By early September, the situation in Spain had apparently stabilized. With the anarcho-communist defeat in Burgos, the enemies of Spain were not making any further advances. The approximate line of control ran from the south-west of the country to the nerth-east, and with the resource-rich areas of Spain's North and West under loyal Nationalist control. Under that circumstance, the cabint of Nationalist Spain met in Madrid on September 2 to consider their next step in advancing the war.
"We must marshall our forces carefully, Generalissimo" said Chief of Staff Juan Vigon Suerodiaz. "Those anarchist rabble still have more men under arms than us, and outnumber us dramatically in tanks".
"Well, what do you suggest then Juan", Franco mused. He did not like to hear that he would have to wait, but knewhow vulnerable the situation still was.
"We must wait", the Chief of Staff said. "We have taken the capital, and have established law and order over almost all of the nation's coal mines and steel mills. The anarchist rebels will not be able to hold out for long with us in control of much of the nation's economy. We can continue to build our forces, perhaps even for a year, until we are able to strike with overwhelming force".
"Perhaps there's a different way to go, Generalissimo Franco", piped in Army Chief Gonzalo Lurepa de Llama. "The anarchists, with their lack of any organized command structure, have stationed almost all of their armoured forced in Pamplona.. However our latest intelligence reports are that they have almost no forces anywhere in the vicinity. They have a division stationed in Barcelona, but I doubt they will again leave such a major city undefended after we took Madrid without firing a shot. The rest of their forces are all concentrated in the south of Spain. It would take them weeks to redeploy those troops."
"Go on, Gonzalo". Franco wasn't entirely sure where hiw Chief of the Army was going, but was intrigued by the man's boldness.
"We can move two divisions of our troops east to Zaragoza, and another division to Bilbao. I understand from the Minister of Armaments that our first Militia division will be ready soon, and it can also re-inforce Bilbao. Once the units are in place, we can attack Pamplona from the north and the south, cut off the tank's escape, and destroy the unit. Also, we'll then be in position to strike at Barcelona and secure the entire north of the country".
Franco sat a moment, thinking. He liked the agressiveness this plan had, but was fearful of committing almost all of his troops to one operation. "Won't the rebel armour simply retreat to Bercelona"? he eventually asked?
"Perhaps it will. But with your permission, we can move the 1er Cuerpo del Ejército from their barracks in Badajoz to take Cuenca, Tortosa, and even Lleida. The rebel scum will be tied down in battle in Pamplona, and will never abandon Barcelona to stop us".
A long time passed, while no one in the room said a word. Finally, Franco whispered "God help us, I will approve your plan. It will take every man we have, and I pray it will work".
