Battle of Guadalajara

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Military operations during the
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Battle of Guadalajara

The Battle of Guadalajara took place from March 8 to March 23, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War near Guadalajara , 50 kilometers east of Madrid . On the side of the nationalists, the Italian volunteer association Corpo Truppe faced volunteers from the republican army and international brigades .

Starting position

At the beginning of March 1937 the great offensive of the fascist Franco troops on Guadalajara began

planning

After the collapse of the third nationalist offensive on Madrid , General Franco decided to make a fourth attempt to close the siege ring around the capital. Although the nationalists were victorious in the Battle of the Jarama , they did not have the strength to militarily exploit their success. However, the Italians were convinced that they would achieve an easy victory after the conquest of Malaga (→ Battle of Malaga ) and the heavy losses of the Republicans on the Jarama. The offensive was carried out on the direct orders of Benito Mussolini .

The Italian general Mario Roatta had the plan that his troops should encompass the defenders of Madrid from the north-west. Then they should unite with the nationalist troops of the unit "Madrid" on the Jarama river and begin the attack on Madrid themselves. The Spanish division “Soria” was supposed to be ready as a reserve, but did not intervene in the first five days of the fighting.

troops

Nationalists

The nationalists offered 35,000, 222 guns 108 for their offensive Tanketten the types L3 / 33 and L3 / 35, 32 armored vehicles, motor vehicles and 3,685 60 Fiat CR.32 on fighter aircraft.

republican

The Republicans had only the 12th Division of the Republican Army under Colonel Lacalle stationed in the area . He commanded 10,000 soldiers who had only 5,900 rifles at their disposal, 85 machine guns and 15 artillery pieces. Colonel Lacalle received a company of T-26 tanks as reinforcement . There were no military structures in the region as the Republican General Staff assumed that the next attack would come from the south.

attack

The main attack was carried out by the Italians and should first lead over the 25 km long pass at Guadalajara - Alcalá de Henares . This area was ideal for an offensive, as five well-developed roads ran through the region. Three more roads led to Guadalajara and opened up the possibility of conquering this city as well.

8th of March

After half an hour of artillery and air bombardment of the Republican positions, the Italians began to advance on the 50th Republican Brigade. With the help of tanks, they broke through the Republican positions. After that, the advance slowed due to fog, which reduced visibility to less than 100 m. The Italians made territorial gains of about 10 to 12 km that day and took the cities of Mirabueno, Alaminos and Castejon. The retreating Republicans requested infantry reinforcements from their headquarters and the tank company standing by.

9th March

Franco troops on the Madrid-Zaragoza road

The Italians continued their attacks on the republican positions. The main attack was carried out again by the tanks, but quickly got stuck because the weather conditions were again very bad. The 50th Republican Brigade was able to withdraw without a fight. Around noon the Italian offensive was suddenly attacked by battalions of the XI. International Brigade and two artillery pieces repulsed. The Thälmann battalion , the Edgar André battalion and the “Commune de Paris” battalion were involved . Nevertheless, the Italians managed to gain another 15 to 18 km of terrain that day and conquer the cities of Almadrones, Cogollor and Masegoso. In the evening the first Italian associations reached the outskirts of Brihuega, where they took a break.

At the end of the day reinforcements arrived on the Republican side and Colonel Enrique Jurado was ordered to reinforce the IV Corps with Lister's 11th Division in the middle on the Madrid - Saragossa road . At Torija the 12th Division protected the left flank and the 14th Division the right flank.

March 10th

The Republicans received reinforcements again from the XII. International Brigade ( Jarosław Dabrowski Battalion and the Garibaldi Battalion ), three artillery units and a small armored division. They now had 4,350 soldiers, 8 mortars, 16 artillery pieces and 26 light tanks.

In the morning the Italians began the positions of the XI. International Brigade under heavy air and artillery fire and then attacked them without success. At that time, the Italians had 26,000 soldiers, 900 machine guns, 130 tanks and a large number of artillery. They succeeded in taking the cities of Miralrio and Brihuega .

