XYZ Line

{{short description|Spanish Civil War fortifications protecting Valencia}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = XYZ Line | partof = the Spanish Civil War | image = Rubielos de Mora 1938.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = Nationalist Moroccan troops in Rubielos de Mora, 1938. | date = 18–24 July 1938 | place = East Central Spain | result = Republican victory<ref>Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. pages 347 and 429</ref> *Battle of the Ebro | combatant1 = {{flag|Spanish Republic}} | combatant2 = {{flag|Nationalist Spain|1938}} {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}} {{flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany}} | commander1 = {{flagicon|Spanish Republic}} General Leopoldo Menéndez Lopez<ref name="autogenerated287">Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Reaction, Revolution & Revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. p.287</ref><ref name="autogenerated808">Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. p. 808</ref> {{flagicon|Spanish Republic}} Colonel Carlos Romero<ref name="autogenerated812">Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. p. 812</ref> {{flagicon|Spanish Republic}}Colonel Ernesto Güemes<ref name="autogenerated812"/> {{flagicon|Spanish Republic}} Colonel Gustavo Duran<ref name="autogenerated287"/><ref name="autogenerated810">Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. p. 810</ref> | commander2 = {{flagicon|Spain|1938}} José Solchaga<ref name="autogenerated810"/> {{flagicon|Spain|1938}} José Enrique Varela<ref name="autogenerated810"/> {{flagicon|Spain|1938}} Rafael Garcia Valiño 22px|border Mario Berti<ref name="autogenerated810"/> | strength1 = 125,000<ref name="autogenerated346">Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.346</ref> | strength2 = 125,000<ref name="autogenerated346"/> 900<ref name="autogenerated808"/>-1,000 cannons<ref name="autogenerated346"/> 400 aircraft<ref name="autogenerated810"/> | casualties1 = 5,000<ref name="autogenerated348">Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.348</ref> | casualties2 = 20,000<ref name="autogenerated348"/> }} {{Campaignbox Spanish Civil War}}

The '''XYZ Line''' ({{langx|es|Línea XYZ}}), also known as the '''Matallana Line''', was a system of fortifications built in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War to defend Valencia, the capital of the Second Spanish Republic. The XYZ Line was a simple system of trenches and bunkers, built to withstand heavy artillery or {{convert|450|kg|adj=on|0}} aerial bombs, and took advantage of some of the most difficult terrain in Spain in the Iberian System ranges to the north and northeast of Valencia.<ref name="autogenerated812"/> The XYZ Line was successful at halting the Nationalist advance on Valencia, being one of the last Republican victories of the war, and allowed the Republicans to start the Battle of the Ebro.

==Background== Following the success of the Aragon Offensive in April 1938, the Nationalist armies reached the Mediterranean Sea and split the Second Spanish Republic in two. The Spanish Republican Army was in disarray and the road to Barcelona was open for conquest by the Nationalists.<ref>Graham, Helen. ''The Spanish Civil War. A very short Introduction.'' Oxford University Press. 2055. p.98</ref> Even General Vicente Rojo Lluch said that Barcelona could have been taken with "less force and in less time" than in January 1939.

The Nationalist's German and Italian allies expected a swift attack against Barcelona. Nevertheless, Nationalist leader Francisco Franco decided to turn south against the city of Valencia, the capital of the Republic at the time.<ref name="autogenerated345">Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.345</ref> Following the recent ''Anschluss'', Franco feared that an advance on Barcelona could prompt France to intervene in Catalonia.<ref>Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Reaction, Revolution & Revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. p.286</ref> Furthermore, he did not want a swift end to the war, but a war of annihilation against the Republic to crush all opposition. Dionisio Ridruejo said, "A long war meant total victory. Franco chose the crueller option which, from his point of view, was also more effective."<ref name="autogenerated345"/>

===Nationalist offensive=== The Nationalist offensive started on 25 April, with General José Enrique Varela's Army Corps of Castille, Antonio Aranda's Galician corps, and Garcia Valiño's formation,<ref name="autogenerated345"/> but the advance was halted on 27 April. On 1 May, the Nationalists continued their offensive, advancing on three fronts: Varela from Teruel, Aranda along the Mediterranean coast, and Garcia Valiño in a central column moving between them through the mountains.

The Nationalists found it slow going due to rainy weather in March and April that slowed the offensive.<ref name="autogenerated345"/> The difficult terrain of the Maestrazgo aided the Republican forces, driving back the Nationalists with their strong defensive positions and determination.<ref name="autogenerated287"/> The Republicans had been reinforced with new weapons brought in from France: Soviet ''Supermosca'' (I-16 Type 10) fighters with four machine-guns, 40 Grumman FF fighters and anti-aircraft guns. On 13 June, Castellón fell to Garcia Valiño's corps after several days of fighting, but they were halted short of Sagunto, where the mountains of the Sierra de Espadán came close to the sea.<ref>Thomas, Hugh. The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. 2001. London. p. 808</ref> With the fall of Castellón, the Nationalists had a Mediterranean harbor into which munitions and food could be brought to their troops in this front.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110628233640/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788705-1,00.html ''Time'' Magazine, June 20, 1938, Brazen Attack]</ref>

