Chapter 10: The Spanish Civil War – The Battle of Brunete (2)
Translated by Vine | Proofread by Lust
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Thanks to Colonel Model’s relentless training upon his return, he was able to quickly readjust and focus on his duties as company commander.
He had also gathered sufficient firing data for the 88 anti-aircraft gun, completing a fairly accurate firing table.
Rommel’s cheat code and the Allied forces’ nightmare, the 88, ostensibly an anti-aircraft gun but effectively the best anti-tank gun of World War II, had made its debut in the interwar period!
And as soon as that was done, they were mobilized for battle.
“The Republicans launched an offensive towards Brunete this morning. It appears to be an unexpected surprise attack, and the front lines are collapsing rapidly. A defense force has been assembled under the command of General Varela. We will operate under Colonel Juan Yagüe. Our objective is here…”
The officers gulped as General Thoma, commander of the Condor Legion’s ground forces, pointed with his baton.
“This point. We will move to the Extremadura road and block the enemy vanguard, the 11th Division, which is currently breaking through the front lines. The Extremadura road is a vital supply route for the forces besieging Madrid, and we must hold it at all costs. The Nationalist high command is sending reinforcements after halting the northern offensive. We have to hold out until then.”
Everyone in the Condor Legion knew of the 11th Division, the elite unit led by the Republican hero, Enrique Líster.
“There are reports that the 11th Division is advancing with around 100 tanks, gentlemen. This is a good opportunity to test the effectiveness of the 88 against tanks,” Colonel Model added with a grin. He hadn’t envisioned testing it like this…
“I’ve designated the anticipated front line, but the situation on the ground may be different, so further instructions will be given upon arrival. Our mission is a delaying action, so focus solely on holding the line.”
“The weather is extremely hot and dry, so instruct your units to carry as much water as possible. A thirsty army cannot fight.”
General Thoma concluded the briefing after Colonel Model’s meticulous addition.
“We depart in one hour. Dismissed!”
“Heil Hitler!”
It was ironic to shout “Heil Hitler” while heading into battle at the behest of the Nazi regime, all for the sake of ousting Hitler and the Nazis.
But since he was risking his life on the battlefield, he had to earn merits!
For a swift return to Berlin, and for promotion.
The leaders of the current coup plots against Hitler were primarily monarchists and high-ranking military officers, so he needed to climb the ranks as quickly as possible.
His father, Hjalmar Schacht, held significant influence among German business leaders, which gave him more leverage than an ordinary junior officer. However, the German military was inherently a proud and exclusive group.
If he didn’t establish his own standing within the military, even if they succeeded in overthrowing the Nazi regime, he might have to helplessly watch the military run amok, just like in the days of the German Empire.
—
As they moved swiftly, he was grateful for Colonel Model’s foresight.
It was scorching hot.
He had dismissed the warnings about the hot, dry climate after experiencing the sleet and fog of the Guadalajara battle. But the central Spanish plateau in July was indeed brutally hot and dry.
Even after drinking water, his throat would be parched again within ten minutes.
They launched an offensive in this insane heat? Were the Republicans out of their minds, or were they counting on it?
They received reports that Brunete had fallen before they even arrived, but that was within the Condor Legion’s expectations. They began establishing defensive positions to protect the Extremadura road, their strategic objective.
He felt a pang of sympathy for his men, sweating profusely as they dug trenches and set up artillery positions in this oppressive heat. It wouldn’t be surprising if they succumbed to heatstroke.
And less than 30 minutes after their arrival, he cursed.
“Damn it!”
“Air raid! Air raid!”
More than 20 enemy aircraft were heading straight for them! At Clemens’ near-shriek, the men scrambled to adjust the elevation and traverse of the 88 anti-aircraft guns.
“Get the rough angle and fire! Disperse their formation! We’ll worry about shooting them down later!”
“Yes, sir!”
The distinctive roar of the 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns filled the air, one enemy aircraft exploding into pieces. The other aircraft, startled by the explosions, scattered in disarray.
“Good work! Keep firing, adjust your angles!”
It was definitely a lucky shot, but it had thrown the enemy squadron into chaos! With continued fire, they dispersed completely, dropping their bombs haphazardly. One more aircraft was shot down by another unit’s anti-aircraft fire.
It seemed they had enjoyed some success with indiscriminate bombing of the Nationalist forces, but they were facing a different kind of enemy now. And…
“Dig faster! Artillery fire is coming! Dig if you want to live!”
“Yes, sir!”
The air raid would be followed by artillery fire, and then the tanks would arrive. He grabbed a shovel and started digging. Dig to survive!
—
While the Condor Legion was frantically building its defenses, Colonel Enrique Líster, commander of the 11th Division, the Republican spearhead, received a report that two bombers had been lost. He immediately requested a change of attack route from Colonel Juan Modesto.
Both Nationalist and Republican forces lacked proper anti-aircraft weapons and trained anti-aircraft artillery crews.
Losing not one, but two aircraft in a single sortie was not just bad luck. And the Nationalist force with the most effective anti-aircraft capability was the Condor Legion.
Líster requested to bypass the Condor Legion’s defenses and attack another strategic objective, Carabanchel, which was still under Republican control…
“Damn it…”
Líster crumpled the telegram in his hand.
The Republican high command replied that a change of objective was impossible, as this point had to be taken to cut off the Extremadura road. They had been given 100 tanks, so they were expected to produce results.
