Chapter CXXX: The Guns of a Spanish Summer Part II.
The Monarchist forces, the grandly titled Ejército del Rey (Army of the King), had no real excuse for being as uncoordinated as they were. While there were plenty of disagreements about what should be done after the war, there were far fewer of the fundamental contradictions in belief and aim that undermined Republican efforts, everyone involved was certain Spain should remain as one country for instance. On a purely practical level they had avoided the indeterminable debates about the merits of anarchist militias versus an irregular people's army versus conscripted divisions that plagued Valencia - the key Monarchists factions had tacitly agreed to organise their forces as mostly regular divisions (if perhaps sometimes lacking in equipment) in a mostly conventional chain of command. There was even a mechanism to achieve co-ordination; a Military Council had been established to direct the war, well stocked with pre-war generals who knew (or should have known) the value of a unified chain of command. In the event the council became part of the problem, the initial compromise that had united the Spanish Army, Falange and Carlists had divided the membership of the council such that no one group had a majority. With no faction particularly in the mood for compromise this was a recipe for stalemate, which was what duly happened.
Philosophically the idea of a
Caudillo (a strong man leader) to sort out Spain was popular with the parties that made up the Monarchist grassroots, there was certainly no shortage of ideologues to defend it. What there was a shortage of was acceptable candidates, or more accurately there was a shortage of candidates acceptable to all parties, no faction being strong enough to impose their will on the others. While there was plenty of blame to go around it is hard to escape the conclusion this was mostly the fault of the British, not because they were particularly intransigent (all of the factions were intransigent) but because of the system they had fought hard to put in place. The problem was that, exactly as the British had intended, a constitutional monarch is a bulwark against a strong man arising, if there had been no actual King then a
Caudillo could have emerged and taken on a regent like role, but with Javier I very much in place in Madrid (against at the insistence of the British, to stop any such 'regent' gaining those powers but then refusing to give them up) there was no such vacancy. In theory the King could have stepped up and become a military leader, deciding grand strategy with the 'advice' of the Military Council, after all the factions were notionally united in fighting for the restoration of the Kingdom of Spain. In practice however almost nobody (bar a few of the more reactionary Carlists) wanted a return to absolute monarchy, so the compromise of a constitutional monarchy was far more acceptable. The problem with this is best illustrated by an example, there was a proposal for Javier I to break the deadlock by appointing a
Capitán General (Field Marshall in British terms) who would out-rank the mere Generals of the Spanish Army and so break the deadlock. Leaving aside the thorny question of who, the idea floundered on the a number of issues; firstly, Did the King have the power to do so under Royal Prerogative and/or reserve powers, secondly, would the various factions accept his choice and finally what would he do if they just ignored him. The debates about the role of the King prompted one of the British advisors in Madrid to summarise the issue in one of his reports;
"It has become apparent that for a constitutional monarchy to succeed it is, in fact, necessary for the country to have some form of constitution. Spain lacks the latter so the former is struggling."
General Alfredo Kindelán awarding the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand (the highest Spanish award for gallantry) to the Monarchist Ace Joaquín García Morato. Even by the standards of Civil War Spain Kindelán was a conflicted man, while he was a staunch Monarchist he was an Alphonsist, so he supported the restoration of King Alfonso XIII and not the Carlist candidate Javier I. To stir the plot he came from one of the leading Spanish-Irish families and was heavily involved in the return of the 'Wild Geese' to Ireland, even though the Irish Brigade would end up serving alongside the Carlist forces. He became a leading figure in the 'Spanish' faction, trying to reduce Carlist and German influence while keeping their material support, all the while involving himself in any and every Aphonist plot going. In stark contrast Morato had firmly attached himself to the British, not out of belief or politics, but simply to ensure the RAF contingent used their skills to maximise the performance of his Gloster Gauntlet and to position his squadron as the first to receive more modern planes when they arrived.
It was the 'Army' of Catalonia and the Monarchist position in the North East of Spain that would suffer most from the lack of a unified plan. The remnants of the Barcelona garrison had been grouped together with the rest of the Monarchist forces in the region, placed under the command of newly promoted General de Brigada (Brigadier General) Rey d'Harcourt and dubbed the Army of Catalonia. Rey d'Harcourt, promoted on the basis of his skilful escape during the Battle of Barcelona, soon established his 'Army' was effectively two battered divisions that had been tasked with holding a very vulnerable salient, a very long way from friendly supply depots. Unsurprisingly almost his first act after promotion was to call for reinforcements to secure his supply lines, specifically around the base of the salient; there weren't that many bridges across the Ebro and even a modest Republican attack could leave him trapped in a pocket. With none of the factions willing to abandon their own plans to provide the troops, or even agree to the release of the strategic reserve divisions around Madrid, Rey d'Harcourt was left with no choice; the first action of the Monarchist Army of Catalonia would be a 'tactical withdrawal' to the Ebro River and out of Catalonia.
