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Text Chapter 985 Hesitation and Determination

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    On April 2, 1941, at two o'clock in the afternoon Berlin time, the strongest wind in Europe rose from the Iberian Peninsula.  Hitler even canceled the scheduled military conference in Yugoslavia and hurried back to Berlin from the Eagle's Nest on the top of Obersalzburg Mountain.

    ¡°Almost at the same time as him, Ribbentrop, whose face was covered in black and gray by the bombing, and Sunier, who had a broken arm, returned to Berlin.  "What happened? Who did it?" As soon as they met, Hitler pulled Ribbentrop aside and asked about the situation in detail.  When he heard that the three gliders were all made in France and that Catalan guerrilla tokens were found on the pilot's body, Hitler was furious: "I knew it, I knew it! It must be those gc elements! They should all be killed."  !Throw the Bolsheviks into the trash can!¡±

    Hitler was very angry and suddenly remembered Yang Qiu's suggestion to attack the Soviet Union first.  Of course, this thought just crossed my mind.  Ribbentrop watched him yelling and cursing, but never mentioned what to do with Spain, and felt very anxious.  The gc elements are hateful, but now is not the time to get angry at the Soviet Union.  So bring the topic back to reality: "F¨¹hrer, I believe that the news of Franco's death will soon spread in Spain, and those gc elements will reappear. If Spain falls into civil strife again, Britain and the United States are very likely to support their agents.  "

    Hitler is still furious!  To be honest, this is really a critical moment.  Seeing that the army is about to capture Yugoslavia and Greece, after establishing Balkan dominance, it can force Turkey to turn to itself. As long as the army can cross the strait and enter the Middle East, it can cooperate with North Africa to sweep the Suez Canal, and even destroy the Chinese Persian Army entrenched in the Middle East.  .  But at this juncture, Spain has a problem. Isn't this holding back?  !  Because if Spain is attacked first, the eastward offensive will inevitably be temporarily stopped and T¨¹rkiye will continue to swing.  What's more, the Soviet troops stuck in the Persian Gulf and Caucasus have always been two thorns in his heart.  The former may be able to send its troops westward into Turkey at some point, and the latter is not a good person. Will he covet the Suez Canal?

    "What should we do? Should we help Spain? Mr. Ribbentrop?"

    "Ask me? I'm not the staff." Ribbentrop muttered to himself, staring at Hitler as if he was meeting him for the first time.  To be honest, since the defeat of France, His Excellency the Head of State seems to have suddenly lost his opinion, or has too many opinions, and thinks about unrealistic things all day long.  It's really unbearable.  However, Spain is too important. If Britain and the United States enter first, it will break the German army's strategy of trying to block Britain and the United States from the European continent, so he quickly hinted: "F¨¹hrer, Your Excellency Sunier has been sent to the hospital. The doctor said  It will take at least 12 weeks before he can be discharged from the hospital. Spain currently lacks prestige in the country, and those dissidents are still huddled in Mexico City waiting for restoration. I believe our opponents will also consider letting them come back."

    Ribbentrop¡¯s words were very clever. First, he said that Sunier was injured and hospitalized.  Others lacked prestige and then referred to the Spanish Second Republican government in exile in Mexico, suggesting that Hitler should intervene proactively.

    But Hitler seemed very hesitant, tapping his fingers lightly on the table to make up his mind.  Just at this time, Halder, G?ring and other officers heard the news and rushed over.  Only then did he break the dull atmosphere.  "F¨¹hrer, you should enter Spain immediately!" Guderian was the most impulsive. His first words when he saw Hitler were to demand that his troops enter Spain immediately.  Halder, Brauchitsch and others also nodded.  Although the Wehrmacht was helpless with Hitler's policy of continuous expansion, it was too late to say anything now. As military leaders, they had to carefully consider the consequences of losing Spain.  Put yourself in their shoes.  The main task now is not to defeat Britain and the United States immediately. After all, the United States is too far away to be a threat, but to keep the enemy out of the European continent.  The attacks on North Africa, Yugoslavia and Greece were all for strategic purposes.  But now, there is an unexpected huge hole in this plan, the Iberian Peninsula!

    The Iberian Peninsula is connected to the European continent, and even Napoleon suffered a heavy loss due to the endless mountains. Therefore, if it cannot be controlled as soon as possible, once Britain and the United States see the opportunity to enter the peninsula and establish an outpost to attack the European continent, they will deny the enemy strategic goals outside the continent.  It failed!  So Guderian is really anxious. War is not a child's play. Even if the decision is made now to seize the French southern railway network, army mobilization, material transportation, etc., the main force of the German army will not be able to cross the Pyrenees before half a month.  Therefore, his suggestion immediately received support from everyone. Even G?ring, who had never dealt with the Army, said that the Air Force could first invest in airborne troops and learn from the Dutch experience

    The only one who didn¡¯t speak was Redel.

    No way, he has been having a hard time recently, because two Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers were damaged by bombing by the British Air Force a few days ago and are currently unable to go to war.  He now hopes that Hakan will come back soon, bring back the key technologies and segmented construction methods mentioned in the telegram, and build up a small German fleet in the Mediterranean as soon as possible.For this reason, he even gave up his original plan to send the Bismarck and Zeppelin to France to join the Scharnhorst in the "Rhine Exercise" operation.

