** "!Sin Novedad en el Alcázar!" - The Matrix Games version of West Front

{H2H} (HISB} ........ "!Sin novedad en el Alcázar!" ..."All quiet at the Alcazar!" Thus reported Colonel Moscardo, commander of the Alcazar garrison to General Varela, leading the relief column, on 27 September, 1936. The great palace/fortress in Toledo had been under siege since 21 July, when Moscardo, Military Governor of the province and aware of the Nationalist uprising had called in all the Civil Guards, instructed that all material from the arms factory be removed to the Alcazar and the factory itself destroyed. As well as the Civil Guards, the garrison included a small number of cadets from the Infantry Academy, some Army personnel and right wing party members. There were also many civilians,including women and children. (Two babies were born during the siege). On July 23, Moscardo was advised by the Republican commander that his captured son Luis would be executed immediately if there was no surrender.(Luis Moscardo was actually not shot until a month later.) The last conversation between father and son ...and the siege itself...become an inspiration for the Nationalist cause. The Republican siege, largely by a column from Madrid, developed erratically, and was marked by "battle tourists" ......visting prominent leftists, some from outside Spain, who would visit Toledo to fire a few shots at the 'Fascists'. From the beginning, the besiegers had been digging two mineshafts under the walls. On September 18, the charges were detonated by Largo Cabellero, national leader of the Popular Front. But time was running out. Franco had decided that the moral disaster to his cause, should the Alcazar fall, outweighed all other matters. A strong force from the Army of Africa, to the west of Toledo and advancing on Madrid, was diverted to relieve the Alcazar. By September 26, Varela's relief column was at Bargas, 8km to the N of Toledo. Their proximity spurred the "Reds" into a frenzy of assault, knowing events had turned against them. (SPECIAL NOTES) [EA on]This is offered as a historical cameo, but with reduced forces. With the approach of the relief column, the Republicans fell back in disorder towards Aranjuez. There is no exit objective in the scen, however. Thanks to Chema Rando for advice.