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In early December, four He 112  fighters arrived in the Spanish port of Cadiz, from where they were taken to the Tablada airfield near Seville. The planes were included in the 88th fighter squadron of the Condor Legion, which consisted of German volunteers and armed with German weapons. The Heinkel turned out to be the only cannon fighter not only in the legion, but in the entire Francoist aviation. Therefore, they decided to use it as an attack aircraft against ground targets. Together with Junkers Ju 87A and Henschel Hs 123 dive bombers, it began to strike at republican armored vehicles, field fortifications and artillery positions.

At the beginning of 1937, the Kanonenvogel took part in the battles on the Harama River. On March 16, an attack aircraft under the control of Oberleutnant Wilhelm Baltasar completed his most successful sortie. On that day, he attacked an armored train at the Sesenya station. From the third approach, Belshazzar managed to hit the ammunition rack in one of the armored cars. A powerful explosion blew the car to smithereens and caused the detonation of shells on a nearby armored area. As a result, the composition was completely destroyed. On the way back, the pilot shot the remnants of ammunition at the republican tank and also disabled it.

After this incident, Baltasar was appointed commander of an experimental assault unit, which consisted of three  Heinkel He 45 biplanes and a Kanonenfogel. In June, the lunit fought on the northern front, supporting the advance of the Francoist troops on Bilbao. Then, in early July, it was returned to the central front, near Toledo. The 112 was then piloted by non-commissioned officer Max Schulze. For 10 days of fighting, he reported the destruction of three republican armored vehicles.

The fighting career of the “cannon bird” ended on July 19th. During the landing approach, the engine suddenly jammed at the plane. Schulze tried to make it to the gliding runway, but as a glider the Heinkel was too heavy. The forced landing ended with the fuselage of the Kanonenfogel breaking in half. Surprisingly, the pilot was not injured, but the car had to be written off.