Empire in Progress

Chapter 74: Spanish Civil War (2)

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Then a large number of Republican troops marched into Madrid, and soon the troops who caused the riots were suppressed. The news reached Berlin, and Lin Wei laughed at Heydrich: "Heydrich, your plan is not very good. , It’s over so soon.”

Heydrich curled his lips and said: "They are just a group of small fish and shrimps. I will not use all my strength for such a trivial matter. I will use them where they are most needed. It is not so much the success of the Republican Army's suppression. It would be more appropriate to say that I ordered the retreat."

Countries around the world are worried about the security situation in Spain. No matter how hard Spain tries to retain anyone, no one is willing to compete in an unsafe place. The French have no choice but to follow other countries to Berlin. Germany wins this battle.

While Lin Wei and Heydrich were bickering in Berlin, General Franco in the Spanish colony of Morocco saw the nature of this incident, and perhaps he is now waiting for the next opportunity.

On July 20, before the Olympic Games, a grand torch lighting ceremony was held in Olympia. 12 girls in Greek national costumes lit the first torch to the accompaniment of music. Coubertin, the former president of the International Olympic Committee, visited the venue in person and delivered a speech. Then the torch relay officially started with each person holding the torch and running 1 kilometer.

Starting from this year, the International Olympic Committee has officially stipulated that lighting the Olympic flame is one of the indispensable rituals at the opening ceremony of every subsequent Olympic Games.

France's efforts were ultimately in vain. Although the Berlin Olympics encountered strong opposition, it still did not change the International Olympic Committee's decision. On August 1, 1936, the Berlin Olympics was held as scheduled. More than 4,000 athletes from 49 countries participated. The king of Bulgaria, the prince of Italy, the prince of Greece, the prince of Sweden and other dignitaries from various countries attended the opening ceremony. Coubertin, the former chairman of the International Olympic Committee, attended the torch lighting ceremony.

Compared with previous Olympic Games, the opening ceremony of this Olympic Games was brilliant and spectacular.

The newly built 100,000-seat stadium was packed with seats, and the most eye-catching colors in the stands were large expanses of Nazi colors—brown and black. Looking around, the National Socialist Party members, all dressed in brown clothing, and the SS members, all dressed in black, are the most eye-catching. The German spectators in the stands were extremely enthusiastic, and from time to time they erupted into uniform, tsunami-thundering sounds.

In a sea of brown and black people, and in the midst of huge cheers, Hitler appeared. Under the guidance of a group of floats, a large review car slowly drove into the stadium. Standing in the review car, Hitler deliberately wore a German army uniform, which was obviously inconsistent with the peaceful spirit of the Olympics. But the lenses of hundreds of cameras and cameras focused on Hitler. His expression was extremely arrogant and arrogant. He kept raising his arms and giving Nazi salutes to the audience.

"Hi, Hitler..."

When Hitler announced the opening of the Olympic Games, the big bell in the bell tower rang and the "Hindenburg" carrying the flag of the International Olympic Committee took off. German weightlifter Ismail recited the Olympic oath. The famous musician Strauss also participated in the opening ceremony and personally conducted the huge symphony orchestra and 5,000 singers to perform the Olympic anthem and the Olympic hymn.

Before the opening ceremony ended, Louis, the marathon champion of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, appeared. The 63-year-old athlete, wearing Greek national costume, held up an olive branch taken from Mount Olympia. He solemnly walked to Hitler in military uniform and announced loudly: "I give this olive branch as a symbol of love and peace." Leave it to you. We hope that peoples will always only participate in this kind of peaceful competition."

Hitler solemnly took the olive branch and said to everyone in the stadium, "Germany longs for peace and hopes that the whole world will be bathed in peace from now on. We swear to always guard peace and stay away from war."

Hitler's speech moved almost the entire world at this moment. One hundred thousand people in the audience stood up and shouted, "Hi, Hitler" and looked at Hitler with reverence.

But for Lin Wei, he is very hard now, really hard. He clearly knows how Hitler, a war madman, will behave in the future, but what he says now is really like that. Lin Wei is almost laughing. On the surface, he still has to Clothes and serious expression.

