Bismarck

Should he choose to be the owner of the Azores Islands, which Franco had driven to a remote area with few roads, or should he choose to cooperate with the Axis powers? It doesn't matter what Salazar chooses. What matters is that for the Axis powers and Spain, it doesn't matter which choice he makes!

Then the evil fleet can attack at will from the long coastline, and the Axis powers can also obtain rare metals and natural rubber that were originally scarce. In other words, the United States will not only have to allocate more resources to support its British allies, but also will most likely have to suspend its attack on Japan... If this really happens, the masters on Capitol Hill will dig up their own ancestral graves!

Looking at the Spanish army with many people and guns on the other side, and then looking at the pilots and ground crews on this side who were alone, thinking that the evil spirit fleet 100 kilometers away would take at least three hours to land, the Americans were a little relieved. However, he could not give in to the Spaniards on this matter.

Even if the flying unit retreated, he would at best be a lieutenant colonel ground crew commander with no combat personnel under his command.

"We have also received orders from our superiors that we must not let the airport fall into the hands of the Spicy Party... Let's put it this way, your and my opinions don't count in this matter, and our superiors are also in contact with President Franco. So, how about we wait another hour before we decide?"

After carefully considering his words, the American suppressed his emotions and began to reason with the Spaniard in a calm manner. At the same time, he tilted his head towards the adjutant beside him, "Go, report to your superiors immediately and urge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"Okay, but you can't pile explosives on the runway now! The most I allow you to do is hang the bombs on the trailer, and the drivers have to get off!" Seeing that the Americans opposite him finally started to be reasonable, the Spaniard secretly breathed a sigh of relief and gave up the dangerous idea of ​​really fighting with the Americans. At the same time, with his hand behind his back, he made a secret gesture in the direction of his subordinates behind him: You guys, move the planes and property belonging to our Air Force at the airport first.

This airport was rebuilt in 38 from a recreational racecourse for the upper class of French society. Except for the relatively flat road to the airport itself, there are small hills and ditches on both sides.

As for the airport explosion, the Americans are now going to open the ammunition depot directly, and then they will probably place tons of bombs and gasoline dozens of meters apart. This explosion will surely be earth-shattering!

Therefore, while there is still more than an hour left, I have to move my property to a farther place.

Although one is "free" and the other is dictatorial, when the commanders of both sides looked at each other, they felt that they were in sync with each other.

Time ticked by, and the two commanders sat calmly. One watched his subordinates drive the planes that could fly onto the runway and make preparations; the other looked at his watch from time to time, waiting for communication from the diplomatic department and orders from his superiors.

The men on both sides were not idle either. On one hand, they drove all the planes that could be driven away onto the runway and at the same time loaded tons of bombs onto trailers and hung them on the back of trucks so that they could be driven out at any time. They also laid the wires for detonation directly next to the runway. On the other hand, they also followed the sidewalk and towed the Spanish planes behind the American aircraft group to the take-off line of the runway one by one. At the same time, they also loaded boxes of documents and materials onto trucks and pulled them to a safe location along the road.

The work is methodical, the wait is long and anxious, but once the negotiation results come out, the execution is also fast.

Here, the plane can take off directly and return to the country, and there, the bomb truck can be driven to the runway, piled up at a distance of dozens of meters, and then detonated and ignited with a DUANG sound - this whole process will not even take more than ten minutes.

only……

"Report to the commander, the Beishan radar station (north of the airport) has an urgent report: the evil spirit fleet has dispatched about a squadron of fighter jets, heading towards us!"

A staff officer trotted over to the American officer and whispered in his ear the shocking news - with the evil spirit fleet so close, it would only take ten minutes for the jets to fly over! If the airport was really bombed by their air strikes, it was hard to say what would happen to it. He would definitely be in trouble!

Especially the Edelweiss Witch of the Evil Fleet - they had long been rumored to be omniscient and omnipotent demons - if she also went out with them, his attempt to blow up the airport would basically fail!

The American commander, who was almost in shock, glanced at the Spaniard who was still calm and composed, then turned to his adjutant and whispered, "What's going on up there? Is communication still not going well?"

