afterglow

Chapter 204 Chapter [-] Relief; Uncharacteristic Surprise Attack
Around the same time, Toulouse.

In the afternoon, the sky was clear, the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was a bit hot. There were long queues in front of the cold drink stalls or ice cream shops on the street. Citizens seemed to think that it was worthwhile to wait 10 minutes for ice cream under the bright sun.

As the largest city in southwestern France, Toulouse has a long history and its architectural features are also very conspicuous - many houses here retain the characteristics of rose red bricks and tiles.

And this is why Toulouse is called the city of roses, although it does not produce roses.The romantic French praised these brick walls in their poems as "rose red in the morning, lavender at noon, and red in the evening".

If Paris represents romance and fashion, then Toulouse represents nature and simplicity.

In the afternoon, many citizens gathered in the central square, taking a walk, basking in the sun, drinking coffee, leisurely and comfortable.

However, on the bench under a big tree in the corner of the square, there were two different figures sitting.

"Hey, what on earth is he thinking? It's obviously good, but he wants to take risks..."

"Some people are really happy to do this, and they draw their swords to help when they see injustice. I can only say that Chief Zhou is a man of benevolence."

Xia Xiaoshi stared at the ice cream cone in her hand with a sad face, "But this is against the law, sister Zhen'er, if it is made public, you will definitely be punished, and it will also affect your career."

Since Xia Bing was in charge of the criminal department, Xia Xiaoshi was naturally more sensitive to this under the influence of her ears and eyes.

The woman next to her was Qin Zizhen, a civilian lieutenant in the navy who came along with her. She had the kind of figure that looked like a mountain from the side and a peak from the side. It could be said that men were enthusiastic and women were jealous.

Qin Zizhen smiled slightly and said: "You are worrying too much. Regardless of whether the outside world knows it yet, even if you know it, it is not difficult to avoid being punished."

Of course, this is just a reassurance. If this matter is really brought out, no matter how bad it is, he will be convicted. As for the understatement of the symbolic punishment or the normal punishment according to the standard, it depends on the wishes of the bosses.

If it is to prevent others from learning and learning, then it is definitely not appropriate to punish lightly, otherwise it is tantamount to connivance.

But... Since ancient times, or in recent decades, this kind of special treatment is actually not uncommon. It seems that one more special case this time is nothing?
Xia Xiaoshi, whose eyes were full of melancholy, sighed softly, and said softly: "This is the end of the matter, I just hope that he can return safely, and we will talk about it later."

"There's no need to worry so much. Chief Zhou is now the chief officer. He doesn't need to go to the front line. He will be able to retreat in the end." Qin Zizhen thought for a while and added: "According to him, he will leave when the battle between the two sides is over. return."

The twists and turns of a series of things these days are really speechless. I came all the way to "take care of" but found that Zhou Changfeng was not there. After a few days of confusion, I realized that he had gone to Spain, which was a mess.

If Xia Xiaoshi only wanted to give him two punches in the chest, then Zhu Lingjing could not wait to pick up the whip and give him a hard blow.

And this may be the reason why Zhou Changfeng has been sneezing for the past few days. He didn't know why, but he still felt that he caught a cold because he only wore short sleeves and was too thin when he patrolled at night.

June fourteenth.

The moderate rain that lasted for more than an hour gradually stopped and the dark clouds dissipated, but what followed was a neat formation of bombers in the sky.

Not long after, the sound of rumbling explosions came from behind, like a series of thunderclaps.

It was an air strike again. In the past half a month, dozens of air strikes of various scales have made the [-]th Brigade get used to it.

Roads, bridges, warehouses, transfer stations, etc. have all suffered losses to varying degrees, and the logistics capacity has dropped by half.

The national army and the Italian army, who are facing the enemy, have organized many reconnaissance operations in succession these days, very persistent, time and time again.

Although it can be detected seven or eight times out of ten, there are always fish that slip through the net.

Everything indicates that the battle is coming.

"...this may be our last big fight in Spain, maybe this autumn or winter, and the international brigade will leave. What the future holds for Spain, I don't think we know, but it means Should we give up the fight? I'm afraid not."

"What we and thousands of volunteers have achieved with their blood and lives may not be the final victory, but a glorious deed, which will be recorded forever in human history. Here, we no longer consider The interests of oneself and the country, regardless of race, class, or party."

