Empire in Progress

Chapter 94: celebrate

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The Republican Army and these 'invaders' fought house-to-house. Both sides threw a large number of grenades in a small space, and the whole building was filled with smoke. A large number of corpses of fallen soldiers were piled up at every stairwell and doorway. The people who rushed up from behind stepped on the corpses and attacked. After the rifles were out of bullets, they used bayonets to knock them away. They used benches to smash the benches and used their fists. Gang fight.

Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people in the Republican Bureau. Because Italy was supported by the SS and the National Army, it gradually gained an advantage. At noon, the last Republican soldier who was still resisting was killed. The whole city of Madrid fell. into Franco's hands.

Subsequently, Franco ordered a hunt for senior officials of the Republic's government. Immediately, Madrid, which had just experienced the baptism of war, became busy again. The National Army searched house to house to see if there were any hiding government officials. At the same time, in the suburbs of Madrid, several Ten Junkers transport planes landed slowly, and inside were five hundred Gestapo elites. Lin Wei had specially requested them from Heydrich, and these Gestapo came to Spain to still do their old job, hunting.

According to Gestapo information, the Soviet Union actively recruited spies among Spaniards and International Brigade fighters, opened up a foothold, organized a backbone team, and used this to expand its intelligence network in Europe and America. Heydrich knew that the Soviet Union secretly supported the Spanish Republic government and sent many volunteers.

After the outbreak of the civil war, the Spanish Republican government was subject to an economic blockade by neighboring countries. It was in short supply of food, fuel, weapons and ammunition, and was in urgent need of strong assistance from the international community. The Soviet Red Army Intelligence Bureau knew very well that if it could not receive strong international assistance in time, it would be difficult for the Spanish Republican Army to sustain itself for long under the internal and external attacks of fascist Germany, Italy and the rebels. In August 1936, the deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau of the General Staff of the Red Army reported to the People's Commissariat of Defense: "If Madrid cannot obtain substantial external assistance, the outcome of the struggle between the two sides will be very worrying."

And Heydrich also informed Lin Wei of the news. Lin Wei would never let the Soviets who had witnessed German tactics in Spain go back alive, so at the end of the Battle of Madrid, Lin Wei secretly transferred elite Gestapo personnel from Heydrich to assist in the arrest of the Soviets. .

Just after the Gestapo arrived in Madrid, Lin Wei immediately asked for a meeting with General Franco and asked the Gestapo to help arrest the government personnel of the Republic wanted by the National Army. Of course, Franco wanted this. Franco also had some concerns about the reputation of the German Gestapo. I've heard about it, now it's time to see what the Gestapo is capable of.

Soon, the National Army and the Gestapo set up a huge search network across Spain, and Franco, through diplomatic notes, forced France to bow to his pressure, announce a blockade of the Spanish-French border, and begin to expel Spanish refugees in France.

After these refugees returned, they were quickly inspected and screened by the National Army. If they felt suspicious, they were immediately detained. The SS Gestapo also began to secretly hunt for Soviets across Spain through the National Army.

As a general military adviser stationed abroad, he naturally needs to have a broad political vision and rich experience in international struggles, and the ability to engage in secret warfare is also essential. Soviet military leaders had anticipated that German and Italian intelligence services would become rampant in the Iberian Peninsula and that British intelligence services might become involved in the Spanish Civil War. Under this situation, in order to successfully deal with these dangerous opponents, the Soviet Union must send a real professional veteran on the invisible front. Another point is that the general military adviser must be someone who has not known the ins and outs of potential opponents before.

In the 1920s, there were military and military technical exchanges between the Soviet Red Army and the German Wehrmacht. For this arrest, Lin Wei specifically asked Heydrich to select those who had worked in the Military Intelligence Agency and had been in contact with the Soviets. Lin Wei could guess the situation of the Soviets, and the Soviets also understood the opponents they faced. On the land of Spain, the Gestapo and Cheka finally met again.

The General Administration of State Security of the Soviet Union (the Cheka, its name will change in the future), after experiencing the early days of the founding of the Soviet Union and the recent purges, it can be said that it has accumulated a lot of counterintelligence experience. Faced with such an opponent, although Lin Wei The Gestapo trained by Derich were confident, but they had to inoculate these soldiers who never saw the sun.

The calendar is about to turn over the last day of 1936. The SS Gendarmerie Regiment has returned to Germany on a transport plane with the Wehrmacht, and the wounded returned as early as the day the Battle of Madrid ended. On the outskirts of Madrid, Lin Wei and these have just arrived Spain's Gestapo is preparing for the new year. According to German custom, Lin Wei and the others found a few big trees with a height of three feet and cut off several branches, leaving only the trunk. Get ready for activities in the New Year.

