The Third Reich in Desperation

The difference is that the Polish army deployed denser troops on the border of Poland and Germany, which resulted in the German army's first round of victory being much greater than that of the Soviet army in the east.The German army's concentrated use of armored forces to quickly rush into the hinterland of Poland made the Polish High Command lose the area originally intended to be used as the second line of defense before it could establish a new line of defense.In this regard, the German army is much better than the slowly advancing Soviet army.

"What? It's time to check the original plan again." The speaker was the commander of the Army Group South, a veteran of the German army, Rundsteder.

Although the old general had differences with Reinhardt on the deployment of troops on the western front, this did not affect his fulfillment of his duties as a German general on the eastern front.

Knowing this, Reinhardt also very generously appointed this old general who made bold opinions as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army Group, and handed over the huge German main force of the Southern Army Group to the command of Rundstede. .

At this time, seeing that the old general cared about himself who was labeled as Reinhardt's confidant, Manstein also responded respectfully: "Commander, it is a good thing that the front line is fighting smoothly, but we should not relax at this time. Once At this time, due to some small mistakes, the success fell short, and that is the serious dereliction of duty of the chief of the general staff!"

"The plan you made is very good, you have to have confidence in yourself." Rundstede waved his hand and said: "Of all the staff I have met, you are the most daring and cautious one. In my opinion, there is no one in the Polish high command who can be your opponent."

Rundsteder's words were simply the greatest encouragement to Manstein, who had just formulated a battle plan for the Grand Army.Who is Rundstede? He is the most experienced general in the German army today.It will be the honor of every staff officer to be praised by such a war expert.

In fact, at the beginning, Rundstede was prejudiced against Reinhardt's arrangement of Manstein and himself.He thought it was a way for Reinhardt to mix sand around him and install his direct descendants.Out of this mentality, Rundstede initially looked down upon Manstein, who was made chief of staff of Army Group South by virtue of his connections.

But later, after Manstein led his staff team to formulate a nearly perfect marching strategy, Rundstede began to look at him with admiration.

As the supreme commander of the Southern Army Group, Rundsteder witnessed how Manstein did not touch the ground a few days ago, and led his staff to formulate a specific marching route without sleeping or eating.And this entry plan, under the vicious eyes of Rundstadt, can't find even the slightest loophole!

This combat line that even Rondstadt can't find fault with is as follows:

The 14th Army marched straight from Upper Silesia through Moravia to the Corpathian Mountains, using this far-reaching advance to pave the way for the main force of the Polish army to encircle Galicia, and to cover up the encirclement and annihilation of the Polish army with a fast straight line attack The real intention of the main force.

Among them, the 8th Army wanted to break through the Polish fortresses in Silesia, and then advance towards Krakau along the north bank of the Vistula River.

At the same time, the 17th Army left Moravia, and after defeating the border Polish army, advanced along the south bank of the Vistula River to Krakow.

The other 22nd Armored Army attacked from the Orava Canyon on the west side of the Corpathian Mountains, and launched an assault on Krakow from the south.The 18th Mountain Army marched north of Krakau through the Boprad Gorge, via Novi Sonchi, threatening Krakau from behind.

The four-way march seemed to have its own purpose, but in fact, every step was intertwined. From four directions, it pointed to the heavy assembly point of the Polish army in Krakow, trying to break the backbone of the Polish army on the southern front in one fell swoop.

The 10th Army, which has a relatively strong armored force, will, with the cooperation of the relatively weak 8th Army, destroy all the garrisons and reserves of the Polish Army in the two provinces of Lodz and Posen.Prevent the Polish army from using these troops to retreat to the rear of the Vistula River to organize a new line of defense.

The new line of defense mentioned in Manstein's strategy is actually the best line of defense proposed by Berente of the French officer corps to the Polish High Command at the beginning.Unfortunately, Marshal Smigray of Poland did not adopt it, and Manstein was prepared to give him a chance to correct it.

It can be said that although the overall goal of Manstein's plan is bold, but because of the scattered setting of small goals for individual troops and the reduction of risks, it is perfect!

In this marching strategy, tactics are just details and basic tools.What is great about Manstein is that he formulates every tactical goal as part of the overall battle goal. Even if a certain point or points are not in place in time, the remaining points can still be independently supported. The general trend of the entire battle!

After so many years of fighting in Rundstede, I have never seen that staff plan so meticulously and comprehensively!

