Chapter Thirty: Asia Warms Up
(May 1943)
Polish rail workers (here seen at work back home in Poland) were brought in to supervise the great construction project now taking place from Peshawar in the Raj and across Sinkiang, in both northern and southern branches. Even as the lines were extended to the front, more crews were working behind to upgrade the lines from Lahore to Peshawar and beyond.
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1-12 May 1943: Thrust and Counter-thrust
As May began, the Communists continued to try to push recent Allied advances back. But early on the first, the large enemy attack on Kunlun Shan was defeated with very heavy casualties.
Later that evening, two Polish divisions were still marching to set up a quick defence of Haixi in the south before the Communists could occupy it. In the north, 34 DP was ordered to join the faltering British cavalry attack on Dabancheng. Although the enemy had four divisions, they were exhausted from attacking strong Allied defensive positions to the north and were being struck in the flank. The Poles’ joining in quickly improved the odds for victory.
2 DP was the next to join the attack early on 3 May, where 34 DP had already reinforced. By the afternoon, the enemy’s attack on northern Dabancheng had been halted but it would take another three days to win through in the south.
22 DPG, still badly disorganised from previous fighting and poor supply, arrived in Haixi on the morning of 4 May, just in time to defend against a two-division Communist attack from the north. 6 DP was also well on its way by then and though even more disorganised, had reinforced by the night of the 5th and together, the Poles were just able to hold Haixi by the morning of 7 May.
While that battle continued, the well-rested 17 DP arrived at their jumping off point and were added to the reinforcement push to the still precariously held Haixi. It was just as well they were, because the province became the target of repeated enemy attacks for the rest of the month.
A new attack in the north was made by the fully rested 28 DP on Jiuquan on 6 May and was soon making excellent progress against two exhausted Communist divisions, hitting them in the flank as they attacked a large Allied force to the west. It took less than two days of fighting to win through.
The one research advance for the month saw fuel refining improved, with the work continued into advanced oil processing. All designed to boost Polish capacity for a possible future war with the Soviets.
[Am I now overdoing this, or is it prudent provision for a likely sharply increased demand for mechanised and air warfare?]
Supply in Sinkiang continued to improve, though it was still hard getting enough supply to the front line given the heavy concentration of units. Four Polish divisions continued to rest and be held in reserve to the rear so as not to tax the logistic effort even further.
At this point, Polish logistic officers noted that general infrastructure was (not surprisingly) very low in Sinkiang, especially along the new southern supply line. They enquired with the overall Allied command
[ie you, dear readAARs 
] as to whether trying to also improve infrastructure in these provinces (a more expensive exercise than simple railway work) would be worth the effort re supply throughput to the front.
By 9 May, operations intensified across the front as the enemy counter-attacked in the south at both Kunlun Shan and Haixi, while both sides had thrown extra troops into the fight for Jiuquan. The Allies would eventually win each of these battles between 12-14 May, the Communists taking the heavier casualties.
In the north, the Communists attacked northern Dabancheng again and counter-attacked Jiuquan as soon as 28 DP occupied it on 12 May, where they were immediately under pressure. The reserve was ordered up from Urumqi and the KBK from the north to jumping off point to wither reinforce Jiuquan or counter-attack it if it fell again.
The defence of Dabancheng would be won early on 15 May after heavy fighting, but the desperate defence of Jiuquan would continue.
Meanwhile, the Polish effort to support Allied logistics in Sinkiang continued apace, with more line improvements scheduled for the western end of the network.
And on the night of the 12th, given the continued heavy Communist pressure, the southern two reserve Polish divisions (5 and 7 DPs) were ordered to march (not rail) to the front, so as to preserve organisation.
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13-26 May 1943: New Friends and Old
Poland’s strategic position in central Europe was further improved when the heavily democratic-leaning Republic of Hungary joined the Allies on 13 May, bringing their large army onto the board. They were soon summoned into formal war participation. This was reassuring, as the USR seemed to building up its forces on the south-eastern border of Poland, including 8 armoured divisions.
With no airfields anywhere near the western Chinese front, Poland sent another request to the Allied Far East Theatre HQ, this time seeking advice as to whether building a new airfield in Urumqi would be both cost-effective and useful in terms of the range to a likely future front line if the Allies were able to continue their advance.
Some argued it may be wiser to wait for a forward city to be taken and upgraded for air operations in due course to ensure continued relevance. Others worried whether the supply network could support an air base as well as the stretched ground force logistics.
