19 SEPTEMBER:
The past week of the campaign as been a resounding success, the speed of our advance is unprecedented in German military history, by now the world knows we have changed the face of warfare for all time to come. By the earliest hours of September 19, Panzer divisions stand at the gates of Warsaw, an entire Polish army has been pocketed in
Torun and the Wehrmacht is poised to form another near
Lodz.
Before the sun rose, infantry of the 4th and 5th Armee's had reached both banks of the river
Odra, this resulted in the
Gniezno pocket, an estimated 4-6 infantry divisions of varying strength dwell in the area, along with various high ranking commanders of
Armia Poznan. Within the space of hours Armia Poznan was swallowed up and is now more than 100km from the frontline, with no hope of breakout and escape, the Poles in the pocket should surrender quickly. Additionally, the divisions in the pocket suffer from differing levels of exhaustion and disorganization, as our troops have rolled them back time and time again over the past week, bottling them up into a single province before snipping the strings that tether them to their country.
The Polish defense plan is obvious, abandon provinces east of the river
Odra, and retreat to safety behind the
Vistula to dig in. In light of this, our offensive plan should be to thwart any hope of Polish survival by preventing the majority of their army from ever reaching the Vistula. We have achieved this on most of the front, however the
Krakow region still withstands a complete breakthrough. Polish armies in the north and center of the front have almost been completely pocketed, our generals estimate at least 30% of all enemy military assets have been cut off from the rest of the country.
A single cavalry division had been charged with the defense of
Lodz, they had dug in on the eastern banks of the
Odra in the province of
Sieradz, when our infantry reached there positions at noon. The Polish defenders gave the 72. Infantry Division some trouble while they crossed the river, eventually however, strong aerial and artillery bombardment broke the defenders and forced them out of there fortifications some hours after our troops landed on the eastern bank of the river. It appears the Cavalry division was attempting to hold to province for as long as they could until elements of
Armia Poznan could reinforce them, by 15:00 it must have been clear that no relief force was coming. At 16:00, while the enemy was retreating into
Lodz to attempt a desperate defense of the city, and strong mechanized spearhead from the north fell upon them, the 2. Motorized Infantry Division from
Kutno had been instructed to prevent the division from entering the city, even a small garrison in Lodz would draw forces away from the Warsaw area. A pincer move from the north and south had taken the Polish cavalry completely by surprise, it was not long before their crack defense had completely collapsed. Many Poles were taken prisoner, many more lie dead alongside their horses in
Sieradz, the road to Lodz is now clear.
Elements of the 2. Motorized Division cut through Polish lines.
Recon at 19:00 confirmed the enemy was moving a few divisions from the Warsaw area to garrison Lodz, and were within 30km of the city, however, by then it was too late, our troops were walking the streets of Lodz at dusk. The Polish had also taken a great risk sending troops to defend Lodz, for the whole Lodz Region represented a bulge in our lines, that was undermanned by the enemy, these divisions now gamble with encirclement. By midnight, Warsaw was 80% encircled, and now the Poles hold onto their capital by a string.
20 SEPTEMBER:
The southern front had been slugging along for some time now, the advance has been steady, but slow. In spite of all this, it has only taken the 6th Armee nine days to reach the outskirts of
Krakow, while this advance is leagues slower than the rest of the front, it's still set records. Yet this city would not fall in the same fashion of Danzig and Lodz, a formidable and determined Polish army holds the city and the surrounding area, the 6th Armee would have to fight bitterly for Krakow.
At first light, 06:00, nearly 100,000 German troops making up 9 divisions, began the offensive of the
Krakow region. The terrain was rough and hilly, which only served to slow our advance, the operation had been planned so that infantry divisions would secure provinces to the north and south of Krakow to allow a broader offense of the city, even so, infantry ended up entering the city before the flanks had started to crumble. By noon, little progress had been made against the Polish defenders.
Nearly 24 hours after the formation of the
Gniezno pocket, enemy resistance began breaking down. The battered and broken Polish infantry were surrendering in droves throughout the day. By 18:00, fighting in the pocket had ceased and the last of the enemy had surrendered, in a decesive blow, the Wehrmacht had captured about
50,000 men. The Gniezno pocket represents the low point of Polish resistance, the POW's captured here were some of the saddest troops the Wehrmacht has encountered in Poland thus far, many of the men were fighting wounded, or without weapons, the Polish divisions as a whole were grossly under equipped, as they had to leave most of it behind to attempt escape. News of the victory was immediately publicized and distributed throughout the Reich, Britain and France remained silent.
THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION:
Our ally, the Empire of Japan, was making progress similar to ours in its own military endeavors. They have been at war with the Republic of China for almost a year now, and they have achieved several major victories, the Chinese southern line has collapsed, and Japanese forces now make a break for the coast of the South China Sea, the Chinese communist forces have been completely surrounded and Japan lies within 150km of the Chinese capital of Nanjing.
Britain and France continue to sit idle while their eastern ally succumbs to German might, in spite of this, High Command still fears invasion from the west, and the 500,000 troops mobilized on the French border are keep on high alert at all times. Our fortifications are strong, as is our moral, but a combined allied offensive could break our line, therefor Poland must be finished off at once.
The Soviet Union continues to stay within their boarders, even after the Reich has asked them to declare war on Poland per the secret protocols of the Non-aggression pact. Do they still expect a reward? They test the Fuhrers patience, and the Fuhrer is not a patient man. Moreover, Soviet and Japanese relations have broken down even further over several border disputes and small clashes. Intelligence shows the Soviets massing troops against the Japanese puppet state,
Manchuko, it is unknown at this time if this is a precautionary action, or preparations for war. Would the Bolsheviks really wage war on an Axis member?
. I agree with both you and Stynlan. I’m happy to see lots of words, but personally feel they are easier to take if they’re adding or explaining something different to what’s in the screenshot, which can be great to convey a situation but sometimes needs a bit of explaining too. So, a personalised battle account, an explanation about the intent behind the moves or a series of them which the image is trying to summarise, as well as saying what happened, musings about future plans/fears etc. But each to personal preference.
