Lt. General Ewald von Kleist
La Coruna, Spain
Oct. 25 1936 0800 hrs
Gen.Ewald von Kleist glanced down at the note his aide had given him. Looking up at the officers gathered around the planning table he spoke, "Gentlemen, I have received word that our Spanish friends have begun attacking Republican positions in the south of this province. It is time for us to do our part. Return to your units, the attack commences in one hour."
The plan was to smash into the Republican flank and rear while they were preoccupied with the Nationalist assault on their front lines. With the II. Armeekorps in support, his panzers would roll up the Republican lines and push them toward the Nationalist assault. Or as he put it just moments ago to his command staff, "They will be smashed between their anvil and our hammer." With luck, the entire Republican army would be destroyed. Most important of all, seizing La Coruna would supply the Luftwaffe with airfields from which to support his men throughout the campaign.
As the officers under his command prepared to lead their men into battle, von Kleist silently prayed to God for victory and that he would not lose too many of his precious troops in the attack.
At 0900 hrs on Oct 26, 1936 I. Panzerarmee under command of General Guderian struck the Spanish lines outside the city of Ferrol. The result was an immediate rout as the panzers sliced through the Spanish lines and reached the city with little resistance. Deploying elements of the II. Panzerdivision and of the II. Armeekorps to secure the city, Guderian pushed his forces onward towards the city of La Coruna itself - reaching it at 1100 hrs.
German troops mopping up resistance in Ferrol.
After brief but spirited resistance, the city fell and Battle Group Guderian swung south to hammer the now surrounded Republican army against the anvil of the advancing Nationalist forces. Upon seeing German tanks and infantry bearing down on their rear, Republican morale collapsed. Terrified Republican troops fled for their lives or threw down their weapons and surrendered.
Only twenty-four hours into his first offensive since taking command, General von Kleist found himself accepting the surrender of an entire Republican army and perhaps turning around the war in Spain.