"This at least proves that human beings do not always follow social Darwinism, and imperialism is not the only one. But the reality is that in the long time to come, it is impossible for such a noble behavior to become the praised mainstream."

"Under the situation of unequal distribution, not many people would be willing to cut down on food and clothing to help strangers in another part of the world. So, I want to ask, do you regret coming here? Volunteering for pursuits and ideals that are not understood by the public The price of life?"

Zhou Changfeng's unscripted speech was not impassioned at all, and in Chretien's opinion, it was not a qualified pre-war speech—not only did it not boost morale, but it also threw the problem to everyone.

"What is 'volunteering'? It must be a decision made after the consequences and results are clarified. This is not compulsory conscription."

"Well, Xia, you always do some weird things."

that night.

The climate is quite cool, and the round bright moon seems to be inlaid in the starry night, and the moonlight sprinkles on the field like a thin white gauze.

Six kilometers upstream of Talavera, rubber boats crossed the Tejo River silently, and countless figures swayed onto the river beach, surrounded only by the sound of boots stepping on the sand. There was a slight rustling sound.

A battalion of the No. 20 Sixth Infantry Division of the Italian Army successfully crossed the Tejo River without being exposed under the cover of night, followed by the second battalion.

The Italians were uncharacteristically bold. They planned to cross the river at the junction of the 40th Brigade and the No. 109th Brigade of the Republican Army.

Although in theory it is more secure and feasible to attack the 47th Brigade first, the Italian staff think that would expose their side prematurely, causing the [-]th Brigade to be more vigilant.

It can be said that they did not take the Republican Army seriously. The International Brigade was the most difficult opponent, and the most important thing was the 109 Heights - condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the party occupying there would undoubtedly be able to take the initiative.

Major General Antonio thought he was fully prepared. If the surprise attack on Height 109 failed, the follow-up troops would immediately stick to the river beach position and storm the 47th Brigade of the Republican Army, trying to repel it. In this way, the right flank of the [-]th Brigade will be fully exposed.

He is determined to stand out in the prologue of this decisive battle, and let the world witness that the Italian army is not a third-rate army that will be disgraced if bullying the weak.

At this moment, on the artillery position on the north bank, a row of mountain artillery and howitzers have been neatly deployed, and the artillery is on standby, ready to carry out a sudden fire attack after the battle starts.

After finishing the team, a battalion of more than 109 Italian troops took one platoon as the vanguard unit, and the rest formed three levels of echelons behind them, slowly approaching the [-] highland formation in the dark.

"what is that?"

"Looks like people? Lots of them!"

The two Frenchmen in charge of peripheral security were chatting quietly, but they noticed the approaching large crowd.

Dangkong Haoyue gave them good visibility, and under the moonlight, the two of them were certain that these guys were the enemy troops trying to sneak attack at night.

Just when one of them was about to fire a warning shot into the sky...

Suddenly, a flash of light suddenly appeared, and the sound of "boom" explosion also came from there.

An unlucky Italian infantryman stepped on an M25 landmine, which is commonly used by the Italian army today. It is a detonated fuse and contains 400g of TNT or nitrostarch explosives.

Unlike modern landmines that pursue "disabling but not killing", today's anti-personnel landmines have not changed the way of killing them, so they are often hundreds of grams of explosives, and their power should not be underestimated.

These landmines were left over by the defeated Italian army. Everyone reset their insurance, dug them out, and re-buried them on the forward positions.

The broken body was blown away, and several people around it also suffered.

The huge explosion of landmines spread very far at night, and could be clearly heard for several kilometers. The soldiers of the 72nd Battalion who woke up from sleep immediately took their guns and entered the position, while those on duty had already manipulated mortars to fire flares.

"Bang! Bang!"

After a few crisp sounds, the lighting tube hanging under the small parachute emitted a dazzling white light, and the bright brilliance instantly illuminated the dark earth.

The Italian soldiers who had not yet recovered from the surprise of encountering landmines bowed their heads under the stern voices of officers and non-commissioned officers, and some of them were temporarily blinded because they subconsciously looked directly at the flares.

"Explode the minefield! Company A attacks immediately!"

Now that it was discovered, the surprise attack suddenly turned into a strong attack.

The Italian army knew very well that they only had one chance. If the assault failed, they should retreat immediately to prevent being flanked.

The blasting tube with the fuse pulled was thrown into the minefield, and the huge explosion detonated the nearby mines along with it, and there was an endless rumbling sound.

