Battle of Annual

In early 1921, Spanish forces commanded by General Manuel Fernández Silvestre started an offensive into northeastern Morocco from the coastal regions that they already held. The advance took place without extended lines of communication being adequately established or the complete subjugation of the areas occupied. In the course of the Spanish offensive, the Spanish had penetrated almost into the enemy lines, but during the hasty advances, neither defensible forts nor accessible water supply points had been put in place. The territory newly occupied by the Spanish was garrisoned only by small makeshift blockhouses (blocaos), each manned by a platoon of soldiers (typically 12–20). The outposts were widely spread, typically located in high places, distant from water sources and lacking good communications with the main positions. The ultimate goal of the campaign was to establish a permanent military presence on the shores of Al Hoceima bay, a strategic point between the western and the eastern Moroccan coast. The Rifian irregular forces were commanded by Abd el-Krim, a former civil servant and translator in the Spanish Office of Indigenous Affairs in Melilla and one of the leaders of the tribe of the Aith Ouriaghel. == Annual ==

On 15 January 1921 the Spanish forces under Silvestre occupied the small village of Annual in the valley of Ait Oulichek, and established their main forward base for completing the occupation of eastern Morocco. Silvestre was considered an impetuous and aggressive personality, who was known to be a favourite of King Alfonso XIII. During his year in military command of the Melilla headquarters, Silvestre had doubled the amount of territory held by the Spanish in the central Rif. Annual was situated about to the south-west of Melilla. Surviving photographs show the Annual encampment itself to have been a sprawling tented encampment spread over several slopes in a starkly empty landscape. On 1 June 1921, a Spanish outpost set up just hours before on , a position east of Annual, was attacked and captured by Rifian guerrillas. The Spanish lost 179 soldiers killed. Two days later, Silvestre decided to establish a new forward position, this time south of Annual, at the heights of Igueriben. The post was besieged by the Rifians on 14 July. The shortage of fresh water and the use of artillery by the Rifians forced the Spanish army to evacuate the position on 21 July, under heavy fire. Only 33 soldiers survived from a garrison of 300. == Battle ==

On the eve of battle the Spanish garrison occupying the advanced encampment of Annual numbered 5,000 men. These were mostly Peninsula conscripts from the Ceriñola, Africa, Alcantara and San Fernando Regiments. In addition there were four batteries of artillery and about two thousand indigenous troops (1,400 Regulares and 400 native police all under Spanish officers, plus a harka of tribal allies under their own leadership) On 22 July, after five days of skirmishing, the Spanish force was attacked by 3,000 Rif fighters. but poor leadership and inadequate preparation meant that any hope of a disciplined withdrawal quickly degenerated into a disorganised rout. The overstretched Spanish military build-up in the Eastern Spanish Protectorate in Morocco crumbled. After the battle, the Rifians advanced eastward and overran more than 130 Spanish blockhouses. The Spanish garrisons were destroyed without mounting a coordinated response to the attacks. By the end of August, Spain had lost all the territories that it had gained in the area since 1909. identified the remains of Silvestre by his general's sash. A Moorish courier from Kaddour 'n Amar said that eight days after the battle, he saw the corpse of the general lying face down on the battlefield and still recognizable by his sash and insignia. Yet another account has Silvestre, still in Annual, shouting into the chaos "run, run little soldiers, the bogeyman is coming" before shooting himself. == Spanish retreat ==

At Afraou, on the coast, Spanish warships managed to evacuate the garrison. At Zoco el Telata de Metalsa, in the south, Spanish troops and civilians retreated to the French Zone. Spanish survivors of the battle retreated some to the spread-out fortified base of Monte Arruit, which was built between 1912 and 1916 and located south of Melilla. There, a stand was attempted under the leadership of General Felipe Navarro. As the position was surrounded, and cut off from water and supplies, General Berenguer authorised its surrender on August 9. The Rifians did not respect the conditions of surrender and killed 3,000 Spanish soldiers. General Navarro was taken prisoner, along with 534 military personnel and 53 civilians; El-Krim later stated that to have been his greatest mistake. Spain quickly assembled about 14,000 reinforcements and Monte Arruit to be retaken by the end of November. The Spaniards may have lost up to 22,000 soldiers at Annual and in the subsequent fighting. The final official figures for the Spanish death toll, both at Annual and during the subsequent rout which took Rifian forces to the outskirts of Melilla, were reported to the Cortes Generales as 13,192 killed, including Moroccan colonial forces. Materiel lost by the Spanish, in the summer of 1921 and especially in the Battle of Annual, included 11,000 rifles, 3,000 carbines, 1,000 muskets, 60 machine guns, 2,000 horses, 1,500 mules, 100 cannons, and a large quantity of ammunition. El-Krim remarked later: "In just one night, Spain supplied us with all the equipment which we needed to carry on a big war."{{cite book |title=Franzosen, Briten und Deutsche im Rifkrieg 1921–1926: Spekulanten und Sympathisanten, Deserteure und Hasardeure im Dienste Abdelkrims |volume=74 |series=Pariser Historische Studien == Aftermath ==

The political crisis brought about by this disaster led Indalecio Prieto to say in the Congress of Deputies: "We are at the most acute period of the decline of Spain. The campaign in Africa is a total, absolute failure of the Spanish Army, without extenuation." The Minister of War ordered the creation of an investigative commission, led by General Juan Picasso González, which developed the report known as Expediente Picasso. The report detailed numerous military mistakes, but the obstructive action of various ministers and judges made it not go so far as to lay political responsibility for the defeat. In all, the defeat is often thought of in Spain as the worst of the Spanish army in modern times. The disaster damaged morale among the remainder of the Spanish forces in Morocco, with officers starting to distrust their local auxiliaries about whom rumors of armed uprisings started to circulate. Among the Spanish people, there was despair and anger with the government over the defeat. Many Spaniards started to demand that Spain completely pull out of its remaining African colonies. The reasons for the crushing defeat may lie with Silvestre's tactical decisions and the fact that the bulk of the Spanish army was formed by poorly trained conscripts. Most of the area occupied by the Rifian tribes was eventually taken back by the Spanish Legion and the Regiments "Guipúzcoa" and "Otumba" led by General Sanjurjo in November 1921, 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 ==