He had requested a change of objective precisely because they had 100 tanks, but they failed to understand.
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As one of the few Spanish officers trained at the advanced Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union, Líster was fiercely proud of his understanding of armored warfare.
Despite this, he had suffered heavy losses at Jarama, where he threw his tanks against the Condor Legion.
He had learned the hard way that mechanized infantry support was crucial for a successful armored breakthrough, as envisioned in Tukhachevsky’s doctrines.
But the high command didn’t understand this. They thought tanks could simply steamroll everything.
Líster’s requests for trucks, instead of more expensive Soviet tanks, were ignored by his superiors, who prioritized tanks.
It might work against the Nationalist rabble, but throwing tanks alone against those Germans was suicidal.
Did they think tanks grew on trees?
Although they had managed to defend key strategic locations like Madrid, Republican territory was steadily shrinking, while the Nationalists continued to gain ground.
Moreover, the Republican treasury was dwindling because that damned Prime Minister Negrín had been handing over gold reserves to the Soviets since the beginning of the war.
The Soviets, ever calculating, had been maximizing their profits through exchange rate manipulation and were now reducing their support as their gains diminished. If the Republicans suffered significant losses to their core armored forces, their offensive capabilities would be depleted.
They had captured Brunete, which was enough to appease the Soviets for now. Even if they advanced to the Extremadura road at great cost, could they hold the line when Carabanchel hadn’t even fallen yet?
“…Order the artillery to commence bombardment. We proceed as planned.”
But as a soldier, he had to follow orders.
Knowing that he was sending his men, whom he had painstakingly trained into an elite force, into a death trap, Líster had no choice but to order the attack, jeopardizing not only his hard-earned career but also the lives of those under his command.
Attempting a breakthrough with tanks alone against the Condor Legion would be disastrous. He had to support the tanks with infantry as much as possible.
—
He had driven his men, including himself and the other officers, to frantically dig and reinforce their positions, anticipating the imminent artillery barrage. When the expected bombardment didn’t come, they were starting to feel incredibly awkward. Then, a delayed but ferocious barrage struck, shaking their positions violently.
“They’re trying to pulverize us!”
“No wonder Brunete fell before noon,” Clemens muttered. He breathed a sigh of relief in response. His decision to reinforce the positions had been the right call.
The previous battles he had participated in, Jarama and Guadalajara, were Nationalist offensives, and the Republican counterattacks were mostly disorganized.
But this time, it was a planned Republican offensive, and they were committing everything to it, unleashing tremendous firepower from air raids to artillery bombardments.
Even now, the ground was shaking, and dirt rained down on their helmets and shoulders. He hoped their trenches wouldn’t collapse and bury them alive…
He was more worried about the equipment.
Fortunately, the barrage ceased after about ten minutes. More precisely, ten minutes after the barrage began, the Condor Legion’s counter-battery fire started, forcing the enemy artillery to shift their focus.
Oh, Walther Model. Fast. Artillery was the god of war, but the gods were too busy fighting each other.
Thanks to their preparations, his company suffered no casualties other than ruined uniforms. The problem was that one 88 and one anti-tank gun had been destroyed.
“Damn, the tanks are coming. Get ready. Gun crews, are you familiar with the firing tables?”
“Yes, sir!”
The sun was scorching, and sweat poured down his face. He couldn’t tell if it was from the heat or the tension.
As the Condor Legion had anticipated, the enemy’s main attack, Líster’s 11th Division, was clearly heading their way.
The tanks would be here soon. One hundred of them, he recalled.
It would be a spectacular sight, if he wasn’t on the receiving end.
His men were busy securing their anti-tank rifles, which would be obsolete by the start of World War II, in the bombardment-scarred defenses and preparing for indirect fire with the 88.
Could they hold?
“Alright, wet your whistles! Can’t drink water while firing!”
“Hahaha…”
He took a swig of water as his men chuckled and pulled out their canteens. The lukewarm water did little to quench his thirst.
“Now, their main attack is definitely coming here, but we are not so weak as to be broken by a predictable attack! Drinks on me after this operation! A belated celebration for my promotion to company commander!”
“Woohoo!”
“Wow, our commander is generous.”
The men’s cheers and Clemens’ grin eased his tension somewhat.
“And no dying to save me money, you hear?”
“Hahaha!”
He hoped his men wouldn’t die for Franco’s dictatorship, or for Nazi Germany.
It would be alright. Juan Yagüe was one of the more competent Nationalist commanders.
And backing them up was Walther Model, the master of defensive warfare in World War II.
They could do this.
—
“What? Advance slowly, in coordination with the infantry?”
“Yes, sir!”
Lieutenant Colonel José Mallo, commander of the 11th Division’s armored battalion, frowned at the message delivered by the messenger.
“We’ve softened their defenses with air raids and artillery, we should be exploiting the breakthrough, not crawling along with the slow infantry!”
“Well…”
His adjutant was useless. The Republican officer corps and high command were notoriously incompetent.
“Those idiots don’t understand the value of armored forces!”
Unlike himself, a Frunze graduate, those Republican fools didn’t truly grasp the value of a swift, decisive armored breakthrough.
Colonel Enrique Líster, also a Frunze graduate, understood the importance of armored breakthroughs. In fact, the initial success of this operation, the swift capture of Brunete following the air raids and artillery bombardment, was due to his armored breakthrough.
They were just a short push away from securing the Extremadura road, their final objective. But the hesitant high command was holding them back…
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