ABSTRACT
To counter the insurgents the Republican war council planned an offensive along the Ebro River about 65 miles from the Mediterranean. It called for a crossing of the Ebro and, if possible, a thrust all the way across the rebel salient in an attempt to restore land communications between Catalonia and the rest of Republican Spain. The old, familiar pattern was repeating itself as Franco, dropping his offensive against Valencia, began rushing troops to contain the rapidly growing Loyalist bulge south of the Ebro. In truth, the whole offensive was the last, desperate gesture of a Republic that refused to give in to the inevitable, a Republic that was asking its soldiers to fight with courage alone, since it had so little to give them in the way of material support. The offensive seemed to be going well, and Bessie was heartened to learn that pressure had been relieved on the Valencia front.
