Siege of Oviedo: Difference between revisions

*| combatant1 = {{flagicon|Spain|1931}} [[Second Spanish Republic]]<br>{{flagicon image|Red_star.svg}} [[Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias]]<br>{{flagicon image|Bandera CNT-FAI.svg}} [[Isaac PuenteConfederal Battalionmilitias]]

| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Nationalist Spain|1936}} [[FrancoistNationalist Spainfaction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist Spain]]

| commander2 = Col. [[Antonio Aranda|Colonel]]<br>Col. AntonioEduardo ArandaRecas<br>Lt. Mata]]Col. Carlos Lapresa Rodríguez<br>Lt. Col. Gerardo Caballero{{WIA}}

| strength1 = unknown10,000<br/>1 light tank<br/>1 armoured tractor

| strength2 = 3,000<br/>3 light tanks

| casualties1 = 5,000+ 1 light tank

| casualties2 = 2,500+ 1 light tank

The '''Siegesiege of Oviedo''' was a [[siege]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]] that lasted from 19 July until 16 October 1936. The town [[garrison]], under the command of [[Antonio Aranda|Colonel Antonio Aranda Mata]], declaredtook sides for the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] [[Spanish coup of July 1936|uprising]] and held out until relieved by a Nationalist force from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].

Aranda was reputed to be a [[freemason]] and a Republican, and got along well with the local Republican officials; in addition, the [[Falangism|Falange]] distrusted him.<ref>Gabriel Jackson, ''The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931-1939'' (1965), p. 240</ref> Aranda declared that he would be loyal to the [[the Second Spanish Republic|Republic]] when the rebellion started on 17 July, and he convinced the civil governor and the union leaders that all was calm. So satisfied were the authorities that 4,000 miners left by train for other parts of Asturias and Spain to fight in the growing conflict. Aranda secretly called in [[Guardia Civil|Civil Guard]] and [[Guardia de Asalto|Assault Guard]] personnel from all Asturias to concentrate at Oviedo. He had gained a reputation in [[Spanish Morocco|Africa]] of being a top strategist, and after the miners left, he declared for the rebellion on 19 July. The Falange, Civil Guard, and Assault Guard immediately rallied to his side.<ref name="Hugh Thomas, 1961, p. 148">Hugh Thomas, (1961), p. 148</ref> Aranda easily took over Oviedo as the republicans panicked, and the rest of Asturias became hostile toward him.<ref name="Hugh Thomas, 1961, p. 148"/> Between the two large zones, east and west of Oviedo, Aranda was landlocked and surrounded in the town.<ref>Ronald Fraser, ''Blood of Spain, An Oral History of the Spanish Civil War'' (1979) p. 238-239.</ref>

Aranda realizedrealised from the beginning that he would have to hold the town and had made intelligent and extensive preparations in the process. He had carefully studied the defense of the place, and having at first much equipment from the barracks in Oviedo, he sited over 100 [[Hotchkiss machine gun]]s in five strategic locations in about a nine-mile perimeter around the town. The town was not that easy to defend as it was surrounded on all sides by heights, but Aranda took that into consideration and secured the heights in preparation of laying down curtains of fire against the invaders. Aranda's tactics were novel for the time as they considered that a town as vulnerable as Oviedo could be held by firepower alone. Aranda's plan did have one serious flaw as he only had about 3,000 defenders, counting regular forces, guards, and volunteers. That meant he could not occupy all of the heights, and this gave the attackers their one main advantage. The Republican government in Madrid had reinforced the garrison at Oviedo after the 1934 revolution and had sent large numbers of guns and amounts of ammunition for storage there. In addition to the large number of machine guns, Aranda had over a million rounds of ammunition at his disposal. During a relatively quiet time in August, Aranda improved his position by constant offensive thrusts and feints that kept the besiegers in doubt.<ref>Ronald Fraser, pp. 247-248.</ref>

After the end of the conflict in Gijón, the Popular Front forces were able to laytight closethe siege to Oviedo. Most of the attacking militia were miners from the many Asturian mines. The besieging force, though, had several problems; it lacked professionalism with few, if any, trained military men as almost all such troops, including a majority of the Assault Guards, had rallied to the uprising. In addition, a Nationalist relief force was on the way from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], and the siege in Gijón had drained away forces needed to oppose that advance. The relief force had made substantial progress towards Oviedo, and the Popular Front forces had little proper equipment to conduct a siege with the exception of [[dynamite]]. Last, but not least, was the terrain. With the seizure of the heights around Oviedo, Aranda was confident that the town was well prepared for defense.<ref>Ronald Fraser, pp. 245-246.</ref>

