In the Mediterranean in April, the warm winds are gentle and the warm sunshine makes people sleepy.

It is indeed another scene on a construction site near the coast. Hundreds of workers are carrying stone bags or dancing hammerheads; trucks, carriages and ox carts are passing through the road leading to the construction site. Around the construction site, soldiers wearing pointed helmets and German summer uniforms are either patrolling back and forth in a team of three or standing on a hill with long spears on their backs and downs, silently monitoring this busy place.

"This is the No. 19 Fortress. This place plans to install 3 dual-mounted 150mm fortress cannons! Now the base has been completed, and the artillery is just waiting for it to be transported!"

The person who spoke was a colonel officer holding a drawing. The general standing next to him looked much older. His wrinkled face looked a little tired, but he was also polished in the sun. The two of them were standing at the east side of the construction site. The No. 19 Battery mentioned by the colonel in front was right in front of them. Although there was only a cement foundation at this time, it was not difficult to figure out its scale from the perspective of area and depth.

The general smashed the wall beside him with his fist, and the steel and concrete structures were naturally extremely solid.

"Very good! Next month, Your Majesty will come to watch the fortress's anti-aircraft tests. Our projects must ensure quality. Those who dare to cut corners will be punished severely! This is not only for Your Majesty to show, but also our responsibility! No matter whether there will be war in the future, we must protect this excellent harbor!"

"Please rest assured, General! This place will definitely become the number one fortress in the Mediterranean, and the Empire will be proud of it!"

The young colonel seemed full of confidence. You should know that the total budget of this fortress reached 9.8 million marks, which is enough to build 3-4 most powerful battleships. Here, 22 fortress guns alone are ready to be installed, and more 150 and 120 mm heavy artillery are deployed on 5 main turrets and 20 sub-turrets respectively. Two military airports and one military-civilian dual-purpose airport will be built behind the fortress. After expansion and maintenance, the military port inside will be able to accommodate hundreds of ships.

The general looked ahead silently. The sea was so calm and beautiful.

Behind him, the port of Tunisia is like a pearl on the Mediterranean coast.

A few months ago, this place was still the territory of the French. Now that the French have left, the red, white and blue three-color flags are no longer there, but the Tunisians have not received real liberation and freedom. The red, white and black three-color flags are slowly rising, and the faces of the new rulers are even colder than the French, and more powerful troops are gradually entering. For the Tunisians, war has not fundamentally changed their destiny, and they still live under the "protection" of the strong.

The romance left by the French quickly disappeared with the wind, replaced by the Germans' diligence and rigor. For this huge and rapid change, the Tunisians were confused and helpless. The only meaningful thing for them was that the construction of the Germans required a large amount of labor and many were able to fill their stomachs.

The Havs Dynasty, which once brought prosperity and prosperity to Tunisia, has long been destroyed, and only some Islamic palaces and buildings remained in the world. Currently, the Hussein dynasty that ruled Tunisia in name was a corrupt Hussein dynasty. After being invaded by the French army at the end of the 19th century and forced to sign the Treaty of Baldu, the ruling power of this dynasty was actually gone. Their king was weak and incompetent. The officials were ignorant and greedy. When France surrendered and the German army entered Tunisia, they quickly showed an active and cooperative attitude. After just one day of negotiation, the Tunisian king promised that the Germans would obtain all the powers that the French had enjoyed at the time, including the financial and diplomatic power of Tunisia, with the only condition of retaining the wealth and status of the king and officials.

At the end of January, the German government sent a new governor of Tunisia, Sir Sousse, who also temporarily served as the highest military commander of the Tunisian colonial army. The so-called Tunisian colonial army includes 50 German officers originally affiliated to the German Expeditionary Force, more than 1,100 German infantry, and nearly 2,000 officers and soldiers of the Turkish Expeditionary Force. In addition, the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the governor also have a group of local police forces composed of local Tunisian people.

In early March, General Benke led the ships received from Italy to Tunisia. Here, these Italian-built warships will enter the dock for comprehensive maintenance, replacement of paint and necessary modifications. After that, they will be included in the upcoming German Mediterranean Fleet. This powerful fleet will be commanded by General Hippel, and General Benke will serve as deputy commander and commander of the Tunisian naval base. In order to build a night's defense system, the German Navy General Staff sent a group of excellent fortress engineers. After conducting detailed surveys, they jointly formulated the design plan for the Tunisian fortress under the leadership of Colonel Erich Redel, the chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet. This plan was later recognized and praised by the Navy.

With the drawings, the construction of the fortress was not smooth. There was no decent industry in Africa at this time. The cement, steel bars, cannons and parts used for fortress construction, as well as the anti-submarine nets for port defense, and mines needed to be transported from Germany. Therefore, the progress of the project has a lot to do with the transportation of materials. At this time, there are usually two routes for materials to be transported from Germany to Tunisia. One is to take a complete sea route, that is, to depart from the local port, bypass the northern Scotland and then head south. The other is to transport materials to the southern port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by railway, and then load ships across the Mediterranean. No matter which way,

The transportation route is thousands of miles away. Especially the first sea route, when the Strait of Gibraltar was controlled by the British, German ships had to risk disguised as ships from other countries if they wanted to cross it, otherwise they would have to detour the Cape of Good Hope and then cross the Suez Canal along the African coastline and enter the Mediterranean. Of course, the latter method is not easy to walk. The unloading and loading efficiency in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not only not high, but also not satisfactory in the security and confidentiality level. Moreover, there were incidents where materials were forcibly inspected. The German Foreign Ministry protested to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for this, but only vague answers were received.

