Zaragoza Offensive The Zaragoza Offensive took place during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 . This battle involved the Spanish Republican Army . The main goal of the offensive was to occupy the city of Zaragoza . The main action of the offensive was the battle of Belchite . Background . In August 1937 , the commander in chief of the Republican Army , Vicente Rojo , decided to launch an offensive in the Aragon front in order to take the regional capital , Saragossa . The main goal of the offensive was to stop the Nationalist offensive against Santander . Furthermore , Saragossa was the communications centre of the whole Aragon front . Opossing forces . In the Aragon front the Republican Army had deployed the Army of the East , led by the general Pozas and his chief of staff Antonio Cordon . This army had six divisions ( Lister ' s 11th Division , 26th Division , 27th Division , Walter ' s 35th Division , 43rd Division ; and Kleber ' s 45th Division ) . Furthermore the Republicans had 200 aircraft and many T - 26 and BT - 5 tanks . Opposing them , the Nationalists had three low - quality divisions ( 51st , 52nd and 105th divisions ) , and 15 aircraft ( obsolete Heinkel He - 46 light bombers and He - 51 fighters ) . The offensive . The Republican plan was to break through at seven different poins between Zuera and Belchite in order to divide any Nationalist counter - attack . The 27th Division would occupy Zuera , turn left and attack Zaragoza . The Kleber ' s 45h Division would attack south - eastwards towards Saragossa and the 43rd Division would cross the Ebro and cut the highway from Quinto to Saragossa . But the main attack was concentrated up the south side of the Ebro Valley , with Modesto ' s V Corps ( 11th Division and 35th Division ) . The Republican attack began on August 24 with no artillery bombardment in order to maintain the advantage of surprise . The 27th Division occupied Zuera , the 45th Division reached Villamajor de Gállego ( six kilometres from Saragossa ) and the 25th Division took Codó despite a fierce Nationalist resistance . Nevertheless , the Lister ' s 11th Division failed to occupy Fuentes de Ebro and almost all its BT - 5 tanks were destroyed . Fuentes del Ebro . Lister had to take the fortified town of Fuentes del Ebro in order to open the road to Zaragoza . Forty - eight BT - 5 tanks carrying Spanish troops would cross the Republican lines and attack the town from the front , supporting by the troops of the XV International Brigage . Nevertheless , the attack was ill - planned . The BT - 5 tanks was no suited to carrying troops , very little reconnaissance was carried out , there was virtually no artillery preparation and the tanks became bogged down in the mud . The attack failed and the republican army lost 19 of its 48 tanks and more than 300 men ( according to Hugh Thomas 12 tanks destroyed out of 40 ) An American member of the International Brigades said : Courage and heroism are plentiful in Spain and the Spanish people have no lack of it . What they need is tactics . And as for tactics , on 13 October , Regiment BT was bankrupt . Belchite . On August 26 , the 25th Division took Quinto , but the delays in the Republicans advance had given to the Nationalists time to bring up reinforces ( the Barron ' s 13th Division and the Saenz de Buruaga ' s 150th Division and 80 aircraft from the Madrid ' s front ) and the attack on Zaragoza failed . Then Modesto , decided to capture the small ( 3 , 800 inhabitants ) and well fortified town of Belchite . The Republican army cut the water supply of the town and the heat was appaling , but the defence of the besieged forces was vigorous . The attack on Belchite started on 1 September and after five days of heavy bombardment and bloody combats , the Republicans managed to occupied it . The offensive ended on September 6 . Aftermath . The offensive was a complete failure . The Nationalists did not stop their offensive against the Northern Republican held zone . The Republicans only advanced ten kilometres and taking a handful of small towns . Furthermore , the Republican Army suffered heavy lost of armament and tanks . Indalecio Prieto said : " So many troops to take four or five " pueblos " does not satisfy the ministry of defence " . The offensive failed because the republican forces lacked coordination , supplies and military intelligence . Furthermore , the Republican commanders wasted troops in order to reduce small resistance points .