WAR IN SPAIN: Win the War

The long overdue, widely advertised, win-the-war offensive of Generalissimo Francisco Franco began at dawn one clear, cold day last week in western Catalonia. Hardest fighting took place in the mountainous section near Tremp, where snow was so deep that communications bogged and the temperature was so low that water froze in the cooling jackets of machine guns. A second, lighter attack, believed to be merely a diversion, took place in the flatter country near the Segre River.

At week's end, after three days of fighting, Generalissimo Franco's troops— Spaniards, Italians, Moors—had advanced an average of about five miles on a 100-mile front. Insurgent communiques claimed a rout near Tremp. but U. S. newsmen back of the Loyalist front saw no signs of panicky retreat. Both sides agreed that the full force of the offensive had not yet been launched.

Rightist long-range objectives appeared to be Barcelona, Loyalist capital, and Tarragona, to the south, from 60 to 80 miles away. Many ranges of hills lie between the front and the objectives. More important than anything else, however. Generalissimo Franco hopes to provide his ally. Dictator Benito Mussolini, with a first-class victory before January 11, when Dictator Mussolini meets British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Rome. Dictator Mussolini wants very much to persuade Mr. Chamberlain to grant Generalissimo Franco belligerent rights, most valuable of which would be the right to blockade. After that Loyalist Spain, already near famine, could be starved out.