The Combatants
The Nationalist forces comprised four Navarrese Brigades (33,000 men), under the command of General José Solchaga Zala (Solchaga) in Llanes, with 15 artillery batteries and strong air support (including the German Legión Cóndor, partly based on the Cue Aerodrome). The pass of El Mazuco is only five km from the sea, and so the cruiser Almirante Cervera was also able to use its 6in guns in the action.
The Asturian and some Basque and Santander forces (Republicans) comprised three weakened brigades (fewer than 5,000 men in all), under the command of Colonels Juan Ibarrola Orueta and Francisco Galán Rodríguez (Ibarrola and Galán) in Meré, with little artillery and no air support.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of El Mazuco
Famous quotes containing the word combatants:
“The social kiss is an exchange of insincerity between two combatants on the field of social advancement. It places hygiene before affection and condescension before all else.”
—Sunday Correspondent (London, Aug. 12, 1990)
“It is open to a war resister to judge between the combatants and wish success to the one who has justice on his side. By so judging he is more likely to bring peace between the two than by remaining a mere spectator.”
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948)