surrendered to the Italians at Santoña, and the Republican troops fled from Santander. On August 26, the Italians occupied Santander, and by September 1, the Nationalists had occupied almost all of Cantabria. The Nationalists captured 60,000 prisoners, the greatest number during the war. Asturias Campaign After the failed republican offensive against Zaragoza, the Nationalists decided to continue their offensive against Asturias. The Nationalists had overwhelming numerical (90,000 men against 45,000) and material (more than 200 aircraft against 35) superiority, but the Republican Army in Asturias was better organised than in Santander, and the difficult terrain provided excellent defensive positions. During the Battle of El Mazuco, 30,000 Navarrese troops, led by Solchaga and supported by the Legion Condor, eventually took the El Mazuco valley and the critical nearby mountains (Peña Blanca and Pico Turbina), which were held by 5,000 Republican soldiers only after 33 days of bloody combat. On October 14, the Nationalists broke the Republican front, and on October 17, the Republican government ordered the evacuation of Asturias to begin. However, Nationalist ships were blockading the Asturian ports, and only a few military commanders (Adolfo Prada, Galan, Belarmino Tomas) managed to escape. By October 21, the Nationalists had occupied Gijón and completed the conquest of the northern zone. Aftermath With the conquest of the North, the Nationalists controlled 36% of Spanish industrial production, 60% of the coal production and all of the steel production. Furthermore, more than 100,000 Republican prisoners were forced to join the Nationalist Army or were sent to labour battalions. The Republic had lost the Army of the North (more than 200,000 soldiers), and by then, a complete military victory of the Republic in the war became impossible. Franco then decided to start a new offensive against Madrid, but Vicente Rojo Lluch, the leader of the Republican Army, launched a diversionary offensive in Aragon, the Battle of Teruel. See also List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War Condor Legion List of weapons of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War References Bibliography Graham, Helen. (2005). The Spanish Civil War. A Very Short introduction. Oxford University Press. . Jackson, Gabriel. (1967) The Spanish Republic and the Civil War, 1931–1939. Princeton University Press. Princeton. . External links Juan Antonio de Blas, El Mazuco (La defensa imposible), in La guerra civil en Asturias, Ediciones Júcar, Gijón 1986 (pp369–383).