In Rundsteder's view, if Reinhardt reused himself regardless of the gap before, he felt a kind of overlord's broad mind.Then Reinhardt's excavation and reuse of such an inconspicuous genius consultant as Manstein showed the wisdom of a hero!

In addition to the Spanish teenager Rommel who won more with less, and the Austrian armor master Guderian who marched in lightning, this Manstein is already the third extraordinary talent that Reinhardt boldly promoted!Rundstede was a little surprised. It seemed that the military cronies promoted by the head of state so far were all genuine generals who could stand the test, not the kind of incompetent people who flattered and tried to gain power.

Once again, again and again, it is no longer a coincidence.All phenomena point to one possibility, that is, the head of state has never placed cronies in the top ranks of the army, but promoted some capable talents to the top ranks!

Rundstede was a little dazed. Judging from this situation, it is possible that the Führer really has extraordinary foresight. Wouldn't it be possible for him to strip down to a pair of underwear and run naked on the streets of Berlin in the future? !

Main Text Chapter 165 The Rivalry Between Berente and Manstein

On the seventh day of the German offensive against Poland, the entire western defense line of the Polish army was completely eroded.

In the north, the German Army Group North, under the command of General von Bock, broke through the Danzig Corridor step by step on the first day and joined the East Prussian infantry battle group.Subsequently, the 3rd Army and the 2th Army under the Northern Army launched in East Prussia and East Pomerania respectively, and launched an assault on the east of the Vistula River, annihilating the Polish High Command's original plan to attack East Prussia. Infantry division and 2 cavalry brigades.

According to the information provided by Reinhardt, the Northern Army Group used pre-emptive means to annihilate the elite troops of two divisions and two cavalry brigades at the front of the Polish Army, breaking the original strategic goal of the Polish High Command in one fell swoop.

As a result, the Polish High Command's plan to shorten the line of defense by occupying East Prussia was completely defeated, and the Polish army in the north was unable to build a coherent new line of defense in the short term.

In the south, Manstein's plan was a great success.The 14th Motorized Army under the Southern Army Group cut off the retreat of the Polish main force in Radom in one fell swoop according to the route formulated by Manstein in advance, and completed the first army-level encirclement in the entire battle.And in the next 3 days, through step-by-step compression, a main Polish army in the encirclement was wiped out.

At the end of the battle, Army Group South captured a total of 6 Polish officers and soldiers, seized 130 artillery pieces, and wiped out 7 main Polish divisions.The price paid by the Southern Army Group was only the death of more than 400 officers and soldiers and the injury of more than 1200 officers and soldiers.

The South Army Group can achieve such a beautiful battle loss ratio. On the one hand, it is attributed to Manstein’s frequent mobilization of German elite armored units to fight off the cavalry divisions used by the Polish army for charging, which relieved the pressure on the front-line infantry; Because the German Air Force seized air supremacy from the Polish Air Force, it was able to frequently support the infantry and unilaterally slaughter the Polish Army.

..........

"It's only been a week, and the Germans have completely broken through our well-arranged defenses on the western front! You generals, how did you command the troops? 20 people, we lost 20 out-and-out elite troops Division! Even if it is 20 pigs, the German army will have to catch them for several days! But you are lucky, and you lost the 20 main force and a large piece of land so easily!"

As the highest military officer of the Polish High Command, at this time Marshal Smigre was furious at a group of generals under his command.

The situation on the Eastern Front that had originally worried Smi Gray was stabilized with a reinforcement army of no more than 10 under the advice of Major General Berente of the French officer corps.

However, the Western Front, which had a heavy army at the beginning, is now retreating steadily, and the troops are defeated.

More than 500 of the most advanced fighter planes in Poland were wiped out by the Luftwaffe on the first day of the war.There are more than 100 old-fashioned fighters from World War I left, and even if they are taken out, they may not be of much use.

The Air Force was labeled as a "turkey" by the German army because of the poor performance of the airframe and the quality of the pilots.The army was crushed into a "earth dog" by the German armored forces because of the outdated combat thinking.

Because the backward and conservative Polish army hardly knew the huge changes in the external military, let alone the mighty power of the tanks used by the German army, but still stubbornly believed that it was in an era when the cavalry was omnipotent.On the battlefield, Polish soldiers even thought that the armor of German tanks was just camouflage made of tin plates.

