 They immediately gained a position on the heights of La Muela, and by evening encircled the city.Rey d'Harcourt pulled his defenses into the town, and by December 17 gave up trying to keep a foothold on La Muela.Francisco Franco, Nationalist Commander, finally decided on December 23 to aid the defenders at Teruel, having decided as a matter of policy that no provincial capital must fall to the Republicans.