Chapter 307 Patriot

Hearing the opposition from Vice President Salazar, the people around him immediately sneered. "What do you mean by open declaration of war? Gibraltar originally belonged to us Spain. Those despicable British guys have occupied it for so many years and don't want to give it back. So what if we lend the road to the Germans? If you don't want us to lend the road, let the British get out of Gibraltar obediently, and don't forget to take those damn macaques away!"

Who Gibraltar belongs to is actually quite controversial. It was once clearly Spanish territory and later clearly assigned to Britain. The reason for assigning it to Britain was the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701. At that time, the Spanish Habsburg dynasty died out and the throne was vacant. The French Bourbon dynasty and the Austrian Habsburg dynasty fought for the Spanish throne, triggering a war involving most European countries.

The war was essentially to curb France's annexation of Spain and once again dominate Europe. As a result, half of Europe formed a new grand alliance to fight against France.

Britain and the Netherlands supported Archduke Charles, and their coalition forces captured Gibraltar in 1704 and established a military fortress. In 1713, the warring parties signed the Treaty of Utrecht, recognizing Philip's status as the King of Spain, but in exchange, Gibraltar was ceded to Britain.

After occupying Gibraltar, Britain expelled the original Spanish residents and introduced a large number of immigrants from Britain, Italy, North Africa and other places, completely changing the local population structure.

In 1830, Gibraltar officially became a British colony and an important naval base, and all its military and political affairs were managed by the governor appointed by the British royal family. In 1909, in order to prevent the Spaniards from crossing the border and causing trouble, Britain built a military base and airport and set up fences in the neutral zone between Gibraltar and mainland Spain, thus forming today's border.

However, since the death of King Philip, the Spanish government began to be full of objections to Britain's occupation of Gibraltar, repeatedly claiming that Gibraltar was its inherent and indisputable territory, and from time to time launched a massive recovery campaign. In response to Spain's actions, Britain showed its usual arrogance. At first, it took an attitude of direct disregard. Later, under urgent circumstances, according to a popular local rumor, they would withdraw their troops from here only when the unique species in the area, the Gibraltar macaque, became extinct.

In fact, the reason why the British said this was not that they were using macaques as a "shield", but that they themselves were superstitious that the extinction of macaques was directly related to the fate of the British in the area. And this "superstition" originated from the "life-saving grace" of macaques to the British garrison.

During the American War of Independence, Spain, which supported the independence of North America, was an enemy of Britain and launched a campaign to recover Gibraltar. The Spanish army attacked the British army in Gibraltar in the middle of the night, but failed because of the timely alarm of macaques.

As a result, the Gibraltar macaques and the UK have formed a deep "friendship", which makes them believe that in order to maintain the sovereignty of Gibraltar, it is necessary to ensure that macaques do not become extinct in the area.

The World War II archives show that in order to solve the problem of the sharp decline in the number of macaques, the then Prime Minister Churchill also strictly ordered the Governor of Gibraltar to take all means to ensure and improve the living conditions of macaques in the area and keep the number of macaques at least above 24.

Since then, the macaques have been managed and maintained by the Royal Artillery stationed there, and enjoy annual funding. At the same time, a non-governmental organization will promptly record the birth, aging, illness and death of all monkeys so that they can be questioned by their superiors and even the House of Representatives at any time. It can be seen that the protection of Gibraltar macaques has risen to a strategic task for the United Kingdom in the area.

Today, the number of Mediterranean macaques in Gibraltar is regularly maintained at around 200, so the British naturally don't have to worry about their fate in the area.

In this way, the Spanish certainly hate these damned little beasts as much as they hate the British. They have never given up their claim to territorial sovereignty over Gibraltar. It's just that they haven't been able to do so until the 21st century.

Although Deputy President Salazar was not in favor of borrowing the road, most people agreed to borrow the road. President Arias finally made the decision to lend the road to Germany.

That night, in the secret room of the President's manor.

Several senior officials headed by Arias, the German envoy, and Deputy President Salazar, who opposed the most during the day, gathered together secretly.

In the whole of Spain, except for them, no one could imagine that Salazar, who usually opposed President Arias, was actually one of their own.

Of course, there must be opposing voices. If open questioning and opposition are not allowed, then the opposition voices will become louder and louder in secret.

In this case, it is better for the opposition voices to be expressed by their own people.

The German envoy took out a stack of letters and several exquisite small boxes and distributed them to everyone one by one. "Everyone, this is the handwritten letter and medal from His Highness to you. His Highness asked me to tell you that the empire and the people will not forget your dedication."

Holding the letter and medal, Arias said excitedly with tears in his eyes. "Please tell His Highness that we will fight for the Empire for the rest of our lives."

There is no shortage of loyal and steadfast patriots in any country, and these people are the best among them. For the sake of their beloved motherland and fellow countrymen, they resolutely went to a foreign country, abandoned the surnames passed down from generation to generation, and severed the connection with their flesh and blood relatives. They put on other people's identities and lived a life of walking on the muzzle of a gun and dancing on the tip of a knife. Even after death, they cannot return to their hometowns, but they have no regrets and no complaints, and are willing to dedicate their lives to their beloved motherland.

the defense minister asked. "Then we declare war on Britain?"

The envoy shook his head. "No need for now." Looking at Salazar. "You 'secretly' go to the British Ambassador later and tell him about our borrowing the road. Tell the British Ambassador that you can guarantee that Spain is just borrowing the road and will not declare war with the British Empire. However, the British Empire needs to provide a fund, okay Let you contact the like-minded opposition to prevent Spain from getting involved in the war, you know? It is best to ask them to pay for gold. If you don’t have gold, you must not ask for pounds even if you want food or minerals.” Tons upon tons are flowing into the British market, and in the future the pound will be no different than waste paper.

Yannick knew that Britain would definitely provide the money. During World War II in the original time and space, the British Army Intelligence Bureau Six bribed senior Spanish military officials, ship dealers and other relevant personnel at the time, with a total amount of US$200 million, in order to prevent Spain from supporting Germany.

In June 1940, British Ambassador to Madrid Samuel Hall asked the government to immediately pay the first bribe of US$1 million, saying: "If there is a slight delay, Spain will change its neutral position and support Germany. The situation is very urgent. "I can't give details now." Hall also said that the $1 million this time will play a decisive role in Spain's vote to support Germany.

The envoy continued his instructions. "If you 'remind' him again, let the British Empire buy out Spanish tungsten ore at a high price and prevent it from flowing into Germany. Tungsten ore is now $100 per ton, right? Increase it 10 times and let them buy it at $1,000 per ton. "

"10 times?" Several people present widened their eyes instantly. "Can the UK agree?" The British are not idiots, will they be taken advantage of?

The envoy smiled. "Just tell them that Germany has agreed to increase prices. Ask him whether the lives of soldiers of the British Empire are more important or money."

"clear."

The envoy looked to the Minister of Defense. "To strengthen the training of the army, His Highness hopes to use at least 500,000 soldiers by then."

The Minister of Defense straightened his back and replied confidently. "Please tell your highness that I promise to send one million elite soldiers and generals." The current population of Spain is about 25 million, and coupled with the civil war experienced in the past few years, it is not difficult to gather 1 million elite soldiers and generals.

In fact, Spain during World War II was neither bad nor weak. Its national power ranks sixth in Europe after Germany, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and Italy. It's just that its neighbors are so awesome, they all look like cheaters. In addition, Spain did nothing in World War II, so Spain, a small power, became an inconspicuous third-rate role.