Smi Gray heard that many white-gloved Polish cavalry with long sabers swarmed up the front line, using sabers and spears in their hands to launch a fierce attack on the German tanks.However, after the German tanks fired a machine gun, these cavalrymen all fell down.

Regarding the rumors of the stupid charge of the Polish cavalry, Berente from France was even more surprised and speechless.He could even imagine the scene at that time: the majestic Polish cavalry swept in like a gust of wind, and the sound of horseshoes and shouts of killing suddenly rang out.Then under the strafing of the German tanks, the cavalry fell down row by row, and almost none of them could get close to the tanks. The front ones fell down, and the rear ones made up again, and then the Germans in the tanks were very happy one by one. , Row after row to kill.

We can't continue fighting like this!Although this is not the army of his own country, Berente, who has a much wider experience than the Polish generals, understands that if the fight continues like this, no heroic army will be able to do anything at all. He does not allow this one-sided battle to continue.

"Does General Belante have any insights?" Seeing that Belaante had some insights, Smi Gray immediately pinned his hopes on this young French general who had successfully resisted the torrent of the Soviet army by conspiring for the Polish army.

Since the Polish generals are all short-sighted trash, it is better to rely on this excellent major general from France.At least others have proved their talents through a plan to successfully stop the Soviet army, but these domestic generals have not yet come up with a decent plan.

"The situation is not optimistic." After looking at the battle map for a while with two French staff officers, Berente said suddenly: "The border guards will collapse at the first touch, and the cavalry who launched a counterattack suffered great losses because they did not understand the performance of tanks. .It is almost impossible to reorganize the defense on the Eastern Front now!"

Berante's words were like a bolt from the blue, and Marshal Smeigre was sweating profusely.Although the defeat of the Polish army has been revealed in the battle in the Radom area, Smi Gray still hopes that Berante, a general from the "No. , even if it is just to find a new line of defense to regain a firm foothold.

Smeigre sighed secretly. Even Berente, who had always been conceited before, seemed unable to find a way to turn defeat into victory... Then, in the whole of Poland, who has the ability to save the situation?

"The person who made the plan in the German Army Command really has two brushes. I admit that he is a terrible opponent." Berente still looked at the red and blue diagram on the wall, and said slowly: "He is dead They seized every strategic location behind the old line of defense that the Polish army needed to build a new line of defense, and quickly occupied those positions with mobile troops at hand, so that even if the Polish army stopped retreating immediately, it would not be able to build a continuous line of defense."

"However, he still missed a little..." Berente suddenly raised the decibel and laughed.

Seeing this scene, the eyes of all the people present were shining with excitement, and they were engrossed in anticipating what Berente would say next.

"To stop the German attack, it is not necessary to establish a line of defense. The Polish army now only needs to quickly mobilize Posen's 8th Army to the southeast, and regain the initiative through a successful counterattack. Germany The commander of the Southern Army Group must have never imagined that we will concentrate our efforts to deal with them first. When we interrupt their original plan and grasp the rhythm of the war, the situation will naturally improve!" Berente, a French major general, said At this moment, he actually issued instructions to a group of Polish lieutenant generals.

What is unusual is that these Polish generals, who are a bit higher in rank than Berente, didn't feel anything wrong.They have been completely overwhelmed by the talent that Berente showed before, and they began to agree with this disciple of the famous French general Pétain from the bottom of their hearts.

It's just that they don't know that Manstein, the German opponent whom Berente never forgets, and the creator of the combat plan of Army Group South, is not a commander who can only follow the steps.Breaking Manstein's original expectation does not mean that the situation will get better!

Text Chapter 166 Variables

On the 9th day of the Polish war, the Southern Army Group in Rundstede was advancing smoothly.Everything was as Manstein expected, the Polish army was retreating steadily, and under the pursuit of the German armored forces, it was completely unable to spare energy to build a new line of defense.

Even the experienced Rundsteder had an illusion, as if there would be no accidents that would terminate the operation or change the plan. The German army seemed to only need to follow the plan specified by the genius Manstein. , will soon be able to fight all the way to Warsaw!

In the early hours of the ninth day, Rundstede, who had just woken up, met Manstein who had been waiting for a long time at the entrance of the cafeteria of the school for the deaf, which served as the temporary headquarters.

Looking at Manstein's worried look, Rundsteder asked strangely: "Why, something happened to the northern wing of the Army Group you mentioned earlier?"