Chapter 18 : Fall weiß
ReichsLuftFahrtMinisterium (Reich Aviation Ministry), Berlin - August the 23rd - 1130
Meeting between Reichsmarschall Göring, CinC Luftwaffe, and Oberst Hans Jeschonnek, Luftwaffen Chief of Staff.
- "You wished to see me, Herr ReichsMarschall ?
- In der Tat, Oberst Jeschonnek. Have you read the newspapers this morning ?
- You mean the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ? It's almost impossible to miss, Herr ReichsMarschall.
And it will serve our needs very well, even if it's a bit "against nature". A non-aggression Pact with the Commies ! I hope the Führer knows what he's doing...
An agreement but for how long...?
- He does, believe me. But that's not the point.
This non-aggression Pact, Oberst Jeschonnek, means we have free hands with Poland, at least on the Soviets side. But it's of no garanty against France and Britain. On this point, the Führer is wrong : If we attack Poland, we're going to be at war with France and Britain, that's for sure !
I don't mind attacking Poland. But France, and mostly Britain, that's an other story...
I just called a friend of mine in Sweden, Mr Dahlerus. He's a businessman with a lot of contacts in Britain. He will come here in Germanyt to act as emissary and to try helping to solve this crisis.
However, according to our phone discussion, he doesn't think we can succeed. Britain wants peace but not at all costs and we've gone too far, I'm afraid...
- And when does "it" suppose to begin...?
- September the 1st... I want to be sure we're ready !
- We are, Herr ReichsMarschall !
As you can see, 2
Luftflotten,
1. and
4., are commited to support "
Fall weiß". It represents a force of
700 fighters (Me-109),
300 heavy-fighters (Me-110),
900 bombers (Do-17 or He-111) and
400 dive-bombers (Ju-87 'Stukas). We also have another
100 fighters (Me-190) and
300 bombers (Do-17, he-111 and Fw-200) of the different Ergänzungsgeschwader (replacement) to reinforce our units.
And don't forget the
Luftflotte 2 and 3 on the western front. We have more than enough to support our troops, Herr ReichsMarschall !
- Supporting our ground forces is not the sole concern, Oberst Jeschonnek. Like I said, we are very likely to go to war with Britain and we have to prevent the british bombers to strike our country. I've promised the Führer !!!
- Don't worry, Herr ReichsMarschall : we have enough airplanes and our crews know their job. We've just started a training cyclus for our ground crews and no doubt, the in-comming campaign will teach us a lot. We're going to be able to improve our doctrines once more !
- Well, don't forget that the opponent will learn too... What about the Flak ?
- We've got good anti-air defenses to protect our industries. Not enough I have to say but it's getting better, mainly due to an increase number of our good 88mm AA-gun. I wouldn't be in the shoes of a british bomber pilot...
- I hope you're right, Herr Oberst.
What's going on with the paratroopers ?
- The men are ready, both our and the ones from the Heer ; we've got enough transport airplanes...
- But...?
- but we're still waiting for the special material, gliders, engineer weaponry, etc, etc... from the WaffenAmt. They're in the final test phase but it will take some months until we get everything.
- That means we won't be able to use our paratroopers during this campaign ?
- Unfortunatly not, Herr ReichsMarschall. Unlesss you want to use your own personal regiment :
FJ-Rgt 'General Göring'. They are the only ones to be fully combat-ready.
- I'll think about it. You can dismiss, Herr Oberst..."
OKH Hauptquartier, Berlin-Wünsdorf - 1939, August the 26th - 0900
General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff, meets GeneralLeutnant von Manstein, Chief of Staff HG 'Süd'.
- "Guten Tag, Herr GeneralLeutnant. Nice to see you here.
- Could you please stop pulling my leg, Herr General ?!!
- Huuu... I see. You've inherited of the friendliness of your boss, GeneralOberst
von Rundstedt...
- Listen. I know you were, and still are, a strong opponent to my appointment as Chief of Staff of
HGr 'Süd'. So can we stop this useless courtesy and come to the point ?
- Your reputation had preceded you, GeneralLeutnant. Everyone knows that you have made the Plan for Unternehmen 'Otto'... The sole plan available at that time.
- And I've worked on 'Fall grün' too !
- As well as 'Fall weiß'. I've studied your plan carefully and I want both of us to review it one last time.
- Aaahh... "It" is going to happen then... When ?
- In 6 days : September the 1st. The mobilization begins today.
Mobilizations begins : Things are getting serious...
It will require a few days before all missing personals join their units but I doubt our opponents will be in the same stade of readiness as we're going to be.
However, mobilization isn't very popular and people are going to be worry. War is a serious thing and that's why this campaign has to be quick.
- Hoping neither France nor Britain will intervene. Herr General Halder, do you seriously believe that ?
- They'll do something, that's for sure but if we can solve the "polish problem" really quick, it will still be time to settle peace with France and Britain. Over there, nobody really wants to die for Poland, you know...
- I wouldn't bet on that. Anyway, 'Fall weiß' could be completed in 2 weeks... 4 at the upmost.
- I'm all ears, GeneralLeutnant.
- The goal of our plan is double :
First, to catch the polish forces on our borders into 2 major encirclements. Doing this, we can avoid a slow withdrawal of the enemy forces behing the Warta, the Vistula and the Bug. If we can trap and destroy enemy forces BEFORE they can retreat, we will shorten the war for sure.
In the same time, we're going to strike a direct blow to the heart of the enemy... its capital, Warsaw ! The result will be devastating on their will to continue the fight.
We're going to use 2 Army Groups, the
HeeresGruppe 'Nord' under GeneralOberst
von Bock and the
HeeresGruppe 'Süd' under GeneralOberst
von Rundstedt.