    Of course Hitler knew the importance of Spain. If Spain was lost, the Allies would be able to overlook the entire French Plains from the Pyrenees.  But something left him in a dilemma. He raised his head with an expression of great difficulty on his face: "But how are we going to get through the south of France?"

    How, how, how to pass through the south of France This question made Brauchitsch and Guderian and other officers stunned, and one or two looked sideways.

    Is this like a joke?  To the German army, the current Vichy France was just a blank sheet of paper that could be broken with just a poke.  But in Hitler's mind, this was a big deal!  Because he claimed to be the conqueror of France, he launched pro-people policies after defeating France and promised the Vichy French government that German troops would not enter southern France.  Although you are going to Spain now, you have to use the French railway network and establish a base.  With nearly a million troops crossing the border, isn't this a slap in the face?

    When the corporal got into the corner of the bull, the old gentleman, who had suffered enough due to his slow movements in Norway, could not wait any longer.  As a good politician, you must first be able to quickly understand the pros and cons in emergencies.  The civil strife in Spain was definitely against British policy, but conversely, it also provided Britain and the United States with an opportunity to establish an outpost on the European continent without the need for a landing war.  Besides, blow up Spain.  Better than blowing up Britain, right?  Churchill naturally understood the importance of diverting trouble. Facing Marshal Alexander and other officers, he pointed at the Iberian Peninsula and held his trademark thick cigar in his mouth: "Tell me, how long will it take and how many troops can be invested?"

    "Three hundred thousand, including four armored brigades and ten infantry divisions, the 200 Soviet T34/76 tanks delivered by China are already on the way and can be shipped to Spain. This is the maximum strength we can put out before the end of August."  Marshal Alexander was also very straightforward.  He immediately named the troops he could mobilize.  After more than a year of setbacks, the British army is no longer a force with only a few guns.  Up to now, relying on the support of the Commonwealth countries and huge colonies, the total strength of the British army has exceeded 5 million (including 800,000 naval personnel). Since it no longer needs to take care of Asia and East Africa except India, the European part of the force  More concentrated.  Although most of them are second-line troops such as air defense and patrol, there are still 1.8 million troops capable of combat.  Among them, 600,000 are in the Middle East, Egypt and North Africa, and 300,000 are in India.  The rest are all in the UK.

    "The Free French Army and Poland should be able to provide another 100,000 troops. The second batch of American reinforcements is on the way, and the first batch of troops will not arrive until two weeks at the earliest. Moreover, our ships have suffered heavy losses and need sufficient logistical support." Navy  Marshal Pound also reminded Churchill of logistical and ship issues.

    It is also easy to resolve politically.  Javier de Bourbon (Prince of Parma) is in exile in the UK, but his troops are really not enough!  Four hundred thousand can only be used for the first batch of investment at most.  You know, although the German army disbanded some of its troops after the Battle of France.  But the total is still around four million, two-thirds of which can be put into combat immediately.  One million of them are in the Balkans, and two million are distributed in France and other occupied territories.  The rest were within Germany and on the Soviet-German border.

    So this small amount of troops is far from enough!  Although Churchill always had fantastic ideas in strategy, the basic strength of the troops was still clear.  The pro-German forces in Spain are very strong. Once the British army enters, they will inevitably be blocked, and the poor terrain will be a severe test for both the defender and the attacker.  It is impossible for the superior navy to run ashore, and the effectiveness of air force bombers in mountainous areas will be greatly reduced. Therefore, if there is no continuous investment of two to three million troops, it will not be consumed at all.  Britain's own mobilization has been saturated for the time being. Before the arrival of new troops from Australia, Canada and other Commonwealth countries at the end of August, it is impossible to invest more. After all, the local threat has not been eliminated.

    Don¡¯t count on China. The Taranto incident has made Yang Qiu very angry, not to mention that they are preparing for a decisive battle with Japan.  Once the decisive battle begins, the Soviet army will definitely make an all-out counterattack in Central Asia and Iran. It is hard to say whether it can hold on.

    So the only thing we can count on is the United States.

    But the first batch of U.S. troops has already left for North Africa. When the second batch of reinforcements arrives two weeks later, it is estimated that the German troops will have reached Gibraltar.

    "I will ask the king to have a good talk with the Prince of Bourbon, and I will also let Romilly return to Spain." In just a few minutes, Churchill made a decision that pleased everyone.  Everyone knew that Romilly was his nephew and participated in the Spanish Civil War.  Letting him return to Spain means that he is determined to use the forces opposed to Franco in Spain to draw them to the side of the Prince of Bourbon.  Of course, this will also bring troubles of gc international penetration, but with the precedent of Tito in Yugoslavia and the fact that the Soviet Union and Germany joined hands, many people should have seen the reality clearly.

    "We have endured hardships in Norway and can no longer make the mistake of falling behind."??Let's go, let's go now.  Put the soldiers on the ship, get ahead of Germany, and go to Spain!  "After Churchill finished speaking, he held his cigar between his fingers, and his loud voice could be heard throughout the Prime Minister's Office: "We cannot let down the opportunity God has given us to counterattack on the mainland. There will always be troops and supplies!  What you have to do now is to set off immediately!  By boat, by plane, whatever, land from Gibraltar immediately!  Landing from Balianan Islands!  Landing from White Beach!  Landing from the Bay of Biscay!  "

    ¡°Capture Spain!¡±.

    (To be continued)
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