The town was the center of the Asturian October Revolution of 1934, and became an ongoing hive of revolutionary activity since the election of the Popular Front government earlier in the year.

[2] Aranda declared that he would be loyal to the Republic when the rebellion started on 17 July, and he convinced the civil governor and the union leaders that all was calm.

He had carefully studied the defense of the place, and having at first much equipment from the barracks in Oviedo, he sited over 100 Hotchkiss machine guns in five strategic locations in about a nine-mile perimeter around the town.

The besieging force, though, had several problems; it lacked professionalism with few, if any, trained military men as almost all such troops, including a majority of the Assault Guards, had rallied to the uprising.

An estimated 1,500 bombs were dropped on Oviedo, cutting off the gas, electric, and telephone systems, causing a total blackout of the town.

Many people who were sympathetic to the Popular Front joined the forces defending Oviedo because a family member was killed or injured by the attackers' explosives.

There was a constant danger of in-town fighting between those loyal to the Republic and the defenders of the siege, but those fears quickly evaporated as the attackers intensified the bombardment and caused more civilian casualties.

As an aside, Oviedo was remarkable during the siege in that the defenders executed none of the political prisoners whom they held in captivity, which was unique at this time on both sides early in the war.

[14] On 4 October, the day before the second anniversary of the beginning of the Asturias Revolution of 1934, Popular Front militias launched a massive assault on the city.

By that time, the Popular Front militia captured Oviedo's last power plant, leaving the entire town powerless.

Aranda retreated into the barracks in the middle of the defense, and with a radio powered by a car battery, he exhorted the defenders to "fight like Spaniards to the end".

The Popular Front militias had suffered enormous losses themselves, estimated at least 5,000 casualties; they were low on ammunition but were making slow progress.

Then, on 16 October, with the defenders facing annihilation, the Galician relief column arrived and the Popular Front militias, almost out of ammunition, halted their assault.

[17] From 25 to 27 October there were further actions in the outskirts of the city, in places like San Claudio and Naranco, in a successful nationalist attempt to widen the corridor.

In a sweep across Naranco, a nationalist Trubia tank captured a disabled Landesa armed tractor, left in no-man land since breaking down on 10 September.

The Nationalists deployed their Trubia A4s and the captured Landesa tractor, by then worn down after months of heavy service, in defensive positions guarding the main approaches to the inner city.

The nationalist tanks launched a successful counter-attack in the Postigo area the first day of the government's forces assault, which was contained by 27 February.