"Have you heard that our 10 domestic German armored divisions seem to have received a batch of new German equipment and upgraded their weapons. And our German armored division, I heard that it also received a batch of new German armored divisions named
Weapon replenishment for the Stalker tank destroyer."
A well-informed guard, while standing guard for Franco's military meeting, quietly chatted privately with another tall guard standing guard together.
However, his colleague did not show the slightest surprise. Instead, he looked at the guard who thought he was well-informed with contempt: "Your information is out of date. You didn't listen to the announcement issued by German Head of State Reinhard this morning.
?"
"Declaration of counterattack against the Soviet Union?" The guard's head became more and more puzzled and he said doubtfully: "I didn't listen. What's so good about this kind of announcement? Isn't it just that big shots talk a lot of long speeches as usual? Moreover, this has nothing to do with us.
What does it have to do with the German mechanic updating his equipment?"
Hearing what the guard said, the tall guard continued: "It seems you don't know why General Franco called this military meeting, right?"
"I don't know." The well-informed guard's eyes darkened and he couldn't say anything.
"Hey, forget it, I'll tell you directly." The tall guard didn't give in and explained directly to him: "The reason why our German weapon masters can get the new generation of equipment sent by the Germans is because
The Germans need us to continue fighting for them. This morning, the German head of state already mentioned in his announcement that the Allies' counterattack against the Soviet army will soon be supported by reinforcements from many countries, including Spanish troops."
"Is there such a thing?!" The guard who thought he was well-informed at first was now looking at the tall guard with wide eyes and a look of disbelief on his face: "Why haven't I even heard of it yet?
Didn’t you hear? Logically speaking, we in Spain shouldn’t have had no idea about such a big thing before!”
Although this time, the guard's information was no longer so well-informed. However, he had always been very good at snooping for information. Therefore, his snooping network was unaware of Spain sending troops to assist Germany in counterattacking the Soviet Union. This was originally
It's not normal.
"This is the reason why General Franco held today's meeting..." The tall guard said, somewhat dumbfounded: "Even General Franco himself doesn't know about such a big thing as joining the war!"
That's right, Franco was completely tricked. Without his knowledge, Reinhard counted him as a member of the anti-Soviet army.
The most ridiculous thing is that Franco didn't dare to say no to Reinhard's self-assertion.
Throughout Europe, even superpowers like the British Empire were beaten to the point of extinction by Germany. Second-tier countries like Spain, which had been severely weakened by the civil war, did not have the courage to confront Germany.
"Bang!" While the two guards were chatting about their negligence, Franco in the conference room was furious and broke the cup in front of him.
"Reinhardt is forcing us to get on the German tank! And without our own consent, Spain is included directly!" Franco yelled in front of his cronies with some gaffes:
"What qualifications does he have to demand that we also declare war on the Soviet Union and send 11 divisions of elite troops to fight for them!"
Although Spain, as a member of the Allied Powers and an ally of Germany during the Civil War, should shoulder its obligations in the war against the Soviet Union. Moreover, Reinhard requested Franco to send 10 German-armed Spanish infantry divisions to fight against the Soviet Union.
1 German-armed Spanish Armored Division. When participating in the Spanish Civil War, it was clearly agreed that the command would belong to Germany.
However, when he was actually asked to assume this obligation, Franco still felt full of reluctance.
After all, he is the leader of Spain and the dictator who rules Spain. Whether Spain joins the international war or not should be decided by him, the leader of Spain, not by Reinhardt, the leader of the Germans.
In Franco's eyes, Reinhardt clearly crossed the line.
Of course, he also admitted that Spain should indeed bear the military burden within the Allied Powers and contribute some strength to the alliance. Moreover, Spain's previous performance did appear to be very unkind. Basically, it would not contribute if it could.
status.
As for the 11 German armorer expeditionary forces that Reinhard asked the Spanish government to send, they were indeed the troops that Franco promised to be handed over to the command of German generals in order to win the civil war.
However, because these troops were only commanded by Rommel once during the civil war. After the victory of the war, they were temporarily returned to the Spanish Army Headquarters following Rommel's departure. Therefore, Franco gradually
I almost forgot, these 11 divisions are still commanded by the Germans.
Four years have passed since the end of the civil war. In these four years, Spain seems to have had a lot of luck and enjoyed the status of a member of the Allied Powers, but it did not need to send a large amount of manpower and material resources like Italy.
to fight against the hostile forces of the Allied Powers.
Until today, they were remembered again, and they were directly asked to send a large expeditionary force of 11 divisions to participate in the war.
Germany, on the other hand, first announced that Spain would participate in the war against the Soviet Union, and then told the Spanish government, "You must come to help."
It’s not enough to just ask for help. The Germans even stipulated the pairs of people who would help, requiring Spain to send 11 German mechanics to help.
This is so outrageous and irritating. Is this asking for help? It’s clearly asking people to do whatever they want!
The most important thing is that Franco cannot object yet.
Due to the limited national strength and having personally witnessed the powerful combat capabilities of the German army, Franco now does not even have the confidence to use the entire Spanish Army to block only 10 German divisions!
Franco still remembers Rommel's record when he brought a German division and swept through more than 200,000 Republican troops in and around Madrid.
One division is so capable of fighting. If the Germans were unhappy and dispatched 10 divisions from the troops recently transferred back from England, they would have occupied the entire Spain.
In that case, Franco would not even be able to retain his current status and would have to become a prisoner.
"Do any of you have any way to cope with the Germans' demands without letting our fate be completely tied to Germany?" Franco finally had to brainstorm to solve the problem: "After all, what if it ends up being the Soviet Union?"
If the people win, I hope Spain can still find an excuse to seek peace, instead of forging a deadly feud with the Soviet government."