Chapter Thirty-Three: Air Time
(September – November 1943)
PZL.37 Łoś tactical bombers deployed to Urumqi, September 1943.
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1-14 September 1943: Flying East
The Polish Air Force created a new bomber wing in Lwów as September 1943 started, using 62 PZL.37s that had been stockpiled. While a new model of tactical bomber (the PZL.49 Miś) was then being researched, the Łoś remained the standard Polish bomber at that point. The PAF was preparing to transfer aircraft to Urumqi as soon as the new airfield there had been completed.
In the meantime, Polish troops were the first to occupy a new province in Haixi on 3 September, following their victorious attack there at the end of August. They were soon counter-attacked but won that battle within a day. Another Communist attack in northern Jiuquan was defeated easily, while Allied and Communist forces continued to exchange attacks in between them.
After the completion of the air base in Urumqi at midnight on 4 September, the latest construction project to be commenced in Sinkiang was a rail line to link the two branches of the supply railway network behind the front line. It was hoped this would eventually improve supply exchange along the line and between the two branches. The new forward supply hub in Kunlun Shan remained under construction, not due to be completed until mid-December.
And the PAF immediately began transferring the first two air wings – one of fighters and one of tactical bombers – from Lwów to Urumqi. Extra ground crew were also sent in
[though I couldn’t work out whether they apply to the aircraft based there, or to aircraft operating in the air sector and you have to add more for those operating from there in other sectors – such as Qinghai or Western China, for example].
It took a while for the PAF to re-base the wings and then work out the correct air orders to get their bombers engaged
[ie which buttons to click and where 
]. So there was no air support available for an attack that pushed further south-east into Haixi that lasted from 6-10 September, ending in a hard-fought Polish victory for 5, 7 and 8 DPs.
2. DM (a fighter wing) arrived in Urumqi on the night of 7 September, but its range restricted it to operating only over Allied lines in Central Asia and it did not have the range to cover most of the forward lines. 4. DB (TAC) arrived on the evening of 9 September. They had the range to operate deeply into enemy territory in Western China and Qinghai, though would not be able to rely on fighter escort.
By that time, the final part of the Chamdo Pocket was under heavy attack and close to surrender, though it was still holding out on 11 September as the PAF finally began to operate, with fighters providing interceptor cover (as a precaution) in Central Asia and 4. DB beginning ground support missions in Qinghai.
On 14 September, Poland completed another national focus advance as it continued its modernisation drive, now concentrating on armoured vehicles. Tank design would be studied next, followed by anti-blitz vehicles.
The air picture over the Asian Theatre at this time indicated where each side seemed to be maintaining the upper hand in the air.
But by this stage all transmissions out of the Chamdo Pocket had ceased: all Allied forces there had been destroyed.
In South East Asia, the Communists continued to drive the Allies back in southern Vietnam and now northern Cambodia. In Sulawesi, the Allies had made another push inland, but Japanese resistance remained cohesive across the front.
Intelligence reports on the US showed they had been busily drawing up war plans for intervention in Asia and were currently working on War Plan Yellow, involving contingency plans for attacks on China.
15-30 September 1943: Bombs Away!
The first active PAF support for ground operations in Sinkiang (only daylight missions were being flown) came on 15 September, when 65 bombers supported a defence by 5, 7 and 8 DPs after they completed their advance into south-east Haixi and were counter-attacked by Communist forces. The battle was won that night, with PAF bomb damage assessment officers beginning to track the impact the bombing raids were having, with modest results to start with.
After a research advance in AT guns (all research progress summarised at the end of the chapter), the production lines were upgraded from 47mm to 76mm guns, which temporarily slowed production in the one line of weapons where the Poles had a deficit, from over 65% down to just over 20% efficiency.
From 22 September onwards, the PAF began providing ground support to a number of Allied ground battles (attack and defence) in the Qinghai air sector. On 24 September, another smaller (42 x PZL.37s in 3. DB) were transferred to Urumqi from Nowogródek.
As September drew to a close, Allied battle planning was shared on a number of fronts. In Sinkiang, the underpinning for a series of Allied probes in the centre of the line was revealed.
Allied hopes to hold and then even throw back the latest Communist offensive in Indochina were also revealed.
Of much interest
[@El Pip, @jak7139, me, et al] was an explanation of the seemingly incongruous British Army build up in the small islands of the Western Pacific. The main bases were now Marcus Island and Saipan, which between them housed over 40 Allied divisions. They had plans for invasions of Kwantung-held Iwo Jima and Okinawa and a bold plan for an invasion of southern Japan!
In Europe, where Czechoslovakia and Austria were not in the Allies, Germany had contingency plans to hit either or both with massive offensives.
While, unlikely as it seemed, the British, Mexicans and Canadians had a few plans to to attack, but this seemed both unlikely diplomatically and dubious given the number of divisions the US was fielding, especially in the south.
After preparing and positioning units throughout the month, early on 28 September the Poles launched an opportunistic attack on Golmud (the fascist XSM capital), with the air support they had previously been unable to apply. The main problem though was that because of prior combat and poor supply, the participating divisions were already low on organisation. While the enemy were well dug in on mountain terrain.
By midday on the 30th, the last attacking unit had been forced to give up after being beaten off with heavy losses. The attack had been a significant failure, confirming assessments that until maybe supply had been improved via the new hub in mid-December (if even that was sufficient) it would be hard to mount a sustainable attack.
