afterglow

Chapter 207 Chapter [-] Chrissy; I am an atheist!
The Red Eagle Legion is a combat unit and a training unit, I believe you are of any use?
The Spaniards are responsible for the logistical supply, they are so inefficient and chaotic, how can people believe it?

Zhou Changfeng glanced at this good-looking young woman, and said calmly: "Captain, the Red Eagle Legion is not responsible for supply lines and transportation tasks."

The latter replied calmly: "However, Mr. Commander, I have the right to supervise and interim judgment."

The background color of her collar stripes and epaulets are orange, which Zhou Changfeng knew was the color of the German military police.

Interesting, when did the Spaniards even give this power to the Germans?
But when you think about it, the Germans are the masters now. Although the weapons are all bought by the Spaniards with real money, the Germans are the only ones who are so caring and even send people to help in the war.

"It seems that the Spaniards have finally realized that they cannot improve efficiency by themselves." Zhou Changfeng took a deep look at her, nodded and said, "48 hours, if it exceeds the time, I will directly order to retreat."

For some reason, Zhou Changfeng suddenly thought of a guy named Hurd in history.

Since the customs of the Qing Dynasty is undoubtedly rich in oil and water, anyone who goes there will make a lot of money from it, but the appointment of the British Hurd has changed everything. A huge income of tens of millions of taels of silver!
It's a humiliation for foreigners to manage the tariffs, but...it's delicious!Hurd can be said to be a proper hero of the Qing Dynasty, and his top wearing Hualing was not for nothing.

And right now, the Spaniards actually allowed the Germans to "supervise the war" in disguise?This is really dumbfounding.

"A strange guy." The female captain Chrissy muttered.

Chris is actually a member of the German Social Security Department. She belongs to the General Investigation Bureau, but she spends most of her time in the office and does not go out to work much.

Staatssicherheit means "national security", and its abbreviation is Stasi, which means "Stasi".

Carrying out intelligence work against Britain, France, and Russia is the basic task of the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, and she naturally attaches great importance to a rare field mission.

You must know that the Iberian Peninsula, which is now in a mess, has almost become a paradise for intelligence personnel—with all kinds of cutting-edge weapons and equipment appearing one after another, colleagues from various countries are eagerly collecting materials and information.

In order to move around easily, she set up a military police identity to hang under the Red Eagle Legion.

This time it was not only because of the delivery of combat orders, but also because the commander of the [-]th Brigade was a wise man, obviously very valuable.

But Zhou Changfeng has no intention of chatting with Chris at all—the battle is still undecided, so where is the time to talk about other things?
Due to his high concentration, Zhou Changfeng, who hadn't eaten for most of the day, didn't feel any hunger at all. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he confirmed that the left wing position was finally stable.

Only then did the feeling of tiredness and hunger set in.

Facing Chris who seemed to want to stay at the headquarters, he was exhausted and said patiently: "My unit does not need to supervise the battle, Captain, you'd better go to the rear to supervise the Spaniards."

Chris, who was ordered to leave, took off slowly in the Fi-156 liaison plane in the setting sun, and disappeared into the darkening sky.

The cannons boomed and the shots continued.

Perhaps in normal times, more than forty hours are ordinary days that pass by in a flash, but here, countless lives are lost every minute and every second.

The offensive of the Eighth Division of the Russian Army was almost uninterrupted and stopped. The artillery rushed after the infantry, and the infantry rushed after the artillery. From time to time, tanks accompanied the attack.

The 71st Battalion was in charge of defending the left-wing positions. This large area of ​​positions had been completely destroyed by the fierce artillery fire. In some places where more shells fell, the soft soil could be submerged up to the ankles when walking up.

The total area of ​​the B3 position where the battle was the most intense was only two square kilometers, and the fortifications that looked extremely solid before the war had long been razed to the ground by artillery fire-after all, the civil engineering fortifications could not compare with the reinforced concrete permanent fortifications.

The bodies of the soldiers killed on both sides were also blasted to pieces by the artillery fire regardless of whether it was the enemy or the enemy. Blake sent out row after row of reinforcements, but they were often killed and wounded within a few hours.

After dark, dots of fire were still burning in front of the position, large or small, and the biggest ones were the destroyed T-26 light tanks.

Throughout the night, Russian infantry units continued to try to infiltrate behind the front line. Some were discovered and repelled by the defenders, and some succeeded in taking root in the middle of the position, becoming spikes stuck in the defenders' throats.

At [-]:[-] in the morning, Zhou Changfeng in the headquarters raised his hand and glanced at his watch, deciding to sleep for a while before dawn.

When he fell into a deep sleep, Real, hundreds of kilometers away...

