After hearing Xiang Xiaoqiang's words, Zhu Yourong felt that it made sense on the one hand, but also felt a little uneasy on the other. She nodded and then asked:
"Well, what you said makes sense... However, we stopped providing material assistance to the Spanish coup army, but diverted these materials to Germany... The Soviet government is not a child. What we did is so obvious, how can they
Can’t you see the way through it?”
Xiang Xiaoqiang said:
"As for how to use this trick and how to make it look more convincing, that is the matter of those ministers. They have been engaged in politics for half their lives, and they are all scheming... The country gives them high salaries, and this is where
Use theirs when the time comes... We can't let two young people in our twenties sit here and solve all their problems for them, right?"
Zhu Yourong thought so. In this way, Xiang Xiaoqiang completely convinced her.
Before the afternoon meeting, Zhu Yourong quietly summoned the relatively inconspicuous Minister of Maritime Affairs, gave him instructions on this idea, and asked him to put it forward as his own idea at the meeting.
In this way, Zhu Yourong protected Xiang Xiaoqiang behind the scenes, preventing the ministers from thinking that this idea was a "slander" that Xiang Xiaoqiang made to himself during the lunch break, and lest everyone think that Xiang Xiaoqiang was involved in everything in politics.
So, at the afternoon meeting, after the Maritime Minister raised this idea, everyone thought that this was his attention. No one guessed that this was actually the product of the "mom-and-pop shop" Zhu Yourong and Xiang Xiaoqiang.
However, because the Minister of Maritime Affairs was soft-spoken and his proposal involved the "sensitive issue" of the Northern Expedition, many ministers opposed it. However, Shen Rong, the soul of the meeting, did not express his position clearly, but remained neutral thoughtfully. The cabinet debated all afternoon.
, the topic almost changed from "Which side do you support?" to "Should we go to the Northern Expedition?" This issue is so big that if we really want to argue about it for ten afternoons, there will be no result, let alone an entire afternoon.
But I still came to some conclusions throughout the afternoon. Shen Rongxuan finally made the decision: No matter what, we can try this plan first. The first thing is to wait and see, because now everyone is waiting and watching, and there is no need for Ming Dynasty to jump out so early. However, once Spain
The coup army failed to take power quickly, and the war showed signs of continuing. Then Italy will definitely support the coup army first, and Germany will definitely follow up vigorously. Then, Germany will also contact the Ming Dynasty. That
At that time, Ming Dynasty could openly negotiate with Germany while increasing the shipment of supplies to Germany, and first indirectly helping Germany support the Spanish coup army.
"At this time, it depends on whether the Soviet Union comes to us on its own initiative," Shen Rongxuan said. "The Soviet Union comes to us on its own initiative. The initiative is in our hands. On the one hand, we can get the greatest benefits, and on the other hand, we have no worries.
.But if we take the initiative to look for the Soviet Union, it would be better not to look for it.”
All the ministers were looking at him. Zhu Yourong couldn't help but ask:
"Shen Ge always refers to..."
Upon hearing His Majesty's inquiry, Shen Rongxuan quickly turned towards Zhu Yourong, bowed slightly, and said respectfully:
"Your Majesty, my opinion is that according to the Soviet Union and Stalin's consistent style, if we take the initiative to go to him, it will be tantamount to letting him blackmail us, and we cannot expect to get any advantage. After all, we
On the one hand, he joined forces with his partner Germany to assist the Spanish coup army, and on the other hand, he secretly approached the Soviet Union to negotiate conditions for betraying his friends... This approach is too shameful,
"Stalin is likely to seize on this excuse of ours. Not only will he not give us any benefits, but he will also force us to stop assisting the coup army. Otherwise, he will make this excuse public and destroy our relationship with Germany and Ming Dynasty's international image... He may even go one step further and force us to join the Soviet Union in assisting the Spanish Republican Government. Therefore, Your Majesty, what I mean is that it is not worth the gain for us to take the initiative to go to the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union does not take the initiative to come to us, then we will stand wholeheartedly. On the German side, aid the coup army."
When Shen Rongxuan said this, no one, whether it was Zhu Yourong or the ministers, objected. So, the one-day imperial meeting came to the final conclusion, which was to act in accordance with Xiang Xiaoqiang's plan, which was also Shen Rongxuan's "revised version" .
On July 18, this was the first time that the issue of the "Northern Expedition" was formally raised at a cabinet meeting. The ratio of cabinet ministers' approval and opposition was half to half. Shen Rongxuan did not officially express his position, and neither did Zhu Yourong.
…
This is the day after the Spanish army announced it had taken over power, which was the official start of the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish are martial, and it is regarded as a glorious tradition for soldiers to intervene in politics in times of crisis. Eighty percent of the officers and soldiers of the entire Spanish Army are standing in San Juan. On the side of General Erjo, General Mora and General Franco. At least in the Spanish army, the popularity of the people was immediately affected.
As the famous radio call sign "The sky is cloudless" on July 17 announced the start of the coup, coups broke out simultaneously in various military camps from Spanish Morocco to southern Spain. A small number of military officers who firmly supported the left-wing government first Time was executed. Fanatic right-wing people poured into the streets and began to drag out and kill those left-wing people who usually had names.
At the same time, the killings began in the lands controlled by the left-wing government. The left-wing government first killed all intellectuals related to Catholicism at once, and then indiscriminately hunted and killed all those suspected of being pro-rightists in society. According to post-war statistics, there were 16,832 named priests, monks and nuns killed by the left-wing government.
