In spite of a non-intervention policy adopted by the League of Nations, foreign nationals flocked to Spain by the thousands. As a result, both the Nationalists and the Republicans used foreign troops to fight their war. On March 8, the Nationalists opened an offensive with the objective of taking Guadalajara and surrounding Madrid. Near Brihuega, in one of the ironies that only a conflict as convoluted as this could produce, units of the same nationality clashed on the road to Guadalajara – the Garbaldi Battalion of the 13th International Brigade made up of Italian socialists, communists, and other anti-fascists clashed with the Black Flame Division of the regular Italian army.
Attacker: Republican (Garibaldi Battalion)
Defender: Nationalist (Black Flame Division and attached Armor)