"I don't know. I guess Franco is still asking for a sky-high price!" The adjutant was indignant. "This damn dictator is just the same as Hitler! If it weren't for dealing with Hitler, there would be no need to please this two-faced bastard!"

"Keep your voice down. At least the situation is stronger than the people..." The officer secretly glanced at the calm Spaniard, gritted his teeth, and made up his mind: "You go to the anti-aircraft artillery position immediately and ask them to prepare for battle. I will go and talk to this damn Spaniard, at least let him allow our anti-aircraft artillery unit to open fire... Go quickly and prepare for battle!"

"Yes!"

Watching the adjutant jump onto the Harley motorcycle and drive away, and then looking at the increasingly dark sky, the American officer spat inwardly, cursed in his heart, pretended to be calm on his face, stood up, walked towards the Spaniard opposite and began to get close to him.

"Hey, man, you want a cigarette?"

"Come on, why are you trying to please me? Are the Germans coming?" The Spaniard sneered in his heart and directly exposed the American's little calculations.

"Yes, the Germans are coming. When the time comes, their bombing on the battlefield will be blind. Do you want to avoid it?" The American who was exposed did not show any anger on his face. He even pretended to be kind and explained his reasons - although at this moment, what he was thinking in his heart was: "Damn it, if I had no choice, I would have talked to you about physics directly!"

"No problem, as long as you don't cause trouble, it's fine for the anti-aircraft guns to fire." The Spaniards also looked calm, but they were panicking inside - as a neutral country, watching the world war to the death was a free show. But if the bomb really fell on their heads, they would be watched by others - if they were unlucky, maybe they could even attend their own funeral after watching the show?

Besides, he was also a commander, and he knew very well that President Franco would never do this for him! You know, although the Falange Party is now in power, most of the elites in Spain have been buried in the civil war. It was fine to give up the airport to please Britain and the United States, but if he offended Hitler again, would he have to fight against the 300,000 French troops?

Even if those troops were withdrawn from Russia for reorganization, they are still much stronger than the Spanish army!

(Historically, there were about 24 troops stationed in Spain, 12 in North Africa, 1200 aircraft, and their equipment was also very ordinary)

After thinking it over, the Spanish officer finally followed his heart like his boss Franco. He called an adjutant and saw that the American officer was far away from him. He whispered in his ear, "I'll have the plane take off immediately. Contact the mainland and tell them that a battle is about to break out. For safety reasons, the stationed air force must be urgently transferred back home..."

The Spanish adjutant took the order and left. His blurry figure under the last ray of light seemed to be a little impatient and embarrassed?

The American on the other side glanced at the adjutant who was running away in a hurry, and listened to the sound of the aircraft engine that was getting louder and louder on the take-off position on the runway in the distance. He looked like he knew what was going on, but he sneered in his heart: "Is he trying to move the plane first, and then go through the official routine to 'implement' the fait accompli? This guy is a smart man who has been through the officialdom for a long time, but it's a pity that you are still too cowardly! Since you are cowardly this time, if I force the bomb trailer to enter the field later, you will most likely be cowardly again!"

After all, when it comes to being a coward, the difference is between being a coward once and being a coward countless times.

"You made the right choice and avoided risks and reduced losses for your country. I won't bother you anymore and will go over first." The American officer sneered in his heart and greeted the Spaniard who was in a dilemma, then turned around and went back leisurely. He was waiting to give the order to let the truck towing the bomb follow the Spanish plane onto the runway and place the bomb!

As long as your plane takes off, there will be no more assets for you here. Even if I blow up the airport, it is nothing more than paying you a sum of infrastructure costs. Not to mention, as a capitalist American, how can I not understand business?

Although Franco is a fence-sitter and does not do anything without profit, when doing business, you must do it at the most appropriate time to maximize your profits. Once this time point has passed - for example, a battle breaks out here - if you, Franco, prevented me from blowing up the airport and caused losses to Britain and the United States, then the time will come to settle the score, and you can only watch how it ends!

I guess it won't be long before the Spanish mainland army will give the order to him to abandon the airport and let me blow it up in any way I want, right?

Sure enough, not long after the Americans turned around and left, the Spanish adjutant and the signalman came running over panting: "Commander Raymond, there's a telegram from above, give up this airport! Let the Americans deal with it!"