As a small liaison aircraft, the Fi-156's cruising speed is only a few tens of miles. After flying for so long, Chris finally arrived in Real, an important material transfer place for strategic decisive battles. Dozens of trains pass by here every day. .

She came to the second-floor building where the supervision team was stationed, and the chef on duty enthusiastically started cooking oil for her alone.

However, before the food was ready, someone came to report that the transportation of a heavy anti-aircraft gun company of the Red Eagle Legion had been delayed, and the discussion was fruitless.

Chrissy stared, got up and left, the chef holding a German beef roll only saw her back disappear into the night.

After two blocks in the blackout city, she rolled off her motorcycle and found the heavy anti-aircraft gun battery waiting to be loaded.

"Captain, tell me what happened."

"Uh...we're transiting here, but the Spaniard says there are no carts or boxcars available for the time being."

Chris was a little puzzled. A train in the opposite direction was parked on the third platform a few tens of meters away.

Since it's not going to the front line, it shouldn't be something important. Wouldn't it be enough to split up a dozen wagons?An anti-aircraft gun company can't take up many wagons.

So she took several German military police to find the person in charge here-Major Dias, an officer of the Republican Army's supply unit.

Waking up in the middle of the night, the sleepy Dias was still angry about getting up.

Facing Chris' question, he raised his head slightly, and replied stiffly: "Captain, the transportation capacity is limited, and it is normal that there are not enough carriages. There will be vacant carriages in the morning or at noon."

"Time is life. I saw a train in the opposite direction replenishing its coal and water, and its carriages could be called. It only needed ten knots."

"No, it has its own transportation mission."

Dias knew very well that the [-] or so wagons loaded with leather were the property of high-ranking government officials—the decisive battle had begun, and the property under his name in several nearby cities would naturally be transported away.

"What is luck?"

"Strategic materials, rare metals, chromium, molybdenum..."

Although the lights were dim, Chris was keenly aware of the logistics officer's eyes dodging with her accumulated experience in her job.

"There is nothing more important than war right now, and combat units must arrive on time."

After saying this, she walked towards platform No. [-] without hesitation, and several gendarmes followed quickly.

A little disturbed, Dias tried to dissuade them again and again, but still did not stop them.

Before the Republican soldiers next to them moved forward, they were frightened by the military police with their submachine guns and stopped in their tracks.

A gendarme took out a long-handled pliers from the toolbox, came to a stuffy tank truck, cut the iron chain with a "click", and then pulled open the door of the truck.

Chris picked up the flashlight and took a look inside, her complexion suddenly darkened.

Expensive mahogany sofas, chests, chairs?Fine Chinese porcelain?A soft Persian rug?
She turned her head and asked coldly, "Is this your 'strategic material'?"

At this moment, Dias probably seemed to be breaking the can after being exposed to the lie, and said angrily: "Captain, who allowed you to inspect the special cargo without authorization? Our patience is limited!"

Chris, who was as cold as ice, stared at him, and said calmly: "I repeat my request, unload these things, and let the anti-aircraft guns be loaded."

"You have no right to manage these things! Get out of here immediately..."

"boom!"

Dias, whose face was full of disbelief, fell back and fell to the ground clutching the wound on his chest, while Chris still maintained the posture of holding the PPK pistol.

She looked around and said calmly: "The Republican Army Command issued an order on the [-]th to allow the Red Eagle Corps to have the same law enforcement powers as the Republican Army Gendarmerie. Now, I have three items of dereliction of duty, deception, and malicious delay in the deployment of combat units." Immediately execute him for the crime. I demand that you immediately unload the carriages and put them on the train on the opposite track."

After she finished speaking, she saw that Dias was still breathing out of the corner of her eye, so she took another shot.

The gunshot sounded like a death talisman, and the surrounding soldiers started to act tremblingly. They rushed forward and began to throw down those expensive properties.

An hour and a half later, four Flak36 88mm anti-aircraft guns, more than a dozen Bussing NAG900 heavy trucks, and more than a hundred officers and soldiers boarded the vehicles smoothly.

With the sound of the whistle, the train headed towards Talavera in the dim night that was about to fade.

June 21, morning.

The bloody and brutal battle continued. In addition to the Eighth Division of the Russian Army, the No.90 Sixth Brigade of the National Army also entered the battle.

The corpses of the Russians and Spaniards who died in front of the positions were everywhere, but many corpses could no longer be called corpses, they could only be called body fragments.

Under the shelling, bombing, and charging of the enemy, the soldiers of the [-]th Brigade died on the ground in whole squads and platoons.The front line is urgent, but every time a platoon of reinforcements arrives, it will be exhausted within a few hours. It seems that no matter how many reinforcements there are, there will always be only a handful of defenders left on the battlefield.

Thirty hours of intense fighting exhausted both sides—whether it was the Tsarist-Russian Intervention Army or the Spanish National Army, both of them were beaten to death in front of a rock-solid position.

