'The Soul of Spain' - A Spanish Civil War HoI3 AAR

blklizard said:

Well, that was an interesting run. Lots of battles probably without any shots fired but the Nationalists have gained the upper hand with the capture of Madrid. Still, the Republicans may still resist before they are willing to finally admit defeat. Seeing your big jump in funds, looks like the AI has some extra spending power. Wonder what they will buy.

Sorry but I have no idea how to read the VP map . Please explain.

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Outside of the regular maps - which show your national borders, terrain, resources, the VP map shows where the Victory Points are (Much of the time they seem to be in important urban centers). Take enough Victory Points and you win, even if you lose all the other battles. With the Republic I have to TAKE all of them. Three of the four Victory Point areas happen to be next to or IN regions we are fighting over. When you capture VP you take a piece of the enemy's unity away. Take enough VP (enemy cities) and they give up. As the Republic's unity is 100%, I really need to take and hold them all before they give up.

The Green is mine. The Red regions are the four still in the Republic's hands.

When Franco woke up for his breakfast he was given the results of the Battle of Almendralejo. He was overjoyed, much to the confusion of many of the junior government officials and the press. On paper it looked like a small victory. While the Nationalists had lost 8 men the Republicans had only lost 12.


What the media and others had failed to understand was the fact that the defeated Republican forces had no pathway of escape. Surrounded by advancing enemy units and with the border of Portugal blocking their retreat they did the only thing they could. They disbanded. Many Republican soldiers turned themselves in, while others crossed the border to be arrested by the Portuguese police and placed into refugee camps.

So the Republicans had not just lost 12 men. They had lost 1,968 effective fighting men!


Also, that meant that region of the Spanish-Portuguese border was now free of Republicans. Those Divisions could now be directed else where.


It also seemed that the newly formed government had been busy. A new law was passed, which should help increase the skills of the next batch of officers.


When the Nationalist defeat at the Battle of Fermoselle was announced around 8:00, where they lost 73 soldiers verses the Republicans loses of 20, Franco’s mood was still very high.


Now, when the defeat of Tetouan was announced THAT did cause Franco some pain. Not only had they lost 46 men verses the enemy’s 27, it meant that the province of Tetouan might be in enemy hands when the Infantry Support Unit, still retreating TO Tetouan, arrived there. They would be out of fuel, out of supplies, and out of luck when they found themselves surrounded by Republican troops.


They would be forced into prison camps, like the Republicans from the Battle of Almendralejo. Once again, it confused Franco and his generals on how badly the Republican forces fought on the mainland while those in Africa fought so well.

Still, by the end of the day, the Nationalist Army had lost 127 men (killed or wounded). While the Republic had lost 2,015 men, if you defined it by men who could no longer fight for their cause. How could Franco and his staff not go to bed with smiles on their faces.

blklizard said:

What exactly is the purpose of the fights in Africa? I thought the stage that decides it all is Spain itself. Of course, they will be under your command once the civil war ends so that isn't bad. Having an experienced and decent force in Africa might come in useful.

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Well, at first, I was trying to knock the Republican unit out of the region but it moved faster and hit my units one after the other. So there is no purpose from my point of view but to have those units survive. They are in real danger of being destroyed if the war does not end soon.

Gormytorysh said:

I liked the updates and you seem to be on the upper hand. Hope you can keep this up! I am wondering though.... what the hell are these?!:

They look like cardboard boxes shaped into something or paper machier floats ready for carnival .

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When the war started the Republican militia (AKA - anybody who picked up a gun and said, "I'm militia" ) grabbed cars, trucks, and tractors. Most were used to move troops and field guns. Others were made into armored cars and transports. Some were even armed with machine guns. That's what your looking at right now. CNT = National Confederation of Labour (anarcho-syndicalist labour union). FAI = Iberian Anarchist Federation (created to keep any eye on the CNT who many felt was going soft - not extreme enough). So that car on the right belonged to the Anarchists. Can't really see the flags on the one on the left, so hard to tell who it belongs to.

Franco woke up that morning and had his coffee inside his quarters. He treated himself to three pastries instead of the two he usually had. There was nothing to report until the news came in at 8:00.


The Battle for Cartagena had come to a close. The Cartagena Front had lost 114 good men and officers. The Republican Infantry had lost 11. To add insult to injury the Republicans abandoned the city right after the battle.


It COULD be they just did not believe it to be important enough to hold. Sadly, the 'Front' was not able to take advantage of this by marching into the city. It had nothing in the way of supplies or fuel, having been cut off from the rest of Nationalist Spain the entire time.


At 10:00, with the southern of Spain (at least those regions within the Nationalist Zone) having become quiet, it was decided to send the Air Groups to the air fields near Madrid.

They would arrive there by 11:00 and were given new orders. The TAC Groups were given nearby Republican HQ units to attack and the SAC Group was given the supply depots and major railways of the Republican held Tarragona as their target. It turned out they would not be able to do much that day. First, they would have to be refueled and the crews given rest. Second, the weather in the Republican Zone would make ground attacks less than accurate.


A few units were directed to areas where they could rest and get fresh supplies. The whole war was slowing down as units, even after a victory, found themselves in need of ammo, rations, and fuel.


Not much would happen till around Midnight. Franco was only woke up because it was felt that any move made by the Republican’s only tank unit was important.

At first it looked bad - tanks against Infantry. But when you looked at the bigger picture it seemed the tanks were not really attacking as trying to break out.


