Chapter LXXII: Revolving Doors Part II - The South.
If the Republicans had moved first in the North, in the South it was the Monarchists, and Franco in particular, who had the initiative. Despite being the senior commander in the South and conduit for all German aid Franco's position was somewhat shaky, many Monarchists blamed his insistence on an early start date for the failure of the coup. Facing such pressure, and sharing the common failure of all early war Monarchists, arrogance, Franco had set his sights on a grand thrust towards Valencia to end the war at stroke. The key choice was route, either the 'southern' option through Granada and Murcia, or the 'northern' option through Cordoba and Albacete. The 'southern' route was shorter and would have the Mediterranean on one side providing a relatively secure flank, it would however mean traversing a series of hills and mountains, not least the mighty Sierra Nevada range around Granada. Franco therefore chose the longer, but flatter, Cordoba route following the Guadalquivir River valley then across the Albacete plains, a decision he would soon come to regret.
It has been mentioned Franco was arrogant in his assessment of the challenge posed by the Republican forces, however it must be admitted he had reasonable grounds for such belief. At the head of the Army of Africa his forces were the best equipped and best trained in Spain, moreover many of the senior officers and NCOs had combat experience from the Rif War, a not inconsiderable advantage, though one which would prove to be double-edged. As icing on the cake these troops had just come back from a large scale exercise, so were fully worked up for action, and included the ten Renault FT-17s that made up the entirety of Spain's pre-war tank force. With such advantages on Franco's side it was unfortunate for the Monarchists that his plan was not the equal of the troops carrying it out.
The whole of Spain's tank force on manoeuvres. While the FT-17 was almost thirty years old, slow and short ranged it still bestowed a massive tactical advantage when deployed, particularly given the static nature of the early phases of the war. Franco intended to use his FT-17s as line-breakers, creating initial breakthroughs at the start of an offensive then dropping into reserve when the advance, hopefully, streaked away into the distance.
The offensive began well, the tank force breaking the Republican lines near La Carlota allowing the Regulares cavalry to be unleashed, their infantry brethren and the Spanish Legion flowing through the gap. The problems began to emerge when the Primera Tabore (1st Regulares Cavalry Squadron) reached the well garrisoned city of Cordoba, lacking the equipment or numbers to assault the garrison the cavalrymen cleared the surrounding outposts then stopped. This decision came not from the units' commanding officer, the experienced cavalry man Queipo de Llano y Sierra, but from Franco's HQ back in Seville. His reasoning had nothing to do with the current war and could be expressed as one word; Annual. The Battle of Annual, or the Disaster at Annual as the Spanish army referred to it, had seen a large Spanish force advance into the heart of the Rif Desert only to be isolated, surrounded then slaughtered by a far smaller force of Riffian irregulars. Annual had left many in the Spanish Army with a deep fear of unprotected flanks and a desire to ensure total security of lines of communication, none being more affected than officers who had served in the Rif War. Even though Franco had enjoyed a comparatively 'good' Rif War, gaining command of the Spanish Legion and emerging as hero following the march to relieve Melilla, it had still left it's mark on him.
Thus instead of sending the Tabore onto the next objective, the bridges of El Carpio, Franco pulled up his cavalry and handed the Republicans a vital delay to react, a opportunity they did not miss. Indeed as the foot sloggers and artillery train made it's way to Cordoba to take the city, Republican command in Valencia ordered it's counter-stroke, President Azaña committing the Assault Guards from the reserves to repel Franco's attack. Despite taking Cordoba with relative ease, once his full force had concentrated, Franco's campaign soon began to bog down as the Army of Africa was forced to plough through a series of river towns; El Carpio, Villa del Rio, Andujar, each with it's bridges destroyed and citizens militia alert and dug in. Worse the fixation on flank security and guarded supply line was weakening the army far more than any enemy action, the stream of units detached from the main force making a large dent in the notionally 30,000 strong army. It was thus inevitable that when the Army of Africa finally clashed with the Assault Guards, outside the mining town of Bailén, it was the Republican's who triumphed. The freshness and superior numbers of the para-military defenders winning out over the training of the depleted Regulares and Legionaries.
