Evening star., 1938-04-20

HENDA 4E, france, April 2O.-Un.
able to crack at once a we'll placed
government defense at Tortosa, Span
ish insurgents today drove southwark
along the Mediterranean coast toward
Castellon and Valencia.
Gen. Miguel Arandas troops neared
the outskirts Of Alcala de Chivert,
where secondary feeder road from
Albocacer joins the coastal highway
after advancing II miles along an
l8-mile front.
The new offensive threatened the
chief coastal cities of southern gov
eminent Spain. At Alcala de Chivert,
the insurgents had covered almost
half the 40 miles from Vinaroz to Cas-
tellon and almost a quarter Of the 80
miles from Vinaroz to Valencia.
Expect Little Trouble.
Field officers said they expected lit
tie difficulty in taking Alcala de Chi
vert, town of 5000 population. which
they said is strongly Carlist.
Insurgents said they had taken
enormous quantities" of field guns,
machine guns and hundreds of thou
sands of cartridges and assorted mu.
nltlons in the Tortosa area.
The death Of Col. Cebollino, com.
mander Of the second insurgent cav
airy division, wounded in action west
of Tortosa. was announced by the in
surgent command at Irun.
Government militia, posted strongly
on the left bank OF the Ebro River at
Tortosa. yesterday halted the insur-
gent advance on Barcelona from the
south. All bridges across the stream,
swelled to more than q half-mile wide
by melting-snows. have been destroyed.
An incessant rain Of machine gun
bullets from government emplace-
ments made more difficult the insur-
gent efforts to lash pontoon bridges
across the turbulent waters.
Insurgents hopping Up. b.
Insurgent Gen. Garcia Valino's
mixed Spanish and Italian regiments
operating on the same front contented
themselves for the most part with
cleaning up the 625 square mile area
behind them. 1t was their first chance
to mop up, so rapid had been the ad-
vance since cutting through to the
sea at Vinaroz.
1nsurgent headquarters hailed the
capture OF this farming area as a dis
tlnct economic advantage. They said
they had captured half the years rice
crop OF the Ebro Delta, the potato crop
ready for harvest and the prospective
years crop of oranges and tomatoes
for which the region is famous.
On the far north wing, commanded
by Gen. Solchaga, insurgents effec-
lively plugged the French frontier
along the Aran Valley, preventing the
further escape Of trapped government
militia and sympathizers. Insurgent
advance guards held the towns con-
trolling virtually the only passes into
France.
Militia Puts Up Fight.
To the east, government militia was
putting up stih fight only nine miles
from the Andorran frontier, seeking to
halt the Navarrese column advancing
from the north toward fortified SEQ de
Urgel
The government reported some sue
cess In this area, north of the Santa
Magdalena River, including the recap
tu-e of the village Of Farrera and posi-
tions in the Sierra de Burchs.
In the center Of the 200-mile eastern
battlefront fighting continued about
Balaguer without marked change In
positions.
In Zaragoza Generalissimo Francisco
Franco was hailed by shouts of "El
Caudillo" (The chieftain) from q
crowd Of 100000 when he proclaimed
the civil war won by his insurgents
and called upon the government to
abandon the struggle.
Spain Seeks League Aid.
GENEVA, April 20 R.-The Span
ish government filed with the League
Of Nations Council yesterday a request
which might embarrass seriously
French and British plans for . Medi-
terranean peace with Italy.
Spanish Foreign Minister Julio Al
varez del Vayo asked the Council to
place the question of foreign inter-
vention In the Spanish war" on the
asenda Of the Council meeting open.
ing May ..