"Now we can only hope that the Italian army's fighting will is low," Caton & Archer prayed silently.
The Italian army has also received intelligence that a force will conduct a counterattack on their defense line. The Spanish Republican Army here has just taken control of the Sesenia area. The Italian counterattack forces here began to fight back. The artillery shells drew bright lines in the air and hit the Republican positions. Soon, Sessonia, who had just calmed down, was once again enveloped in flames and smoke.
Looking at the pillar of fire rising in the distance, Caton & Archer shook his head slightly, then he put down the telescope, then turned his head to the staff officer Arenas next to him and said: "We have fought against each other in Italy more than once. Well, Arenas, what do you think?"
"Yes! General!" Arenas, who was standing behind him, immediately replied: "We are no strangers to the Italian army."
"Well! The Italians' equipment level is much higher than ours. Our Spanish soldiers are not afraid of death, but this is not an equal war at all. My soldiers must fight against enemies whose equipment far exceeds theirs." Caton& There was a trace of reluctance in Archer's voice.
"Yes, General!" Arenas looked at Caton & Archer's voice full of decadence and quickly changed the subject and said, "But I believe that victory will belong to Spain."
"No... Arenas", Caton & Archer did not take the bait, but continued, "I only have six brigades that have not yet been formed. They lack training, are short of ammunition, and some even We didn't fire a few good shots, but the Italian army on the opposite side was not like this. The situation we are facing now is the same across Spain. The Republican Army has no foreign aid, and Franco's National Army has Germany and Italy as its sources. Supplies are constantly being delivered, and even now Germany, Italy, and Portugal have dispatched more than 200,000 troops."
After listening to Caton & Archer's words, Arenas fell silent. He knew that Caton & Archer were right. Madrid is now surrounded and the situation is in danger.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Italian shelling had stopped. Then a large number of black spots appeared not far away, and the black spots became larger and larger. Soon he discovered that they were Italian tank troops. Behind the tank were groups of soldiers, who stood straight and lined up in neat lines.
Alfred, the commander of the Italian army, was full of confidence in this battle. With prepared intelligence and sufficient ammunition, he could not think of any reason for the failure of his troops. His officer Nobetis Already anxiously waiting by the side.
"Haha! You want to fight so soon?" Alfred glanced at the other person, then took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Nobetis lost no time in taking out his lighter and lighting the opponent's cigarette, and then said: "Don't worry, you will fight the battle. Your troops have suffered relatively heavy losses in the past few days. Hurry up and replenish your troops." rest,
"But, Your Excellency, I am looking for you now to ask you to fight for me. I am not going to rest and replenish. Can you please give me an order?" After hearing Alfred's words, Nobetis still refused to give up.
"But, you have to know that this mission cannot fail. If we fail, it will affect the overall plan, and the Spanish National Army's plan to bypass Madrid from the southeast will also be ruined. Are you ready?" Al Fred said slowly.
"Since the Spanish army is going to attack us with a surprise attack, we can also attack them in turn. General, the Spanish army is poorly equipped and cannot compare with our Italian army. Therefore, I think we can use a counter-surprise attack head-on." Fight against them," Nobetis thought for a moment and said slowly.
Alfred frowned and thought for a moment and said, "Maybe this is a good idea, Nobetis! Just go ahead and do it."
Before the battle began, Italy released its own reconnaissance troops and quietly approached the Spanish Republican Army's position, just as the Italians quietly approached the opponent's position. God helped them again. Little drops of water fell aimlessly from the sky again. And there are more and more, more and more dense, and soon the rustling sound of water droplets colliding with each other in the sky, the ticking sound falling on leaves or branches and even the ground covers up the roar of the tank's engine. The rain curtain composed of dense raindrops blocked everyone's sight. For the Italians, this can greatly reduce the other party's alertness. And more able to conceal one's intentions.
At the same time, the Spanish army also decided to use this unusual rain in winter to cover its plan, so the two armies met unexpectedly without any knowledge of either side.
