Siege of Oviedo - The Siege Begins

The Siege Begins

Since the siege had no regular Republican ground forces, their "army" consisted almost solely of militia from the Popular Front parties and the allied Anarchists, and they began besieging Oviedo on July 20, but at the same time had to conduct the Siege of Gijón, also in Asturias. The Nationalists at Gijón's Simancas Barracks held out until August 16. Thereafter, the Popular Front forces could start to concentrate on Oviedo. The final Nationalist resistance ended in Gijón on August 21, and the Republican Gijón militia could now join the siege of Oviedo. The fact was, however, that about two hundred defenders had tied down the entire militia of that area for a month. Valuable time had been gained by the Nationalists and lost by the Republicans.

After the end of the conflict in Gijón, the Popular Front forces were able to lay close 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, 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.