The translator beside him told this to the American commander, but the American did not turn back. He knew that if he ordered the bombing of the airport now, the Spanish would definitely not stop him.

One after another, Spanish Air Force planes roared by, dragging the rolling dust on the North African continent. It was not until the last Spanish plane took off that a faint red light flashed in the direction of the Beishan radar station at the junction of day and night. Estimating that the Beishan radar station was still seven or eight kilometers away from the airport, the American officer with a smug look looked at the sunset that had already sunk below the sea and sky in the distance, and estimated the anti-aircraft firepower of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion here, and suddenly his heart was bright.

The bomb trailer has already driven over from the direction of the ammunition depot. As long as it drives onto the runway, the mission will be accomplished! One more minute, as long as the anti-aircraft artillery unit can hold on for one more minute, as long as the transport vehicle drives onto the runway, our mission will be accomplished!

No matter what method is used, if a transport truck loaded with ammunition explodes on the runway, then the runway cannot be used for landing without repair. Moreover, there are small hills and small woods on one side and a small river valley on the other. Even if there is a dirt road, it is a ramp and is not enough for taking off and landing aircraft. As for the assembled steel plate runway needed for the repair of the airport, not to mention that Mania Airport, which was originally only used as a backup airport, has few such runways, even the few steel plate runways that are available have been tied to the ammunition trucks by themselves!

As long as they could drag on for a few tens of seconds and wait for the ammunition trailer to drive onto the runway, even if the evil spirit fleet blew up the ammunition truck, the runway would never be used again in the short term! Then if the runway on the Gibraltar side was blown up again, the Germans would have no way to gain a foothold here! At that time, maybe I could even get a medal of honor for blowing up the airport and repelling the evil spirit fleet without offending Spain?

When the truck towing the ammunition truck drove to the edge of the runway, the US commander had even thought of the moment of his own success.

only……

With a sharp whistling sound, clusters of rockets suddenly exploded next to the ammunition truck! The shock wave generated by the earth-shaking explosion almost blew the American commander in the distance into the valley! The atmosphere of the entire airport was suffocated, and even the anti-aircraft guns and searchlights were a little confused. In the face of such a sudden attack, everyone gave up thinking.

When the dusty American commander, covering his sore head and dented helmet, struggled to stand up with his body aching and dizzy, all he saw was a big crater at the edge of the runway - and the runway was intact!

(PS: When Tangier Airport was built, it was built on the basis of a racecourse using stones and cement as the foundation)

The Beishan radar station is clearly about 7,000 to 8,000 meters away from here. Why did the bombing over there and the rocket attack here happen at the same time?

Compared to the commander who was in a daze due to the bombing, the searchlights and anti-aircraft artillery at both ends of the airport, who were not affected due to the long distance and were still performing their duties, were in greater confusion at this moment.

Even if the anti-aircraft radar might have been interfered with, the searchlight could clearly see it - the German aircraft group was still several thousand meters away.

You have to know that the effective range of rockets for ground attacks is basically the direct firing distance, which is at most about one or two kilometers?

You can shoot so accurately from such a long distance... ?

Even though it is rumored that the Germans have so-called guided rockets that can accurately target targets four or five kilometers away in air combat, can they also provide targeted poverty alleviation on the ground? You have to know that the ground observation capability of aircraft radars will be directly blinded by the strong echoes generated by ground targets!

unless……

"Evil spirit! The Edelweiss Witch is here!!" Someone finally reacted, and the uncontrollable fear made him shout at the top of his lungs.

"Asshole! What are you yelling for!... Fire! Fire now!" Upon hearing such a demoralizing remark, the officers immediately quit! However, even if it was only a dozen seconds, it was enough for the German jets to rush over!

Whether it was organizing anti-aircraft artillery fire or driving the remaining bomb vehicles around the burning wreckage and huge craters ahead, it was too late now!

Sharp whistles echoed through the empty valley near the airport. In the dim twilight, the blood crows that brought disaster were laughing wildly. One after another, swooping black shadows, under the command of the unspeakable demon, swept the anti-aircraft guns and bunkers near the airport with machine guns and rockets. The anti-aircraft guns, which had lost their command and could only fight hastily and their morale dropped sharply in the face of such an attack, could not even hold out for a round before being blown into scrap metal on the ground!

