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| Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSpanish Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spanish RepublicAir Squadron"Spain" | Nationalist rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Maj. Gen.José Riquelme y López-Bago André Malraux | Lt. Col.Juan Yagüe Lt. Col.Carlos Asensio Lt. Col.Antonio Castejón Lt. Col.Heliodoro Rolando de Tella | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 9,000 soldiers and militia 5–7 aircraft | 4,000 regulares | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| High | Low | ||||||
TheBattle of the Sierra Guadalupe (English:Guadalupe Mountains), also known as theTagus Campaign, was a continuation of theNationalist Army's race north towardMadrid in the early stages of theSpanish Civil War. In mid-late August 1936, the threeRegulares columns ofGeneral Yagüe'sArmy of Africa dashed through theSierra de Guadalupe Mountains, also known asSierra de Villuercas, in centralSpain and forded across theTagus River, capturing several towns and routing the Republicans in a succession of rapid advances.
On August 14,Badajoz fell to the Nationalists under General Yagüe, cutting off the Republic fromPortugal. Ahead of him, several hundred miles to the northeast, across the broadTagus River, gleamedMadrid, the aim and object ofGeneral Franco's lightning campaign. TheArmy of Africa's famous northwardMarcha (or "March" - actually a fully motorized displacement), consequently, continued without pause into the hills and valleys sheltering Madrid.
To cover these southern approaches, the Republic deployed loyalistGeneral Riquelme with the so-called"Army ofExtremadura", a force of about 9,000 militia. Many of these troops had been redeployed in haste from the mountains of the Guadarrama front, and their condition deteriorated wretchedly in the Tagus River valley.
The government militias, while unquestionably brave, were sorely deficient in training and equipment and proved unable to face the disciplinedSpanish Foreign Legion and the fearedMoroccanRegularesshock troops. Desertions bled the Republicans, who refused to digtrenches. Consequently, the Nationalists outmarched and outflanked the defenders, forcing perpetual retreats by threatening encirclement.
Riquelme's forces included 2,000Anarchists who refused to take his orders and launched useless attacks along the San Vicente hills.[1] On August 17,Major Heli Tella pushed through toTrujillo and crossed the Tagus atAlmaraz.Guadalupe fell toMajor Antonio Castejón on August 21.
According to the novelL'Espoir,[2] atMedellín, a section ofColonel Carlos Asensio's column was surprised and savagely attacked by Republican aircraft underAndré Malraux, but on the whole resistance was minimal. By August 27, all three columns had concentrated atNavalmoral, where the Nationalists launched the war's firstair raids on Madrid.