Siege of Oviedo - Aranda's Last Stand

Aranda's Last Stand

Aranda had only 500 defenders left and he pulled them into the center of the town for a last stand. By that time, the Popular Front militia captured Oviedo's last power plant, leaving the entire town powerless. Aranda retreated into the barracks in the middle of the defense, and with a radio powered by a car battery, he exhorted the defenders to "fight like Spaniards to the end". He sent a message to the Nationalist relief column from Galicia to state that his troops were out of ammunition, but that they would fight to the last. The Popular Front militias had suffered enormous losses themselves, estimated at least 5,000 casualties; they were low on ammunition but were making slow progress. Then, on October 16, with the defenders facing annihilation, the Galician relief column arrived and the Popular Front militias, almost out of ammunition, halted their assault.