Immediately, more than a hundred Italian troops quickly passed through this narrow passage, and then expanded into a sparse offensive formation, rushing up the hillside.

Several firepower points on the mountainside fired, the muzzle flames flickered, and six or seven Italian soldiers fell down like wheat cut by a sickle.

In the sound of "da da da" gunshots, the fierce crossfire like a gust of wind and rain beat the Italian army who was trying to attack by force, howling like ghosts and wolves.

The corpse that had been beaten into a hornet's nest rolled down the hillside with a gurgle. Some people avoided it and were knocked down by the corpse like a rolling log, and they rolled down together.

"Look for cover!"

"Mortar fire, suppress!"

The officers were screaming sharply, but their voices were completely covered by the noisy gunfire like firecrackers.

The smarter Italian soldiers fled to the bottom of the cliff, taking advantage of the blind spot of machine gun fire to gain a moment of respite.

It's just that this time was too short, before they could think about their current situation, grenades fell down like hailstones one by one.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

This is not over yet, the heavy weapons company of the 72nd Battalion, which has already calibrated the shooting of Zhuyuan in various areas, is already using mortars to fire. You only need to flip through your notebook, and you can adjust the shooting direction and elevation angle in half a minute. .

Dull explosions and shrill screams were mixed together, and the Italian army's offensive road suddenly turned into a bloody purgatory.

The entire hillside, cliffs, and trails are strewn with dead bodies in various shapes. The wounded who are dying are crying for help, but how can the medical soldiers who are unable to protect themselves have the energy to save them?
Bullets are raining down, nowhere seems safe here, it's a slaughterhouse!

Looking there from a distance, the whole hill looks like a fire hedgehog, with muzzle flames and explosions flashing everywhere.

The other company and battalion headquarters that did not participate in the attack were deeply shocked by the bloody scene. Six Fiat heavy machine guns and a dozen ultra-light mortars fired almost frantically, trying to suppress the firepower point on the 109 Heights.

As a result, the firepower of the defenders has weakened, and the remnants of the defeated generals who have no fighting spirit almost fled.

Some desperate guys just wanted to escape from the land of right and wrong, forgetting the dangerous place where they came from, so they plunged into the minefield and were blown away.

The first echelon of the Italian attack was disintegrated in this way, leaving dozens of corpses without any progress.

They fired two red, one yellow and three signal flares into the air, and immediately the Italian artillery position on the north bank of the Tejo opened fire.

The 70mm mountain artillery, 75mm field artillery, and 105mm howitzer were all roaring, and shells rained down one after another.

Under the night, clusters of flashes of light burst out from the 109 high ground, and the deafening explosion sound reached the ears a few seconds later, which can be described as shaking the earth.

In the more than ten minutes of fire support, rapid fire took up half of the time, which can be said to be quite rapid.

However, the rest of the Italian army refused to continue the attack. The commander of Company B justly opposed the implementation of the "pointless storm" mission, and the soldiers also loudly expressed their support.

The major of the Italian army who led the team took advantage of the slope to descend the donkey. He also knew in his heart that this attack had already failed tactically—the key to a surprise attack was to surprise the enemy. Since it was discovered in advance, it was actually doomed to be impossible to succeed.

The 71st Battalion greeted the retreat of these self-righteous Italian troops with heavy machine guns and mortars until they disappeared into the night.

However, the fact that the [-]th Brigade can easily accept this sneak attack does not mean that other troops can also.

At this moment, the Italian army of the third battalion also crossed the Tejo River, while the second battalion decisively launched a decisive surprise attack on the 47th Brigade of the Republican Army.

The Italians also gave full play to their creativity, trying to piece together two simple large rafts with wooden boards, waste car tires, and empty oil drums, and transported two CV-33 ultralight tanks across the river.

The small, light and brittle tanks now have a miraculous effect. If they were replaced with normal tanks, it would be absolutely impossible to raft them across the river.

Two CV-33s "showed their prowess" on the Republican position, and the Italian army who accompanied the attack also behaved quite aggressively.

The 47th Brigade was devastated by such a sudden and violent raid. The agile Italian small tanks rampaged, and even reached a place less than 100 meters away from the brigade headquarters.

For a while, several positions fell one after another, and the 47th Brigade, caught off guard, thought it was attacked by an entire division of the Italian army.

"They're everywhere! We should retreat!"

(End of this chapter)