"Report, there are a large number of German troops on the northern flank, and our troops in the north can no longer withstand it and withdraw!"
"Report, the German army has launched an artillery bombardment in the south! They have at least a thousand cannons! So far, the two garrison divisions in the south have lost contact with the headquarters!"
"German armored forces appeared in the east! God, our retreat has been cut off!"
"..."
When he heard the news that German troops were appearing on all sides, Berlant knew that the Polish army was finished!
From the moment the German encirclement took shape, Lundstedt, as the commander of Army Group South, immediately ordered the launch of a general offensive. It didn't matter if he didn't attack, because once he attacked, the entire 250,000 Polish troops would be unable to find their way around.
The German Air Force, which had not appeared before, suddenly seemed to go crazy. One after another, it took turns to launch bombings on the artillery positions and troop assembly areas that had been exposed before by the Polish army. Countless explosives were roaring in the fleet.
The sound poured down on the Polish army's camp like a torrential rain, leaving behind a field of howling wounded soldiers and corpses everywhere.
The black mass of German Wehrmacht soldiers was like a rolling torrent, emerging from every direction, impacting the Polish army's positions and their fragile psychological defenses.
Tanks and chariots one after another, kicking up dust all over the sky, continued to extend from the position where the Polish army should have retreated, until they blocked the avenues behind the Polish army.
The German army's swaying artillery, which was quickly deployed, covered the Polish army's position with artillery fire for free, exploding layers of black mushroom clouds. Even from a long distance, it seemed that the strong smell of gunpowder could be smelled.
The Polish counterattack group first went south, then southeast, and finally eastward and made three tenacious breakthroughs, but they were all driven back by the German encircling troops who had been waiting for a long time. In the end, the chaotic Polish counterattack group did not even make a new attack
Even the breakout could not be organized. The Polish army, which had no intention of fighting, could only be surrounded and compressed layer by layer by the German army, and at the same time it was heading for destruction step by step.
How did this battle end like this?
Sitting in the corner of the conference room of the Polish High Command, Berlant leaned on the back of a wooden chair, as if all the strength in his body had been drained away.
There is a blank in the brain, and there seems to be a gap in the memory. All the speculations made before, the picture of confidently pointing out the country in front of the Poles, now looking back on it, it is as unreal as a dream.
How could he have walked into the German trap so easily?
Because of his pride, he, the savior who had high hopes from the Polish High Command, led the Allies step by step into a trap, a trap that did not exist in the first place and was improvised by the hateful German commander!
Now, he is no longer the savior in the eyes of the Polish high command, he is the sinner who caused Poland's defeat!
Ever since he was appointed to lead the French army and arrived in Poland, he had always thought that he could take this opportunity and rely on his own wisdom to lead this group of stupid Poles to a better fight. In that way, he could also become the person who wrote the course of history.
An important person!
Although he is ranked as a major general, he has no chance to step up to the forefront in a country with so many generals. Only here can he gain trust with the reputation of France's No. 1 Army in Europe behind him, and thereby influence the Polish army's strategy and add another one to himself.
Sufficient merit.
Therefore, when he learned that he had the opportunity to join the officer corps and go to Poland for military guidance, Berlant immediately found his old superior, Marshal Pétain, and through his connections, he joined the officer corps and became the leader.
It's a pity that although he became a member of the process of writing history, he was not the victorious party...
Launching an assault on Rhodes was, in his opinion, the only feasible plan at the moment.
It's not that this tactic is very powerful, but that it is very standard and conforms to every military theory I have studied.
Using a large-scale counterattack, the German army was forced to stop its offensive and had to turn around and start a decisive battle with the legion that appeared at the back. Anyone who has attended a military academy will understand that this is in line with the most basic principles.
War mode. Whether it is the German army or the Polish army, according to common sense, you should choose to start a decisive battle with the large enemy army behind you.
This was a conspiracy. From the beginning, Berante had no hope of going all the way through a counterattack. This counterattack was clearly meant to tie up the pace of the German offensive, leaving the German army to fight the counterattack corps first.
war.
Once an offensive and defensive battle of this scale begins, no matter what, it will last more than a week. By then, the Polish army will have no time to build a new line of defense outside Warsaw.
Therefore, considering the most effective way to gain time, Berlante's only solution at the beginning was this counterattack.
For Berante, his purpose is not to lead the Polish army to defeat the German army. As long as he can hold off the German army for as long as possible and consume as much of the German army as possible, he will naturally be treated as a hero after returning home. This is also what he proved
The only way to gain enough merit for yourself is to do it yourself.
But Berante did not expect that the opponent he encountered was a commander who even the later French Republic could not defeat, a commander of the German Army Group South named Fritz Erich von Manstein.
Staff officer.
Of course, the premise of this duel with Manstein is that if it can be regarded as a duel, Berlante was unable to take advantage from the beginning. Faced with the situation where the Polish army on the border was about to collapse, he was powerless.
The counterattack he finally came up with was the answer he carefully prepared to challenge Manstein.
But by the time he finally saw Manstein's response tactics, the 250,000 Polish troops had all been surrounded by Manstein's Army Group South. Moreover, they now had no hope of breaking through and began to collapse.
signs.
So far, the Battle of the Buzula River, which was initiated by the Polish army and lasted for three days, has ended in an anticlimactic manner.
This battle can be called a classic case in the military world!
This was the first large-scale counterattack launched by the Polish High Command on the advice of Berlant, but it became an opportunity for Manstein to follow the trend and launch a huge encirclement battle.
He, Bertrand, will be described in later history books as having high hopes for the Polish Supreme Command, but in the end he became the key that directly caused the Polish army to lose its final main force. And that man took the wrong approach and did not play according to common sense.
The German commander who planned a total of 250,000 Polish troops will become the idol worshiped by countless soldiers!
Maybe, I shouldn't have come here in the first place...
Looking at the anxious eyes of Marshal Smigre, commander of the Polish army, Berlant wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl in now. They trusted themselves so much that they could have suggested that the Polish army resist continuously and withdraw their troops for defense.
..... However, a misplaced judgment and overconfidence allowed me to blindly propose this beautiful-looking counterattack plan, dragging the Polish army from a state of survival to an irreversible situation.
hell!
His plan helped the German army encircle the last remaining members of the 250,000 Polish army. It not only harmed Poland, but also caused huge indirect losses to France, which was counting on the Polish army to consume the German army!
From today on, Berlant will become the sinner of all Poland!