Darachi was originally just a colonel staff officer in the Spanish Republican Army, and he stayed at the rear to handle various plans. But with the outbreak of the war, more and more senior officers were transferred away, and Darachi who stayed became a
A rare candidate for senior commander of the People's Guard.
Today, Dalachi has been promoted to the rank of Major General of the Republic, leading the 50,000 People's Guard. The defense line that Dalachi is responsible for is the second front west of Madrid. This defense line is built on the Manzanares River.
With an even deployment of 50,000 People's Guard troops, it is the most promising of the three lines of defense to the west of Madrid to block the German-Spanish coalition.
Just 2 days ago, the German-Spanish Combined Corps, which had been silent until now, suddenly launched an attack. Not to mention that all the forward positions in the west fell, and the first line of defense that bore the brunt of Madrid's three lines of defense also quickly collapsed. As the second line,
The commander of the defense line, Darachi, could not imagine why the first line of defense, which also had 50,000 troops, could not hold out for even two days.
However, Darachi had no time to think about it. The first-line defense area that he had placed high hopes on had been lost, and Madrid could only rely on the second and third-line positions. And the second line of defense, which relied on the Manzanares River, was obviously worse than
The third line of defense must be reliable.
Darachi was a little excited. He suddenly found himself in a key position. Perhaps, his command would determine the outcome of the battle to defend Madrid. It was the first time in his life to command troops in battle, and it was such a crucial battle.
Somewhere in the dark, Darachi felt that this might be an opportunity given to him by God, an opportunity to leave his name in history!
"Come here!" Dalaqi suppressed the excitement in his heart and said: "Organize and collect the retreating troops. I will use them to form a new reserve team."
After thinking about it, Darachi said sternly to the liaison officer who came over: "Also, send a report to the headquarters in Madrid for me and ask them to mobilize reinforcements to my defense line as much as possible. If possible, mobilize the third line of defense.
The troops are also fine. After all, our Manzanares River defense line is much more valuable than the third line of defense."
While Darachi was immersed in the fantasy of becoming famous in World War I, many black "iron blocks" and dense figures of people quietly appeared on the other side of the second line of defense he was responsible for.
It was 7 o'clock in the evening and night had fallen. Many soldiers of the People's Guard had just finished their dinner and gathered together in twos and threes to brag and chat. The soldiers on guard were also a little sleepy, staring tiredly at the dark river.
In the past two days, too many defeated soldiers who had escaped from the front line had waded in from across the river bank. The soldiers standing guard also changed from the initial careful interrogation to the current rapid interrogation. The front line was defeated too quickly, and many of the soldiers who escaped from the front line were defeated.
People didn't even know what was going on, so they hurriedly fled with the crowd. The sentry responsible for the investigation quickly got used to the flow of people coming in groups and didn't bother to be nervous.
They were not formally trained soldiers to begin with. Although they carried guns and ammunition provided by foreign countries and wore fairly formal uniforms, they were far from meeting the standards of becoming an army. Whether they were the remnants of soldiers who escaped from the other side or the
The sentries stationed at the Manzanares River did not meet the quality requirements of a regular army.
An army that can defeat the enemy on the battlefield must have strict discipline, fine traditions, and perseverance. In addition, it must also have flexible and professional command, reliable logistics support, and year-round professional military training. True
Army officers and soldiers must be familiar with the use of every weapon and equipment in their hands, and be able to complete the attack and defense tactics assigned by their superiors. An army's intelligence system, command system and combat units must be integrated. The military attainments of officers and the soldiers'
The quality of individual soldiers, as well as mutual trust and cooperation, also require a lot of time to develop.
And none of these things are possessed by the so-called People's Guard in front of them. What's even more ridiculous is that their commander, Major General Dalach, still expects to use them to compete with Rommel's elite divisions.
.Anyone with a bit of common sense will accuse this of being a fantasy. Darachi, a general who only knows how to talk about war on paper and has a background as a staff officer, has no self-awareness at all.
When Darach imagined that temporary militiamen from all walks of life, who had never been exposed to military training or even used guns, were going to block the German-Spanish Combined Corps that Rommel had reorganized and put in place for two months,
He has already been labeled as an armchair soldier. He still fantasizes about mobilizing more troops for him to command?! Dream on! If it weren't for an emergency, the generals could not be replaced on the spot. The Madrid headquarters would have kicked this "staff general" away long ago
.
........
On the other side of the upper reaches of the Manzanares River, patches of black shadow gradually emerged. When the Guardsmen on guard finally attracted attention, the pitch-black steel chariots had already broken through the night, revealing their ferocious fangs.
.
"Tank!" Accompanied by a heart-rending cry, the originally lazy and harmonious People's Guard camp was instantly enveloped in an atmosphere of panic. And those German No. 2 tanks that rushed out of the night were immediately attacked by unprepared tanks.
The People's Guard launched a fierce shooting.
"Zizzizi..." With a sound similar to tearing cloth, the MG33 machine gun equipped on the No. 2 tank sprayed out a long stream of flames. It only took less than a minute.
Thousands of People's Guard soldiers fell down amidst the unpleasant sound of machine gunfire. The German No. 2 tank took away a large number of lives like a harvester, leaving a pool of blood on the ground.
"Where is the heavy machine gun, come over quickly!" Several officers who responded quickly also tried to resist.
"Crack, crack, crack..." The few machine guns that had been set up by the river bank began to fire.
"It's useless! We were deceived. The few machine guns the Germans sold us were too small in caliber to penetrate their tanks." After seeing that the bullets fired by the machine guns only left a spark around the No. 2 tank,
No matter how calm a warrior is, it's time for him to collapse.
Those few old machine guns sold to the People's Guard at high prices by the Germans were unable to penetrate their tank armor even at close range. And weapons such as grenades had long been taken by the troops heading south.
Everything is clean. In other words, the troops staying in Madrid have no weapons that can be used to penetrate German tanks!
What makes the People's Guard even more desperate is that the German tanks are obviously more than what meets the eye. In the distance, more and more No. 2 tanks reveal their huge size of more than 4 meters. Gradually, there are many more tanks one after another.
A variety of low-profile chariots also began to appear.
Then the National Army soldiers wearing khaki military uniforms began to appear, but they were farther away.
The People's Guard on the east bank of the Manzanares River finally began to collapse on a large scale. Faced with the endless German No. 2 tanks and the National Army No. 1 tank destroyers, the desperate People's Guard soldiers raised their hands.
Embarrassingly, no soldiers came immediately to accept their surrender. Because the German armorers of the National Army as follow-up infantry were still slowly approaching here, and Rommel's only three German infantry battalions were even closer.