The Third Reich in Desperation

"No, Commander, the Poles haven't taken any unexpected actions yet. But..." Manstein hesitated, and finally chose to speak bluntly: "Although it's just my guess, I'm pretty sure It is definitely believed that the Poles are very likely to make a big move!"

"Big move?" Rundsteder looked at Manstein suspiciously, frowned and said, "Didn't you already mark every key point they need to build a new line of defense, and send sufficient troops to go there?" Is it occupied? They can't even organize a coherent line of defense, so what else can they do?"

As the chief of staff, Manstein did not answer immediately, but gestured to another staff officer beside him.Then the staff officer immediately took a step forward and reported: "We have received definite information that the Polish army has assembled a large number of troops in Posen Province, but the enemy has not acted yet. Although the chief of staff had already received In the first two days of intelligence, several telegrams have been sent to remind the chief of staff of the Eighth Army to pay attention to the reconnaissance of its northern wing, but there is still no news.”

After the report of his staff officer was completed, Manstein immediately went on to say: "The staff department had already started discussions with the Army General Command about the stagnation of the Posenbo Army an hour ago. It is speculated that Posen's Polish army is about to transport troops to the southeast as quickly as possible."

If it had been a month ago, Rundsteder would not have looked at the speculations sent by the group of "half-watered" from the headquarters of the head of state.At that time, he did not believe that the head of state and the group of people around him could deduce any real materials.

But now, Rundstede's view of Reinhardt has changed a lot.Leaving aside Reinhardt's legendary experience, just his ability to discern pearls made Rundstede look at him with admiration.In addition, Reinhardt's previous prediction that the British and French allied forces would not launch a strong attack is still in effect today!

Although Britain and France declared war on Germany immediately after Germany attacked Poland, due to various reasons, they did not really fight Germany.

First, Britain and France adopted a policy of appeasement for a long time before the war, which was not conducive to preparing for war;

Second, Britain and France did not completely abandon the appeasement policy after the war broke out, and still had illusions about Germany;

Third, the two countries know that the growth of armaments is far behind that of Germany, and they do not have the courage to fight;

Fourth, there are major differences between Britain and France on strategic deployment.The specific manifestation is that both sides want to play the leading role in the alliance, but they are unwilling to send more troops, so they have not been able to establish a unified command system;

Fifth, Britain and France also imagined that after Germany annexed Poland, it would attack the Soviet Union and kill people with knives.So reluctant to throw away the German knife.

Although Britain and France were forced to declare war on Germany in order to fulfill their promise to protect Poland's independence.But people actually declared no war, neither sent a single soldier to aid Poland, nor launched an offensive on the Western Front.

Originally, the British and French allied forces had 110 divisions on the western front, while the German army and the Waffen SS on the opposite side had only 52 divisions.Once the British and French troops attack on the western front, the German army will not be able to see each other from head to tail, and will fall into the quagmire of fighting on two fronts.

But the British and French troops huddled in the fortifications and did not interfere with the Germans.The battle reports issued by the French army are often "calm on the western front, nothing to say."The British Air Force actually ordered the ban on bombing German military targets, and only dropped leaflets in the sky.

On the other hand, although France has declared war on Germany.Reinhardt actually exported another 3 tons of cement to France 20 days ago to help the French further build the Maginot Line against Germany.

Reinhardt's move was also interpreted by the French government as Germany's intention to attack France.French public opinion also believes that since the German capital has helped build the Maginot Line to defend Germany, how can Germany attack France in the future?

Rundstede's face suddenly turned black. Is it true that Reinhardt's famous name will be ruined by Reinhardt?At the beginning, he insisted that Britain and France would definitely send troops to attack Germany, but if the prediction of the head of state finally came true, would he really want to run naked on the streets of Berlin when he made a mistake?

"Commander?" Seeing that Rundstede seemed to be distracted, Manstein reminded softly: "I think the speculation of the Führer's headquarters is reasonable, please think about it."

After regaining his senses, Rundstadt swallowed his saliva, cheered up and said to Manstein, "Tell me your reason."

Seeing that the other party had recovered from some kind of thoughts, Manstein put on a calm and objective tone and continued to analyze: "First of all, although we successfully wiped out more than 10 troops of the Polish army in succession some time ago, they are still under maintenance. South of the Sva River, between Łódź and Warsaw, about 10 divisions remain, and this is the first point for us."

Seeing that Rundstede nodded in agreement, Manstein went on to talk: "In addition, the 8th Army, which was deployed in echelons to cover the flanks of the Army Group, used the 30th Division to attack the Polish Army in the north early this morning. The several assaults launched did not achieve results. I made a preliminary estimate, and the number of Polish troops that can hinder several assaults by one division of ours is at least one army. speculation."

