The Battle of El Mazuco was fought in September 1937, between the
Republican (government) and Nationalist (rebel) armies of the
Spanish Civil War. The Republican defence of El Mazuco and the
surrounding mountains halted the Nationalist advance into eastern
Asturias, despite their forces being outnumbered seven-fold.
After weeks of intense fighting over extreme terrain the
defenders were eventually overwhelmed, and the Nationalists
were then able to link up with their forces advancing from
León, leading to the fall of
Gijón and the abandonment of Asturias, the last
Republican province in North-West Spain.
In this battle, carpet bombing was used for the first time on a
military target.
Prelude
Following the fall of Bilbao and the defeat of the Republican
forces defending Santander, the Republican
stronghold of Asturias was isolated from the Republican armies in the
South and East of Spain. The leader of the Nationalist forces
surrounding Asturias, General Dávila, attacked from the south
and from the east, expecting little resistance from the demoralized
Republicans.
The first republican line, along the Deva river, was soon overrun,
and the town of Llanes fell on the 5th (of September 1937).
However, the routes the Nationalists had to take were now commanded by
the limestone walls of the Sierra del Cuera on the north of the front
and the Deva Gorge to the south. The Nationalists had to clear the
defenders from these mountians in order to advance, and to do that
they planned a pincer movement moving south-west from Llanes and west
from Panes towards Cabrales .
On both fronts, the rugged terrain and stiff resistance of
the Republicans halted the advance. It became clear that these
mountains were vital to the defence of Asturias, and the key to the
Sierra del Cuera was the pass of El Mazuco.
The Combatants
The Nationalist forces comprised four Navarrese Brigades (33,000
men), with 15 artillery batteries and strong air support (including
the German Legión Cóndor). The
pass of El Mazuco is only 5km from the sea, and so the cruiser Admiral Cervera was also able to use its guns in the action.
The Asturian and Basque forces (Republicans) comprised three weakened
brigades (fewer than 5,000 men in all) with little artillery and no
air support.
The Battle
The attack on El Mazuco begins with an assault by the nationalist
Navarrese I brigade on the 6th September. This is
repulsed, and at the same time the southern advance of the pincer
movement is also stopped. In response to these setbacks, the German
Condor Legion is called in and for the first time carpet-bomb a
military target, the Republican forces defending the approach to El
Mazuco.
On the 7th, further attacks are halted and the fronts
stabilize; a noted republican commander, Higinio Carrocera, arrives,
with three battalions and 24 heavy machine guns. Carpet-bombing with
exposive and incendiary bombs continue all day.
On the 8th, in dense fog, fierce hand-to-hand fighting
inflicts severe losses on both sides. The nationalists gain some 2km
on the southern front, which the republicans are unable to recapture.
On the 9th, the nationalist pound the positions defending
El Mazuco, and two republican battalions are forced to retreat,
though the nationalist are unable to take any advantage of it. For
the rest of that day and the next, waves of bombings and artillery
bombardment were each followed by a nationalist infantry attack, each
in turn cut down and turned back by the republican machine-guns.
On the 10th, in fog again, an all-out attack by the I
Brigade takes the hill of Biforco (below the pass of El Mazuco),
but this is still dominated by the heights of Llabres, from where the
republicans hammer the area and roll down carbide drums filled with
explosive. For the first time since the start of the battle, hot
food reaches the republican front lines.
On the 11th and 12th, on the southern front,
the nationalists cannot make progress along the valley, so have no
option but to advance up the ridge of the Sierra towards Pico
Turbina. This peak, at 1,315m, is a formidable obstacle with slopes
of 40° and an almost moon-like karst terrain. There are no
tracks, even mules fall, so supplies and ordinance are largely
carried by hand. The weather is bad, so aircraft cannot operate, but
this also hides the attacking forces.
On the 13th, to the north-west of El Mazuco, the
republican front begins to weaken under the relentless artillery
bombardment.
On the 14th, the republicans are forced to yield Sierra
Llabres, whose height commands both the village of El Mazuco and the
western approaches. El Mazuco must be considered lost. Further
south, Turbina is almost taken, but the attack is driven back with
hand-grenades, in confused fighting in dense fog.
On the 15th, El Mazuco and its surrounds are occupied, and
the republicans in that sector fall back to Meré. To the
south, the republicans still hold the heights of Turbina and
Peñas Blancas. On the 16th, Turbina is taken, and
Peñas Blancas is almost encircled as Arangas and Arenas fall
to the nationalists.
The three summits of Peñas Blancas now form the only salient
from the republican line along the Bedón river. Initial
nationalist assaults fail, and so sixteen battalions are brought up
to reduce the positions. Air support is minimal due to the weather,
and on the ground, rain turns to snow on the heights.
On the 18th, better weather at noon brings three waves of
airborne strafing from 'strings' of German and Italian fighters.
After each attack, the inevitable infantry assault is beaten off by
machine guns and hand grenades. For four full days, the pattern is
repeated: aircraft and mortars pound the remaining defenders, the
Navarrese infantry attack, and are repulsed. Until the
22nd "the red flag will wave on the highest peak".
On that day, Peñas Blancas was overrun.
Aftermath
The defence of El Mazuco offered the hope of stemming the Nationalist advance until winter; if that had been achieved, then the course of the war would have been different. As it was, the attackers suffered a costly delay. The defenders regained their honour, battered in Santander, but also at great cost. The third parties involved, notably the Condor Legion, learned many lessons which could then be applied in the European theatre of the World War that followed.
The defence of El Mazuco also allowed the republicans further West a certain breathing space and a chance to regroup, but ultimately this made little difference. The Nationalists on the Eastern front soon joined up with the forces advancing from León and closed in on Gijón, the last republican stronghold in Northern Spain, which fell within a month.
Source
El Mazuco (La defensa imposible) by Juan Antonio de Blas, in La guerra civil en Asturias, Editiones Jucar, Gijón 1986.
El Mazuco (La defensa imposible) (Web page verified against original book
11/2004.)