On the artillery positions, the empty shell casings were almost piled up into hillocks half the height of a person, and the barrel life of many artillery pieces was exhausted.

The complex and complete multi-field defense system and the extremely tenacious will to fight deeply shocked the various units of the [-]th Brigade that attacked and besieged.

At 8:23 am, the countdown is two and a half hours.

The Eighth Infantry Division of the Russian Army withdrew the No.16 Brigade, which suffered heavy losses, and put it into the No.15 Brigade's [-]th Infantry Regiment, which is currently fully staffed.

At the same time, the remaining thirteen available T-26 light tanks of the tank battalion assigned to the Eighth Division were also reorganized, intending to launch a final storm to break through the last line of defense on the left wing of the [-]th Brigade.

Zhou Changfeng, whose eyes were bloodshot, stood up from the artillery mirror and ordered: "Brigade headquarters company, communication company, organize reinforcements to go to positions D2 and D3."

Miller, who also looked haggard, replied in a deep voice: "Sir, they had no troops three hours ago."

Only then did Zhou Changfeng remember that he had already ordered these two units to dispatch personnel to go for reinforcements in the early morning.

More than a dozen eyes in the command center were on him, and he felt his hands trembling slightly—do you need to fight to the end?Wouldn't the [-]th Brigade be a futile sacrifice if the Germans weren't there on time?

After hesitating for two seconds, he took a deep breath, and said solemnly: "Field supplementary company, engineering company, lightly wounded... No matter what, gather 40 people to reinforce. Gentlemen, the decisive moment is often the last 5 minutes."

The hysterical Russian soldiers shouted "Hurrah" and launched an attack on the last line of defense on the left flank. The regiment divided six infantry companies into twelve echelons, one round after another.

The tanks stopped about 200 meters away from the position, firing and strafing continuously, suppressing any exposed defenders' firepower.

At 8:57 am, the countdown is two hours.

The volunteers have just repelled another round of attacks, and dozens of Russian soldiers are retreating in embarrassment.

Now, there are only twelve people in the D300 position with a frontal width of more than 2 meters. They come from five different companies, including British, French, Americans, Canadians, Belgians, and Norwegians.

Corporal Nathan was the highest ranking of them all, and everyone accepted his command by default.

He found the field phone under the weight of a dead body, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was still working.

"D2 calls the bird's nest, please send reinforcements, we only have twelve people left!"

"Reinforcements are stopped by blockade fire, they are trying to get through the blockade area, please hold on."

At this time, someone shouted sharply: "The enemy is approaching!"

Attack after wave, the defenders had little room to breathe.

Eleven eyes fell on Nathan. After a strange silence, an Englishman said, "I don't want to be captured by these guys."

Nathan scanned the crowd present, and everyone nodded.

There are no extra words, a look and a movement are enough.

He shouted into the microphone: "A large number of enemy troops are approaching, only two hundred yards away, we can't stop them! We demand all available firepower to cover the D2 area! Broken Arrow! Repeat, Broken Arrow!"

On the other end of the phone, Miller was stunned for three seconds.After a while, he said in a deep voice with red eyes, "It's an honor to work with you."

At the front of the D2 position, I probably felt that there were not many living people here, and the Russian army didn't even bother to cover it with artillery fire before attacking.

With ragged clothes and blood and mud on their faces, twelve volunteers from all over the world held their weapons tightly, waiting quietly for the final moment.

But they didn't fire, because if they fired, the incoming enemy would surely fall down.

"Sing a song, the Internationale?" suggested a Frenchman.

"No, I don't believe that." The Englishman immediately refused.

"We should pray to God," said an American.

"I don't agree, I'm an atheist." The Frenchman said proudly.

The infantrymen of the Tsarist Russian Intervention Army have approached to a distance of tens of meters, and they can even see their faces clearly.

The whistle of "beep beep beep" sounded, and they all launched an impact with their Mosin Nagant rifles with bayonets attached.

At 9:09 am, the countdown is one hour five 10 minutes.

"Boom—boom—"

The dull sound of artillery came from the rear of the position. This was the artillery group of the [-]th Brigade firing, and the shells would fall in a few seconds.

Corporal Nathan suddenly thought of a sentence, and now there is no room for him to think about it, he shouted loudly: "Fight for your freedom and our freedom!"

"Boom!" The first shell landed on the ground.

The remaining 11 people were slightly startled, and immediately shouted in unison in their native languages. English, French, and Norwegian were intertwined and echoed on the dilapidated D2 position.

Immediately afterwards, dense shells rained down.

Their figures, their voices, and seventy or eighty Russian soldiers were all shrouded in flames and smoke from the explosion.

(End of this chapter)