I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 6



Only Noblemtl

EP.6 Spanish Civil War (2)

As of November 1936, the situation of the powers deploying troops in Spain was as follows:

Nationalists = Germany, Italy, Korea.

Republican = Soviet Union.

Of these, Italy mobilized the largest number of troops and equipment.

Of course, numbers are not proportional to fighting power, but numbers have their own power.

Therefore, the foreign power with the strongest voice in the Nationalist Party was not Germany, but Italy.

Korea was nothing special.

The number of troops dispatched was 10,000, the navy had only a few destroyers and less than 50 aircraft.

However, that does not mean that logistics were running smoothly.

The reality for the Korean army was that they were borrowing ammunition from the German army and food from the Italian army.

In this case, the presence of the Korean military could not but be extremely minimal.

“Salute to Your Excellency the Commander!”

“it’s okay.”

I was inaugurated at the headquarters set up in Casa de Campo, a resort outside Madrid.

Since it was an organization operated as a unified force regardless of the army, navy, and air force branches, the command also included naval and air force officers.

I exchanged greetings with the principal officers.

There were many officers whose names I should remember, but if I had to name just three, I would say they are particularly memorable.

Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force, Colonel Gong Sang-jin.

46th class of the Korea Military Academy.

He was one rank lower than me.

Because of his large physique and lively personality, he was nicknamed the “Iberian Bear” among his staff officers.

Next is Operations Chief of Staff Colonel Park Jun.

48th class of the Korea Military Academy.

He was short and had a thin build, so he seemed like an introvert, but he was surprisingly sociable.

She was nicknamed ‘Mother’ because she often had private conversations with officers and listened to their worries.

The last one is Air Force Dispatch Commander Colonel Ha Yu-jin.

He is a graduate of the 53rd class of the Korea Military Academy and has connections in the Army.

He was originally from the Army, so he was friendly with Army officers and was considerate of the Army’s position when coordinating operations, so he was a good impression on our side.

He is good at his job and is diligent, so his nickname is ‘bee’.

I had a short adjustment period, learning the names and characteristics of my subordinates.

During that time, of course, I threw away all the offensive and all.

‘If I hit X, it’s all my fault, so who am I to like?’

In any case, Madrid was not destined to collapse until 1939.

When the Korean army hesitated under my orders, Colonel Juan Yaguer of the Nationalist faction came to see me and asked why I was not continuing my attack.

Juan Yagué, who commanded the African Army, was a capable man who was highly regarded even by the German officer corps, who looked down on the Spanish officer corps.

“Your Excellency, Commander! The Reds in Madrid are consolidating their defenses as we waste time. This is no time to waste!”

That wasn’t a wrong statement.

The Republic was regrouping a little bit with every moment we delayed.

The influx of volunteers from the international community could not be ignored.

But, if I just go into a well-prepared enemy camp, I’ll be ruined.

I spoke to the colonel in a polite tone about baseball.

“If we rush the offensive and the damage accumulates, it will become a political burden for the home country. If that happens, it will lead to bad results for both Korea and Spain. As the supreme commander of the expeditionary force, I hope you understand that I need to consider political circumstances.”

I tried to change my mind about baseball, but persuasion only works on those who are ready to be persuaded.

I wasn’t ready to be convinced by baseball.

Yagu left the headquarters with a look of disappointment on his face.

The front in Madrid was going back and forth, but there was no decisive blow.

During that time, I gathered the subordinate officers together and conducted tactical training.

The gist of the tactical training I prepared was simple.

‘Unity of thought.’

In other words, ‘standardizing’ thinking was the core of my strategy.

This was a measure to mimic the ‘mission-oriented command system’ of the German Wehrmacht, which was the most successful army in terms of tactical ability.

The reason why unifying thinking is connected to the German military command system that emphasizes the autonomy of the commander is as follows.

The Germans knew that if ‘Situation A’ occurred, every commander would respond in ‘Method B’.

That’s why Commanders C and D, who had never met each other before, were able to predict the movements of their neighboring friendly units and carry out efficient cooperative operations.

What I wanted to ask the Korean military commander was similar.

The only difference was that the size of the unit itself was small, so cooperation could only be made possible at the lower echelon level.

Because the amount of information and the size of the work that the officers had to be familiar with were relatively small, the training for the ‘Korean Mission-based Command System’ was completed in just three weeks.

From the beginning, we had assumed a ‘urban combat situation’ and only had them repeat a few training exercises, so there was no reason for it to take long.

Officers who were initially skeptical about this training began to realize that it was effective after trying it out a few times.

“It certainly seems like this way of moving will shorten the decision cycle (the time it takes for a commander’s decisions to be reflected on the battlefield).”

“This is the German way.”

“Have you ever had any experience interacting with the German military, Your Majesty?”

Me? With those Nazis?

Well, I just imagined it like that.

