Chapter Fifty-six: Cannon Fodder
(July 1945)
Polish recruits training for deployment to new units. Renewed Polish attacks in the Far East in July 1945 would significantly increase the demand for replacements.
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China
The main front in China had been very active but largely unmoving for months now as offensive success proved elusive for both the Allies and the Communist MAB. July began with a Polish attempt to break this deadlock – at least in one part of the central sector of Western China. Spotting some weakness in the PLA divisions garrisoning central Ganzi, General Żeligowski sent in six divisions to attack seven PLA formation from three different directions. Initial indications showed some promise of progress.
But after a day of fighting, the PLA had sent in one more fresh division and the odds had swung in their favour. The Poles began calling up more divisions (17 WD and the KBK) from their depth positions to the west but they would take some time to arrive in north-west Ganzi. By early on 4 July the attack was flagging (27%, red) as exhausted Polish divisions began dropping out.
But the KBK arrived that afternoon and were thrown into the fight to see if they could help turn the tables – the effect was marginal, but the attack persisted. Even while being attacked, other the PLA 59th Division managed to launch a spoiling attack early on the 5th – preventing the recently arrived 17 WD from joining the main action until late that night, when the spoiling attack was beaten.
Before dawn on the 6 July, 17 WD joined the main Ganzi attack; even though a couple of PLA divisions had been forced to retreat by the afternoon of the 7th, the Poles were taking the heavier casualties, with only three divisions left in the assault. Żeligowski called in two more reserve divisions (2 and 21 DP) from the north as the other previously exhausted attackers tried to recover organisation.
By the afternoon of 8 July, after more than a week of intense fighting – and no support from nearby Allied formations – the attack on Ganzi was called off, before 2 and 21 DPs could be thrown into a losing battle. The PLA had been weakened but stood firm.
Two days later, the situation in the sector showed a major Communist offensive in progress all across the line, which the Poles would now help the Allies to withstand.
After another couple of days, the PLA defenders of Ganzi had become largely disorganised after failed or failing attacks on the Allied lines. At midday on 12 July, Żeligowski decided they were weakened enough for another Polish attack to be launched. It would be prosecuted along just one axis – which did not require a river crossing to get at the enemy and including both the available mountain divisions.
Initial progress was more promising than the earlier attempt. By early on 14 July, things were going even better. 17 WD was thrown into the attack and by 1600hr that afternoon the victory was won.
Unfortunately, the PLA was able to push in fresh armoured and infantry divisions by the morning of the 15th, before Ganzi could be occupied. These two were engaged and another victory won a day later, with the hasty defence slowing down the advancing Poles but failing to cause any casualties.
But, yet again, the PLA sent two more divisions in to hold the mountains of Ganzi on 17 July, though their attack to the west was failing and another small probe back north-west from Ganzi saw no real fighting but again imposed delay on the Polish reserve divisions as 17 WD was forced to fight alone, though still effectively.
By the 4 afternoon of 18 July both these subsidiary PLA attacks had been defeated and the Poles again bore down on Ganzi. But yet again, the hard-won delays gained by a rotating PLA defence allowed more defenders to muster and by the evening of 20 July, the attack was once again starting to fade. At this point, Żeligowski hurled the only partly recovered from west and north of Ganzi into the fight, to see if the momentum could be regained.
As the latest battle for Ganzi dragged on, on 22 July a major rail upgrade was put on the drawing board for the main trunk line extending all the way from Delhi to the Western China front. It would begin construction after a smaller upgrade being made in Indochina (more on that later).
Back in Ganzi, most of the engaged Polish divisions had either been forced to withdraw from the fight or were approaching complete disorganisation. The attempt to take Ganzi had fallen at the last hurdle, though this latest battle had been more even in terms of casualties. Żeligowski called off the offensive on the morning of 24 July. It would not be renewed before the end of the month.
Once more, the PLA’s greater numbers and ability to feed fresh divisions into the meat-grinder had let them hold. In many ways, this typified the fighting all along the wider front, where neither side seemed able to gain even small advances.
The last event of interest in the theatre was the start of the ‘traditional’ monthly Manchurian border clash at 1100hr on 31 July.
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Indochina
Indochina was also very active during July, and again the Poles were called on to take part in some major defensive and counter-attacking actions. A first major defence of the Tonkin coast, in conjunction with the French, concluded in victory at 0200hr on 1 July (251 Allied, 4,290 MAB casualties). Though smaller actions were fought along the narrow front by the French and Poles in coming days, the next major results came on 13 July with a victory in central Laos (269 Allied, 2,190 MAB casualties) and again in very hard-fought battle in Tonkin (1,090 Allied, 5,010 MAB casualties).
