Chapter 142

The news quickly flew to all parts of the world. Franco's Legion seized Madrid, the capital of Spain, and took the initiative in the Spanish Civil War. Franco called himself the leader of the national army and made a speech in Madrid, swearing in as the leader of Spain.

Just a few hours later, Italian leader Mussolini announced to reporters that Italy would establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level with Spain under the leadership of Franco group; Later, the German head of state, akkado? Rudolph announced that Germany recognized Franco's leadership over Spain and established a good national friendship with Franco.

The British took the helm when they saw the wind. They also began to work on the problems after the Franco group controlled Spain. They began to send people to Spain frequently, hoping to gain the friendship of the new Spanish authorities. However, because Britain once let Franco's pigeons go, this kind of diplomatic remedy by riding on the wall will not make any substantial progress.

Another strong reaction was the failure of the Soviet Union, the Communist International and the Republican Army in Spain, which undoubtedly brought immeasurable losses to the world movement. Stalin held an emergency meeting immediately after he knew that Madrid was occupied, but nothing could change the fact that Franco occupied Madrid. The Spanish Civil War is now coming to an end.

Moscow, in the Kremlin chamber. At this moment, the summary meeting of the Spanish Civil War intervention plan is being held.

The atmosphere in the conference room was very strange. Most of the generals lowered their heads as if they were asleep. Because of the terrible atmosphere brought about by the Great Purge, the whole conference became a speech by some Stalin cronies. Most of the officers and generals who knew the army chose to keep silent to avoid causing death.

For example, another marshal of the Soviet Red Army, Clement? Evlemovitch? Voroshlov, who supported Stalin during the Great Purge, is now a candidate to preside over such military meetings. He is a slightly fat veteran in his 50s, with a strong local accent.

He is a good man. He just started the meeting and gave a wink to some of his confidants and the generals of the same faction, so that they could show their attitude so that the meeting could continue. After all, many generals are dumb now, and this silence has made many military meetings come to an early end.

"It's not a good deal! Great Comrade Stalin Seeing his superior's face, the Red Army General had to harden his head, frown and say, "we provided about 300 fighters for the Spanish Republican Army free of charge. As a result, almost all of them were destroyed by the air force of the national army. Even though there are many reports that the national army has more than 500 fighters, we can't send more fighters to Spain to overcome that number. "

"What a loss! Comrade Stalin! We can't support the Spanish Republican Army so freely any more! This will affect our military deployment! " A general highly respected by Stalin also stood up to persuade him.

Stalin frowned and tapped his fingers on the table, staring at his cronies: "why did our weapons lose so much in Spain? Is it true that the weapons that the National Army swindled from Italy and Germany are more advanced? "

"I don't want to admit it, but the great Comrade Stalin! I'm afraid that's the truth! " An air force commander, a middle-aged man with the rank of major general, said with regret: "our pilots say that they have encountered an unprecedented fighter with a speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour and a height that can fly over the clouds. This kind of aircraft completely surpasses the I-16 fighter we are equipping in terms of performance."

This time, however, poked the hornet's nest of the technical department. A person in charge of the Soviet technical department in a suit immediately jumped up like a cat that had been trampled on the tail. He first took a look at Stalin, then pointed to the opposite person and said, "you are slandering! We designers have designed the best fighters in the world day and night! You lost the war, but you put the blame on us in the rear? I think it's you generals who are greedy for life and afraid of death! "

Another technician also patted the table and argued: "totally overwhelming the I-16? It's impossible! We imitated the engine and made a great improvement. The performance of I-16 fighter is twice as good as that of British and French fighter! If the flight altitude is due to the problem of open cockpit, we are urgently installing closed cockpit for subsequent production fighters. "

The officer who was scolded blushed and his neck was thick. "But our pilot won't lie! They said they were really chased by a very fast fighter! So we have to re produce a faster and higher fighter to meet the operational requirements in the future! "

"We are working hard to produce, and several factories are working overtime. We hope to come up with the design of the next generation fighter as soon as possible!" A person in charge of technology saw Stalin's face was not happy, quickly said.

