On the southern front, General Francisco of the Republican Army led the 6th and 7th Cavalry Divisions to circle south, forcing Franco's army to stop along the Ebro River.
Rommel seized the opportunity of the empty Republican Army forces in the northwest and led the German-Spanish Combined Corps to penetrate into the junction of the Spanish Northern Front Army and the Southern Front Army and enter Catalonia.
On April 14, the German 1st Armored Regiment under Rommel led a Spanish German Armored Division armored regiment, forming the vanguard of the German 7th Armored Division.
Followed closely by the two Spanish German armored infantry divisions of the German-Spanish Combined Corps, they formed two powerful attack arrows, posing a threat to the important Republican town of Huesca.
Behind them, three Spanish infantry divisions of the less maneuverable German-Spanish Combined Corps were deployed in echelon.
The leading company led by the German Captain von Hoffmann was currently reinforced by a Spanish armored battalion of the German-Spanish Combined Corps, forming the "Hoffmann" battle group, ready to go at the crossroads north of the village of Letli.
Hoffman leaned out from the turret of his tank No. 007 and raised his lieutenant-level telescope.
Through the telescope, Hoffman saw that the No. 008 tank that entered the village first was firing machine guns at a suspicious field. Then, soon about 20 Republican soldiers raised their hands and slowly walked out of the field.
Just when these Republican soldiers were about to approach Tank No. 008, they suddenly accelerated and ran towards the location of Tank No. 008.
Second Lieutenant Flock, who leaned out from the turret of the No. 008 tank, subconsciously raised his gun and fired, but judging from what Hoffman saw through the telescope, his pistol seemed to have jammed.
Just when several fast-running Republican soldiers were about to rush in front of the No. 008 tank, Second Lieutenant Flock quickly grabbed the ax hanging on the track protection device, got out of the tank and swung the ax at these soldiers who were pretending to surrender.
Fortunately, these soldiers did not carry weapons and had to flee towards the fields. Then Lieutenant Flock wisely climbed back into the tank and used a machine gun to entertain the fleeing soldiers.
Seeing this, Captain Hoffman put away the telescope, got back into the tank, closed the hatch behind him and said: "Go forward, go to the intersection where Tank No. 008 is."
At the same time, Hoffman ordered Lieutenant Carl of the third platoon through the radio to take 4 No. 2 tanks and 8 Spanish German armorer No. 1 destroyer tanks to detour to the right side of the village and take up positions to occupy the flanks in order to cooperate with the frontal attack.
blow.
As a result, this flank arrangement played a decisive role. While Hoffman led the first and second platoons of tanks to press from the front, the tanks that appeared on the flanks completely destroyed the psychological defense line of this group of Spanish Republican infantry.
Then, a total of 300 soldiers of the Northern Front Army of the Republican Army who stayed in the village of Letli collectively surrendered to Hoffmann's Forerunner Company.
The "Hoffmann" battle group then continued to advance southeastward and captured an airfield of the Comintern column. (In fact, this airfield only had two old-fashioned biplanes under repair at the time. The other fighters had already been taken over by Messerschmitt.
The Type 109E fighter jets have been completely solved)
At this airport, which had apparently been used as a high command headquarters, Hoffmann's soldiers happened to find a map marking the strength divisions of the Republican Army's Northern Front Army. This map was of great help to the Italian Expeditionary Force who was fighting on the northern front.
It will be of great help.
At the same time, 10 miles north of the village of Treli, Rommel personally led two German armored battalions and cooperated with the infantry to break through the Atessa-Desegre defense zone, which was heavily garrisoned by the Republican Army.
Since then, the German-Spanish Combined Corps has completed the first strategic goal of simultaneously oppressing the Spanish Northern Front Army and the Southern Front Army.
Next, Rommel will use the main force of the German-Spanish Combined Corps to launch an attack in the direction of Cervera, striving to capture the lines of Pons, Cervera, and Tarragona. The Italian Expeditionary Force has obtained a step-by-step chart of its strength.
A new round of general offensive will also be launched on the northern front.
On April 28, when the war situation seriously deteriorated, the Republican Army's Southern Front Army, which was staying on the lower reaches of the Ebro River for defense, was forced to begin to shrink toward Barcelona. The Battle of Catalonia progressed just as Rommel predicted, entering
second stage.
The German-Spanish Combined Army marched forward triumphantly and captured more than 50,000 Republican soldiers. However, the Republican Army's response was limited to the delayed actions of the rearguard troops and the initiative to abandon many positions.
However, in fact, the Republican Army did not collapse. At the suggestion of Francisco, the commander of the Southern Front Army, the Republican Army tried to build a defense line along the Lovregat River to prevent the enemy from building a defensive line along the Lovregat River.
rear defense area.
However, due to its poor advance speed and Rommel's rapid deployment of the nearby "Hoffmann" battle group to entangle the retreating Northern Army Group, this strategic maneuver of the Republican Army was completely shattered.
On the other hand, Franco's National Army, with the aerial reconnaissance assistance provided by Germany, discovered the weakly defended fighter planes of the Republican Army in the lower reaches of the Ebro River, and launched a cross-river operation.
Due to the lack of troops, the small number of Republican Army Southern Front Group left behind was completely unable to stop Franco's cross-river operation. They were caught off guard by the unexpected changes on the Southern Front and were unable to produce any force worth mentioning to deal with this new threat.
.
Due to the massive defeats in the west and south at the same time, the Spanish Republican government directly announced the abandonment of Barcelona on the second day of May 1937.
From this moment on, the battle entered the third and final stage that Rommel had previously predicted. Rommel had predicted that once the battle reached this stage, the Spanish Republican Army would not be able to organize effectively no matter how many troops were left.
defense.
Judging from the current situation, Rommel's prediction was obviously accurate. Compared with Reinhardt's speculation that relied on historical foundations, Rommel's perfect prediction based purely on his own military qualities was even more
It's worth to admire!
After the German-Spanish combined forces joined forces with the Spanish National Army, the remnants of the Republican Army could only carry out cover and defensive operations while retreating northward, abandoning Berga, Piccolo, and Girona along the way.
On May 17, Figueras, the last stronghold controlled by the Republican Army, was finally captured by the Italian Expeditionary Force under Gambara. The Italian Expeditionary Force, the German-Spanish Combined Corps and the Spanish National Army successfully joined forces.
Under the joint pursuit of the German-Spanish Combined Corps and the Republican Army, the remaining members of the Republican Army who fled all the way to Figueres had to use combat operations to cover the retreat of the defeated personnel northward.
On May 18, 250,000 Republican officers and soldiers crossed the border into France and were disarmed by the French authorities.
On May 19, the Republican Army took control and sealed the French-Spanish border.
Throughout Spain, except for the 1,000-person Republican People's Guard on the 668-square-kilometer island of Menorca, the 728-square-kilometer island of La Palma also has a main force of nearly 8,000 people. The rest of Spain, including the Spanish Peninsula,
The territory has all come under the rule of Franco's government.