"...No, no! Here...I can't let you occupy this place!"

The American commander, who had just come to his senses from the explosion, bit his gums until they bled. He looked around and saw several jeeps that had been overturned by the blast and were also on fire. Unable to hold back the severe pain from the fall, he staggered towards the bomb trailer, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

The most basic thing in all tactics is fire suppression and then military occupation - however, the Germans only sent fighters for air strikes this time, and their warships will not come to organize the landing for another one or two hours. Even if the Germans will most likely keep a few fighters suppressing the airport for a long time, as long as they find a chance to let even a bomb truck drive onto the airport runway, then the final victory will belong to the free America!

And at the very end of the outer edge of the airport runway, there seemed to be a few trucks - if I were to be ruthless and drive them up now, as long as I bypassed the burning bomb craters ahead, I would find a way to make them blow up this damn airport!

This is what the American commander thought and did!

only……

With a "DUANG" sound, a German female driver who was flying too low used the front wheel of her car to make close and intimate contact with the profile of the dedicated American commander - followed by a 360-degree turn and a sideways flight in the air before landing on the side, which could be designated as one of the classic mistakes in the history of artistic gymnastics at the Olympics.

Watching the Edelweiss Witch gracefully jumping off the plane in front of him, then reaching out from the wing that "completely belonged to her" and pulling out two MG15120 aircraft cannons, the American officer lying on the ground spitted blood and muttered, "You...you are a..."

Zeppelin glanced at them calmly, then looked at the embarrassed American soldiers: "I have occupied this place, who has any objection?"

The frightened American officers and soldiers looked at their dead commander, glanced at each other, shook their heads, and fell silent for a moment.

PS: Tangier Airport during World War II (the aerial photo was taken in 1938, and it was confirmed that the airport remained basically unchanged until 43)

Everyone, it's time to contribute to the country while lying down. Don't go out without wearing a mask. I will only move if Mount Zhongnan tells me to.

Chapter 892

"...I see. I understand. Then, just like they are 'borrowing' this airport to attack us, since this airport is jointly managed by the eight countries, from now on, we will also 'borrow' the airport temporarily, is that ok?"

"Um... yes, yes, please go ahead, Miss General..."

In front of the Edelweiss Witch, who had a cold face but eyes like the blazing fire of hell and held an MG-15120 cannon in each hand, and was as graceful as a Valkyrie, the Spanish officer, who had been chatting and laughing in front of the American officers before, looked at the person in front of him, then looked at the helicopter that landed in an orderly manner and skillfully deployed around the airport. Then, thinking of the notoriety of this evil spirit that was about to spread throughout the European continent, this loyal believer of the Christian religion shrank his neck and chose to temporarily give up defending the God of his faith for the sake of his own life.

After all, she was a legendary evil spirit, and there was an Air Force Major General's shoulder strap on her shoulder! Think about the gossip that she was actually Goering's goddaughter... The Spanish officer, whose mind was gradually driving, quietly raised his eyelids and glanced at her secretly, then seemed to think of something, and lowered his head in resignation.

After all, the airport has been violently occupied by her - she personally flew the plane and landed directly on the runway of the enemy airport, and then the first thing she said was "This airport belongs to me!" She really can't afford to offend such a domineering female president!

Not to mention that people have already deployed defenses here, and they are using those strange planes with "propellers installed on the top of the head and can stay still in the sky", as well as hundreds of paratroopers who casually land from the planes.

After all, I am an officer. Just think about it and you will know that paratroopers plus jet fighters plus the heavy artillery of battleships... what a monster they are!

Moreover, this was previously an air force base for Britain and the United States. To be honest, we are the ones who are in the wrong.

Well, I am indeed at fault, whether it is logic or physics...

"Well, on behalf of the Greater German War Navy Surface Fleet, thank you." Not paying attention to the panic-stricken look on the Spanish officer's face, and seeing that the other party had agreed to his request to "check in", Zeppelin did not make things difficult for him.

