JUN I 1937

JUN I INSURGENT

Being now faced with forbiddingly strong defenses in Aragon (15+CF/hex),
the Insurgents shifted their stance, railed their elite formations into
Castilla, and started a strong offensive on a broad front in the central
plain between Albacete and Cuenca. The main thrust developed along the
Madrid-Cartagena rail line and penetrated to within a few miles of Albacete,
apart from Teruel the only city once held by Nationalists and now still
in Loyalist hands. The attack near Cuenca was once again spearheaded by
the small but effective Nationalist force of light tanks and also included
engineers to contend with enemy entrenchments. In Aragon the Nationalists
pulled more troops out of the line, to be available for exploitation of
any successes elsewhere. The fronts in the mountains between Teruel and
Cuenca and between Albacete and the Mediterranean remained quiet. While
the Republicans had kept their fighters and fighter bombers concentrated
in Aragon, the Nationalists Airforce struck again at targets in Valencia
and Murcia. Targeted were ships in port at Valencia and Cartagena and
rail lines near Valencia and Albacete. This time, anti-aircraft fire proved
ineffective, and Ju-52s from the Legion Kondor hit the cruiser Miguel
de Cervantes at Cartagena in a low-level bombing run, causing her to blow
up (in the words of Franco’s delighted press “avenging the slaughter of
her officers at the hands of the mutinuous crew” a year ago). Except for
this success, however, little damage was caused. (Historical footnote:
Miguel de Cervantes was of course not the only vessel on which this happened,
but by all accounts the massacre aboard her was the worst. Whether it
can be called mutiny is debatable, however: The crews acted on instruction
from the Loyalist-controlled Admiralty in Madrid.

JUN I LOYALIST

The Loyalist managed to field two new and well-equipped infantry divisions
composed of International Brigades. Both were dispatched to Teruel to
stop any Insurgent attempts to break through to the sea. Other reinforcements
were raised in Murcia and used to patch up the teetering front in the
central plain. The Loyalist Airforce kept busy under its new commander.
An all-out strike was launched to damage Insurgent air power. A massive
attack on Lorca remain without much success, however, and so did smaller
excursions against Cordoba and Almeria. The Fleet remained inactive, but
Cartagena’s anti-aircraft defenses were beefed up to guard against a repetition
of last week’s raid.

STRATEGIC COMMENTARY

The Loyalists appear more concerned about Cataluna and a possible Natinalist
breakthrough from Teruel to the sea than about the front in the central
plain, where territory seems to be judged expendable. According to informed
sources, the shift in Nationalist Schwerpunkt did not come as a surprise
and was in fact quite welcome because it relieved the pressure on what
is considered the most vital area. This tallies with the relatively small
portion of reinforcements the front at Albacete and Cuenca has received.