บท 4: Chapter 83 The Spanish Campaign (2)
"Gentlemen, the latest news. Just yesterday, there was a rebellion in Spain."
The military executives gathered in the conference room were first stunned, followed by a look of excitement on their faces.
The chaotic state of Spain had long drawn international attention, especially from the Soviet Union and Germany. As for why they were happy, the German military command had long known from the analysis of the intelligence department that sooner or later there would have to be unrest in Spain, and they had also long reached a consensus to test the combat power of the German army through the battlefield in Spain!
What was the purpose of these years of tireless efforts? For the coming war? Now, Spain, at last, is at war! This is the best time!
Take our newly developed weapons and get them to Spain to test the combat power of these new weapons! At the same time, it's a test for the army!
Wilhelm continued. "Although it's not our turn to intervene for the time being, I'm sure we'll get our chance soon."
Because the Spanish government did not have time to react at first, Franco quickly occupied Western Morocco, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and the northern and southwestern provinces of mainland Spain, and on July 30th, he set up the "National Defense Ruling Council" in Burgos, in an attempt to attack Madrid from the north and the south and then seize national power.
Franco certainly would not ask for Germany's help in such an overwhelmingly favorable situation, not to mention that he had a better backer, Britain.
What about Britain? Because the domestic economic situation was not very optimistic, coupled with the opposition of the Parliament, the original plan to support Franco was finally aborted, Franco's army lost the only support from external forces, the attack gradually slowed down, which gave the government forces a chance to catch their breath.
The Spanish government called on all sections of the country to take up arms in defense of the Republic, and within two days a total of 300,000 people signed up for the Guardia Civil, a militia organization. The rebellions in large and medium-sized cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga and Bilbao were quickly quelled. Franco, for his part, controlled only the economically backward provinces of Andalusia in the south and Galicia, Navarre, and Old Castile in the north. The Republican Army, on the other hand, took control of all industrial and political centers, major ports, transportation routes and important agricultural areas.
Only at such a time of crisis would Franco seek the help of the Germans, and Wilhelm could take advantage of the opportunity to make a good offer.
Rundstedt spoke up. "Your Highness, that's great news. So how many troops do we need to send there?"
Wilhelm thought for a moment. "The advance contribution has two infantry divisions and one armored company. Two Army Air Bomber Regiments, an Air Force Combat Aviation Regiment, an Army Air Reconnaissance Brigade, and the Nogan Praetorian Guard. It was up to the Chiefs of General Staff to decide exactly which units were to be included. This time there was mainly the Army in the lead role. The Air Force has only one task, to keep a firm grip on air control."
The crowd responded in unison. "Yes."
After discussing the dispatch, Wilhelm looked at Kesselring. "General Kesselring, how is the construction of the bird's nest going?"
Albert Kesselring stood up and said respectfully. "Your Highness, as per your orders, the Bird's Nest has been under expansion. Counting those in Daming and the Soviet Union, there are 3,200 fledglings that have graduated. The number of fledglings that can graduate this year is 2,250."
"..."
"??" The people below couldn't help but look at each other, it seemed like a rather impressive number to them, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince revealed a worried expression.
Wilhelm was indeed worried, more than worried, he was simply scared to death! Thinking about the number of 300,000 airplanes built by the United States during World War II in the original time and space (nearly 20,000 bombers alone were produced), he was scared at the bottom of his heart and his calves trembled. (Of course, not all of the airplanes produced by the U.S. were self-produced and self-sold, and many were supported to countries like the Soviet Union and Great Britain)
What's even more frightening is that the most powerful thing about the US military was not even the production capacity of the airplanes, but its huge reserve of pilots. In fact, before the outbreak of World War II, the United States already had a lot of amateur flying enthusiasts who usually flew their airplanes around in the sky, and when the war broke out, these people with a little bit of training were able to pull up to the battlefield.
Not only that, the United States even a lot of farmers will fly planes, many farmers have their own aircraft. The famous movie "Pearl Harbor" has such a plot, only five or six years old, the two protagonists take advantage of their dads do not pay attention to, secretly put the plane on the sky, fly to the sky, although dangerous, and ultimately fumbled for a safe landing. From this episode, it is not difficult to see that, for the average American people at that time, flying an airplane is not a rare thing.
As a result, after the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. mobilized and collectively trained 430,000 pilots for the U.S. Army. If the Japanese had known that the target of their sneak attack had more than 430,000 pilots, I am afraid that they would not have dared to mess with such a behemoth if they had been given ten guts.
Japan in this time and place won't be able to incite America's face, and if America puts all of its energy into Europe, it'll be a bit of a challenge.
"Increase recruitment efforts. I want to see at least 5,000 fledglings graduating every year. And I'm talking just fighter pilots. There's also the strategic bomber crews that can't be laxed, in the future we'll have super bombers with crews of 10 to 14, and I intend to equip around 3,000 of them. Don't be in a situation where there's no one available organically when the time comes."
Albert Kesselring immediately felt a much heavier burden on his shoulders and solemnly responded. "Yes, Your Highness."
Just as he was about to sit down, he remembered something. "Your Highness, the pilots who returned from the Soviet Union reported that the Soviet Union produced a beginner trainer called the 'U-2' not too long ago, which has excellent operational performance and is very suitable for beginner training."
"U-2? "If he remembered correctly, it should be the famous Soviet airplane designer Nikolai Polikarpov's U-2. If he remembered correctly, it should be the biplane primary trainer designed by the famous Soviet airplane designer Nikolai Polikarpov. This trainer was designed on the principles of "simplicity, reliability, and low cost", and continued to be built until 1953, with a total production of about 33,000 aircraft.
The fuselage was constructed of a pine skeleton with a linen skin and wire ties between the upper and lower wings. The powerplant was an M-11 air-cooled piston star five-cylinder engine driving a two-bladed wooden propeller with 100 horsepower.
After the production of this trainer immediately won the majority of aviation personnel like, simple structure, low cost, easy to produce and maintain, especially the operating performance is excellent, landing and take-off performance is outstanding characteristics, for the Soviet Union to train a large number of aviation personnel.
"I know, I will ask the Soviet side for a copy of the drawings. General Richthofen, General Stumpf, your Army Air Corps and Naval Air Corps should not slacken."
"Yes, Your Highness."
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