Her eyes were now turned towards the Gibraltar Fortress. Her perception had long since turned to another fighter squadron carrying HS-293 missiles that had just taken off from her body. The missiles carried by this squadron were originally used to suppress the defense of Mania Airport. But now that the airport had surrendered, these missiles could be used to suppress the anti-ship missile launchers of the Gibraltar Fortress.

Although he landed directly on the runway and immediately took control of the airport and killed their commander, the other party was unlikely to know what happened here in detail. However, the truth cannot be hidden, and it is no secret that the V-1 missile can be used for ground attacks. If the other party reacts and uses the fortress's anti-ship missiles to attack the ground, the airport will be in danger.

Therefore, we still have to find a way to suppress their anti-ship missiles!

"Attention Squadron Six, Attention Squadron Six. I'm Zeppelin... The target has been changed to Fort Gibraltar, and priority will be given to attacking the enemy's anti-ship missile launchers! In addition... everyone please be prepared to assault the missile launchers under the threat of enemy anti-aircraft guns!" Frowning slightly, Zeppelin used her perception to give her orders to the fighter squadron carrying bombs - even though she knew deeply that letting the Calamity Crows, which had average defensive capabilities, attack under the overwhelming anti-aircraft fire from Fort Gibraltar was a gamble with their lives!

Just now, she saw the wreckage of the destroyed U.S. anti-aircraft gun at the edge of the airport runway - a 40 Bofors guided by fire control radar, and it seemed to have been equipped with a longer barrel and a more sophisticated control device than the previous model. Although the specific performance was not very clear, Zeppelin's intuition told her that such a modified anti-aircraft gun would have a more accurate hit rate on high-speed targets!

It seems that Britain and the United States did not do nothing to deal with the V-1 missiles and their own jet aircraft!

With various thoughts in his mind, Zeppelin remotely commanded the 6th Squadron of the Crows of Disaster, which were equipped with missiles, to change their course. He also informed Captain Bangtai and several other sisters of his ideas and discoveries through WIFI. He then reinstalled the two machine guns in his hands on his own vehicle. After summoning the commander of the airborne troops and ordering him to be the temporary person in charge, he directly drove his plane from the runway that had just been cleared and flew back into the gradually deepening sky.

Well, in order to avoid being discovered by the radar station of the Gibraltar Fortress, she did not hesitate to waste fuel and would rather run the entire 1900-meter runway and take off "downwind" from the southwest, following the northeast-east wind direction in the Strait area, relying on the terrain of nearby hills and hills to avoid the fortress radar station's surveillance.

"We must deploy electronic jammers for the next wave of attacks, but it seems that the guided bombs can be replaced with 250KG models hung on both wings, so that we can bomb more targets... In addition, Captain Bonte and the dead cat should report to the commander to separate our two aircraft carriers from the bombarding battleships. The aircraft carrier formation should sail a little further north and hide behind the mountains on the Spanish side. We should also be careful when taking off and landing, so as not to be caught by the radar station of the Gibraltar Fortress..."

The Edelweiss fighter plane on the sea circled and climbed higher again, and Zeppelin, who was thinking about the battle arrangements, gradually began to become dazed.

................................................

"Prime Minister, urgent military report from the front!"

Under the dim light of Number 10 Downing Street, which was tightly blocked by a camouflage net, accompanied by hurried but quiet footsteps, the Secretary of State, who was walking quickly with a telegram in his hand, gritted his teeth and knocked on the tightly wrapped door of Churchill's office again.

Less than a minute later, angry roars accompanied by banging of tables and chairs were heard from the Prime Minister's office.

After all, the news that Mania Airport was occupied by evil spirits was a big blow.

Thousands of kilometers away, Cunningham, who was personally leading the Warspite and Vanguard on both wings and commanding all his warships to take advantage of the last hour before sunset to reorganize the formation into a single horizontal anti-submarine formation forty to fifty kilometers wide to ensure the safety of aircraft carriers, battleships and missile cruisers, also received the same battle report.

When he saw the telegram for the first time, Cunningham sat down on his chair like a deflated ball.