Rundsteder is not an ordinary person either. After listening to Manstein's words, he also roughly understands the current situation.Once the speculation of the Headquarters of the Head of State came true, the troops of the 8th Division of the Eighth Army who happened to confront each other were probably the main force of the Polish army going south.And the first point that Manstein just mentioned, the 30 divisions left by the Polish army south of the Vistula River, is likely to be a right uppercut to cooperate with this southward army to launch a counterattack.

If this is the case, then the second half of the march plan originally set by Major General Manstein is completely inapplicable!

While thinking about it, an urgent telegram from the 8th Army was sent to Rundstede and Manstein-a huge number of Polish troops were launching a counterattack against Lodz, which the Germans had previously captured. The 30th Division, which was defeated and withdrawn, has also turned to the defense.The Eighth Army, whose forces have been scattered everywhere, requested the Army Group Command to move forward an armored division as soon as possible to stabilize the crumbling defense line in Lodz.At present, there is only an understaffed 30th Infantry Division struggling to support it.

Text Chapter 167 Reinforcement Delayed

In the headquarters of the 30th Division under the Southern Army Group, their anxious division commander Hans has sent a report to the Army Group Command for the third time to request support.

The city of Lodz, where the 30th Division is located, was originally acquired without a fight because of the retreat of the Polish army stationed there.But now, in the face of the crazy counterattack of the Polish army, the 30th Division is about to face a loss that is even more tragic than the capture of Rhodes.

Hans had already ordered to gather the two regiments that had been scattered before Lodz. They were both well-trained main regiments, and they were the first-class combat troops in the German army.However, the calls for help from the front line came one after another.

The infantry regiment that was originally in charge of frontal defense has now been completely disabled and has been temporarily withdrawn to the area around the headquarters for repairs.According to statistics, their originally fully formed regiment now only has about 500 troops left, and most of them are injured!

And the losses of the two newly transferred main groups have already exceeded 1000 people!

This is simply the hardest and most tiring battle the German army has fought against Poland!There is no air support, no artillery support, and no reinforcements have even been seen so far.

The Polish army seemed to gather all the artillery they could find, and fired countless artillery fires at the area of ​​Lodz, which was less than a hundred miles away. Even the bunkers at the front of the 30th Division were about to be leveled!

Hans in the headquarters was sweating profusely as he kept urging reinforcements.But the reply of the army group headquarters will always be one sentence: Order your troops to stand firm on the spot.

Could it be that General Rundstede, at the Army Group Headquarters, does not see the current crisis? !Hans looked back at the battle situation since this day in a daze.

Twelve hours have passed since the 30th Army sent a telegram for help in the morning.During the period, the Army Group Command not only rejected the 12th Division's proposal to mobilize an armored division from the reserve to prevent the Polish army from breaking through Lodz, but even air support was not arranged for the shaky 30th Division's defense line.As a result, the 30th Division has actually relied on itself to fight several times the enemy for a whole day.

What worries Hans even more is that an artillery regiment under the 30th Division has now been completely suppressed by the artillery of the Polish army!On the one hand, this is because Reinhardt deliberately suppressed the caliber and weight of the towed artillery in pursuit of mobility, so that the power is not much stronger than Poland.On the other hand, the Polish artillery faced by the 30th Division also had a strong advantage in numbers, and at least more than 9 artillery regiments participated in the artillery battle with the 30th Division.

Although the artillery regiment of the Polish Army is slightly smaller than the German Army in terms of establishment.But after all, this is a 9-to-1 contest. The firepower of a German artillery regiment cannot surpass that of Poland's 9 artillery regiments anyway.

"This is no longer a confrontation between levels!" Hans knocked on the edge of the sand table in the headquarters, and said in a serious voice: "Just judging from the number of artillery pieces of the Polish army on the opposite side, this should also be an artillery configuration of the group army level." You must inform the Army Group Command of the current situation, and a serious crisis may be about to occur in the area where we are in charge!"

From the perspective of the staff officers in the headquarters, Hans' concerns are very likely to arise.The loss at the front has already exceeded the psychological bottom line of Commander Hans. This is perhaps the biggest loss faced by the German army since the beginning of the war.Just now, Hans has ordered the motorized infantry battalion to be transferred to the front of Lodz, ready to replenish it at any time where there is a crisis.It was obviously a loss-making business to use the motorized battalion to fill the line of defense, but Hans did it anyway. The reason is very simple, the 30th Division has no reserve team to send!