The heavy shelling had killed a large number of civilians, but more died due to the lack of water for sanitation. Many people who were sympathetic to the Popular Front joined the forces defending Oviedo because a family member was killed or injured by the attackers' explosives. There was a constant danger of in-town fighting between those loyal to the Republic and the defenders of the siege, but those fears quickly evaporated as the attackers intensified the bombardment and caused more civilian casualties. One advantage to the defenders was that a large portion of the population was politically neutral.<ref>Ronald Fraser, p. 249</ref> A bomb from a Popular Front airstrike killed at least 120 civilians, most of them children and the elderly, on 10 September.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fernández|first=Aroa|date=21 September 2010|title=Los huérfanos de la casa del Chorín|url=https://www.lne.es/oviedo/2010/09/21/huerfanos-casa-chorin-21261340.html|url-status=live|access-date=20 March 2021|website=La Nueva España|language=es}}</ref>

On 4 October, the day before the second anniversary of the beginning of the Asturias Revolution of 1934, Popular Front militias madelaunched ana all-outmassive attackassault on the city. The attackers were in a hurry since units from the tough Army of Africa had reinforced the Nationalist relief column from Galicia. Although the Popular Front had held up that relief column for two weeks, it was only 15 miles from Oviedo. Aranda had lost half of his defenders, and the attackers rolled over one of his defense points as he lost part of the high ground around the town. The Republicans used Renault FT17 tanks and several armoured fighting vehicles, while the Nationalists defended the main routes to the city with their three Trubia tanks. One of them was blown up by its crew after developing mechanical troubles at Argañosa. Conversely, the attackers lost a number of armoured vehicles to 75&nbsp;mm guns and armour-piercing ammunition from machine guns and rifles.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Feito Álvarez|first=Félix|date=2019|title=Arqueología del cerco de Oviedo (1936-1937): Guerra Blindada en torno a Oviedo|url=https://www.academia.edu/40544944|journal=Cuadernos de Arqueología Militar|language=es|volume=1-2019|pages=45–6}}</ref> The fighting raged for a week and, one by one, the defenders' strong points fell to the attackers. Aranda abandoned what was left of the perimeter and pulled his survivors back into the town, and by that time he had used 90% of his ammunition. The defenders ran out of machine gun ammunition and the fighting reverted to [[hand to hand combat]]. The attackers fought from [[Mouse-holing|house to house by cutting holes]] in the walls joining the houses. The defenders were almost out of ammunition when several Nationalist airmen managed to drop 30,000 rounds to them.<ref>Ronald Fraser, pp. 250-252, inclusive.</ref>

The Nationalists won a narrow corridor into the city and held it until the end of the [[War in the North]] a year later. The Popular Front militias abandoned the town and retreated to their positions occupied at the start of the siege. Oviedo, however, was no longer in danger.<ref>Ronald Fraser, pp. 252-254, inclusive.</ref>

ThereFrom 25 to 27 October there were further actions in the outskirts of the city, in places like San Claudio and Naranco, in a successful nationalist attempt to widen the corridor. Both sides employed armoured fighting vehicles and light tanks, like the Nationalist Trubia otor the republicanRepublican Renault F17FT17. In a sweep across Naranco, a nationalist Trubia tank captured a disabled Landesa armed tractor, left in no-man land since breaking down on 10 September. The last significant Republican offensives of 1936 on Oviedo ocurredoccurred on 27 November, 1 December and 10 December, all of them supported by [[BA-3/6]] armoured cars. Little or no ground was gained, at the cost of at least two armoured vehicles.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Feito Álvarez|first=Félix|date=2019|title=Arqueología del cerco de OviedoÁlvares (1936-19372019):, Guerra Blindada en torno a Oviedo|url=https://wwwp.academia.edu/40544944/CUADERNOS_DE_ARQUEOLOG%C3%8DA_MILITAR_1_2019?email_work_card=title|journal=Cuadernos de Arqueología Militar|volume=1-2019|pages=47}}</ref>

The final all-out offensive of the Republican army on Oviedo took place on 21 February 1937, when a mechanized force of four [[T-26]] tanks, ten Renault FTs and, a few Landesa tractors and Trubia Naval tanks, supported by a number of armoured trucks, attempted to break through the rebel lines. The Nationalists deployed their Trubia A4s and the captured Landesa tractor, by then wearworn down after months of heavy service, in defensive positions, guarding the main approaches to the inner city. They were supported by Ferrol armoured vehicles from the Galician relief column. The nationalist tanks launched a successful counter-attack in the Postigo area the first day of the government's forces assault, which was haltedcontained by the 27 February. The Republican lost two tanks at San Claudio, three others at San Lazaro on the 28 and other three at Los Catalanes by the beginning of March.<ref>Feito Álvares (2019), p. 51</ref> Aranda would continue to serve the Nationalist cause including the [[Battle of Teruel]] and other conflictsactions during the war.

[[Category:Battles of the Spanish Civil War|Oviedo]]

[[Category:BattlesHistory inof Asturias|Oviedo]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1936|Oviedo]]

[[Category:Sieges involving Spain|Oviedo]]

[[Category:Mass murder in 1936|Oviedo]]

[[Category:1936 in Spain|Oviedo]]

[[Category:July 1936 events|Oviedo]]

[[Category:August 1936 events|Oviedo]]

[[Category:September 1936 events|Oviedo]]

[[Category:October 1936 events|Oviedo]]