Chapter 165: The competition between Berante and Manstein
On the seventh day of the German offensive against Poland, the entire western Polish defense line had been completely eroded.
In the north, the German Army Group Northern, under the command of General von Bock, broke through the Danzig Corridor step by step on the first day and merged with the East Prussian infantry battle group. Subsequently, the 3rd Army and the 4th Army under the Northern Army respectively
It launched in East Prussia and East Pomerania, launched an assault east of the Vistula River, and annihilated the two infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades that the Polish high command had originally planned to use to attack East Prussia.
According to the intelligence provided by Reinhardt, Army Group North used preemptive measures to annihilate the elite troops of two divisions and two cavalry brigades on the Polish front, thus defeating the Polish high command's original strategic goal in one fell swoop.
As a result, the Polish high command's plan to shorten the defense line by occupying East Prussia was completely frustrated, and the Polish army in the north was unable to build a coherent new defense line in the short term.
In the south, Manstein's plan was a great success. The 14th Motorized Corps under Army Group South, based on the route planned by Manstein in advance, cut off the retreat of the main Polish forces in the Radom area and completed the entire battle.
The first army-level encirclement. In the next three days, through step-by-step compression, a main Polish army group in the encirclement was completely annihilated.
At the end of the battle, Army Group South captured a total of 60,000 Polish officers and soldiers, seized 130 artillery pieces, and annihilated 7 main Polish divisions. The price paid by Army Group South was only the death of more than 400 officers and soldiers, and more than 1,200 soldiers.
officers and soldiers were injured.
The Southern Army Group was able to achieve such a good battle loss ratio. On the one hand, it was due to Manstein's frequent mobilization of Germany's elite armored units to destroy the Polish cavalry divisions used for charge, which reduced the pressure on the frontline infantry; on the other hand, it was also due to
Because the German Air Force seized air superiority from the Polish Air Force, it was able to frequently support the infantry and unilaterally massacre the Polish Army.
...........
"It has only been a week, and the Germans have completely broken through our carefully laid out defenses on the western front! How on earth did you generals command the troops? 200,000 people. We lost a total of 200,000 out-and-out elites.
Master! Even if there are 200,000 pigs, the German army will have to capture them for several days! In the end, you are lucky, you actually lost the 200,000 main force and a large area of land so easily!"
As the highest military commander of the Polish High Command, Marshal Smigre was furious at the generals under his command.
The war situation on the Eastern Front that originally worried Smigre was stabilized by a reinforcement force of no more than 100,000 people at the suggestion of Major General Bélante of the French Army Corps.
However, the Western Front, which had heavy troops from the beginning, is now retreating steadily, and its troops are completely defeated.
More than 500 of Poland's most advanced fighter planes were destroyed by the Luftwaffe on the first day of the war. There were more than 100 vintage fighters from the First World War that were left, and they would probably not be of much use even if they were taken out.
The Air Force was turned into a "turkey" by the Germans due to low aircraft performance and low pilot quality. The Army was crushed into a "turkey" by the German armored forces because of its outdated combat ideas.
Because the backward and conservative Polish army was almost unaware of the huge changes in the external military, let alone the power of the tanks used by the German army, it still stubbornly believed that it was in an era when cavalry was omnipotent. On the battlefield, Polish soldiers even thought that
The armor of German tanks was nothing more than camouflage made of tin plates.
Smigre heard that many Polish cavalrymen with white gloves and long sabers swarmed up the front line and attacked the German tanks with their sabers and spears. However, after a machine gun fire from the German tanks, these cavalrymen all fell down.
.
Regarding the rumors of such a stupid charge by the Polish cavalry, Berlante 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 strong wind, the sound of horse hooves
, the shouts of killing suddenly rang out. Then, under the fire of the German tanks, the cavalry fell down row by row. Almost no one could get close to the tank. The ones in front fell, and the ones behind them came up again, and then the cavalrymen fell into the tank.
The Germans were very happy to kill one after another, row after row.
We can't continue fighting like this! Although this is not the army of his own country, Berlant, who has much broader knowledge than the Polish generals, understands that if the fighting continues like this, no matter how heroic the troops are, they will not have the slightest effect. He will not allow this kind of one-sidedness.
The battle continues.
"Does General Berante have any insights?" Seeing Berante's insights, Smigre immediately pinned his hopes on this young French general who had advised the Polish army and successfully withstood the torrent of Soviet troops.
Since the Polish generals are all short-sighted trash, it would be better to rely on this outstanding major general from France. At least others have proven their talents through a successful plan to stop the Soviet army, but these domestic generals have not yet.
Come up with a decent plan.
"The situation is not optimistic." After Berante took the two French staff to look at the combat diagram for a while, he suddenly said: "The border defenders collapsed at the first touch, and the cavalry who launched the counterattack suffered great losses because they did not understand the performance of the tanks.
.Now it is almost impossible to reorganize the defense line on the eastern front!"
Berante's words were like a bolt from the blue, and Marshal Smigre was sweating profusely. Although the Polish army's defeat had been exposed in the battle in the Radom area, Smigre still hoped that Berante, who came from "
The general of "Europe's No. 1 Army Power" could see some opportunity for victory that he did not see, even if it was just to find a new line of defense to regain a foothold.
Smigre sighed secretly. Even Berante, who had always been conceited before, seemed unable to find a way to turn defeat into victory... Then who in Poland has the ability to save the situation?
"The person who made the plan in the German command headquarters does have two skills. I admit that he is a terrible opponent." Berlant still looked at the red and blue diagram on the wall, and said slowly: "He is dead.
He seized every strategic location behind the old defense line that the Polish army needed to build a new line of defense, and quickly occupied those locations with the 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 bit..." Berlant suddenly raised the decibel level and laughed.
Seeing this scene, the eyes of everyone present were shining with excitement, and they were all looking forward to Berante's next words.
"To stop the German offensive, it is not necessary to establish a line of defense. Now the Polish army only needs to quickly mobilize Posen's 8th Army to the southeast, and through a successful counterattack, Germany can regain the initiative.
The commander of Army Group South must have never imagined that we would concentrate our efforts to deal with them first. When we interrupt their original plan and control the rhythm of the war, the situation will naturally improve!" Berante, the French Major General,
At this moment, he was actually issuing instructions to a group of Polish lieutenant generals.
What was unusual was that these Polish generals, who were a bit higher than Berlante in rank, did not feel anything was wrong. They had been completely impressed by Berlante's previous talents and began to agree with him from the bottom of their hearts.
A disciple of the famous French general Pétain.
It's just that they didn't know that the German opponent that Berlant could not forget, Manstein, the architect of Army Group South's battle plan, was not a commander who only followed the steps. It broke Manstein's original expectations, and no matter what,
