On the ninth day of the Polish war, Rundstadt's Army Group South was advancing smoothly. Everything was as Manstein expected. The Polish army was retreating steadily. Under the attack of the German armored forces,
Under the pursuit, I couldn't find the energy to build a new line of defense.
Even the experienced Lundstedt had an illusion, as if there would be no accidents that would cause the operation to be terminated or the plan to be changed. It seemed that the German army only needed to follow the plan specified by Manstein, a genius.
, we will soon be able to fight all the way to Warsaw!
In the early morning of the ninth day, Lundstedt, who had just woken up, met Manstein, who had been waiting for a long time, at the door of the cafeteria of the deaf-mute school that served as the temporary headquarters.
Seeing Manstein's worried look, Lundstedt asked strangely: "Why, something happened to the northern wing of the Army Group you mentioned before?"
"No, Commander, the Poles have not made any unexpected actions yet. But..." Manstein hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to speak bluntly: "Although it is just my guess, I am quite certain.
I definitely think that the Poles are very likely to make some big move!"
"Big move?" Lundstedt looked at Manstein in confusion, frowned and said: "Have you not marked every key point they need to build a new line of defense and sent sufficient troops there?
Have they occupied it? If they can't even organize a coherent line of defense, what big move can they make?"
As the chief of staff, Manstein did not answer immediately, but made a gesture to another staff officer beside him. Then the staff officer immediately stepped forward and reported: "We have received certain information, the Polish army
A large force is being assembled in Posen Province, but the enemy has not taken action yet. Although the Chief of Staff had sent multiple telegrams to remind the Chief of Staff of the Eighth Army to pay attention to its northern flank as early as two days before receiving the information.
Investigation, but there is still no news yet.”
After his staff report was completed, Manstein immediately went on to say: "An hour ago, the staff had already discussed with the Army Headquarters the issue of the stagnation of the Bosenbo Army. However, according to a personal statement from the Head of State's headquarters,
The incoming speculative news states that Posen’s Polish army is about to transport troops to the southeast as quickly as possible.”
A month ago, Lundstedt would not have looked twice at the speculations sent by the "half-baked" people from the Führer's base camp. At that time, he did not believe that the Führer and the people around him could
Speculate what real material will come out.
But now, Lundstedt's view of Reinhardt has changed a lot. Putting aside Reinhardt's legendary experience, his ability to discern pearls alone made Lundstedt's opinion of Reinhardt change a lot.
He was impressed. In addition, Reinhardt's previous prediction that the British and French coalition forces would not launch a forceful 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 actually use swords or guns against Germany.
First, Britain and France adopted a policy of appeasement for a long time before the war, which was detrimental to preparations for war;
Second, Britain and France did not completely give up their appeasement policy after the war broke out, and still had illusions about Germany;
Third, the two countries knew that their armament growth lagged far behind that of Germany and did not have the courage to fight;
Fourth, there are major differences in strategic deployment between Britain and France. The specific manifestation is that both sides want to play the leading role in the alliance, but are unwilling to send more troops, so they have been unable to establish a unified command system;
Fifth, Britain and France also imagined that Germany would annex Poland and then attack the Soviet Union and kill people with a borrowed knife. Therefore, they were 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, they actually declared no war and 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 on the opposite side, including the Waffen SS, only had 52 divisions. Once the British and French troops attacked on the Western Front, the German army would not be able to look at each other, and would fall into a two-front battle.
.
However, the British and French armies huddled in the fortifications and did not interfere with the German army. The French army often issued battle reports that "the Western Front is calm and there is nothing to report." The British Air Force actually ordered a 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 200,000 tons of cement to France three days ago to help the French further build the Maginot Line to defend against Germany.
Reinhardt's move was also interpreted by the French government as Germany's good will to attack France. French public opinion also believed that since the German head of state helped build the Maginot Line to defend Germany, how could Germany attack in the future?
What about France?
Lundstedt's face suddenly turned dark. Is his reputation really going to be ruined by Reinhardt? He originally insisted that Britain and France would send troops to attack Germany, but if this was the prediction of the head of state in the end, it would come true.
Really, if I made a mistake, would I really have to run naked on the streets of Berlin?
"Commander?" Seeing that Lundstedt seemed distracted, Manstein reminded softly: "I think the speculation from the Führer's headquarters is reasonable. Please think about it."
After coming back to his senses, Lundstedt swallowed his saliva, braced himself and said to Manstein: "Tell me your reasons."
Seeing that the other party had recovered from a certain thought, Manstein put on a calm and objective tone and continued to analyze: "First of all, although we successfully annihilated more than 100,000 Polish troops some time ago, they are still maintaining the
South of the Sva River, that is, in the area between Lodz and Warsaw, there are still about 10 divisions, which is the first focus for us."
Seeing Lundstedt nodding in agreement, Manstein continued: "In addition, the 8th Army, which is arranged in echelons to cover the flanks of the army group, used the 30th Division to attack the northern Polish army early this morning.
Several assaults were launched without success. I made a preliminary estimate and found that the number of Polish troops that could hinder several assaults by one of our divisions was at least one corps. This also confirmed from the side that the Head of State’s base camp’s statement about the large Polish troops moving south
speculation."
Lundstedt was not a general person. After listening to Manstein's words, he roughly understood the current situation. Once the speculation of the Führer's headquarters came true, then the troops of the 30th Division of the 8th Group Army happened to be fighting.
Most of them are the main force of the Polish army moving south. As for the first point that Manstein just mentioned, the 10 divisions left by the Polish army south of the Vistula River are most likely to cooperate with this southward force to launch a counterattack.
A right hook.
If this is the case, then the second half of the march plan originally planned by Major General Manstein is completely inapplicable!
While they were thinking about it, an urgent telegram from the 8th Army was sent to Lundstedt 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 withdrawn due to defeat, has also turned to defense. The Eighth Army, whose troops have been scattered everywhere, requested the Army Group Headquarters to transfer an armored division as soon as possible to stabilize the crumbling defense line in Lodz. At present, there are
Only an understaffed 30th Infantry Division was struggling to support itself.