penetration to positions far from Melilla without having adequate defenses in his rear. Alfonso's apparent indifference to Abd el-Krim's demand for ransom for the prisoners led to a popular backlash against the monarchy. (Vacationing in southern France, he reportedly said "Chicken meat is cheap" when informed of the disaster; other sources render the quote as "Chicken meat is expensive".) The crisis was one of the many that over the course of the next decade undermined the Spanish monarchy and led to the rise of the Second Spanish Republic. The last Spanish military commander to mount any significative resistance during the battle was the General Felipe Navarro who was forced to surrender and was captured along with 534 military personnel and 53 civilians, all of whom were held by Abd-el-Krim at his headquarters in Axdir; of these, 326 survived the 18 months of captivity before eventually being released following negotiations undertaken primarily by members of the Indigenous Affairs Delegation, most prominently Gustavo de Sostoa and Luis de la Corte Luján, with the final conditions settled between Abd el-Krim himself and Horacio Echevarrieta. The terms of release included the payment by Spain of 4 million pesetas, a huge amount for the time. Once the ransom was received, the captives were released on 27 January 1923. Most of the area occupied by the Rifian tribes was taken back by an expedition led by General Damaso Berenguer in 1922. On 2 July 2012, the cavalry regiment Cazadores de Alcántara was awarded the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand by the Council of Ministers for its rearguard action in Annual. See also The Battle of El Herri, a similar battle during the Zaian War in which a French colonial force was defeated by the Zayane Berber confederation References Further reading External links The Disaster of Annual (in Spanish). "La Guardia Civil en el Desastre de Annual", an article on this topic from the official site of the Spanish Guardia Civil (in Spanish). Rif War of 1919–1926 on OnWar.com Annual Annual Guerrilla warfare Rebellions against the Spanish Empire Rif War Conflicts in 1921 1921 in Morocco 1921 in Spain