Guadalajara.

This is coolbert:

From that era of the Spanish Civil War yet one more instance of the Italian military enigma.

That Italian military in both world wars the performance generally accepted as being poor to very poor with only a few exceptions.

AND EVEN IN BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS THAT ITALIAN MILITARY DISPLAYING A MARKED DEGREE OF INCOMPETENCE.

This is was the Battle of Guadalajara. March 8–23, 1937.

"The Battle of Guadalajara (March 8–23, 1937) saw the People's Republican Army (Ejército Popular Republicano, or EPR) defeat Italian and Nationalist forces attempting to encircle Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist forces involved in the Battle of Guadalajara were primarily the Italian Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo Truppe Volontarie, or CTV)."

My limited familiarity with the Spanish Civil War being that foreign contingents were present, communist and fascist both, but NOT IN SUCH LARGE NUMBERS. That Italian CTV numbering rather more numerous than what I had thought.

"The battle opened with an Italian offensive on 8 March. This offensive was halted by 11 March. Between 12 March and 14 March, renewed Italian attacks were supported by Spanish Nationalist units. These were halted too. On 15 March, a Republican counter-offensive was prepared. The Republicans successfully launched their counter-offensive from 18 March to 23 March."

Initial Italian victories and advance in a straight-forward manner and to-be-expected fashion followed by battlefield defeat, rout and disarray, shameful and humiliating.

"The Italian CTV lost some 6,000 men (Spanish Nationalist losses were marginal) and a considerable number of light tanks and planes. In addition, the Republican army captured sizeable quantities of badly-needed matériel and equipment, including 35 artillery pieces, 85 machine guns, and 67 vehicles."

"Above all, Guadalajara was a severe blow to Italian morale and a loss of prestige for Italy's fascist regime, whose Duce had orchestrated the deployment of the Italian army in the hopes of stunning the world with a show of Italy's 'iron military strength.'"

Italian manpower and material advantage all for naught. The Italian military enigma. And why is this?

coolbert.