First thing i did was to look for the village of my grandparents... and i was surprised that Tardienta and Almudevar are switched in the map. I sugest "moving" Almudevar to hex 122,72. Leaving Tardienta where it is now.
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Nationalist controlled Almudevar wich was crucial, since that gave them the control of the road Huesca-Zaragoza. And the Republic controlled Tardienta, that was the last rail station in the republican zone of the railroad Zaragoza-Barcelona.
Since the war front went along these two small villages, fights were brutal in the first months of the war. The Nationalist opened wide "Tormos" damm (in hex 121,71), trying to flood Tardienta. But the german anarchist militias of the Thalman Battalion, stationated in Tardienta, blowed up the water conductions. Diverting the water and saving the position.
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Artillery exchange was constant. Also, the nationalist forces launched several attacks to Santa Quiteria highs, which dominated all the region. They used some moorish troops, that terroriced local people. Even today some people recall stories of their grandparents about the savage looks of the moor troop that Franco brought from Marruecos and were used as a psicological weapon.
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All efforts of the nationalist side were futile. Republican forces held Tardienta until the offensive of Aragón in 1938