While the German leaning faction and the Carlists could both legitimately claim to be unable to reinforce Catalonia, the Army of Africa were concentrated on the South coast and the
Requetes were still recovering from capturing Salamanca, the Northern Army had no such excuse. As the force containing most of the pre-war mainland Spanish Army it didn't even have the excuse of 'foreign interference', they had the freedom to act but chose not to. Instead they maintaiend a firm refusal to disrupt their own plans, even it meant ceding a great deal of territory and allowing a connection between the Basques and the main Republican area. In fairness their plans were ambitious, a grand two-pronged offensive towards Valencia aiming to pocket and capture the Republican forces along the Tagus River front (in any other war 'ambitious' would have aimed to capture Valencia itself, but this was Spain) and any disruption would have effectively meant delaying the carefully prepared offensive till the following year. With the bulk of the Republican armoured forces seemingly committed or knocked out, the logic of striking before they could reinforce the Tagus was strong, almost as strong as the pressure that was applied to ensure that the sacrifice of so much of Catalonia was not in vain.
The Monarchist plans for the Summer of 1937, much like their Republican counterparts the complete lack of co-ordination is obvious. The ground the Army of Catalonia was holding was not especially well populated or rich in industry, but it would still be a psychological blow to lose it. Giving up a small salient to concentrate forces and reduce a vulnerability was a time honoured tactic, but Andorra to the Ebro River is 150miles, so this was no small salient. On the bigger picture there was an argument for a methodical destruction of the outlying Republican pockets, an argument for a bold drive towards the Republican capital and an argument for trying to destroy the Republican Army in the field. There was no possible argument for trying to do all three at the same time in different places, but in effect this was what the Monarchist forces ended up doing.
Staying in the north the Carlists had set their sights on the Bay of Biscay, after a pause to rest and re-equip after the battles around Salamanca the
Requetes intended to launch an offensive to capture Santander. It's capture would split the Republican northern enclave in two, separating the Basque country from Gijon, making both easier to surround and reduce. It was believed that as the city was part of Cantabria, and not the Basque country, the Basque Army would be reluctant to intervene and so there would only be badly equipped local militias defending the city. Additionally Santander was a large port in it's own right and it's loss would deprive the Republican naval raiders of one of their bases, making the Monarchist supply convoys that much safer, a not unimportant concern for the British who were the main backers of the Carlists. It's succession of operational stages, the importance given to the coast and the sea and the multiple points of attack mark it out as a very "British" plan; it would not have looked out of place in the deserts of North Africa. It's execution would also, it was hoped, be quite "British", the campaign would be the baptism of fire for the first batch of officers from the new Carlist Royal Military Academy. Started the previous winter by the Carlist command to train the officers in their militia it had a smattering of pre-war Spanish Army instructors, supplied from the forces of General Mola, but was predominantly staffed by British 'volunteers'. Even before it's recruits had been tested it had attracted the most sincere accolade, imitation, the Falangist militias and the Germans scrabbling to set up a training academy of their own.
Turning to that faction we come to the South and the operations around Cordoba. Battered and bloodied after their encounters with the Hotchkiss H.35 the Falangist armoured unit, the 2nd Armoured Division 'Primo de Rivera', pulled back for repair and refit, or more accurately to completely rebuild once the Falange could get a new supply of replacement German tanks, ideally not Panzer Is. This left the Army of Africa in control and notionally tasked with holding the line and containing the advance of the Franco-Republican tanks. This passive defence posture did not sit well with their commander General Yagüe who, after seeing the power of the recently arrived Ordnance QF 2-pounder, realised he finally had an anti-tank weapon that could stop the H.35s. Declining to send his forces north, correctly reasoning that Catalonia would be lost long before his un-motorised infantry could force march up there, he instead ordered a return to Cordoba. This was not about revenge, though that factor undoubtedly helped to ensure the enthusiastic participation of the Falangist militias, but a calculated choice to attack somewhere the Republic would defend and where the terrain would favour his forces. Whether that calculation was correct was an entirely different question.
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Notes:
The Monarchist Plans, such as they are. A bit of a struggle to try and turn the madness of the AI into something that made some sort of sense, but overall I think it works.
The Monarchist command structure remains a mess. It's ripe for someone to do a Franco and take over, but the generals can't agree on a candidate, and even if they could it would have to be one the Carlist/British agree with, which is tricky.
Joaquín García Morato was the leading Nationalist Ace, mostly in a Fiat CR.32, here he gets a Gloster Gauntlet but is still racking up the aerial victories. Kindelán apparently was that complicated and definitely an Alphonist rather than a Carlist. Would he have relented and accepted 'A' King of Spain over his preferred candidate? I've no idea and to be frank it's a bit of research too far (and probably ends in a wild guess anyway), but at the very least it would have made things even more complicated for him and the rest of the Spanish monarchist faction.
The Carlist Royal Military Academy was OTL. Then Franco shut it down after he found out it existed, instead promoting the rival Falangist Militia Academy. Which he then shut down as well once he had got the Falange under control. However General Mola did like it and so it survives.
The QF 2-pdr arrived in Spain back in
Chapter CXIII (posted September 2011. Bloody hell.) and was sent to the South as that's where the H.35s are. Now the Army of Africa have got their paws on them they intend to make use of them, not just sit on the defensive.
