on the early hours of July 21, when the insurgents controlled almost all towns of the province and the key railway line from Madrid to the Levantine coast. Their strength was slightly more than 1,000 people, mostly civilian volunteers and some 400 Civiles, Asaltos and other uniformed men. On July 22 the loyalist units advancing from Alicante and Murcia seized Almansa and Hellín and on July 24 they arrived at the Eastern outskirts of Albacete; they amounted to some 4,000 men, mostly workers militia with 6 companies of uniformed servicemen from the army, navy and carabineros. Following few hours of urban combat the rebels surrendered around mid-day on July 25. By dawn of July 26 all the province was firmly back under the government control. July 18, Saturday During the morning hours of July 18 Chápuli ordered concentration of provincial Guardia Civil troops in Albacete; during the day their detachments started to arrive in the provincial capital. Molina ordered the civilian conspirators to head for military barracks, while Cirujeda departed for Madrid to get in touch with the conspiracy command and gather more information; he would be later detained in the capital. Martínez Moreno moved his command post to the Guardia Civil headquarters. In some smaller provincial cities, e.g. in Hellín, civilian conspirators gathered either in private premises or in Guardia Civil posts. The civil governor Pomares Monleón and the mayor of Albacete Virgilio Martínez Gutíerrez remained in touch with Madrid but during telephone conversations they reported nothing suspicious. At a public rally later during the day they declared total loyalty to the government. In the afternoon the provincial Guardia Civil commander Molina received the phone order of general Pozas, Inspector General de Guardia Civil, to send reinforcements to Madrid, on which he defaulted. In few locations, e.g. in Alborea, local Falange activists were detained and transported to the Albacete arrest. July 19, Sunday During the night Chápuli conferred by phone with conspirators in neighboring provinces of Jaén, Ciudad Real and Murcia; some authors claim he realised that Albacete was likely to be isolated, yet decided to proceed. In the early hours of July 19 the Guardia Civil units picked up extra munitions and equipment from the Albacete warehouses; shortly before mid-day Martínez Moreno declared the state of war in the province. Molina entered the civil governor building and detained the civil governor together with some other Frente Popular personalities;