During the whole afternoon the Italians unsuccessfully attacked the positions of the XI. and XII. International Brigades. At Torija the Italians of the Garibaldi battalion and the Corpo Truppe Volontarie met and attempts were made to convince the fascist soldiers to defend themselves. Towards evening the attacks subsided and the Italians buried themselves.

March 11

The Italians began the XI. and XII. To force the International Brigade from their positions so that they were forced to withdraw along the main road. The Italian advance was stopped about 3 km from the Torija . On the same day, the nationalist division "Soria" captured the cities of Hita and Torre del Burgo.

Republican counterattacks

March 12th

The Republican forces under Líster reorganized by morning and began a counterattack around noon. Almost 100 Chato and Rata fighter jets and two squadrons of Tupolev SB-2 bombers were deployed at Albacete Airport , which was equipped with a concrete runway. On the other hand, the nationalist air force could not take off due to the flooded runways at their airfields. After a bombardment of the Italian positions, the Republican infantry, supported by T-26 and BT-5 tanks, attacked the Italian positions. Several Italian tanks were lost when General Several tried to change positions of the units in the muddy terrain during the battle. The Italian tanks got stuck, making them an easy target. The republican troops reached Trijueque with their advance and the Italian counterattack could not push them back either.

March 13th

The Republican attack on Trijueque, Casa del Cabo, and Palacio de Ibarra was largely successful. The 11th Republican Division under Líster and all armored units advanced along the road to Saragossa , while the 14th Division under Mera should cross the Tajuña River and attack Brihuega . The Italians were warned by Spanish Colonel Colonel Barroso that the Republicans would advance this way, but ignored it.

March 14th to 17th

On March 14, most Republic infantry units paused while their air force launched attacks. The International Brigades succeeded in capturing the Palacio de Ibarra . In the days that followed, the republican units regrouped.

The Republican armed forces now consisted of 20,000 soldiers, 17 mortars, 28 cannons, 60 light tanks and 70 aircraft.

The Italian and nationalist armed forces consisted of 45,000 soldiers, 70 mortars, 200 cannons, 80 light tanks and 50 aircraft.

March 18th

In the morning, Cipriano Mera led the 14th Division over a pontoon bridge over the Tajuña River. The advance was protected by thick cloud cover, but the weather also delayed the advance. Around noon, the weather improved so much that the Republican Air Force could be deployed. At 1.30 p.m. Jurado gave the order to attack. Líster's attack was slowed by the Italian Littorio division. The 14th Division managed to almost encircle Brihuega and the Italians had to flee. The remaining Italian soldiers were from the XI. International brigade destroyed. An Italian counterattack failed. The Littorio Division saved the Italians from disaster and they managed to withdraw in an orderly manner.

March 19-23

The Republicans captured the cities of Gajanejos and Villaviciosa de Tajuña. Their attack finally came to a halt on the Valdearenas-Ledanca-Hontanares line, as Franco had sent reserve units to build a line of defense between Ledanca and Hontanares.

consequences

The Battle of Guadalajara was the last major Republican victory and helped raise the morale of the troops. They capture a large amount of urgently needed war material (35 artillery pieces, 85 machine guns and 67 vehicles). The Italians lost about 6,000 men and a large number of tanks and planes. The losses of Franco's troops were insignificant.

The republican victory prevented the enclosure of Madrid and destroyed Franco's hopes of dealing the final blow to the republic by taking Madrid. Franco decided on a new strategy and concentrated his military efforts on the north (see War in the North ).

More than anything, Guadalajara was a serious blow to Italian morale and a personal defeat for Benito Mussolini for personally campaigning for the Italians in Guadalajara. The generally poor performance of the Italian army led Franco to disband the Italian corps and integrate the various departments into Spanish units.

The tactical conclusions from the battle were different. The French general staff saw the reason for the failure of the Italian offensive in the fact that massive advances by armored units against determined defense by infantry were doomed to failure. The French did not see the armored units as a crucial tool in modern warfare. The German General Staff, on the other hand, saw the failure of the Italians mainly in their incompetence and not in the fact that the armored units had to fight infantry. The Italian vehicles were of poor quality and the leadership lacked the will to carry out the attack to the end, as the Germans later demonstrated with their lightning war tactics .

literature

Web links

Commons : Battle of Guadalajara  - Collection of images, videos and audio files