If the Republicans did not brush aside the Infantry in front of them they were in danger from the Mountain Infantry coming up behind them. It looked like another Republican unit was in danger of falling apart before the world’s eyes.

Stepping out of character for this posting. I took a few images, as requested, but not sure how helpful they are:


Hard to tell who is winning. Based on size and position, it looks like the Republic. But much of their provinces are empty, with nothing of value. They have increased their size - but all the provinces they keep grabbing up are empty of any resources or Victory Points. If I didn't know better I would say I was fighting a Player who was being childish.


Nationalist forces - please remember there are Republican units I can’t see or only see when my air forces are flying about. There are Republican forces near Madrid - but half of them seem to be HQ units.


VP Map - we are up by one VP province since last time I showed a VP map.


Sea - Supply lines by ship and the reddish area seems to be my subs' area of control (I think).

April 27 came and went, without any major victories or defeats reported by either side.


Many within the corridors of power within Valencia, the new Capital of Republican Spain, saw this as a bad sign. The Republic realized that the Nationalist forces would be fortifying any position they took while their own forces seemed to take provinces but did nothing to keep them.


The Republican army was full of too many eager but untrained militia. Even among their regular infantry units there was more knowledge of socialism then there was of military tactics.

The scale was tilting, slowly, in the direction of Franco’s victory.


The Republic tried to put a good face on it. Many of the latest battles had been Republican victories and they were driving the Nationalists before them in Africa. But this only generated jokes among some of the press who asked if the new Capital would be in Morocco?

Valencia was also in danger of being the last Republican city-port open to trade with the outside world - not that many would try to get past the Fascist’s submarines.

It was as if the day before was the silence before the thunder.


By the time Franco woke up at 7ish five battles had been resolved. There were TWO battles at A Gudina, both victories for the Nationalist Cavalry. 2 good horsemen died verses 1 Republican soldier. Then a series of reports came in one after the other.


The Battles of Segovia, Tetouan, and Valladolid, in which Tetouan was the Republican Victory, had come to a close.


The total causalities (including the two Battles of A Gudina), by the time he finished his coffee, was 11 Nationalist soldiers and 20 Republican soldiers.


Before noon, before Franco had his second breakfast, there was another report. The Battle of Medina del Campo had ended without either side losing a man. But the Republicans broke first and it was counted as a Nationalist victory.


Shortly after noon, the Republicans, once again, launched an attack against the Nationalist Cavalry, as if not being able to believe that the horsemen, surrounded and low on ammo, could hold them off.


They failed, and while the defenders lost 6 good men, the Republicans lost another 3.


Before midnight it was reported that the tired men of the 112.4 Infantry Division had arrived at Ceuta and were boarding the transport ships.

blklizard said:

Can't wait to see Franco's breakfast the morning after his victory over the Republicans. On the main topic, how long will this grind last? The scale is tipped slightly but end still seems so distant.

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I don't know. So as to not miss anything I am going 24 hours per report. I assume maybe two more weeks to defeat the pockets of Republican troops and maybe a few more weeks to clean up. Better than the almost 3 years it took in OTL.
Still, it will be a grind. I assume a few setbacks and maybe a few surprises. Fog of War and all that - don't know what is going to happen when I start pushing into the Republican Zone. War could take till the end of May. After that it will speed up as I have decided to go month by month after the war ends.

sebas379 said:

At this rate Franco won't be in any state to lead anything if this war lasts more than a few weeks, hahaha. Those Republican troops seem to stick to a healthier diet
Will you be able to cut off the retreat of that tank division from Medina del Campo? That would be a good victory. Although since it's civil war you might rather not, right.
How many cities are left to capture?

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I thought I had cut off the unit but the Nationalist unit moved into another province so the tanks may get away. But not in any condition to fight me - which means they MAY survive the war to become my tanks.

I believe two cities are left (and one region that had Victory Points). But one is far from any of my units - so just marching there may take a month.

Gormytorysh said:

Moving in Spain is a slow process sadly. By the way, the amount of deaths, or better yet, the lack of deaths in these last battles is ridiculously low. How did you manage to dot that? :blink:

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I think it has to do with both sides being low on ammo and supplies but also I can, sometimes, get lucky and surround a Republican units or outnumber them. So most battles are either have no deaths or the amount of people killed is one-sided (for one side or the other).

Franco woke up at 7:00 to a small breakfast and the report from Sub Group, off the coast of Valencia, that the port was empty and the city clear of any defenders. 1 Naval Group, with what was left of the 112.4 Infantry Division, was ordered on a very dangerous mission. Invade the Capital of the Republic.


This was certainly a dangerous action to make, what with Republican fleets both south and north of the target. But if his transports could land the troops into the city they would basically be unopposed. And the Nationalist government would be one more step towards the end of the war.


Franco sat down with some of the government officials and chatted with them about the state of the Nationalist Zone. In the end, it wasn't doing that badly. Friendly Germany was trading with Spain and most of the needs of the people, and the military, were being met. The troops may not like the food but most of the units had plenty of it to eat.


Franco could not help but be impressed by Germany. They were doing amazingly well for a nation that had been blamed for, and punished for, the Great War.

The people were also doing well under Franco. Costumer goods were being produced, to keep the people happy and, more importantly, loyal. Even chocolate rations could be increased next week if everything went well.


Nothing, in fact, would happen for the rest of the day until about Midnight (though nobody would bother to report it to Franco till the next day). The Battle for Tenerife, a battle which had started early in the war, had finally ended in Nationalist defeat. Not a surprise, really. The retreating troops had lost 110 men while the Republicans had only lost 36 soldiers.