After the defeat of the Battle of Ebro, the Republican Army was broken and would never recover. The Republicans had lost most of their armament and experienced units. At the beginning of December, the Nationalists concentrated an army of 300,000-340,000 men led by General Davila in order to conquer Catalonia. Then, Vicente Rojo, decided to launch a diversionary offensive in the central zone in order to divert Nationalists forces from the Nationalist offensive against Catalonia.