On September 13, 1936, Spain's second government had huge differences because of Francisco's plan to move south. A large number of government officials opposed the transfer of the capital's defense forces. For this reason, Francisco pushed against all objections and forcibly promoted the transfer of the southward troops.
March into action.
As a compromise, Francisco acquiesced to the relocation plan of the Spanish Republican government. According to this plan, the Second Spanish Republic will move the capital from Madrid to Valencia in the southeast. In this way, even if Madrid falls, Francisco will take it with him.
The troops heading south can also return to Balbia, southeast of Madrid, faster than the enemy troops occupying Madrid.
Francisco sneered at this kind of cleverness. If Madrid was lost, even if he could bring the southward troops back to Valencia, he would not be able to save the day. On the contrary, if the government of the Republic could stay in Madrid, it would be able to stimulate the people in Madrid.
The 200,000 People's Guard resisted with high morale.
Sure enough, after learning that Francisco was leading the main force south and that the Republic's government had moved its capital to Valencia, the morale of the officers and soldiers of the People's Guard stationed in Madrid immediately dropped sharply. They were originally just a temporary militia formed by a group of patriots.
They have persisted until now with their patriotic enthusiasm. As a result, the government they fought to defend abandoned them at the most critical moment!
This is a naked betrayal! Every soldier of the People's Guard despises those government officials who are greedy for life and fear of death. At such a critical moment, government officials are not thinking about how to take the lead, but how to protect themselves.
's safety.
In order to compete for power with the National Army, the Republican government squandered 500 tons of gold that Spain's previous leaders had painstakingly saved. That was Spain's century-old savings and the cornerstone of Spain's future rise, but it was easily taken away by the republican idiots.
In exchange for a bunch of scraps that were eliminated by Germany!
The most unbearable thing is that this group of people who only know how to fight for political power are afraid of death and hide far behind when everyone is trying their best. Compared with the cleverness of the upper echelons of the Republican Army, Franco's citizens are
The top military officials were focused solely on fighting the war.
If the Republican Army under such leadership can win, that would be really weird!
This is a very simple truth. Why was Hitler able to assemble an army of one million troops in the Battle of Berlin in history? And why did Hitler not hide in Austria, which had more abundant troops, or fly to Norway, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack and retained an army of 200,000 troops?
All this is to stabilize morale and maintain the morale of the military. Yes, if Hitler in history chose to leave Berlin, from a military point of view, he would indeed have the capital to fight. However, from a political point of view, even the capital could easily be abandoned
The government has completely lost hope of winning.
It's a pity that no one in the current Spanish government has seen this. In other words, some people have seen it, but they choose to turn a blind eye.
But no matter what, Francisco's southward troops set off. Francisco attacked with 30,000 Republican regular troops, and 50,000 People's Guards followed up with the assault. In just 3 days, they attacked the main force of Franco's National Army, which was caught off guard.
retreat.
Francisco's strategic goal is very clear: as long as Franco's 100,000 National Army is defeated, the Romanian Volunteers, Portuguese Volunteers, Irish Volunteers, Moroccan Foreign Legion, etc. that are attached to the National Army will all collapse and lose their combat effectiveness. In this way
As a result, the southern front of the Republic will be safe for a longer period of time. The Republican Army can also take the opportunity to call back the troops scattered on the southern front and strengthen the northern and central lines.
If the German-Spanish combined forces in the middle were badly beaten when attacking Madrid, the Republican Army might even have a chance to make a comeback!
Unfortunately, under the blow of the government moving the capital to Valencia, Francisco is not sure whether Madrid's People's Guard can hold on. All he can do now is to defeat Franco's Southern Front National Army as soon as possible and return in time.
division.
...........
"What are Trembu and the others doing?" a smoking Republican captain lazily asked the sentry next to him: "Although it is unlikely that the Germans on the opposite side will fight, but as the captain of the patrol,
Tremblay shouldn’t be so laid back.”
The captain was required to take command of the surrounding 1,000 People's Guards, and was the only regular army officer in this forward position. At the beginning, the captain was very nervous and responsible, and arranged and formulated a two-team patrol pattern of 10 people per team.
However, with the long-term forbearance of the German-Spanish Combined Corps opposite, the captain gradually became more relaxed. Ever since the Italian Expeditionary Corps launched its first attack with them, and until now, Rommel seems to have never discovered Madrid's fighter planes.
Generally speaking, the 100,000 coalition troops were kept in obscurity within the pre-existing National Army defense lines.
The generals of the Republican Army judged more than once that Rommel would take action, but all speculations failed without exception. Gradually, rumors spread that Commander Rommel of the German-Spanish Combined Corps was a waste. Rumors about this were spread in major military camps.
Rumors about Rommel, the image of a young, courageous, inexperienced German general who rose to power through connections, remained in the hearts of Republican officers and soldiers.
As a member of the Spanish Republican Army, the captain in charge of one of the many forward positions is no exception. With his relaxation, the patrol team has also changed from the original double-team uninterrupted patrol to the current single-team patrol in batches.
.
Many patrol captains who have a good relationship with the captain even skip patrol duties from time to time, resulting in frequent unmanned patrols.
At this moment, although Trembu, who was in charge of the patrol, had not returned yet, the replacement patrol officer of the second team had not yet arrived. And the captain's words that seemed to blame Trembu were not harsh at all.
"Hi, Captain! I'm back." In the distance, Trembu, who had been patrolling for a long time, finally waved back. If someone looks carefully, it is not difficult to find that on Trembu's People's Guard uniform at this moment,
With a little dust on it.
"Trembu, what are you doing! I came to you for a drink in person, and you seemed to be doing your duty and patrolling seriously. If you love patrolling so much, I might as well leave all the patrol tasks to you in the future," the captain said.
He joked: "Hurry up and come find me in my tent later."
However, Trembu, who always talked a lot, uncharacteristically did not answer the conversation and just led the team members straight towards the camp.
The captain who didn't hear the other party's response frowned and was about to say something...
No! There is something wrong with the nine team members behind Trembe! Their steps are too neat! Let alone ordinary members of the People's Guard, even the government forces of the Republic cannot maintain such a normal patrol.
A neat pace.
The captain's eyes that had been lazy for a long time quickly regained his energy. Just as the captain slowly stretched his hand towards the gun bag on his waist, Trembu across from him suddenly fell to the ground with his head in his hands. Then, a man walking on Trembu
On the left, a soldier wearing a People's Guard uniform quickly raised his gun and aimed it at the captain.
Looking at the other eight "patrol" soldiers who quickly dispersed and raised their guns, the wise Spanish captain chose to withdraw his hand reaching for his waist and immediately raised his hands.
"I surrender." The captain, who had long been dissatisfied with the government's abandonment of people like him, expressed his attitude loudly.
When he finished speaking the last word, the captain clearly saw that the soldier who was aiming at him had put his finger on the trigger. Fortunately, he had said it a few tenths of a second earlier, and the captain was secretly grateful.