assassinations against Hitler!Reinhard, who cherished his own life, didn't want to die so unclearly.

The day after Reinhardt gave the order, progress came from Spain.The acting mayor of Madrid, who was under control, confessed that he had contacted some Jewish businessmen from Germany not long ago. These Jewish businessmen seemed to come from the Childe consortium in Germany and had a lot of secret transactions with the government of the Republic.

If this is the news found out by the Gestapo, maybe Reinhardt can feel at ease.But in fact, this is the information obtained from the trial in Spain!In other words, the Childe consortium has spent money to open up channels that are enough to hide the Gestapo.

Fortunately, these greedy businessmen showed their feet in advance.Reinhardt was a little thankful that he could discover such a hidden danger in 1936 instead of 1937, 1938, or even 1939!

Fortunately, these businessmen were eager to make a fortune and used their secret channels to contact the Spanish Republican Army, which happened to be defeated by Rommel.Otherwise, this hidden danger may remain hidden for a longer time.

"Perhaps, it was a huge mistake for me to generously leave them 20% of their wealth." Reinhardt, who was still a little shameless at the time, gritted his teeth in a cold tone: "Since for them Therefore, all national interests can make way for their wealth, and the same reasoning can be used for the country to take away their wealth for the sake of interests."

Standing beside Reinhardt, Rose, who came immediately after receiving the news, hurriedly answered: "Yes, in the last war, Germany was stabbed in the back by these damned vampires. This time, They actually want to repeat the old tricks, we absolutely cannot tolerate it!"

Since the Gestapo under his leadership failed to detect the small actions of the Childe Consortium in time, Ross at this moment is even more eager to find an opportunity to make up for it.

Hearing Rose's hint, Reinhard sighed and made up his mind: "I'll leave this matter to you. You don't have to be as polite as before to this kind of businessman who is only greedy. But, you must The situation must be put in place. All charges of treason must be established, and the evidence must be prepared."

"Yes!" Rose, who had the opportunity to make up for his mistakes, responded loudly with a firm tone.

Ross understands that the German "god" to whom he will be loyal in the future has become even more ruthless.

Although Reinhardt is now one of the richest businessmen in Germany relying on the Rein Group.But his thinking is fundamentally different from those of the traditional Jewish businessmen of the Childe family.

Reinhardt's fortune stems from his capitalizing on future trajectories.And the wealth of the Childe family comes from the high degree of exploitation of any class.Different ways of making money create different ways of thinking.In addition, the thinking mode of the Jewish businessmen of the Childe family is obviously not understandable by people like Reinhardt who put national plots first.

A joke, an otaku who used to use a 6-digit password to protect a 3-digit deposit will understand how a business tycoon who has received higher business education since childhood thinks?

Moreover, the other party should not assist a country that is hostile to itself, this is Reinhardt's bottom line!

Anyway, there have been a lot of unhappiness before, and people have been offended, so I just put the whip and wax together, and it will kill me.Reinhardt's can-broken decision.

Body 1 Chapter [-] Labor Force Delivered to Your Door