On 14 July, a major Japanese naval landing began in southern Cambodia. However, the port they were attempting to secure was well defended by a mixed Allied force of three entrenched divisions, with air support.
Back up to the north, the latest defence of Tonkin was won on 16 July, but one of the Polish divisions helping to hold it had been forced back and the other was only just hanging on. All five Polish divisions in the sector were feeling the pinch by this time.
As mentioned above, when the first branch line was completed in central Laos on 22 July, its expansion and extension was begun.
The continuous pressure on Tonkin took its toll and the latest MAB attack succeeded early on 23 July and it was occupied by three PLA divisions the following evening.
Even though none of the three available Polish divisions were properly recovered after recent fighting, Żeligowski ignored the protestations of their commanders and threw them into a desperate counter-attack, not wishing to see the Communists consolidate and hold their gain.
He was at least able to rely on Allied naval gunfire support. And it also took some pressure off the concurrent MAB attack on central Laos. To the pleasant surprise of the Allies, this rather desperate attack prevailed a day later, with only light Polish casualties.
On the morning of 26 July, as they had in Ganzi, the PLA was able to insert a defending division into Tonkin. But by that evening it too had been defeated, as had the enemy attack in central Laos. Though one of the two Polish divisions there had been forced back and a new attack quickly launched from the east.
Once more, the PLA sent in more troops to Tonkin to try to make a desperate stand on 27 July, while central Laos was holding fairly strongly against the latest Communist attack on the branch rail line there. In less than a day, the tired but resilient Polish troops had evicted the latest round of PLA defenders from Tonkin.
When the next rather ramshackle PLA line of defence in Tonkin was engaged on 28 July, a temporary respite in central Laos allowed 26 DP to launch a diversionary attack to the north at 1800hr, with the aim of forestalling any further MAB reinforcements being sent from there into Tonkin. The latest attack on the coast succeeded by 2100hr and the secondary attack in central Laos was halted before serious casualties were suffered.
One French and one Polish division finally managed tore occupy Tonkin on the night of 29 July. They were quickly counter-attacked by the enemy but held after a five-hour fire-fight.
Two more short attacks were launched in the next two days but the Franco-Polish force held firm, though 1 DP was on the edge of disorganisation and the last Polish division defending in central Laos was in retreat. There were no fresh Polish divisions left at this point, as replenishment of the battered formations in the rear was attempted before the next hammer blow fell.
Indeed, another probe on Tonkin was defeated on the morning of 31 July, at the cost of 1 DP also being forced into retreat, leaving just one French division in the defence. An as-yet unready Polish division in depth was started on its forward march to the coast in case it was needed
in extremis.
As things stood at the end of the month, the line was in the same place it had been when it started, though only due to prodigious efforts of defence and counter-attack, especially in Tonkin.
In the south, the Japanese landings had been unsuccessful in taking the port, but the troops had retreated to the east and fanned out. However, the Allies had brought in additional divisions and were in the process of bottling up and hopefully destroying the unsupplied MAB corps now loose in southern Vietnam.
Overall, there had been virtually no change in the front line anywhere in the Far East during July. The Manchurian border clash continued, but would no doubt soon end indecisively, as the MAB attacked all out along the front in this grim attritional war.
The Americas
Fighting of course continued all through July in Canada and Mexico, but by the end of the month little had changed on either front. The ‘Second Front’ in Canada seemed in a fairly inactive stalemate by then.
The fighting had been and remained heavier along the main Mexican Front, but it too had seen very little change of territory. As the month ended, the Allies were successfully absorbing the latest American offensive and still threatened Los Angeles in the west and Houston in the east. The US held an enclave of Mexico in the centre.
The stand-off in French Guyana continued as it had done for months.
In the war as a whole, the Allies retained an estimated 5.5 million-man advantage in overall
fielded manpower against the combined strengths of the MAB and the non-aligned US, despite having taken the heavier total casualties.
They also retained a very large estimated advantage in overall industrial capacity against all their enemies. It was hard to see what might break the strategic deadlock that had now been in place for months, since the fronts in North America had been stabilised after the collapses of the pro-Allied Canadian and Mexican governments.
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Domestic and Diplomatic Issues
The nascent shipbuilding program got another nudge along on 10 July, after which the Poles sought to gain naval design support for small ships from the Royal Navy.
Just one more division finished training in July, the 8th Light Tank Brigade, joining the 5th Army reserve grouping behind the southern front.
No new research breakthroughs occurred during the month but a couple (naval bombers and subs) would be completed in August. New submarine construction would begin once the 1940 hull design was ready.
The equipment stockpiles remained generally strong to adequate, with some new lend lease offers being received once more as artillery pieces again fell into deficit.
The coup plot in Belarus remained in its early days.
