Chapter forty-four: Walther is coming to Warsaw
On January 13rd, 1940 the Polish armies which covered the center of the front reported that they possessed the equivalent of nine infantry divisions and barely two weak armored brigades and that they were outnumbered ten to one in tanks, three to one in artillery and absolutely in aircraft. The fall of Bydgoscz provoked the "
Mad Day" when Polish and Soviet troops fell back in chaos towards Warsaw. In these circunstamces, an accurante count of enemy troops opposing the German armies was impossible, but it was estimated that there were no more than 150,000 trops and 50 tanks by January 10th. Amazingly, Zukhov, recently arrived to the front, managed to form a coherent defence in three days. Altogether he managed to gather 252,000 men, 200 tanks by scrapping together all kind of small and big units together to reinforce the frontline. Even soldiers virtually untrained and reserve units were rushed to Warshaw and grouped together in improvised formations.
Thus, when the German army attacked on January 13th, the basic enemy fighting unit found by the Ländser were battlegroups of no fixed size or strenght. Some were smaller than battalions, but other were as big as having the size of wrecked and reconstituted divisions, very weak in infantry but strong in artillery and mortars, with a size and combat power roughly equal to a German brigade.
Polish soldiers of the Warsaw garrison marching to the frontline.
Exhausted, routed or untrained, the Polish and Soviet troops were indeed prepared to fight, although most were perfectly aware that they could not resist the incoming onslaught. Some, particularly the Soviet soldiers, as the German and the recently arrived BEF pushed closer to Soviet soil, most were ready to defend their homeland against an invader which had bowed to utterly destroy the Soviet regime.
Against these forces Unthernehem 'Walther' was released when three divisions under General von Witzleben began a feint attack against Lodz. On the very next day, the French army began to mobilize its units and to send them to Germany, to regroup their ranks and then move to the front line.
Apparently, the army had found the French army on the wrong foot as it was beginning to modernize its units. For instance, the 1st Light Division was supposed to become the 1st Light Cavalry Division in March and be, thus, a fully motorized division. But in February it contained a cavalry and a light mechanized brigade and the modernization was still goin on, of course. The 2nd and 3rd Light Cavalry Divisions were following a similar reorganization and their order of battle was quite similar to the 1st. Meawnhile, the 4th and 5th Light Cavalry Divisions had been formed in 6 February 1940 at Saint Rémy de Bouzement and it has
hoped that they would become trully light divisions by early March. Meanwhile, the two existing Light Mechanized Divisions (1) were also moving to the front line while another one had been recently created on 1 February 1940 in Paris. The two armoured divisions also departed to Germany, even if the 1st Cuirassier (armoured) Division lacked half of its motorcycles and artillery caissons (2).
(1) As it uses to happen with France, this is a lovely misunderstading as the Light Mechanized Divisions were not so "light" and, at least in organisation, resembled more closely the German Panzerdivision of the Panzerwaffe, though it would be more "tank-heavy", not so much the Leichte Kavalleriedivisionen of the German Cavalry, whose units in the thirties were only partly mechanised.
(2) French generals and his famous sense of humour, methinks.
@H.Appleby: I was lucky to find some information about the OTL 1939 defenses of Warsaw
About the Ukranians... we shall see. Germany as some ideas about an independent Ukraine but London doesn't like too much the idea.
France AND Italy (no joking) are in the war. They are in no hurry to reach the front. Perhaps when Warsaw falls Rome and Paris may feel the urge to move quicker. And don't give Thorez any idea. I've already trashed Paris twice in my AARs. A third one could be apocaliptically lovely. Don't tempt me.
@Nathan Madien: A new meaniong for "Warsaw"? I'm lost, sorry.
@Mr. Santiago: As Peti may tell you, a zarist fart is a force to be reckoned... If you drink, don't fart at the same time, please.
Yes, Warsaw is going to be an interesting battle... but Free Poland is going to need a new capital and I don't think that they would like the idea of seeing a lunar landscape and say "you know,
that was Warsaw."
By the way: I promise that by Wednesday you'll have another update.