Franco breathed a sigh of relief. The crazy attacks of the Republican Army in the past few days finally stopped.
The National Army's defense line has reached the critical point of collapse. Perhaps another charge by the Republican Army can lead to breakthroughs at several nodes.
The volunteer troops from Ireland, Romania, and Portugal have long lost their combat effectiveness in high-intensity combat, and the Moroccan Foreign Legion, which has been severely reduced in strength, can only perform some defensive tasks.
What's more important is that the Spanish National Army in Franco's hands has less than 60,000 people left, and its organization has long been disrupted.
Fortunately, the Republican Army retreated "in time", otherwise, it would have been Franco's army that should have retreated at this moment!
"General Franco!" A major general of the National Army said with unconcealed joy: "According to our intelligence, Francisco's troops were urgently recalled by the Republicans. They were afraid that Rommel's troops would take Madrid in one go.
, and then took advantage of the victory to pursue it. Therefore, they mobilized all available troops to return reinforcements."
Rommel's regiment? Franco smiled bitterly. Indeed, he won, won the duel between him and Francisco. But it was not his National Army that relied on it, but a mere division sent by the Germans.
.
However, Franco did not dwell too much on who led the victory. Anyway, he was the victorious party, and that was enough!
"Send a report to General Rommel for me and thank him for his contribution to the overall situation. Our army will immediately prepare to move north to join the actions of the German-Spanish Combined Corps," Franco concluded cheerfully.
"General Franco." As the frontline commander, the Major General of the National Army worried: "Our troops are exhausted. Going north to pursue the Republican Army at this time is likely to..."
"Pursuit?" Franco said with a knowing smile: "I didn't say we were going to pursue the enemy. The National Army will go north, but the time has not been determined yet. Do you understand?"
After hearing these words, the major general looked at Franco with reverence: "I understand, general. You are really a wise leader."
Patting the major general on the shoulder with satisfaction, Franco laughed and said: "There is nothing smart or unwise about this. I just did a simple true or false question. Since the Germans are so capable of fighting, let them fight as much as they can."
.As for us, we just need to tighten their pace."
.....................
While the National Army on the southern front finally stabilized its defense line, the Italian Expeditionary Force on the northern front also made breakthrough progress.
The retreat of the Comintern column took away more than 2,000 elite and tenacious volunteers and more than 5,000 People's Guard soldiers equipped with Mauser rifles. This gave the Italian Expeditionary Force a huge opportunity, a fighter plane to break the stalemate!
As the commander of the Italian Expeditionary Force, Gambara can be regarded as an excellent infantry commander. He decisively invested all the main forces of the Italian Expeditionary Force, overwhelming the only Spanish German armorer reserve team. In coordination with
Four dissatisfied Spanish German armorers deployed in the south launched a relentless attack on Bilbao.
After five hours of continuous attacks, the Italian Expeditionary Force, which had been stagnant in Bilbao for nearly a month, finally completely captured the city of Bilbao, the capital of the Spanish province of Varas.
Since then, there has been no obstacle to the advancement of the Italian Expeditionary Force. In the entire province of Varas, there is no longer any force that can compete with the Italian Expeditionary Force.
When the Italian Expeditionary Force spread out and advanced under the command of Gambara, the small remaining Republican Army units in northern Spain broke up and fled, then surrendered and were captured.
Everyone can see that Varas Province has become an enclave in the northern part of the Republic. There are no reinforcements and no retreat. The fall of Bilbao is a precursor to the fall of Varas Province. At this time, there is no way to follow the International Brigade southward.
The troops are all abandoned. The most they can do is to use up all their bullets and then surrender.
Looking at the blue arrow representing the Italian Expeditionary Force on the combat diagram, which was running wildly forward, Gambara, as the commander of the expeditionary force, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
For a month, the Italian Expeditionary Force, which took the lead in launching the campaign, has been unable to open up the situation in Bilbao. Facing the international column of the Republican Army moving north, the soldiers of the Italian Expeditionary Force were obviously somewhat powerless.
Counting from the first day when it launched its attack on Bilbao, the Italian Expeditionary Force had spent 25 days. To put it mildly, the Italian Expeditionary Force occupied 3/4 of Bilbao through tenacious fighting for nearly a month.
What’s ugly is that the expeditionary force was dragged in Bilbao for 25 days without moving an inch!
Had it not been for Rommel, who was in the middle, leading his troops to attack Madrid with force, quickly threatening the bottom line of the Republican Army and forcing the Republican Army to call back its troops. This long-awaited breakthrough for the Italian Expeditionary Force might have come much later.
Such a victory was too embarrassing for Gambara, who claimed to be a famous Italian general.
As one of the best generals in the Italian Army, Gambara's command must not be intimidating. From the three-way pressure on Bilbao to the initial centripetal penetration, Gambara's profound command skills are demonstrated in every step.
However, the Italian army, which even relied on poison gas when attacking Ethiopia, would inevitably find it difficult in such head-to-head trench warfare.
The Italian Expeditionary Force was already an elite force used to support the situation in the country, but it was still fighting so hard. The grassroots officers repeatedly called for support from the few fighter planes, which further revealed the fatigue of the expeditionary force.
The Spanish National Army, a splintered army of a second-rate European country, showed its tenacious will in a desperate situation, which could even scare the arrogant Italian army!
Gambara was a little worried that perhaps Italy's self-righteous "Second Roman Empire" was not as powerful as domestic propaganda had it.
Spain, once Italy's biggest competitor in the Mediterranean, was definitely not an enemy that the Italian army could easily defeat.
Gambara suddenly felt a little lucky. Fortunately, the army assisting Spain this time included a powerful German division and its excellent commander. Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether our side would win now.
In the past ten days or so, Gambara has recalled more than once Rommel's predictions. His guess about the Republican Army's reinforcement of troops in Bilbao was absolutely accurate!
If he had not insisted on marching north, but had jointly marched to Madrid with Rommel's regiment, perhaps the Italian Expeditionary Force would have taken photos in the center of Madrid for publicity.
Today, the Italian Expeditionary Force has finally achieved its strategic goal. But this is not the result Gambara wanted, and it is not a victory achieved by Italy's own army.
If Rommel hadn't rushed into the Madrid defense line quickly and accurately, crushing the Republican Army's most reliable defense area at the most critical moment. The northern front might still be in a stalemate. The south might have been defeated!
This is the courage a famous general should have!
Turning the tide before it falls and lifting the building up! What else can better reflect the talent of a commander than such a record.
In this war, the Italian Expeditionary Force, which worked hard and mobilized many troops, will not achieve results worthy of bragging as the domestic leaders expected.
In this war involving millions of people, the only ones who were truly admirable were the German division of 12,000 people and their high-spirited major general named Rommel.