2035 I can’t do anything, I’m the laggard in first place
When Colonel Ronald Kelson arrived at the ancient city of Toledo, the siege had already entered its 70th day.
The small town of Toledo is not large in area. The castle is located at the commanding heights of the entire city. It was once the palace of King Charles V in the mid-16th century. The castle is square in shape with four square spire towers at the four corners. From the tower, you can see the entire city.
Close your eyes.
In the previous stage of the battle, the artillery of the People's Guard had destroyed the two spiers on the east side of the castle. The entire eastern half of the ground buildings had also been razed to the ground in the blasting a few days ago.
Part of the building also collapsed, leaving only the minaret in the northwest corner intact. The two artillery pieces of the defenders were placed in this minaret.
It was also at this time that Colonel Ronald Kelson learned that the defenders only had two artillery pieces and four old-fashioned Maxim heavy machine guns.
As for the People's Guard, there are more than 13,000 troops assembled in the ancient city of Toledo, more than 20 artillery pieces, and nearly 100 light and heavy machine guns.
Colonel Ronald Kelson was really curious, with such a huge advantage, why after fighting for more than two months, not even a castle defended by more than a thousand defenders was able to be captured.
Moreover, it is a masonry castle, not even reinforced concrete.
"In addition to more than a thousand defenders, there are more than 200 People's Guard prisoners of war and more than a thousand civilians in the castle. Every time we attack, the defenders will push out prisoners of war and civilians as cover. The terrain of Toledo Castle
The situation is so dangerous that our superior forces cannot be deployed. Each attack can only involve one battalion at most, and our troops have not received strict military training." Vincent Rojo, Chief of Staff of the People's Guard, expressed pain, and for some reasons he did not
explain.
I really have no shame to say it.
The Popular Front is not monolithic.
As mentioned before, the entire left-wing alliance has more than ten parties, large and small, and the entanglements of interests are very complicated. Even the People's Guard is full of internal conflicts.
For example, among the troops that participated in the siege of Toledo Castle, the commander of the artillery unit, Fares Borallo, was sent by the League of Nations and had great differences with Vincent Rojo.
Vincent Rojo is a Spaniard, and the Popular Front was elected by the Spaniards to come to power. Naturally, the Popular Front has to take into account the safety of the hostages in the Toledo Castle.
Although Borallo was also Spanish, he accepted the leadership of the Communist International. He believed that the "hostages" in the castle were all supporters of the rebels, and the prisoners of the People's Guard had already rebelled, otherwise Toledo Castle would not have been able to persist until now.
Therefore, Borallo's attitude was very resolute. With more than twenty artillery guns going all out, Toledo Castle could be razed to the ground in half a day.
So far, the artillery has fired more than 13,000 shells, but the effect is not good.
The situation at hand also confirmed what Vincent Rojo said.
After more than two months of fierce fighting, most of the buildings in the small town of Toledo have been completely destroyed. The integrity of the square Toledo Castle is now less than 60%. Colonel Ronald Kelson feels
It only takes one charge to completely capture Toledo Castle.
But it's not that easy either.
The artillery position of the People's Guard is located in the east of the castle. It has been more than an hour since Colonel Ronald Kelson arrived at Toledo Castle. The artillery of the People's Guard only fired two rounds, and the shells passed over the castle and disappeared.
And only one explosion was heard, and the other one was probably a dud.
When the artillery started shelling, the hillside next to it was filled with idle People's Guard soldiers.
and nearby residents watching the fun.
reporters from various media outlets such as He and other big news.
There were so many people gathered that there were vendors running through the area, selling various snacks, tobacco and alcohol, which was very popular.
The equipment of the People's Guard is diverse. Some of the rifles are from before the last world war, and I don't know if the rifling has been smoothed.
There are also Lee Enfields purchased from southern Africa, but not in large quantities.
This is very puzzling. The republican government purchased 200,000 rifles from southern Africa, at least half of which have been delivered. However, these rifles have not been distributed to the troops, and their whereabouts are not even known now.
After further understanding, the situation became more serious. The People's Guard has now begun to restrict the use of bullets.
Spain is not Brazil. It has certain industrial capabilities, at least it can produce bullets.
The crux of the matter lies in the reforms implemented after the republican government came to power.
Reforms of the republican government were led by the Popular Front.
The situation of the "Popular Front" here is complicated. Due to some well-known reasons, I cannot go into too much detail. Please forgive me.
The entire left-wing alliance can be divided into two parts, one is the Popular Front and the other is the anarchists.
Most of Spain's military-industrial enterprises are in the hands of anarchists.
During the reforms of the Popular Front, military industrial enterprises controlled by anarchists were implemented into public ownership, and workers were mobilized to safeguard their rights and demand better treatment.
This was originally understandable.
