 Then Francisco Franco decided to advance to the north, and occupy Extremadura, in order to connect the two nationalist held zones and start the advance towards Madrid.The July's "coup" had succeeded in the Caceres province but in the Badajoz province the armed forces had remained loyal to the government.The Nationalists had a force of 8,000 men of the Spanish Army of Africa, mainly members of the "Spanish Legion" and the "Regulares" (Moroccan mercenaries), backed by Andalusian "Requetes", under the command of the Colonel Juan Yagüe.