[[File:Vista Viver.JPG|left|thumb|200px|A view of Viver.]] The Nationalists were surprised by the resistance of the Republican forces, and General Alfredo Kindelán tried to persuade Franco to abandon the operation. The German Condor Legion was exhausted and was eventually withdrawn from the front.<ref name="autogenerated810"/><ref name="autogenerated346"/> Nevertheless, Franco ordered the attack to be continued, and that Valencia be captured by 25 July.<ref name="autogenerated346"/> By the beginning of July, the Nationalists reinforced the front with three divisions of the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie (CTV) led by General Mario Berti,<ref name="autogenerated810"/> and four divisions of General José Solchaga's Turia Corps.<ref name="autogenerated346"/> Furthermore, the Nationalists had nine hundred cannons and four hundred aircraft in this front,<ref name="autogenerated810"/> and had just received about 50 Italian medium bombers (BR.20, SM.79, SM.81).<ref name="autogenerated346"/> Opposing the Nationalists, the Republicans had the six army corps (Palacio's XVI Corps, Garcia Vallejo's XVII, Vidal's XIX, Duran's XX and Ibarrola's XXII, as well as Güemes's Group A and Romero's Group B) of General Leopoldo Menéndez's Army of the Levante.<ref>Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.486</ref>

On 5 July, Garcia Valiño attacked from Castellón, but he was stopped by the Republican forces led by Colonel Duran and General Menendez at the Sierra de Espadan.<ref>Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. pp. 810</ref> The final push of the Nationalist offensive began on 13 July. To the west, Solchaga's corps moved south from Teruel with Varela's corps and the CTV on their flank to the east, and the Garcia Valiño formation tried to advance down the coast.<ref name="autogenerated347">Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.347</ref> After some determined resistance at Mora de Rubielos and Sarrion, the Republican line in the Sierra del Toro crumbled. The Nationalists then advanced {{convert|97|km}} along a front {{convert|32|km}} wide until they were stopped by the XYZ Line fortifications running east and west from Viver into the Sierra de Espadan.<ref>Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. pp. 810-812</ref>

==Battle== Between 18 and 23 July, the defenses of the XYZ Line, held by two Republican corps led by Colonels Ernesto Güemes and Carlos Romero, were successful in halting the Nationalist advance.<ref name="autogenerated812"/> Republican positions were well-placed and entrenched which gave them a major tactical advantage over the Nationalists. Machine gun nests were set up to crossfire to easily repel assaults. Many positions were hidden which made them difficult to detect, and therefore difficult to call in artillery or for aircraft to bomb them. Waves of infantry and intense bombing raids were used to try break the Republican lines, but the defenders' use of well planned trenches and protected lines of communication were able to inflict heavy casualties on the Nationalists (about 20,000 casualties) while suffering relatively few themselves (only 5,000 casualties).<ref name="autogenerated347"/><ref name="autogenerated287"/><ref name="autogenerated812"/> The Nationalist offensive had halted less than 40 km from Valencia.<ref name="autogenerated287"/><ref name="autogenerated812"/>

On 24 July, the Republicans launched an offensive in the north, the Battle of the Ebro, which prevented any further assaults on the line by drawing away eight Nationalist divisions and their heavy artillery.<ref>Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.352</ref>

==Aftermath== According to Beevor, the defense of the XYZ Line was a far greater victory for the Republic than the Battle of Guadalajara.<ref name="autogenerated347"/> The Nationalists occupied the province of Castellón, but failed to occupy Valencia and suffered heavy casualties.<ref name="autogenerated812"/> The Republican Army had time to reorganize, and to plan their assault across the River Ebro.<ref>Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. p.349</ref> Furthermore, the Republican forces in Catalonia had time to rearm with the weapons received across the France–Spain border, reopened in March.<ref>Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Reaction, Revolution & Revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. p. 285</ref>

== Notes == {{reflist|2}}

== Sources == * Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-14-303765-1}}. * Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Reaction, Revolution & Revenge. Harper Perennial. 2006. London. {{ISBN|978-0-00-723207-9}} {{ISBN|0-00-723207-1}} * Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. 2001. London. {{ISBN|978-0-14-101161-5}} * {{cite book | last = Thomas | first = Hugh | authorlink = Hugh Thomas (historian) | year = 1977 | title = The Spanish Civil War | publisher = Harper and Row | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-06-014278-0}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110628233640/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788705-1,00.html ''Time'' Magazine, June 20, 1938, Brazen Attack] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070317185940/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760001,00.html ''Time'' Magazine, JuLY 18, 1938, WAR IN SPAIN: On to Valencia] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121023005854/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771136,00.html?promoid=googlep ''Time'' Magazine, August 1, 1938, Balloons Burst]

{{DEFAULTSORT:XYZ Line}} Category:Fortifications of the Spanish Civil War Category:Battles of the Spanish Civil War Category:Conflicts in 1938 Category:1938 in Spain