I took the Chief of Staff, Colonel Kong Sang-jin, and the Operations Staff, Colonel Park Jun, and headed to the Garavitas Hill, which overlooked Madrid.

Here the Spanish Nationalist artillery was stationed, firing shells at the city of Madrid 24 hours a day.

We looked down at the smoldering city of Madrid and discussed the direction of our attack.

Since the old building was a famous building, it seemed like a good idea to attack in the direction of the University of Madrid, where the Nationalist bastards were banging their heads against.

The problem was the trenches.

The Republican trenches, bunkers, and fortified structures, built layer by layer, were strong enough to withstand even the most severe attacks.

As can be seen from the fact that the heads of several of the Spanish Nationalist friends were broken several times, the chances of the breakthrough operation being successful were not high.

I wasn’t completely thoughtless about this.

“Wouldn’t it be okay to just reinforce the firearms?”

“But how do you supplement your firepower?”

Even if shells were obtained from the German army, cannons were not something that could be obtained so easily.

Of course, I had my thoughts too.

“Drum.”

“yes?”

“Make a makeshift mortar out of a drum.”

“Will that work?”

“Think back to the Great War.”

“ah.”

The idea of ​​a makeshift mortar, that is, putting something in a cylinder and firing it, has been around since World War I.

Gao Wenkui, a Chinese Communist Army engineer, came across this idea and created a makeshift mortar, also known as a flying mortar, by drilling a hole in one side of a drum and attaching a leg to it.

The effect was remarkable.

With this simple structure and cheap price, the Chinese army was able to counter the overwhelming American weapons of the Kuomintang army.

There was nothing I couldn’t do.

If you lack firepower, you should use something like this.

Of course, I had no intention of putting shells in the mortar.

It is used as a napalm bomb launcher by adding gasoline, or oil.

Even the stormtroopers who were renowned in the Great War had a way out by burning trenches.

We received a large quantity of drums left over from the Spanish Nationalist and German camps for the breakthrough operation.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that they were all oil drums manufactured by American companies.

‘The American punks, they talk about non-intervention in Spain, but behind the scenes, they gave Franco oil and credit to help him win. And yet they call themselves the defenders of democracy.’

That doesn’t mean I have any complaints here.

I made a bunch of makeshift mortars out of drums I got from the Allies.

I decided to give it a name because it felt strange to just call it a makeshift mortar.

“I will call this a main gun.”

“All right.”

Our army moved to the University of Madrid carrying the cannons they had made in this way.

It was time to show my Republican friends the nuclear bomb of Juche, or rather, the taste of Juche’s fire.

On the night of December 11, 1936, Korean troops attacked the Faculty of Philosophy in the University City of Madrid.

In the area of ​​buildings forming the Department of Philosophy, the 11th International Brigade, commanded by General Kleber, held a tenacious position.

The Nationalists said that this attack would fail, but that was because their methods were wrong.

Who would foolishly throw themselves into a street fight?

“Commence shelling!”

As our army and the Nationalist artillery opened fire simultaneously, the Republicans, as usual, began to take cover.

“charge!”

At the signal to attack, the infantry approached the trenches, firing and taking cover.

The Republican machine guns fired without stopping.

“Burn it all off!”

Our troops fired drum mortars into the trenches according to their respective plans.

Several firebombs filled with gasoline exploded around the trench, one of which exploded inside the trench.

“Ahhhh!”

Republican soldiers rushed out of their trenches screaming and shouting.

Our soldiers advanced toward the philosophy building, clearing the trenches with relative ease.

The Republican soldiers resisted fiercely, but could not stop our attack with drum mortars.

With the firepower poured out in a short period of time, the Republican side was no match for the unit forces.

As the Republican soldiers were finally driven back into the philosophy building, we moved our mortars forward.

And then he sentenced the enemy, who was cornered in a narrow building, to death.

“Shoot!”

We fired petrol-filled fire bombs straight at the building.

As they had prepared in advance who would set fire from which direction and who would take over if it failed, the fire engulfed the Republican soldiers without a single error.

“Kwaaaaak!”

The philosophy department building, where hundreds of firebombs exploded in a span of a minute, was a complete mess.

We sprayed gasoline on the building in such a way that it seemed like it would melt.

Anyone who came out screaming was shot dead.

If you stay in the building, it will be baked golden brown enough to suffocate or cook your lungs.

Burn everything, suffocate everything, and bring in the infantry, so the battle is all over.

“Your Majesty! We have captured it.”

It was an expected result.

A few days later, Francisco Franco, inspired by the fall of the supposedly impregnable Philosophy Department building, came to see me in person, tapping me on the shoulder to offer me some words of encouragement.

Franco seemed impressed by my tactics of burning down the Republicans, and even awarded me a medal.

Even the Army, which had been anxious because it couldn’t catch me, sent a congratulatory message.

It wasn’t a very pleasant picture.

It feels like getting a reward for killing someone.

I quietly put the cigar in my mouth.