As Franco's offensive fizzled to a halt the troops that could of made the difference, the Regular Army divisions that had been part of the pre-coup army exercises in Africa, were not marching to reinforce him but instead marching north as part of the 'Link up' offensive. The troops left Seville and advanced along the route of the Vía de La Plata (Silver Way), aiming for the ancient city of Cáceres, hoping to both connect with the Monarchist armies in the north and isolate the loyal Republican garrison of Badajoz. The commander in Badajoz, General Linares, noticed the envelopment and was forced into a choice; Dig in and wait for relief or attempt a break out before being encircled. Knowing of the problems in Valencia Linares discounted any hope of an early relief and determined to break out, the choice being east or north. Linares' decision was helped by Mola's over-reaction to the Border Offensive, the rushing of troops east had left the Monarchist's line north of Badajzo thin and over-stretched. Deciding that the weaker opposition more than outweighed the longer distance Linares's force, a mixture of militias and loyalist of the 4th División, broke through at Plasencia and marched north, towards the Basque Northern Pocket. While Mola would, eventually, manage to scrape together a force to stop them Linares' troops did manage to seize the far more defendable city of Salamanca, moving them close to both Madrid and the key Monarchist city of Burgos. In a final insult to Mola, barely had the reserve been recalled from the east arrived in Burgos, too late to help stop his attack, did the CNT-FAI militias launch the last offensive of the year, seizing Tarragona and giving the Republican's a foothold in Catalonia, a substantial harbour far nearer to France and putting them within striking distance of Barcelona.
The final positions in Spain at the end of late Autumn. In the North the Basque country was complete and secure, while the Republicans had a foothold in Catalonia and the approaches to Madrid. In the South the Monarchists had connected their two territories, but let a Republican field army escape to Salamanca, and were left with an over-exposed salient around Cordoba .
As the dust settled and armies began to dig in for the Winter the two sides evaluated the summer campaigns and in each case it had been a decidedly mixed bag. The key difference between the sides was, perhaps, expectations, the Republicans were mostly just pleased to have stabilised the front and still be standing after the shock of the coup. For the individual factions things were more complex, the separatists were broadly pleased with the Basque's having expanded their pocket while the Catalans had seen the first part of their 'homeland' liberated. The CNT-FAI, the victors of Tarragona, had both the propaganda boost of a military success and the practical benefits of boots on the ground at a major port, strengthening their hand in the power struggles in Valencia, equally the government faction around Azaña claimed the credit for halting the main Monarchist offensive, bolstering the President. Only the PSOE-PCE were truly disappointed with the campaign, having failed to take Madrid they had to explain their failure to Moscow and their supporters, the failure prompting many of their supporters to defect to other, more successful, militias. It's worth noting at this point how correct General Linares was in plotting his breakout, in all the post-campaign planning many words, but little effort, was expended on the subject of relieving Linares force, there simply wasn't enough political advantage to outweigh the military risks. In summary the summer and autumn had been about survival, over the winter of 1936 the Republicans turned their minds over to plotting victory. The key problem remained however, while all the factions agreed unity was the way to victory, they each thought the other groups should unite around them.
If the Republicans were deep down pleased to have survived the Monarchists were generally disappointed with their campaigns. Franco's offensive had bogged down relatively early and he was left with a small but exceptionally vulnerable salient into Republican territory. Rather than give up territory to shorten his lines Franco insisted on digging in, tying up most of the best troops in the Monarchist Army on garrison duty. Even the entire concept of the campaign was being questioned, while few officers risked challenging Spanish orthodoxy over the issue of the flanks many did argue Franco should have gone 'south' through Granada, potentially halving the number of detachments needed for flank security. Having started the campaign insecure Franco's position was further damaged by such arguments, indeed the only things saving Franco from an ignominious demotion were the flow of German aid and the failure of his rivals to do any better. The latter in particular was a source of frustration to the British backed Carlist/Regular Army faction who's troops had spent the summer marching around Northern Spain to little effect. While the success of the link up offensive had reunited the two Monarchist sectors the escape of Linares, not to mention the losses in the North-East of the country, had overshadowed that achievement. As with the Republicans the Monarchist's all agreed on the importance of unity, but refused to countenance serving under the other faction.
As both sides wound down for the Winter many eyes in Spain therefore turned to Amsterdam, where the Great Powers were meeting to ostensibly discuss the Rhineland. From a Spanish perspective however it was realised the deals struck in the Dutch capital would directly impact on the quantity and quality of support pouring into Spanish harbours. The realists on both sides admitting, if only to themselves, that their struggle would be reduced to just another bargaining chip for the powers to haggle with.
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Notes
Not sure on this whole update. Ideally I'd leave it a few weeks, write something else, then come back to it. However I didn't want to leave Spain (or my readers) hanging. Slight change of style, few more town names and a bit more discussion on terrain. Any thoughts on that?
In game terms a mild freezing up of Spain occurred Novemberish, so I figured it was everyone 'digging in' for winter. I'll load up as both side in spring to poke them into life for the next 'season' of campaigns.
Upshot of all that. No-one did fabulously well on either side, no stand out candidates for leadership (though Azana for the Republicans is probably closest). Thus it comes down to foreign support, hence everyone waits for Amsterdam. I think a lot of the ideological poison has been drawn from the conflict this time so I can see the powers being a bit more 'negotiable' over Spain, willing to trade away 'their' faction for advantages elsewhere.