Battle of Valsequillo
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Battle of Valsequillo | |||||||
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Part of The Spanish Civil War | |||||||
Buildings of former mining operations in Peñarroya | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Spanish Republic | Nationalist Spain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Juan Ibarrola Manuel Matallana | Gonzalo Queipo de Llano | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
90,000 men 200 guns 40 tanks[1] |
80,000 men 100 guns[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
6,000[3] | 2,000[1] |
The Battle of Valsequillo, also known as Battle of Peñarroya, was a diversionary Republican offensive which took place in the Sierra Morena area in southern Extremadura and the north of Andalusia between 5 January and 4 February 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. The main goal of the offensive was to distract forces from the Nationalist offensive against Catalonia, but after having occupied 500 square kilometers the Republican advance was stopped and all the territorial gains were lost to a Nationalist counteroffensive.
Background
After the defeat of the
Plan P
In 1937 Vicente Rojo had planned an offensive through Extremadura towards the Portuguese frontier in order to cut in a half the Nationalist held zone; the plan for this offense was code named Plan P. However, the Republican government rejected the plan. In December 1938, Rojo decided to launch the offensive anyway. One Republican army would attack through Extremadura towards
The battle
Opposing forces
The Republicans had assembled the Estremadura Army, to be led by the General Antonio Escobar Huertas. Among its constituent units were with the XXII Corps led by Colonel Juan Ibarrola, consisting of the 47th Division, 70th Division, and the 10th Divisions, the Agrupacion Toral led by the Major Nilamon Toral, consisting of the 6th, 28th and 52nd divisions. Additionally four mixed brigades of infantry and cavalry were attached to the army in a formation referred to as Column F. Despite its size, many of its troops lacked weapons and equipment.
Opposing the Republicans, the Nationalists had seven divisions (10th, 40th, 74th, 81st, 60th, 112th and 122nd divisions) led by General Queipo de Llano.[1]
Republican Offensive
On 5 January, the XXII Corps began the offensive, breaking the Nationalist lines at
Nationalist counteroffensive
On 17 January, the Nationalists began a counteroffensive, retaking Peraleda del Zaucejo on 22 January and Fuente Obejuna on 25 January. By 4 February, the Nationalists had regained all the territory conquered by the Republicans and General Escobar ordered the remaining Republican forces to withdraw.[7]
Aftermath
The offensive was a complete failure. The Republican forces occupied briefly a large territory, but the Nationalist offensive against Catalonia continued and on by February all Catalonia had been occupied by the Nationalists.
See also
- List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War
- List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War
References
- Beevor, Antony. The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. 2006. London. ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1.
- Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. 2001. London. ISBN 978-0-14-101161-5
Footnotes