However, in the context of the Spanish Civil War, doing so would have a huge impact on the logistics supply of the Popular Guard.
When all the workers go on strike, who will organize production?
Even if you want to organize it, it is difficult.
Enterprises need money to organize production and purchase raw materials, but the Popular Front has no money.
Since all military-industrial enterprises have been taken under public ownership, the former business owners will naturally not contribute money.
The republican government does not dare to kill business owners because they still need their votes.
So this is a dead end.
"Clear the area and leave all irrelevant personnel, including the artillerymen. The artillery must stay." Colonel Ronald Kelson carefully observed the artillery of the People's Guard. It was the famous "Miss Seventy-Fifth".
That's right, the relationship between the Spanish and the French is also good.
The Germans and Italians hoped that Franco would come to power and form a pincer attack on France.
The French are not stupid, so it is normal for the People's Guard to have French-made 75mm field guns.
But "Miss Qiwu" is already a technology from the last century.
Fortunately, the defense of Toledo Castle is not very strong, so "Miss Seventy-Five" is enough.
But when he saw the People's Guard artillery, Colonel Ronald Kelson suddenly thought of a word in his mind: noobs pecking each other.
What worried Vincent Rojo the most happened.
The commander of the artillery force, Fares Borallo, agreed that the parachute mercenaries would take over the battle, but he did not agree to hand over the artillery to the mercenaries.
Major General Arocas Weiss of the People's Guard also disagreed. His reason was simpler. If the People's Guard were to withdraw entirely, the enemies in Toledo Castle might take the opportunity to escape.
"If the enemies in the castle escape, we can successfully capture the castle. Isn't this our purpose?" Kelsen was speechless.
In fact, the republican government also has outstanding generals.
It's a pity that they can't get the trust of the republican government. After all, the republican government has only been established for a few years. Many of today's military officers have experienced the imperial era. Some marginalized military officers have to defect to the Falange.
"We not only need to capture Toledo Castle, but we also need a complete victory to annihilate all the defenders!" Major General Weiss asked for more. He hoped that the mercenaries of the Umbrella Company could attack the castle in the name of the People's Guard.
Launch an attack.
As I just said, there are people eating melons on the hillside nearby, as well as media reporters from all over the world.
It's easy to tell the difference between Umbrella Company mercenaries and People's Guard soldiers, the difference is clear at a glance.
Now the mercenaries of the Umbrella Company are also taking a break.
Members of the People's Guard were laughing, smoking, drinking, sitting or standing, and even flirting with vendors.
The mercenaries of the Umbrella Company were sitting on the ground. Some were resting, some were arranging equipment, some were checking weapons, and some were smoking and chatting. The equipment and clothing on both sides were even similar, but it could be seen at a glance which side was the rabble.
That’s not right, the mercenaries of Umbrella Company are all Lee Enfield.
The clothes are actually different too.
The civil war broke out so suddenly that the People's Guard did not even have time to unify their uniforms, so they wore everything. Some members of the People's Guard actually wore military uniforms from the imperial era.
Umbrellas are actually casual and there are no strict regulations. However, most mercenaries choose hunting jackets and multi-pocket pants. Only backpacks are provided by the umbrella company.
This involves a problem of identifying friend or foe.
The members of the Umbrella Company are complex, including whites, Chinese, and Africans. On a complex and ever-changing battlefield, how to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy has become a serious problem.
The solution is also very simple. The umbrella company has specially customized some equipment, such as large backpacks and three-day backpacks, to completely solve this problem.
A large backpack is easy to understand. A three-day backpack is a medium-sized backpack. It is generally used to hold ammunition, food and personal items for three days. It is enough to cope with most battle situations.
It is worth mentioning that all backpacks are in uniform desert camouflage.
"If the enemy leaves the castle, we can annihilate them more easily." Colonel Kelsen doesn't care about honor. What kind of honor does War Hyena want? All he wants is the fear of the enemy.
Major General Weiss was finally satisfied, and he was not in a hurry to leave. He wanted to see how the mercenaries of the Umbrella Company fought.
Colonel Kelson doesn't care, just look around. If you can just look around and train soldiers like Umbrella Company mercenaries, then you are capable.
Colonel Kelsen didn't pay much attention to the artillery led by Fares Borallo.
The Umbrella Company also has artillery. Although the mortars don't look as reliable as the "Miss Seventy-Five", they are more advanced in performance.
The gunners of Key Umbrella Company are all veterans, the kind who can serve as instructors in the People's Guard.
Colonel Kelson didn't talk nonsense. He was increasingly dissatisfied with the only complete spire on the Toledo Castle.
The gunners of the Umbrella Company are really powerful. They don't need a commander or a rangefinder. The telescopes used for observation are all single-cylinder, but the effect is surprisingly good.
Four 60mm mortars completely destroyed the last minaret in just two rounds.