The Germans actually established a foothold here! And it was the ship girl who landed directly on the airport and shot it down! In addition, the Gibraltar Fortress was also suppressed by air strikes! Just when they found something wrong and planned to launch a missile attack on Tangier Airport, a group of bombers suddenly rushed out from behind the Spanish mountains on the west side of the Rock of Gibraltar, and directly dropped more than a dozen missiles, which immediately bombed the unprepared missile positions into tears!

Twelve of the thirty-two mobile twin-mounted launchers and the nearby trailers on standby were directly destroyed in this wave!

Although the anti-aircraft firepower counterattacked in a row, it was impossible to touch the launcher of the beyond-visual-range attack. Then the radar station reported that another group of German jets were entering the attack route in a formal manner. The British officers and soldiers, who did not dare to lose the precious launchers, hurriedly hung up the missile vehicles that had not been launched in time, turned around and slid back to the tunnel.

However, this time, the Germans did nothing but circled over the fortress, forcing the British to neither fight nor hide. Lord Mountbatten, who was 280 kilometers away from his "defense zone" and "moved" to the border between Morocco and Algeria, was also depressed and had to ask for emergency tactical guidance.

With Cunningham's experience and vision, he could naturally see what was going on.

The highest point of Gibraltar is only a little over 400 meters, but the mountains in Spain opposite are 800 meters! In addition, the distance is too close, and the radar can hardly provide early warning if the enemy relies on the mountains to cover the low-altitude raid. In addition, Zeppelin had already demonstrated the air-to-ground strike capability of "serving dishes according to the name, accurately targeting people" in the Bermuda Fortress, so there was no way to suppress the missile position.

However, the problem is that the missile position is suppressed by the enemy air force, which means that it is impossible to counterattack. What happens next is very difficult...

Given the blood (glory) debt (brilliance) (war) (war) (deeds) of the evil spirit fleet "fortress killer", it is basically impossible to defend the Gibraltar Fortress, which has not been overhauled since it was destroyed in 41 and has only been strengthened with dozens of anti-ship missile launchers! Cunningham is not even sure whether it can be defended until midnight - even if the Germans cannot enter the bombardment range until ten o'clock.

As for the surrounding Allied airfields and air forces...? The closest one is the "Navy Station Airport" captured from Vichy France, which is about 160 kilometers away from Tangier. The other airports are all kilometers away!

Not to mention, an hour ago, the heavy bomber unit and the main fighter unit had just been severely damaged. Even Marshal Arthur Tedder, the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Theater Air Force, and General Carl Spaatz, the commander of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Force, were both killed in the air battle along with the early warning command aircraft! The light bombers are still far away at the airport in Algeria for maintenance and repairs during the long-distance transfer. Only a few squadron commanders and signal soldiers came here in advance with the transport plane to "familiarize themselves with the venue"... At this time, only the mosquitoes and black widows (P-61 night fighters) of the night combat unit can be dispatched. If they encounter the evil spirit fleet, they will basically be sent to the GR-186 wing!

As for our two aircraft carriers and one light carrier with about a hundred carrier-based aircraft on them... ?

Cunningham simply shook his head and gave up this unrealistic fantasy.

Now he was surrounded by German submarines, and it was getting dark. It took him an hour to set up the single horizontal array for anti-submarine warfare. Not to mention that he was not too far from Gibraltar - the distance was a full 600 kilometers. Coupled with the intense fuel consumption of air combat, it was probably a problem for the carrier-based aircraft to even find an airport to land.

The nearest naval station airport is 160 kilometers away, which is definitely beyond the maximum range of the carrier-based aircraft of the "long expedition" - but for the German fleet, this place is too close. If he were in charge, it would be lucky that this airport was not bombed.

Be it a mosquito or a black widow, even if it is flown by an ordinary pilot, who can stop the rocket fire from the Crow of Disaster and the precision poverty alleviation from the air-to-ground missiles?

As for the anti-ship missiles of the Gibraltar Fortress...

Not to mention that there was a ship crewman named Tirpitz on the opposite side, who started electronic jamming without saying a word!

As for the North African air force whose commander had just died and whose morale had plummeted, it would take a long time to reorganize. As for the so-called "launching an air strike tomorrow"? Did they really think the Germans would not send reinforcements from France?