General Franco Checked General Franco's advance along the Mediterranean coast
on Castellon and Valencia has been held up by bad weather and by the stubborn resistance he has to face. At the same time he has had to weaken his forces in that sector in order to check the counter-attacks delivered by the Republicans in Catalonia. It is by now clear that there is no prospect of the collapse of the Government's resistance which was predicted after the insurgents' advance to the sea, and despite pressure from his foreign allies General Franco appears to have decided on a policy of gradually wearing down the Government. Even if successful, the process is bound to be a slow one. The revival in the Government's morale can be attributed to three factors—new supplies of war material ; General Franco's unification of Catalonia against him by his expressed intention of destroying her autonomy ; and the work of the political commissions, whose dis- missal by Sefior Prieto was largely responsible for the collapse of resistance to General Franco's advance to the sea and the cause of his resignation. On the other hand, there are several signs of dissension in the insurgent camp, especially because of the Falangists' hostility to the Germans and Italians. The tale of atrocities has been tragically lengthened by the raid on the open town of Alicante by Nationalist aeroplanes on Wednesday. Deaths numbered 200 and the wounded far more. At the same time a British ship, the Thorpehall,' was sunk in the same neighbourhood by bombs from the air, but without loss of life.