"The performance of the army is very good. Although it failed, the performance of the T-26 tank is very outstanding. Compared with our tanks, German tanks have no advantage in technology or performance." Clement? Evlemovitch? Voroshilov quickly reported the good news, hoping to let Stalin's tense face spread out: "our army's snipers have also achieved brilliant results."

"They killed 3000 enemy soldiers, 400 of whom claimed to have killed German soldiers." After a general looked at the information in his hand, he reported: "our snipers killed 270 people and 13 people were missing. This achievement is very positive, at least we did not let the German sniper proud too long These reports made several representatives of the tank technology department have a lot of face. Their facial expression proves their pride at this moment. It is absolutely very happy to be able to let others praise their achievements in front of Stalin, at least in the period of the great clean-up - it can at least guarantee that you will be safe in the next few months. Stalin was also calmed by the news of victory. After a long breath, he asked with a smile: "can we make up for the loss of so many planes and tanks in the Republican Army on the front line?"“ I'm afraid not! Great Comrade Stalin An old man in a suit stood up and gave a trembling report on the production data of the Soviet industry last month. Then he began to persuade: "if the supply to Spain is increased, the military's orders will not be able to produce, and the plan to equip 2000 I-16 fighters and 1000 follow-up models next year will not be completed. It's the same with tank production. " No one is willing to pay others for pants naked, obviously Stalin is the same, but he still wants to maintain his reputation and status in the Communist International, and ensure his influence on the world. So he was still reluctant to give up Spain completely, but the reality in front of him could not make him continue to do crazy moves - the Italian Navy had blocked the port of Valencia, the Soviet Union's weapons transportation to Spain was becoming more and more difficult, and the Spanish war situation could not be reversed. Marshal voroshlov gently advised Stalin: "great Comrade Stalin, we can't endlessly support distant wars. If you think it is necessary, we can turn to support China's unfulfilled * movement." Stalin heard China, eyebrows pick a pick, think for a while, finally powerless sigh, looked around the generals, helplessly said: "OK! In that case! Then we will withdraw the troops and weapons deployed in Spain! " Many people are relieved to hear Stalin's words, which is tantamount to saving many lives of the Soviet Red Army. After all, it is not a safe thing to go all the way to support Spain, and most of the Soviet soldiers will never come back. At least 10000 Soviet soldiers were killed in Spain, and hundreds of tanks were destroyed by German rocket launchers and No. 3 tanks. Most of these casualties were shot by officers as "traitors", The loss of these tanks made at least one Soviet armored division an empty shell force on paper. Now that Stalin had let go, there was no need for the countless materials already piled up in the port to be sent to Spain far away. Many officers began to have the idea of these materials. The Great Purge made many incompetent but fatuous and corrupt officers ascend to a higher position, and retribution soon came to the country. A lot of the goods were sold to foreign merchants on the spot, and then it was written on the record that they were shipped to Spain a few days ago. In order to fabricate the real data, the Navy also sent warships to participate in the escort, and launched artillery to sink two empty transport ships of its own country, which were reported to Moscow as "war damage". Most of the goods sold were transported to Italy and became part of the enemy's strategic materials. The Republican Army, which lost the most support, was defeated like a mountain, and was soon driven out of the area near Madrid. The voice of the Spanish people calling for peace became louder and louder, which led to the rapid loss of the Republican Army's original rock solid popular support. On the other hand, in order to preserve its strength, the Comintern withdrew many elites, which further aggravated the situation of the Spanish Republican Army. A month later, Valencia, the last big port controlled by the Republican Army, was occupied by Franco's national army and the 8th German armored division. Franco declared the end of the civil war. At the same time, Spain joined the German Italian Steel Union and became the third country to join the steel axis.