Here it is - the next to last installment!
Franco's troops continued their advances. Block by block, the anarchist rabble fell back in Barcelona. Block by block, the forces loyal to the King, Spain and Franco advanced. Every day, the loyal 2a Escuadra Aérea pummeled the remaining communist positions, which grew weaker with each bomb.
At 50 minutes to midnight on November 10, 1936, the last Republican stronghold in northern Barcelona fell. With no area to retreat to, all remaining Republican forces in the area were either killed, fled into the hills, or surrendered to the Nationalists. Upon surrendering, they were quickly met with harsh but fair justice.
The Generalissimo oversaw a meeting of Spain's War cabinet on November 11, 1936, where the military situation was quickly reviewed. All republican activity in the north-east had been neutralized, and the region's population seemed to quickly proclaim it's loyalty to the true Spanish government. In the rest of the Peninsula, the Republicans held the Southern half, with the country roughly demarcated by a line just to the south of Nationalist-held Madrid.
In the cabinet's discussions, the counsel of Chief of Staff Juan Vigon Suerodiaz was quickly agreed upon. The 1er Cuerpo del Ejército, which had just recently been victorious in Barcelona, would be redeployed to the South and establish Nationalist control over the undefended city of València. In the meantime Spanish airplanes would begin tactical bombing of Republican positions in Cuenca, and all existing units would be re-plenished and brought back to full fighting strength. While some generals counseled an immediate offensive, the were over-ruled. The next few weeks would be for rebuilding. The Republican communists would receive their just end soon enough.
Next week on November 20, Nationalist troops marched into València unopposed. The commanding general was greeted with speeches and cheers, while the local communists who hadn't already fled to the hills were rounded up for questioning. But the celebration was not to last - orders immediately came from Army Chief Gonzalo Lurepa de Llama that the 1er Cuerpo del Ejército was to march north to attach Cuenca at precisely noon on November 25th. The 3er Cuerpo del Ejército would launch an attack at pricesly the same time from Madrid in the west. A classic pincers attack, which while not original would be deadly in its effectiveness.
The Republicans didn't stand a chance. Being attacked from two different directions, outnumbered, and being constantly under attack from the air, lasted only two days. The well timed attack worked to perfection, and the anarchist rabble turned tail and ran on November 27th.