The law as a social convention has disappeared. Now, whether in coup areas or government-controlled areas, social order is controlled by mass organizations. Constraints disappear instantly, and people get the sense of liberation that has not been available for a long time. The feelings that were originally hidden and suppressed in their hearts The despicable cruelty of human nature surged out. The Spaniards discovered that people they had once envied, hated, disliked, or even people who held their IOUs could be harmed at will under the pretext of "punishing the enemy". Killing was no longer punishable. Legal punishment is, on the contrary, an "act of justice." There has been a peak of indiscriminate killing of innocent people on both sides.
For a time, rivers of blood flowed across the land controlled by both sides of Spain. At this time, the war had just begun, and more people died at the rear of the two factions than on the battlefield. Spain entered the darkest period in history. .
…
Although the left wing controlled the government, it had almost no decent army. At the beginning of the war, it was almost entirely up to the fanatical left wing people to spontaneously take various weapons and take to the streets, singing the Internationale and shouting the slogan " Nopasalam (they will not succeed)!", under a Paris Commune-like, tragic and romantic mood, an army was formed and went to the front to fight against the coup army.
In Madrid, Catalonia and Asturias, the Bolsheviks formed the "Gorky Camp", "Marx Camp", and the famous Fifth Regiment. For a time, "The Internationale" resounded in the streets of Madrid
, not only young men, but also old men, women, and children armed with various weapons and tools, sang songs and poured into the streets, organized into squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, and brigades, and then marched towards the coup d'etat.
The barracks charge...
This situation infected most of the international people in Madrid. Journalists from various countries were deeply moved and sent back one touching report after another to their respective countries. This was also the reason why the Communist International later formed the "International Brigade"
This is one of the reasons why people from so many countries, regardless of party affiliation, actively responded to participate.
Because in the first few days of the coup, the coup army only controlled some places in southern Spain. Moreover, the core main force of the coup army was the colonial army in Spanish Morocco, which was the army directly under Franco. These main forces needed to land in Spain from the sea.
.At this time, although the army had basically rebelled, the Spanish navy and air force were still loyal to the government. They drove gunboats, submarines, etc. into various ports in the south to prevent the Moroccan rebels from landing, and at the same time, the rebel military camps on the gunboats. This
Under such circumstances, many areas that responded to the coup failed to receive military support, and the coup failed.
On July 19, in Madrid, the armed garrison coup was put down. In Barcelona and throughout Catalonia, the left-wing masses defeated the coup troops in two days of bloody fighting. Asturias is in the hands of a left-wing government
In Málaga, Valencia, Bilbao, Santander and many other cities and provinces,
The military coups also failed.
In the first few days of the war, the coup army was almost in a desperate predicament. Not only was the vast majority of Spain's land controlled by the left-wing government, but more importantly, Spain's main industrial centers, railways, ports, mines, transportation hubs, etc.
All are in the hands of the left-wing government. Moreover, the country’s gold reserves are still in Madrid and in the hands of the Spanish left-wing government. At this time, Spain’s gold reserves still ranked sixth in the world, and the amount was quite considerable. This is the government’s resistance to the coup.
The strongest capital of the military.
…
However, while the coup army was fighting the war wholeheartedly and without any distractions, and fighting against difficulties, the left-wing government was not united at all. They lacked a unified military command, competed with each other for power, and there were differences of opinion among various factions.
The left wing should have established a unified armed force from the first day, but as a result, each faction set out to establish its own army. The military operations between the various factions were often inconsistent and difficult to cooperate with each other. Many militia members
Although the battalions fought bravely, they fought independently with no clear military purpose and no knowledge of the situation in areas adjacent to the front line.
What is even more exaggerated is that several governments were established on the territory of the left-wing republic at once. They are: the Central Government of Madrid, the Government of Catalonia, the Basque Government, and the Council of Asturias and Leon.
In the early days of the war, the left-wing government was fighting for power within itself, while the left-wing people were fighting with romantic passion. They had no discipline and lacked training. When everyone was excited, it was easy for them to fight together in a hail of bullets and blood. But passion
After all, this kind of thing is difficult to last. When the initial passion, romance and blood subsided, many people discovered that the "revolutionary war" was not as romantic as imagined, but a cold death, hunger, and sleepiness.
However, the coup troops in the south became more and more courageous as they fought. They had strict discipline, long-term training, and the toughness of soldiers. They were more able to endure hardships and casualties. Moreover, they had unified command, enforced orders and prohibitions, and were united like one person in the war.
Same. The coup army has none of the shortcomings of the republican government army.
In fact, until the final stage of the war, when the left-wing government was gone, the factions within its party were still killing each other and purging each other, and the civil wars within each faction continued. The streets of Madrid were still executing their own people in batches.
, it is exactly the same as the Great Purge of the Soviet Union. Even many of the charges are exactly the same as those in the Soviet Purge Room. Even the words have not been changed...
…
On July 20, the plane of General San Juljo, the leader of the coup army, crashed and San Juljo died. General Franco took over as the leader of the coup army. The command of the coup army became more unified and became an efficient combat machine.
Already.
It was at this time that the forces of the two parties began to become more balanced, and the Spanish War became possible. Many people began to be optimistic about the Spanish coup army. Germany, Italy and Portugal began to send aid to Franco. The first few batches of German machine guns
, artillery, tanks and military technicians were immediately shipped to Lisbon and other Portuguese ports. Salazar's Portugal opened its borders to General Franco. During the first days of the war, Portuguese weapons and even individual troops were shipped from Portugal.
Areas occupied by coup troops.
…
Nanjing.
The German ambassador to Ming Dynasty called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked the Foreign Secretary to take time and give him a chance to meet him.
Therefore, the Foreign Minister immediately called and reported Shen Rongxuan. They all knew what happened.