Then athletes from various countries entered the stadium, and people in the audience sent their blessings to their country's sports. At this Olympics, Germany sent the largest team with a total of 406 athletes. When these German athletes wore Hitler's designed When the white costumes entered the stadium, everyone in the audience stood up to bless these athletes.

Among these athletes, Rudolf Habig frequently looked towards the podium where Hitler was sitting. Lin Wei saw this German Jewish athlete who was almost harmonized. He nodded insignificantly, and then 406 athletes raised their heads high. With his right hand, he raised his hand in a salute towards the podium where Hitler was sitting.

Rudolf Habig was a genius in racing. From the 50-meter sprint to the 1,000-meter middle-distance race, he achieved excellent results in all categories. His speed amazed the world. But he was also a Jew. From 1938 to 1940, he participated in 55 world competitions, from 50-meter sprint to 1000-meter middle and long-distance running, and he is the champion every time. On July 15, 1939, he also set the 800-meter world record with an excellent time of 1 minute, 46 seconds and 6 seconds. This record remained for 16 years. On August 12 of the same year, he once again set a 400-meter world record with an excellent time of 46 seconds, which was not broken until 1948. If Lin Wei hadn't discovered him, Rudolph and Habig would have been harmonized.

After all the athletes entered the stadium, they raised their hands to Hitler who was standing on the podium. This was again requested by Hitler. However, in the eyes of these athletes, this was just a relatively novel etiquette. It was no big deal. I hope they can still think this way when the SS soldiers who also raise their hands in salute drive German tanks into their country years later.

Of course, not everything is so perfect. For example, Japanese (North Korean) long-distance runner Son Ki-jin accidentally had a conflict with an SS subordinate on the streets of Berlin two days ago. He accidentally injured his leg and was sent to the hospital. At the hospital, the doctor said that he might not be able to stand up for the rest of his life. Of course, Lin Wei took it very seriously and personally went to the Japanese delegation's residence to express his regrets.

Of course, the Japanese would not pay attention to a Korean. They just wanted to build a relationship with Lin Wei. Lin Wei said that he would definitely be there if he had time.

Germany's holding of the Olympic Games made the Third Reich famous and mobilized German nationalism unprecedentedly. At that time, Germany was actually able to obtain the right to host the fourth Winter Olympics and the eleventh Summer Olympics at the same time. This is also the last time in the history of the Olympic Games that two seasons of the Olympic Games are held in the same country.

Lin Wei and the others made a lot of money from the Olympics, and ordinary people also realized the benefits brought by the Olympics. The scenic spots and historic sites around Berlin also attracted many tourists, bringing huge revenue to the government.

Everyone hopes that the Olympic Games will be held longer. Whenever German athletes achieve good results on the sports field, enthusiastic people will go door to door to promote that this Germany is happy, which is in sharp contrast to the usual serious and even old-fashioned Germany. .

After half a month of fierce fighting, all gold medals have been won. Germany ranks first with 33 gold medals, the United States ranks second with 22 gold medals, and Hungary ranks third with 10 gold medals.

Rudolf Habig won four gold medals. At this time, he had become a hero in Germany. No one cared whether he was a Jew or not. People only knew that he was a German.

Germany's performance at the Olympics inspired the whole of Germany, and the whole of Germany inspired the war. Lin Wei's hometown of Essen and Krupp's main factory have produced hundreds of Panzer IV tanks. Siemens and Rheinmetall are also rushing to manufacture a large number of advanced and sophisticated tanks. arms.

However, these weapons had not been tested in actual combat. At this time, the approaching Spanish Civil War attracted the attention of the head of state.

In the Spanish Civil War, we are familiar with the "fifth column" and the international volunteers, but this civil war is far from simple as imagined. At that time, Spain became a battlefield for various international forces to compete. In addition to political ideals, there were also countless undercurrents lurking in it.

The Spanish left is called "Republican", but it actually encompasses many different organizations. In the 1936 general election, the left was elected. Compared with right-wing governments that emphasize order, it is more difficult for the left to control unrest. So the right-wing parties asked the former Prime Minister to declare martial law and not hand over the power to prevent the country from entering anarchy. Military strongman General Franco also advocated nationwide martial law, but the former prime minister rejected it. On February 19, the right-wing government obeyed the election results and handed over power to the left wing in accordance with the procedure.