When the Italian and Spanish armies were marching in a small river between the two positions, they finally encountered each other. Italy quickly organized an attack thanks to its well-equipped equipment, and the artillery bombardment began. 125 mm and 105 mm howitzers were fired at the Spanish army as if they were free of charge. Smashing them down, dozens of Fiat 3000 tanks attacked from both sides in an effort to divide and outflank the Spanish Republican Army. The Fiat 3000 was designed in World War I, but its factory date of June 1920 had no impact on the actual combat of the First World War. Although the appearance of the Fiat 3000 is similar to that of the FT light tank, as a unique improvement point of Italy, the position of the engine configuration has been changed accordingly (FT is the longitudinal partition, the rear central arrangement is changed to the horizontal (side) partition, and the rear lower arrangement) . The initial production turret was equipped with a machine gun, but soon a 37mm gun-mounted model was also produced.
Although the Fiat 3000 is not a very advanced weapon for the current German army, this is not the case for the Spanish Republican Army. In just a short period of time, countless Spanish Republican soldiers were killed by the Fiat 3000 German 37mm tank gun and The machine guns above were knocked down. Since neither side had expected this battle, there were no bunkers or bunkers that could be used as defense in the open air. The situation was one-sided in Italy's favor, and Spain's role was that of the cold weapon era. There was no infantry formation in front of the cavalry, and it was still light infantry.
After an hour of fierce fighting, the weather was getting darker. What was even more incomprehensible was that the temperature was getting lower and lower. The Republican Army couldn't stand it anymore. Caton & Archer ordered a temporary retreat. The river that could have been walked on foot was blocked by rain. As it deepened, the road became muddy, and the dark clouds in the sky made it impossible for the Italian Air Force to take advantage of the sun. The two sides fought until dark, and the Spanish army suffered heavy losses. The Republican Army led by Caton & Archer regarded it as a treasure. All tanks were also destroyed.
The Spanish army had crude weapons and little firepower. Especially after the newly formed tank company was destroyed, it was immediately discovered by Italian Lieutenant General Alfred. Alfred immediately ordered the two Italian divisions to attack in turns, without giving any The Republican Army had a little chance to breathe. Despite the tenacious sniping, the Italian army still eroded the Republican Army's defense line bit by bit.
By this time, Alfred could be said to have a sure chance of victory. However, because he did not know whether the Republican Army had reinforcements, and considering that things might change later, he decided to gather nearly 6,000 people from four regiments to launch a fierce attack on the Republican Army's position. Archer immediately ordered the remaining troops to reinforce, but the Italian army quickly captured the western position of the Republican Army, and the two brigades surrendered to the Italian army.
After Alfred learned that the Italian army had captured the western position, he immediately came to the position. He didn't care about the mutilated corpses and the unpleasant smell of sulfur in the position. Instead, he looked at Caton and Archer with a telescope with great interest. The direction of your headquarters seems to be planning something.
After a day of fierce fighting, the Italian army achieved good results on all fronts. Nobetis looked at his BOOS and asked, "General, what should we do now?"
"What should we do?" Alfred muttered to himself, and then said angrily, "Of course we will continue to attack. Is there any problem?"
"But, General! Our casualties are already huge now, and I'm afraid the soldiers will be dissatisfied," Nobetis said, pointing to the staggered soldiers.
Alfred followed where Nobetis pointed, and almost broke his nose with anger. He shouted at Nobetis, "Wake them all up. If we don't wipe out the Republican Army today, You are not allowed to eat, and my order is passed. The 7th Division and the 9th Division will each detach a part of the troops to form the center, and then the remaining troops will form the left and right armies. The three armies will advance together, and the Republican Army must be defeated."
"Okay, General! I'll tell them right away." Nobetis went to deliver the message tremblingly, while Alfred stood there and sighed, not knowing whether it was for Italy or for himself.
The Italian army in the middle was the most ferocious, and the Spanish defenders also resisted the most fiercely. In some strongholds, the Republican Army resisted until the last soldier and was all buried in the ruins by the Italian army with cannons.
By the next morning, Caton & Archer ordered to lay down their weapons and walked out of the position with the remaining nearly 10,000 soldiers to surrender. Madrid was already surrounded.
Madrid had great expectations for this action of Caton & Archer. Unexpectedly, Caton & Archer were defeated by the Italian army. This was a huge blow to Madrid. Largo, the head of the government of the Republic, Cavallero immediately convened all government personnel to discuss countermeasures.
The leaders of all aspects in Madrid were worried about the situation at this time. At this time, the Spanish left forces once again showed their disunity and actually started to quarrel in the conference room.