The Battle
Between July 18 and July 23, these defenses, held by two Republican corps led by Colonels Ernesto Güemes and Carlos Romero, were successful in halting the Nationalist advance. The Nationalists tried to break the republican defenses with waves of infantry and intense bombing raids, but the Republican defenders through the use of well planned trenches and protected lines of communication were able to inflict heavy casualties on the Nationalists (about 20,000 casualties), suffering relatively few themselves (only 5,000 casualties). On July 23, the offensive was halting and the Republican offensive in the north on July 24, the Battle of the Ebro, prevented any further assaults on the line by drawing away eight Nationalist divisions and their heavy artillery. The Nationalist offensive ended less than forty kilometres from Valencia.
Read more about this topic: XYZ Line
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins. To make a people great it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants. That is what I shall do.”
—Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)
“Napoleon said of Massena, that he was not himself until the battle began to go against him; then, when the dead began to fall in ranks around him, awoke his powers of combination, and he put on terror and victory as a robe.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)