Dusk was coming, and the British officers and soldiers in the Nottingham barracks were sitting around the camp as if they had lost their backbone.
The soldiers in Nottingham were waiting for the radio to sound in the barracks. Decadence was like a glass of strong spiritual poison, spreading silently among the crowd.
At sunset, the dim afterglow shone on people's faces, and many people's eyes showed sadness. The hand holding the gun could only slowly loosen its grip. There was silence all around, and no one showed any intention of talking.
Everyone has a similar mood, and everyone is tacitly aware of what is going to happen. Perhaps only silence can provide inner peace.
Suddenly, the sound of electricity passing through sounded very clearly over the military camp, and then the familiar voice of Commander Gott appeared on the radio:
"...Our army has shown in the war that the people of the Empire on which the sun never sets are strong, brave, upright and tenacious. However, although the army of the United Kingdom is brave and good at fighting, and although the people have the courage to sacrifice themselves for the country, the continuous wars have caused harm to the United Kingdom.
"We have suffered huge losses. If the battle continues, the British Empire will face even more cruel casualties..." Following Gott's broadcast, the soldiers lowered their heads one after another.
In fact, before hearing the final result, rumors that the government moved to the island of Ireland would choose to surrender had already been circulating in people's ears.
Now, the dust has finally settled, and Britain has not escaped the judgment of fate.
In addition to the National Guard camp here in Nottingham, there are countless small military camps of various sizes throughout northern England where the same scene is playing out.
Although the German army has not yet occupied all of the British territory, it cannot even be considered as occupying most of the British territory. However, the world situation and the war situation at home have made the three major British governments unanimously choose the path of surrender to Germany.
On the same day that the three major governments announced their surrender or surrender to Germany, Spain urgently declared war on Britain.
In this disgraceful declaration of war, Franco was quite similar to when Mussolini declared war on France, which had surrendered to the Germans.
Franco, who was eager to reap benefits and obtain established interests before Germany signed a peace agreement with Britain, urgently mobilized 7 divisions of Spanish infantry. After concentrating a large number of artillery and Spanish bombers, they stormed the British Gibraltar area.
Gibraltar is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula and was originally a possession of Spain. The reason why this area close to Spain became a British enclave stems from the fact that during the War of Spanish Succession more than 200 years ago, the British army
Taking advantage of Spain's internal weakness, they captured Gibraltar in one fell swoop.
For more than two hundred years, Spain has been resentful of losing Gibraltar, and later launched two large-scale sieges of Gibraltar in an attempt to recapture it.
But until Gibraltar became an important base for the British Navy, the Spanish army failed to recapture it.
Moreover, with the decline of the Kingdom of Spain's national power and the establishment of the British Empire's global hegemony, the idea of retaking Gibraltar by force has become increasingly unrealistic for the Spaniards.
It was not until the German army defeated the British and French forces and France surrendered that Reinhardt formally met with Franco for the first time and requested that the German army be allowed to control the Strait of Gibraltar through Spanish territory to cut off traffic between Britain and the Western Mediterranean. At the same time, the Spanish army could
With the support and cooperation of a German air force, with the Spanish army as the main force, Gibraltar was captured in one fell swoop.
Although Franco's previous attitude was obviously pro-German, he still rejected Reinhardt's request. After all, he was a cautious speculator. Although the Third Reich was at its peak at that time, the empire was still very powerful.
live.
Of course, taking the opportunity to regain Gibraltar is attractive, but Franco was worried about the powerful British navy and was afraid that he had just struggled to capture the British "enclave" of Gibraltar, and the British would probably counterattack and occupy Spain.
The "enclave" of the Canary Islands.
In this way, Spain has both gains and losses, which is equivalent to a wasted effort.
However, because Mussolini had a very positive attitude at that time, he took the initiative to vouch for Reinhardt, assumed all alliance military tasks in the Mediterranean region, and vowed to rebuild the Roman Empire and turn the Mediterranean into an Italian lake. So
, the deal between Reinhardt and Franco was terminated indefinitely.
Today, it is obvious that the collapse of the British Empire is imminent. Whatever benefits can be gained at this time are all for itself. Moreover, Spain does not have to worry about a collapsed empire retaliating against itself.
Franco used to sit on both sides of the fence, unable to see through the war situation between Britain and Germany, hoping to make profits from both sides. But now, the British have lost, and it is not in line with Franco's speculation to not make a fortune from them.
King's nickname.
But the ideal is very full, and the reality is very basic.
Almost following Mussolini's original footsteps, Franco made trouble against Britain this time and failed to win any military victory.
Due to years of operation by the British army, the Fortress of Gibraltar has become extremely difficult to break. Seven divisions of the Spanish Army, with the dual fire support of artillery and bombing, took turns to attack, but did not make any substantial progress.
However, for the first time, Spain dispatched regular troops to fight against countries in the hostile camp based on the outcome of the Allied member states. The significance of this event is even more meaningful than the capture of Gibraltar!
It would be really sad for anyone to fight against the alliance's militant group now.
Looking at the long list of names on the list of the Allied Powers, Stalin's heart may have gone cold in the East: Germany, Italy, Spain, Vichy France, Norway, Romania, Finland, Bulgaria, and the United Kingdom (all three governments have announced strong
Intention to join the Allied bloc)... Maybe we have to add pro-German countries such as Greece and Yugoslavia, or countries like the Netherlands that are surrounded by members of the Allied bloc.
Moreover, Turkey, the regional power in the southern part of the Soviet Union, has been somewhat dishonest in its recent movements. The three Baltic countries in the north are also somewhat catering to the German army in order to drive away the Soviet army.
From this point of view, the situation of the Soviet Union seems to be really not good.
Although most of his allies' opponents, that is, a large number of younger brothers who followed Germany, are small countries that are not very powerful. Even Spain, Turkey, Britain, and France, which were once powerful countries, are now far from their peak strength.
state.
However, these countries only needed to be surrounded by a strong enough German army to make the Soviet Union feel a strong threat.