Despite this, various materials urgently needed fortress construction have arrived in Tunisia one after another. This port city in North Africa has shown a completely different vitality from the past in recent times. A large number of builders from Germany arrived one after another, and freighters flying the German flag entered almost every day. The dock became the busiest place, and a large number of materials were unloaded there. In the outer port of Lagulet, Tunisia Port, the old defensive fortress has been basically demolished, and it will be replaced by a larger and more modern new fortress. In the inner port of Tunisia and the city, military docks, airports, barracks, maintenance factories, arms factories, airship bases. Various facilities are under orderly construction.

Compared with the vibrant Tunisia, Gibraltar is more like a patient who has just experienced a serious illness, with devastation and tragic sight! The British army in Gibraltar Fortress has not really been out of ammunition and food, but the morale in the fortifications has been very low, and their psychological defenses are far more fragile than the fortifications of the fortifications.

At the foot of Gibraltar, negotiations are underway.

General Rock sat on the side of the conference table with great depression, and his officers were also depressed. Last week, they attacked with hope, trying to use the Spanish military's civil strife to eliminate the threat of German heavy artillery. Unexpectedly, they encountered the opponent's tenacious resistance. The attacking troops not only suffered heavy casualties, but also lost the last bit of confidence. From the next day, the Germans resumed the shelling, until General Rock sent a special envoy to request negotiations.

On the other side of the conference table, General Rudendolf of the German military delegation and General Schkwat sat with his head held high and his chest held high. Major Klester, who had outstanding performance in that battle, also got a final position. On the same side were three Spanish representatives, to be precise, three officials sent by the Spanish king. There were no soldiers and no say.

After receiving a secret telegram from the mainland, Ludendolf's attitude seemed very firm: "Either surrender unconditionally or continue to fight!"

The British were as silent as the Spanish.

"Our cannons can razed Mount Gibraltar to the ground!" The German Dong was frightened. "More cannons and ammunition are about to be transported! Fleets, planes, and airships will also join the battle!"

At this time, the British had to worry about their future, and the Spanish were the same.

"Surrender unconditionally! Otherwise everyone will suffer!" an older Spanish representative murmured in a low voice. In fact, the Spanish government is now in a state of great difficulty. They showed amazing efficiency in the incident of the military mutiny. The next day, the mutiny army returned to their barracks. Three days later, a reliable army took over their positions. The officers in the mutiny were identified as British spies, and the others were allegedly bewitched by the British, and the perpetrators were then sent to the military court. The main responsibility was all put on the British.

The British did not refute this or were unable to refute it.

Rudendolf and his delegation were not interested in investigating the truth of the facts, and the German government was the same. In a diplomatic letter sent to the Spanish government on April 3, the German government believed that the Spaniards violated the previous treaty, that is, they failed to "effectively block the British Gibraltar Fortress before the main force of the German army arrived." In response, the German government "cannot trust the capabilities of the Spanish government and the army." Therefore, the German government's good intentions suggest that Germany and its allies should be handed over to "properly manage the areas on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar" by the German and its allies on their behalf. To "ensure that the interests of the allies will not be violated in similar incidents."

Just one day later, Russia and Türkiye expressed their support for the German government's proposal and were willing to directly send troops to participate in co-management.

France, Italy, Greece and other countries expressed their understanding one after another, while the British had no mood or ability to intervene except for expressing extreme indignation and helpless contempt.

The Spanish government faces unprecedented isolation.

Alfonso XIII and his prime minister wanted to resolve the dispute with money rather than land, but unfortunately the German government simply rejected his proposal and threatened it with force. After the mutiny, Marshal Navarro quickly resigned as commander-in-chief, and the king then appointed the younger and tougher General Derehuela as the new commander of the army. In the matter of Gibraltar, although the Spanish government believed that the majority should be compromised, General Rivera and some generals believed that they should not be afraid of power and turned to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for help. The Prime Minister and many ministers were uneasy about this suggestion, but because of fear of losing the support of the army, Alfonso XIII did not immediately agree to the request of the German government and sent people to secretly seek assistance from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In this matter, the diplomats of the Austro-Hungarian Empire showed a relatively positive attitude.

Soon, Berlin learned of this situation and instructed the delegation in the negotiations of Gibraltar to put pressure on the British, and if necessary, threats of force could be used.

On April 6, the Hippel fleet set sail from the port of Cadiz and arrived at the western waters of Gibraltar fortress at 3 pm. All warships lined up in two columns to swim on the sea, and at the same time dispatched several carrier-based aircraft to hover nearby. Then, land aircraft taking off from Malaga also flew to increase their momentum.

On April 7, after four days of negotiations, the British army in Gibraltar surrendered to the German army under its commander General Rock. In exchange, General Rock received a ticket to the United States, and he was also allowed to take away his personal belongings, including a box of good cigars.

In the early morning of April 8, the German flag slowly rose on the top of Gibraltar, and the history of the Mediterranean opened a new chapter. After clearing a safe channel, the main force of the Cipher fleet entered the Gibraltar military port.

The story obviously won't end there. On April 11, the German Gibraltar Legion received a secret order to carry out an operation code-named "Blitzkrieg".

At 10 pm on April 11, a "Stone 2" tank battalion, a "Big Sword" armored combat battalion, a "Troy" armored transport battalion, and three cavalry companies set off from the barracks in Malaga, led by Major Rommel to head south. Half an hour later, the main force of the Gibraltar Legion, followed by 12 infantry regiments, also launched a barracks, of which 2 infantry regiments rushed to the port of Malaga, and the other 10 regiments headed south along the route of Rommel's troops.

At 11:35 that night, with the cooperation of the fleet in the port, the German army completely controlled the port city of Malaga. The city government, police station and barracks were all occupied, and this action officially kicked off the German-Swis dispute.
Chapter completed!