As a leader, Lin Wei must show his amiable side and chat with these people who usually keep the crowd at arm's length. From Essen to Frankfurt, from beer to sausages, everyone laughed together. These people also changed from being reserved when they first met the leader to becoming friends-like.

After a while it got dark, and the soldiers cut some firewood from the nearby forest and built a fire in the wilderness. At this time, Lin Wei asked his adjutant Heinz to move 20 boxes of firewood from Germany from a nearby warehouse. He invited the Gestapo to enjoy the red wine he had brought with him.

"Oh oh oh, look, look, what our leader brought us, a whole twenty cases of red wine, my God," Schneider, the head of the Gestapo, exclaimed exaggeratedly and left immediately He went to the edge of the alley and pulled out a bottle and drank it hard.

"Schneider, cup..." Lin Wei shrugged and pointed at the soldiers who were slowly walking over carrying a pile of tableware.

"Gudong..." Schneider took a big sip before saying, "Leader, we don't need those things. Do we have to use a cup to drink wine?"

"

Lin Wei walked up to Schneider and stared at him fiercely. Schneider was not conscious at all, as if he didn't see Lin Wei at all and was still drinking by himself. After a long time, Lin Wei sighed and said, "Schneider, sometimes I wonder if Reinhard is joking with me for sending you to handle such an important matter. Say it yourself, do you look like an agent? "

"Oh?" After hearing Lin Wei's words, Schneider couldn't help but smile slyly. "Leader, what do you think an agent should be like? Strictly speaking?"

Seeing Lin Wei's dumbfounded look, Schneider said with rare seriousness, "Deputy Leader Heydrich once told me that a truly good agent does not have a bad face every day. Sometimes it is better to be public than silent." disguise".

"But your opponent this time is not an ordinary one. So far, we only know that he has been to Germany as a military cooperation personnel between the Soviet Union and Germany. We know nothing else." Lin Wei did not continue to discuss with him. Personality issue, but changed the topic.

"Don't worry, leader, it'll be up to us then," Schneider hugged a large box of red wine and shouted, "Hey, do you want to drink it or not? If you don't accept the leader's kindness, I will accept it myself."

"Schneider, this is what the leader has given to everyone. Don't keep it to yourself."

"Hey! He is really a special person. I hope Heydrich saw the right person." Lin Wei laughed at himself helplessly.

Then Lin Wei also smoked a bottle of red wine like Schneider and joined the noisy crowd. After staying for a while, everyone started to eat around the fire. As the real power department of the SS, the food rations of the Gestapo were equal to those of the Wehrmacht. The highest ration mainly includes: 750 grams of black bread, 45 grams of butter (vegetable butter) or edible fat, 120 grams of sausage (raw canned food), (sometimes smoked fish) 200 grams of jam or artificial honey, cooked Potatoes, 750 grams of vegetables, 120 grams of meat, 45 grams of vegetables or animal fat, and 15 grams of seasonings.

Beside the fire, everyone enjoyed the rare tranquility together. They knew that starting tomorrow, they would embark on a hunt, and their opponents were well-trained agents like them.

Seeing everyone's high interest, Lin Wei began to feel that he should say something again, so he told them the allusion about the fire. "According to legend, in ancient times, after people learned to drill wood to make fire, they discovered that fire can not only roast food. , it can also scare away wild beasts and protect one's own life, so people developed an initial respect for fire. Later, when people went out to hunt and returned with a full load, they celebrated each other's rich trophies. In the evening, in the process of roasting food over fire During the festival, people held hands and danced around the fire to express their joy and joy. This form of celebration has continued to this day, forming the bonfire party."

"Leader, what else?"

"Anything else? We should start." Lin Wei picked up the rye bread and started stuffing it into his mouth, and everyone started eating without showing any signs of weakness.

Like them, Lin Wei gnawed on rye bread, dipped in jam, and ate sausages, waiting for the year 1937 to come. At twelve o'clock, the New Year's activities began. All these Germans in foreign lands followed the traditional German New Year customs in the early morning. After hearing the signal, they quickly ran from 200 meters away to the tree that had been cut down to only the trunk. The person who arrives early, climbs quickly, and is the first to climb to the top of the tree is known as the "New Year's Hero".

In the end, Lin Wei ran to an unknown tree trunk that he had prepared a long time ago, and with the help of the nails nailed to the trunk in advance, he, like a few lucky people, won the title of New Year's Hero, and finally celebrated shamelessly with everyone.

When the sky dawned, everyone had already had a great time and did not feel sleepy at all. They also knew that the battle between the Gestapo and the Cheka was about to begin, and they were too excited to sleep.

In this regard, Lin Wei felt that he had to explain the situation in Spain to these people. Although they were more professional than him, after all, they had only been here for two days and were not familiar with many things. So he said, "The new year has begun. I hope you will contribute your own strength for Germany and our party to make Germany stronger and stronger."