To everyone's surprise, the day after the menacing Soviet army invaded Poland, they were blocked by a group of Polish infantry who used field fortifications for defense!
The 300,000-strong Belarusian Front was blocked across a bridge in Pochki and could not pass for a long time. The 200,000-strong Ukrainian Front was defeated by a Polish standing infantry division in Przemysl.
, no face.
Since most of the Soviet commanders lacked combat experience, and the actual commanders of many units were amateur political workers, in this large-scale actual battle, the Soviet army, which had no tactics to speak of, suffered heavy losses in the first stage. There were probably
Tens of thousands of people were confirmed dead in the first week, and more than 30,000 were injured.
Since then, the two fronts of the Soviet Union have suffered heavy losses in weapons and equipment, and their troop formations have been severely damaged.
On the other hand, although the Polish army lost part of the border area, it easily curbed the Soviet offensive momentum and reasonably hindered the Soviet advance at various key points. This is inseparable from the quality of the Soviet officers.
contact.
Of course, on the other hand, the sufficient field artillery deployed on Poland's eastern front also played an important role in stabilizing the defense line. This German replica of the French 77mm caliber gun accounted for a large proportion of the Polish army, so it was used on both the east and west fronts of Poland.
can leave a larger quantity.
A week after the Soviet-Polish War broke out, the Soviet troops on the eastern front of Poland were still unable to achieve their original strategic goals. And the air supremacy they initially seized was gradually lost as the Polish Air Force arrived from the western front and entered the battlefield.
.In response to this, Stalin, furious, ordered: Attack, attack, and attack again at all costs until all Polish defense lines are broken!
The eager Timoshenko and Kovalev kept putting pressure on the troops, hoping to achieve results as soon as possible. Because even if they had small results, they could use them to confront Stalin.
Unfortunately, everything backfired. Before the Soviet army achieved results, elite reinforcements mobilized by the Polish high command had arrived one after another. The early arrival of 4 cavalry divisions gave the Polish army on the border great courage and morale. Polish Major General Filipowicz
He commanded the cavalry to carry out several local counterattacks, and actually achieved quite good results.
After finally waiting for the Polish cavalry to accumulate enough losses, they began to reduce the intensity of the attack. Timoshenko and Kovalev immediately planned a joint pincer offensive, striving to open up the situation in one fell swoop and rush all the way to Svikmiby.
One line.
These two Soviet generals had some brains and saw the possibility of the situation descending into trench warfare. And they also knew that the Soviet offensive plan was hastily formulated and was insisted on by the great leader Mr. Stalin.
.All preparations for the offensive officially started only after the Soviet-German secret talks, which took less than a month.
Although there was an efficient railway network and an excellent highway system that the Germans helped to rebuild, the Soviet army still failed to prepare sufficient offensive materials in just one month.
The current weapons and ammunition for the frontline troops can actually last for a week at most.
Even if the rear continues to replenish supplies to the frontline troops through the transportation network during this period, the current offensive cannot last for more than two weeks. After all, the rate of consumption of supplies during the offensive far exceeds the rate of replenishment.
Therefore, the Soviet army decided that they could not continue the fight so leisurely! Even if they tried their best and spent more ammunition to launch a larger-scale all-out attack, it would still be a hundred times better than just doing it.
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As long as the Svikmibi area is captured, the Soviet army can temporarily switch to a defensive state and use this period to further replenish ammunition and other supplies. Then, the large amount of supplies consumed to achieve this strategic goal can also be replenished.
If they fail to achieve the established strategic goals, in the long run, the Soviet army will likely fall into a protracted trench war and pay a huge price for it; in the short run, the two front commanders will certainly not escape the wrath of leader Stalin.
Maybe they will be thrown into Siberia and rehabilitated in the future.
Time is running out! Every minute and second that passes, the Soviet army's original advantage of surprise attack disappears. When the Polish High Command reacts and continuously mobilizes troops to the eastern front, everything will be over.
Not only was it difficult for the Soviet Union to achieve its own strategic goals, it also fought trench warfare with the Polish army as if it were a wedding dress for Germany, allowing the Germans to sit back and watch the fight between tigers. When the Polish army was weakened to a great extent, the German army came with a strong wind
With a sweeping assault, wouldn’t the fruits of victory be cheap for the Germans?!
"Report, General Timoshenko!"
"Report, General Kovalev!"
In their headquarters, the two men received reports on the battle situation from their staff officers at the same time.
"According to the news returned by the reconnaissance plane, the Polish army has assembled a new reserve force in the Svikimibe area. Now, they are marching to the border, and their leading troops can reach the fighting area within 24 hours."
The news from the staff broke the last trace of luck between the two generals. The Polish high command finally mobilized its main troops to the western front. From this look, the Soviet army, which performed poorly, may be in big trouble soon! Others
The expanded troops based on a small standing army can be on par with the Soviet army, so this regiment, which is obviously the main force reserved by the Polish high command, must not teach the Soviet army how to behave.
"Send power to General Timoshenko and ask him if he has any good countermeasures. We can still suppress this newly arrived Polish regiment with our numerical advantage, but if there are several more Polish regiments, we will be in big trouble!
"In the headquarters of the Belarusian Front, the anxious Kovalev could only find Timoshenko on a rope to discuss countermeasures. After all, the other party was in a similar situation to himself, and the method he thought of must also apply to him.
In Kovalev's view, Timoshenko can be regarded as a highly respected and highly qualified military commander among Soviet generals, with rich command experience and outstanding command ability. In this case, Timoshenko's
The advice was much more reliable than that of the political workers around him who knew nothing about military matters.
"Ask me what countermeasures you have?" Timoshenko, who was sitting in the Ukrainian Front Army headquarters, was sipping black tea to relieve his inner depression when he received the telegram from Kovalev. If he were not commanding
During the war, he would definitely choose to refresh himself with a bottle of vodka at this moment.
Depressedly, Timoshenko listened to his political commissar read Kovalev's request for help telegram. Timoshenko smiled bitterly and shook his head: "What can I do? Originally, I did not approve of sending troops when the army was not prepared.
Now that the fight has begun, where is the way out? I don’t know what kind of medicine the Germans gave the Chairman, so that the Chairman had to fight..."
Wait, Germans!
Yes, there is still a way to go. I heard that the Germans are also going to declare war on Poland. Originally, the chairman hurriedly ordered the Soviet army to launch an attack just to get ahead of the Germans and attack Poland. Now that the war situation has developed to this