In early October 1936, after just three months, the areas controlled by the Second Spanish Republic were oppressed to the Catalonia region in the northeastern corner.
Due to the slow speed of Franco's National Army moving north, Rommel's German-Spanish Combined Corps stopped in Madrid for repairs, and the Italian Expeditionary Force had no intention of moving south. Therefore, the government of the Republic got a short respite and reorganized
Those scattered troops drawn back from all directions.
During this period, the Spanish Second Republican Government established two armies with a total of 230,000 people to defend Catalonia. The Southern Front Army was directly rebuilt from the troops brought back by Francisco, and after supplementing more than 3,000 government soldiers,
Francisco dismantled the 27,000-strong troops under his command and organized them into an average of 45,000-strong Popular Guard.
The Southern Front Group Army with a total of 72,000 troops is divided into: New 1st Division, New 2nd Division, New 3rd Division, New 4th Division, New 5th Division, Temporary Sixth Cavalry Division, Temporary Seventh Garrison Division, and Temporary Eighth Garrison Division.
Among them, the New 1st Division to the New 5th Division are all standard infantry divisions, with 3 infantry regiments, 1 bicycle reconnaissance battalion, 1 elite battalion directly under the division, 1 engineer battalion, 1 communications battalion, and 2 machine gun companies.
3 infantry supplementary companies, 3 ambulance teams, and dozens of gendarmerie teams. Each division has a standard configuration of an average of 12,000 people. They are densely deployed along the Ebro River in an attempt to block future incoming enemies.
West of the Ebro River.
The 3,500-man Temporary Sixth Cavalry Division was placed by Francisco in the city of Tarrega, which interfaced with the Northern Army Group, as a "two-way reserve" that could go both north and south. Of course, the Sixth Temporary Cavalry Division was placed in
The city of Tarrega was not a back-up prepared just because Francisco was worried that the Northern Front Army would make mistakes. As the most important transportation node in Catalonia, the temporary sixth division of Tarrega can also quickly move south along the highway.
, as a reserve force to support various places on the southern front.
The two garrison divisions with less than 8,000 men left have a high proportion of government soldiers. The ratio of government troops to the People's Guard is even close to one to one. These two divisions are arranged in the vast Ebro
East of the river defense line, stay in the relatively safe rear and establish a long field defense line. According to Francisco's plan, the main task of these two divisions is to stay in the rear and establish a deep defense line. At the same time, recruit new soldiers from the Catalonia region.
, expand the scale and seize the opportunity to form two large divisions with combat effectiveness.
The Northern Front Army of the Second Spanish Republic, which does not have the support of the Ebro River, has twice the size of the Southern Army, with a total of 150,000 troops. Almost all of the troops under its jurisdiction are from the previous front.
They were transferred bit by bit, which also led to the accelerated fall of many defense areas. However, the government of the Republic could not control that much at the moment, and quickly organized these scattered troops into 15 infantry divisions.
These squeezed-out troops are almost all regular army soldiers. Although the individual combat quality is far worse than that of German soldiers, it is much better than that of the militia-type People's Guard soldiers. Therefore,
Even though an infantry division of the Northern Front Army has fewer people than an infantry division on the Southern Front, its combat effectiveness is much higher. However, unlike the Southern Front Army brought back by Francisco, the Northern Front Army lacks heavy weapons.
and transport vehicles, only "pure infantry divisions" with extremely poor mobility can be formed.
Unlike Francisco, the commander of the Southern Front Army, the commander of the Northern Front Army is a middle-aged general Sarkozy who has no authority. Under the command of Sarkozy, the Northern Front Army combined the lessons of the previous Madrid Defense War and deployed dispersedly.
15 divisions to avoid being wiped out by the enemy at once. A total of 150,000 people were evenly deployed in 15 medium and large cities between Zaragoza and Huesca.
In this way, the Northern Front Army did escape the danger of being wiped out all at once, but it also resulted in the inability of the various units to coordinate with each other, leaving the entire Northern Front Army with no cohesion at all.
However, although Francisco had great opinions on the deployment of the Northern Front Army, he had no choice but to give up because it was beyond his reach.
After all, the Battle of Catalonia, which is about to begin in the near future, is an asymmetric defensive battle pitting a disadvantage against a strong one. In such a battle, there really isn’t much the Republican Army can do other than defense.
of.
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In the city of Menorca on the island of Menorca, groups of Spanish Republican Army soldiers wearing khaki uniforms are lining up for training.
As the last island in the hands of the republican government, Menorca, which covers an area of 668 square kilometers, has assembled an elite republican army that is about to carry out a secret mission.
8,000 people, this is the largest mobile force that the Second Republic can use. And their mission is to capture La Palma Island, which is under the control of the National Army and covers an area of 728 square kilometers.
Contrary to the economically backward and sparsely populated Mecano Island, La Palma Island, with an area of 728 square kilometers, is wider and has a population of 72,000. Moreover, La Palma Island has a large area of forest distributed on the coastal plain.
It has developed agriculture, producing bananas, tobacco leaves, vegetables, sugar cane, fruits, grains, grapes, etc. In addition, La Palma also has factories for winemaking, sugar refining, and flour. There are also handicrafts such as logging, fishing, and embroidery.
Considerable degree of development.
The Port of La Palma Santa Cruz on La Palma Island is even one of the largest ports in Spain!
Such a large island with a good foundation, easy to defend and difficult to attack, is the most ideal location for the Second Republic to move its capital next.
That's right! This is the next retreat route prepared by the government of the Second Spanish Republic for itself. While Franco's National Army advanced with overwhelming force, the government defended by the Republican Army considered the retreat again and again.
"Sir, why are we running to seize an island? Shouldn't we stay on land and have a good fight with the rebellious National Army?" A Republican colonel asked his superiors with two questions in a row,
As the commander of the island seizing operation, Lieutenant General Dirks, commander of the Menorca Division.
Looking at the colonel who had just been assigned to him as a staff officer, Lieutenant General Dex sighed and said: "I understand your mood, but our mission is equally important, and it is worth our efforts."
The colonel looked at Lieutenant General Dex with doubtful eyes and expectant eyes. He was expecting to hear a reason to stay here. This reason was obviously not to find a refuge for the timid government.
Dex thought about it and felt that there was no need to continue to hide it, so he simply let go and told the colonel: "In fact, the Battle of Catalonia is not just a defensive battle along the Catalan border.
.The purpose of this battle is to use the entire territory of Catalonia to consume the rebel forces as much as possible. And if you want to do this, you must ensure the security of the republican government that has moved to Catalonia."
"That's why we need to seize La Palma Island and move the government out of Catalonia so that our two armies can free their hands and feet to fight with the rebels." Dex looked at the distant sea with a firm gaze.