If the fight continues like this, Hans may have to transfer his baby's reconnaissance battalion to go up. In less than a day, maybe even the health battalion, logistics battalion, and command company will have to charge up with guns!Otherwise, what troops can the 30th Division use to fill the line of defense?

The Eighth Army, which belonged to the 30th Division, had already transferred the rest of the troops to the front a hundred miles away, chasing and defeating the fleeing Polish army all the way.The only division-level unit within a hundred miles is the 30th Division.To wait for the other troops in the group army to come back for help, from the mobilization and assembly, transportation, and finally going into battle, it will take 2 at the fastest time, and it is already too late.

The only thing that can be counted on is the 16th Armored Division as a reserve in the hands of the army group.As long as the Army Group Command orders, the 24th Division will be able to receive this powerful reinforcement within 30 hours at the earliest.You know, the battles of the German armored divisions against the Polish army have so far been victorious.As long as an armored division arrives, Hans even has the courage to launch a high-scale counterattack with it.

However, the chief of staff of the army group named Manstein not only explicitly rejected Hans' request for reinforcements, but also left Hans with an order to defend himself, not allowing the 30th Army to "turn in" in any form.

Doesn't this mean that the 30th Division will be wiped out! ?

With a division against an army group, Hans racked his brains but could not think of the possibility of winning.Even if the German army is well-trained and well-equipped, what is the chance of winning in the face of more than ten times the Polish army?Moreover, their 30th Division is an infantry division, not a super unit that has been victorious since the beginning of the war-an armored division.Against the enemy, their only tactic is to fight, fight, and block with flesh and blood!

"Master! It's urgent at the front, please send more reinforcements immediately." A hurried liaison soldier rushed into the headquarters to report.

"Why is it urgent again? Didn't I put the motorized infantry battalion behind their defense line to act as a firefighting team? It's been less than 2 hours since I dispatched the motorized infantry battalion." Hans frowned.

It seems that the motorized infantry battalion has been put into battle, but it still hasn't been able to stabilize the defense line for too long.The offensive of the Polish army should have caused another round of large-scale loss of troops to the front line of defense. As a result, the frontline officers had to ask for help again even though they knew that the division was exhausted.

Thinking of this, Hans gritted his teeth and ordered in a deep voice: "Don't keep the reconnaissance battalion at a time like this, and rush to the forward position to block them all!"

Seeing that the division commander who had always regarded the reconnaissance battalion as a treasure and had never let the reconnaissance battalion participate in a frontal offensive and defensive battle reluctantly threw out the reconnaissance battalion, all the staff who were familiar with Hans bowed their heads.The battle situation ahead has reached its final stage. Even the most elite troops like the reconnaissance battalion can only be thrown away as cannon fodder in trench warfare.Why, the Army Group Command just refused to send a reserve force to resolve the crisis?Could it be that Commander Rundstede can't see that a battle of this scale is definitely not something that one division of 30 divisions can handle?

"Don't throw the elite of the reconnaissance battalion all at once, split them up and organize them into the logistics battalion and health battalion, and put them together in the defense line." The division commander Hans lowered his head and added an order in a low voice.

Text Chapter 168 Reinforcements brought by Lieutenant Leon

Just when Hans was about to lead the command company and the drafting platoon of the division to the front line with guns in hand, there was a long-lost news of reinforcements outside the headquarters.

A major staff officer led a neatly dressed lieutenant officer in, and Hans could tell from his appearance that the lieutenant officer had never fought before.It is impossible for a soldier who comes off the battlefield to have a spotless uniform.

However, seeing the arrival of the lieutenant, Hans was naturally happy in his heart. He immediately went up to shake hands and said, "Welcome, lieutenant. I am Hans, the commander of the 30th Division. The loser is in charge of the battle here. May I ask you this time?" Did you follow that army to support us?"

Of course, Hans didn't think that this little lieutenant would be the commander of the reinforcements. In his subconscious mind, the lieutenant must be a messenger who came with a certain senior officer.

“报告！第14集团军第8军第8师1团7连前来集结，我们没有更随别的部队一起。属下里昂，现正担任这支援军的连长。”

A company of reinforcements!Hans stared at Leon with wide eyes, and asked with a strange expression after a long time, "Are there any other reinforcements?"

"No!" Lyon replied with a salute: "We have a whole company of 201 people, and we happened to follow the logistics convoy of the 8th Army passing by this area. We heard that Lodz was attacked by the Polish army and urgently needed reinforcements, so we rushed here non-stop. "