. "Why not?"

"Why?"

This is the most common question that people have said in the German cabinet, the German Supreme Command and in taverns everywhere since the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The questions discussed the same thing, that is, whether Germany wants to interfere with the war on the Iberian Peninsula.

"Why not? This is a great opportunity to expand the empire's influence in Southern Europe. Look, the Italians have sent troops. Should they become rulers of Spain and even the entire Southern Europe?" Supporters often say this.

"Why? We have sent more than 20,000 soldiers into Spain as members of the multinational joint forces, and the situation is bad enough there is no need to get involved in the internal affairs of the Spaniards' own country?" Opposition people often add, "We are not as stupid as the Italians!"

If such an incident happened 20 years ago, Germany would have spared no effort to send troops to Spain to expand its international influence. But now is different from the past. When this empire has a stronger force than the heyday of the British Empire, its leaders and ordinary citizens have learned to think, measure and make choices. As long as there are enough interests to make, they are even willing to send their troops to a distant and cold polar region. If it does not help to obtain any form of benefits, people will choose to watch coldly.

The current problem is how much the cost and benefits of German armed interference in the Spanish civil war, and what will be lost and what will be gained by the development of the Spanish situation. For such complex problems that cannot be accurately predicted, every German basically has his own opinion.

Hannover, Charlotte Street Episode.

"Everyone! Everyone! Please listen to me!"

A middle-aged man with an average figure, a clean face, wearing an old German army coat without a military rank, jumped onto the roadside steps. His voice stopped many passers-by. Since the Empire promulgated new rules for speech and assembly, such a situation was not uncommon on the streets of various places. As long as it was reasonable and legal land views, as long as it did not maliciously attack the imperial policy and the German royal nobles, such speeches would not be interfered by the police.

"The empire can take this opportunity to establish a Spanish regime that is completely loyal to the empire. It doesn't matter whether it is a royal system or a democracy. What we want is that they are absolutely loyal to us, rather than just like the Alfonso XIII government, openly or secretly! Only by establishing a Spanish regime that we can trust can we have a stronger grasp of the Strait of Gibraltar. If we allow Spanish anti-government forces to capture Madrid, defeat the government forces, and establish a new government outside our control, then the Gibraltar Fortress may be attacked by this revolutionary government in the near future. At that time, we have to send troops to Spain, and the number will be much greater than the current one! At that time, we have to fight the entire Spain, instead of easily removing the crumbling Alfonso XIII regime and the unstable anti-government forces like now!"

"Do you think you are the one who can be the new king of Spain?"

A voice that was not very friendly came from the crowd, and the onlookers burst into laughter.

The man on the steps did not look panicked at all. He stretched out his left hand and raised his index finger, "No, but I believe it is not difficult to find a candidate who can be trusted by the imperial government and will not be opposed by the Spanish people!"

"What then?" the voice just now asked without hesitation: "Then we will send a large amount of financial and material assistance to our new allies to help them rebuild their homes and restore their economy? Ha! If there is money and materials, we might as well invest in West Africa or South Asia, so that we can at least get a generous reward!"

People burst into laughter again, and at this time, there was a policeman wearing a pointed helmet and a gray-white coat. He tied the baton around his waist and looked at the middle-aged man on the steps with his hands behind his back. The speaker had just found the opponent from the crowd. There was a sign of street speech developing towards street debate.

"Building a stable and reliable government in Spain is not comparable to that of simple investment. This is a political investment whose returns cannot be measured by money. Do you understand? Political investment!"

"I don't understand what political investment is. Does anyone here understand?" The opponent had a loud voice and a burly figure on the steps. At first glance, it would make people think that he was a pig slayer or the owner of a bakery. In the seconds after he raised this question, no one else stood up in the crowd, so he continued:

"I only know that investing in other parties does not require the lives of German soldiers regardless of profit or loss. What about Spain? Can we take it without sacrificing tens of thousands of people?"

Seeing that the person on the steps was not good, he clenched his fists and shouted:

"Despite the sacrifice, it's definitely worth it!"

"My two sons serve in the army, and I don't want them to die for a war that lacks meaning!"

After saying that, the "pig killer" left without looking back. Most of the onlookers around him seemed to have relatives serving in the army, so they were quite touched at this time. Without waiting for the speaker to announce the end of their speech, people dispersed in groups, leaving the speakers to shake their heads helplessly on it.

Berlin, the Supreme Command of the Three Armed Forces.

In a huge combat command room, dozens of army, air force and naval generals surrounded the large battlefield sand table. Judging from the terrain and geographical characteristics, people can easily identify the area represented by the sand table - the Iberian Peninsula, or to be precise, the neighboring country that is plagued by the civil war - Spain.

"Major, statistics!"

A half-bare-headed army general with a very serious expression took out a handkerchief and applied it on his forehead, which was covered with small sweat beads. Opposite him, the small army general of about the same age and gray hair also had a feeling of exhaustion after severe brain cells were consumed.

The officer in charge of statistics frowned and calculated quickly, while the people around him were silent. The command room, which was still very lively, was so quiet that the sound of a needle falling to the ground.

A few minutes later, the major in his early thirties raised his head, looked at the two generals of the army, and shouted:

"In this battle, the Northern Legion commanded by General Otto won the victory, with the loss of soldiers between 75,000 and 80,000. There were about 3 car wings, 1 transport brigade and 15 to 20 trains lost equipment for various reasons. The Southern Legion commanded by General Haster failed, with more than 400,000 troops lost, and all heavy equipment was damaged, and a considerable number of civilians were injured and killed!"

After the result was announced, the expression of the "winner" not only did not ease, but his face looked even worse than that of the "loser". After a while, he looked at his opponent with a lost look.

"well……"

"General Otto doesn't have to blame himself too much. After all, it's hard to have a chance to meet a strong player like General Haster on the battlefield!" The tall lieutenant general on the side came over to comfort him.

The half-baked army general shook his head at him with a wry smile and said nothing. At this time, the gray-haired army general opposite stood up and walked to the major officer in charge of statistics.

"No mistake?"

He asked softly.

The major looked at him, then looked at the data in his hand, and shook his head with certainty.

The gray-haired Army General sighed, and he knew very well that the dangers and variables on the battlefield were far from being simulated by sand table counter-exercises. On the sand table, 1,000 people may never have the chance to defeat 10,000 opponents with the same equipment or even superior equipment. In reality, 1,000 people are completely possible to make the 10,000 invading enemies bleeding. In other words, the "Southern Legion" guarded can use more geographical conditions and combat means to attack the invading "Northern Legion". Even if they cannot repel them, they can consume more manpower and material resources.

The German army was never afraid of fighting head-on with powerful enemies, but they didn't like being led by small enemies in the mountains, hills and from the forest, and they didn't like the combat mode that was headless and mindless and completely incompatible with the military lesson plan. Fortunately, the French government's stubbornness and conservatism, Britain's narrowness, and the confusion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire made them not encounter such problems in the initial war, but in the later United States and Russia, small armed forces, both soldiers and civilians, gave them headaches in logistics transportation, barracks, and airport security.

"Hey, Otto..." The gray-haired general of the army walked to the general who was still sitting on the chair with his head down, and wanted to say some comfort to the old friend with a stubborn temper, but in this case, he casually said "This is just a deduction", "Hey, luck is on my side this time", "It doesn't matter, you will definitely beat me next time", and so on are obviously irresponsible. So, he finally just stretched out his right hand and patted the other party's shoulder, and then left the command room silently.

As the generals left, the room became more and more deserted, until the officer in charge of statistics left, leaving only the half-bald army general with a gloomy expression.
Chapter completed!