As the month ended, there had been little significant change in front lines throughout the theatre.
October 1943: Reorganisation
3. DB had arrived in Urumqi by the evening of 2 October and was ready to start operations. It was assigned to provide air support to Allied forces in the Western China sector, where the front line was easily in range. The PAF assessed this should be out of enemy fighter interception range, but this would soon be found out.
Small numbers of Polish bombers began to support Allied operation in the north of the line soon after, with the first being a British attack on 4 October (5 planes).
On the morning of 5 October, following the failed attack on Golmud, Polish divisions in Haixi began withdrawing to reserve positions to recuperate. Some were left left in place either to defend the building of the new forward supply hub, the salient in south-east Haixi (where another attack had been defeated on 4 October, with PAF air support) and the one division still left in northern Jiuquan. Only one division in reserve (28 DP) remained at almost full organisation and strength after the previous month’s exertions.
By 8 October the PAF (3. DB) was sending 13 planes for defensive Allied air support in Jiuquan and for attacking support on 14 October, though the effect of this was likely to be fairly minor.
On 14 October, the line in Indochina had seemingly stabilised again, but a Japanese-Chinese breakout in northern Cambodia looked a bit threatening as predominantly German and French divisions tried to re-establish a solid defensive line.
With fighter range an issue and heavy fighter research so far non-existent in Poland, the PAF started looking at options for getting greater range for fighter escort and interception in the greater distances of the Far East. An extended range modification for the current PZL.56 Kania fighters would give then an extra 100km.
But the upgrade to the top-of-the-line Polish fighter model, the PZL.62 (range of 1,200km), could be fast-tracked when a research slot became available for it, and perhaps an extended range option also added to that later. So for now, no change was made to the existing PZL.56 fit-out.
On 23 October, the first recorded example of enemy ground support missions being flown in Western China was recorded, with 100 aircraft hitting the Allied defence in southern Jiuquan, while the 13 available bombers of 3. DB supported the defenders. There was no air-air combat recorded.
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November 1943: One China?
In early November, most Polish divisions had disengaged in Sinkiang for rest and repair and the front in Sinkiang had remained comparatively quiet. The Communists had advanced a little further in southern Indochina, though the Allies seemed to have funnelled in some more reinforcements and were strongly counter-attacking the latest breakthrough in the centre.
In Sulawesi, the previous Allied advance inland had been pushed back once more to the base of the northern peninsula.
With the new north-south rail line completed in eastern Sinkiang on 4 November, work began on a further upgrade of the British system (to grade 3) from Delhi through Lahore to Peshawar and then Hotan. The priorities were updated on 9 November, with more work initiated on the southern (Hotan-Kunlun Shan) and northern (Urumqi-Dabancheng) lines begun and given higher priority.
In an announcement whose immediate significance (if any) was not entirely clear, Chairman Mao declared a ‘One China Policy’ on 14 November.
The situation in Indochina remained in the balance, but Allied reinforcements were streaming in to help stem the red tide.
The next national focus was concluded on 23 November, with the anti-blitz vehicles getting the next attention, which may help remedy the continuing AT production shortfall.
The Asia-Pacific Theatre had seen only minor net changes in western China and Sulawesi over the previous three months. Things had been more interesting in Indochina as the Communist advance was finally being blunted, while an interesting new development had occurred in the Western Pacific. Interestingly, Japan had taken over occupation duty in Laos from the PRC.
During November, only two more battles involving Polish troops had occurred in Sinkiang (others of course had occurred between Allied and Communist forces), also allowing some more assessments of the impact of PAF air support. By this time, the Poles had pulled back their single division from northern Jiuquan. In southern-eastern Haixi, the Polish divisions there had also been withdrawn, but had helped to brush off two attacks on 4 and 19 November.
The rest of the Polish 4th Army was reconstituting itself, readying for a possible new southern offensive if the new supply hub and rail upgrades were able to improve the supply situation in the south.
In Indochina, Allied reinforcements had allowed recent Communist breakthroughs to be halted and pushed back a little in places. A broad counter-offensive seemed to have been started, though was facing tough going between the Mekong River and the sea to the east. But for now, the earlier emergency seemed to have been dealt with.
Sulawesi still seemed to be in stalemate, though the Allies still had ambitions to strike south again.
In the Western Pacific, Britain’s island-hopping campaign had progressed against Kwantung, with a strong amphibious attack having been launched against Iwo Jima. And there were even more British divisions in the theatre by that time (over 50, plus 8 French). Contingency plans were still in place for more landings in Okinawa and Communist Japan itself, as before.
Other than the continuing AT shortage, Polish equipment stockpiles remained in good shape, despite additional heavy tank and artillery units being added to standard and ‘heavy’ infantry divisions in early September and the continuing production of new militia, infantry and armoured divisions and a rolling basis. The Polish army now fielded 80 divisions in its army, still just 14 of those in China.
The supply situation in Sinkiang remained good away from the over-crowded front line, with more Polish construction projects trying to improve it further, especially in the south.
Over the past three months, three research projects had been completed, with new work beginning in construction techniques (given the current heavy emphasis on the Far East), artillery and most recently the 1944-model PZL.62 fighter.
