for the Nationalists, as it would mean the joining of the Army of the South with that of Emilio Mola, which dominated the north. Badajoz found itself isolated after the fall of Mérida several days earlier. The siege of the town was carried out by 2,250 Spanish legionarios, 750 Moroccan Regulares and five batteries of artillery under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe. The final assault was made on the evening of August 14, after the city had bern bombarded from both land and air (by German Junkers Ju 52) for most of the day. Badajoz's recently reoccupied 18th-century walls were defended by 2,000 Republican militiamen and 500 regular soldiers, led by Colonel Ildefonso Puigdendolas. After opening a breach in the walls to the east, at the Puerte de la Trinidad and Puerte de Carros, the Nationalist troops entered the city. After bloody hand-to-hand fighting, Badajoz fell to the Nationalists. Accounts Badajoz fell to the Nationalists on August 14. That day, many civilians were killed in the streets of the city, including women and children, especially by the Moroccan troops. The same day, Yagüe ordered the confinement of all prisoners, most of them civilians, in the town's Bull Ring (Plaza de Toros), and he began executions there that night. According to articles published in Le Populaire, Le Temps, Le Figaro, Paris-Soir, Diário de Lisboa and the Chicago Tribune mass executions took place, and the streets of Badajoz became littered with bodies. On the first day, there are accounts that claim that 1,000 people were executed. The American journalist Jay Allen, in his report in the Chicago Tribune, spoke of 1,800 men and women killed on the first night alone. On August 15, a reporter for Le Temps, Jacques Berthet, sent the following report: ...around 200 people have been shot by firing squad, we have seen the sidewalks of the Comandancia Militar soaked in blood.... The arrests and mass executions continue in the Bull Ring. The streets are swept by bullets, covered in glass, tiles and abandoned bodies. In the calle San Juan alone there are 300 corpses. On August 18, Le Populaire published: Elvas. August 17. Mass executions have been taking place all yesterday evening and all of this morning in Badajoz. It is estimated that the number of people executed is more than 1,500. Among the notable victims are a number of officers who defended the city against