The First battle of the Corunna Road took place between the 29th of November and 3rd of December, 1936 during the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

.

Background

After the failure to take Madrid on november 1936 and the failure of the aerial bombing in order to brake the morale of the city population, Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

 decided to encircle the city from the north-west in order to cut off water and electricity supplies from the Sierra de Guadarrama

Sierra de Guadarrama

The Sierra de Guadarrama is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, and Sierra de Ayllón in the province of Guadalajara...

. The Nationalists concentrated a force of 3,000 men, led by Varela and and backed by heavy artillery and JU-52

Junkers Ju 52

The Junkers Ju 52 was a German transport aircraft manufactured from 1932 to 1945. It saw both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s. In a civilian role, it flew with over 12 air carriers including Swissair and Deutsche Luft Hansa as an airliner and freight hauler...

 bombers. The Republican

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

 army had one brigade.

The battle

The Nationalist offensive started on 29 november, after a heavy artillery bombing, on the Pozuelo

Pozuelo de Alarcón

Pozuelo de Alarcón is a suburb of over 85,000 inhabitants near the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. It is surrounded by large Mediterranean pine-tree forests: la Casa de Campo, el Monte del Pardo and el Monte del Pilar...

 sector, with 3,000 Legion

Spanish Legion

The Spanish Legion , formerly Spanish Foreign Legion, is an elite unit of the Spanish Army and Spain's Rapid Reaction Force. Founded as the Tercio de Extranjeros , it was originally intended as a Spanish equivalent of the French Foreign Legion, but in practice it recruited almost exclusively...

and Moroccan

Regulares

The Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas , known simply as the Regulares , were the volunteer infantry and cavalry units of the Spanish Army recruited in Spanish Morocco. They consisted of Moroccans officered by Spaniards...

 colonial troops backed by heavy artillery, tanks and JU-52 bombers. The Republican brigade retreated in disorder, but a Republican counter-attack backed by T-26 tanks, re-established the line on 3 december.

Aftermath

The Nationalists only occupied Boadilla del Monte

Boadilla del Monte

Boadilla del Monte is a town in Spain. It is located in the center of the Community of Madrid. It had a population of 41,807 in 2008.-External links:* * *...

 and Villanueva de la Cañada

Villanueva de la Cañada

Villanueva de la Cañada is a municipality in Spain, located 30 km west of the city of Madrid.Population : 14 809.-General references:*- External links :...

 and failed to cut Madrid from the North. Then, decided to concentrate a huge force in order to continue the offensive.