From 15 to 21 May, Communist forces repeatedly attacked both Kunlun Shan and particularly Haixi. These seemed to be poorly-executed human wave attacks, which usually ended in hundreds of attackers dead for no or very few defenders killed. By 21 May four Polish divisions were tired but well dug in and holding fast in Haixi.
In the north, the same period saw the heavy fighting over Jiuquan continue. Welcome Allied reinforcement was provided by 22 Juntuán early on the 16th; just in time, as 28 DP’s defence began to weaken. A South African division also joined that night, but still the battle hung in the balance as four enemy divisions were now attacking.
Behind the lines, the Polish rail work gangs were hard at work, with two new improvements added to upgrade the entire northern line through Urumqi.
By 1100hr on 16 May, 28 DP were exhausted and were withdrawn from Jiuquan before they broke, leaving the Chinese and South Africans to hold the line.
The Allies were bolstered with great news on 21 May: in recent days the Fascist line had collapsed in Indochina and the Allies were racing through North Vietnam and Laos. However, the Communists had also broken through in the north and had just taken Hanoi. A new Allied-Mutual Assistance Bloc front would soon be established.
And a large Allied amphibious operation had succeeded in wresting Saipan from the Kwantung Imperialists – the latest in a series of Allied island seizures in the western pacific.
Just as the Allied defence of Jiuquan was failing, the KBK arrived on the morning of 22 May. But after another day, they were alone, badly outnumbered and rapidly losing organisation and strength. They were ordered to retreat and cede the hard-won province back to the Communists. The battle was lost by 1100hr on the 23rd, the Allies having taken very heavy casualties.
But the two Allied divisions that had been expelled from Jiuquan earlier began a counter-attack even before the KBK had completed their retreat. The attack was making slow progress, but all the participants were badly worn out.
Three days later, the attack was failing but the reinforcing 10 and 18 DPs had completed their long march to the front from reserve and were thrown into the fight. 10 DP had soon reinforced as 18 DP was still in tactical reserve, significantly improving the situation.
27-31 May 1943: Some Like It Hot
18 DP had reinforced the attack on Jiuquan by the morning of the 27th and this time the Communists weakened: the battle would be won by the afternoon of the 28th. To the north in Dabancheng, another enemy probe had been brushed off, while yet another probe to the south on Haixi was repelled with heavy casualties.
At 0700hr on 30 May, another probe on Dabancheng was repulsed just as the Poles reoccupied Jiuquan and beat off a brief counter-attack. Ground was being made in the north, but it was slow going.
The next logistics question asked by Poland of the Allies was whether it would be worth building a supplementary supply hub at the main railhead in eastern Kunlun Shan. This would be very expensive and the relatively inexperienced Polish logisticians
[ie me!] were again unsure whether this would be value for money, or should be contemplated again when they moved advanced east.
As the month ended, supply at the front was still difficult. The Allies (without Polish assistance for now) were launching a couple of attacks in the north, while the Communists were again attacking in the centre, while the Poles (now with more Allied reinforcements) had massively defeated a major attack on Haixi that afternoon.
In the first five months of 1943, Polish casualties in ground combat were relatively modest at around 2,800 killed. But if the ration of equipment losses to combat and attrition was anything to go by, far more men would have been lost to attrition also.
Polish defence production had been able to keep pace or exceed replacement demands in most equipment areas.
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Theatre Summaries
China’s march in the south-east had continued through May, with the Yunnan Free Empire now largely occupied but progress in the west against the Allies and fascist Xibei San Ma largely checked and even reversed a little in the north.
As seen before, the logistical situation in Sinkiang had greatly improved, though the heavy concentration of units at the front was still hard to keep supplied.
The Allied aims were to steadily push the Communists back in the north, then eventually generate the combat power to strike into Xibei San Ma and seize Golmud, perhaps to use as a forward supply and even air base.
The Communists had established a salient in the Chamdo Pocket during the month and were still attacking in its north and south, but otherwise the Allis still hung on grimly.
The Allies had fanned out further in North Vietnam and Lao over the last few days, taking Vientiane and now clashing with the Communists south of Hanoi, including an attack on the port of Haiphong.
Sudden progress had also been made against the Japanese in Sulawesi, with an apparent British landing north of Makassar cutting off the rest of the island from its supplies as the original divisions in the north pushed down again, against no apparent opposition.
And in the South China Sea up to 17 British divisions appeared to be on their way to Indochina. The Poles hoped they weren’t intercepted by Japanese naval forces. But if they were all able to land and make it to the front, the new southern front may prove very valuable in the fight against the Communists.