It represents a force of nearly
650.000 men in
63 divisions, including 10 Panzer- and 4 motorized infantry divisions.
The air support will be provided by the
Luftflotte 1 (General
Kesselring) in
Stettin and the
Luftflotte 4 (General
Löhr) in
Breslau i.e.
2300 airplanes.
According to our last intelligence reports, we have identified 25 polish divisions facing us and their airforce is estimated 600 airplanes, mostly outdated, at the upmost.
Northern part of our plan, the
HeeresGruppe 'Nord' (
CoS General
von Salmuth)represents a force of
24 divisions, including reserves, totalizing
270.000 men.
It comprises 2 armies, the
3. Armee and the
4. Armee, plus one army-sized Command, the
FestungsKommandantur 'Küstrin'.
The main role being given to southern element, the
HeeresGruppe 'Nord' hasn't been given a lot of reserve units. Furthermore, its right flank is strongly protected by our fortifications of the 'Oder Quadrilateral'.
The main blow will be given by the
HeeresGruppe 'Süd' (
CoS General
von Manstein), with its
360.000 troops into
39 divisions. Of the 14 armoured/motorized formations, 10 have been allocated to
HGr 'Süd'.
It comprises of the 3 armies : the
8. Armee,
10. Armee and
14. Armee.
Because it's in charge of the main thrust,
HGr 'Süd' has been given extra corps and reserve divisions, to support its advance and/or to secure rear areas. As CoS of
HGr Süd, I've already allocated the
XXII. AK to the
14. Armee sector, to support the attack along the slovakian border.
Isolated in East-Prussia, the
3. Armee of General
von Küchler (
CoS General
von Böckmann) is one of the most powerful we deploy. It consists of 2 Armeekorps, the
I. AK (General
Petzel) and
XXI. AK (General
von Falkenhorst), plus 2 corps-sized sub-commands, the
Gruppe 'Wodrig' 'led by General
Wodrig and
Gruppe 'Brand' (General
Brand).
All together,
11 divisisons totalizing
105.000 men, not counting reserve elements,
206. ID, sent by
HGr 'Nord'.
3. Armee's main objective is to push mainly southward, driving back polish forces behind the Vistula river, and to participate the main blow on
Warsaw from the north. Bridgeheads on the Vistula must be seized in the region
Lowicz to make a junction with our troops coming from the south.
In the same time, parts of the
3. Armee must reach the Niemen river in the region
Augustow-Bialystok to establish a defense line against enemy units coming from the east.
3. Armee has also to send elements to take part on the assault against
Danzig, in cooperation with units of
4. Armee.
Based in Pommern,
4. Armee is led by General
von Kluge (
CoS General
Brennecke). It has 3 Armeekorps, the
II. AK (General
Strauss), the
III. AK (General
Haase) and the
XIX. AK (mot.) of General
Guderian, plus a corps-sized sub-command, the
GrenzschutzAbschnittKommando 1 -
GaK 1 - totalizing
88.000 men within
9 divisions.
4. Armee's main role is double : first it has to take
Danzig from the west and to open a way into the polish corridor so that we can supply East-Prussia directly through land connexion.
In the meantime,
4. Armee has to punch a hole in the polish lines and to make a breakthrough toward
Torun at first, and
Lodz as final goal, meeting there elements of our
8. Armee. Once done, all polish forces in the
Poznan area will be trapped.
Operations against
Danzig will be supported by the
Baltic Fleet.
FestungsKommandantur 'Küstrin'
Attached to the
HG 'Nord', the
FestungsKommandantur 'Küstrin', composed of 3 corps-sized sub-commands, the
GaK 2,
12 and
13, totalizing
35.000 men.
In charge of defending the
Oder Quadrilateral, it has no offensive role. Its main task in merely to make a secure junction between the
HGr 'Nord' and
'Süd'.
Here's the general deployment along the borders :
Armies and Corps commanders have been given full autonomy to act as situation requires (Auftragstaktik).
Based in lower Silesia, the
8. Armee of General
Blaskowitz (
CoS General
Felber) is the northern element of
HGr 'Süd'. It comprises 3 Armeekorps, the
X. AK (General
Ulex),
XI. AK (General
Leeb) and
XIII. AK (General
von Weichs), plus one corps-sized sub-command, the
GaK 14. It represents a force of
63.000 men within
6 divisions.
Because of its small size, the
8. Armee has only one goal : moving forward toward
Lodz, taking the city and waiting there for the elements of the
4. Armee to come. The
8. Armee is the southern pincer of the planned "
Poznan Pocket".
During its move, the
8. Armee will also provide cover to the left flank of the
10. Armee. For this task, it has been given some light armoured elements and the motorized unit, the
Leibstandarte-SS.
In the upper Silesia, our spearhead : the
10. Armee under General
von Reichenau (
CoS General
Paulus). It consists of 4 Armeekorps, the
IV. AK (General
von Schwedler) and the
XIV. AK (General
von Wietersheim),
XV. AK (General
Hoth) and
XVI. AK (General
Hoepner) - the last
3 AKs all mot. - totalizing
97.000 troops within
11 divisions, including 7 armoured/motorized divisions.
The role of the
10. Armee is quite simple and brutal : to achieve a breakthrough in the polish lines in the area
Czestochova-Lubliniec and then to rush straigth ahead northward toward
Warsaw, assaulting the capital from the south.
This must be done with maximum speed with as little concern as possible to its flanks.
Blitzkrieg !!!
Last but not least, operating from the upper Silesia and from Slovakia, the
14. Armee of General
List (
CoS General
von Mackensen). It comprises 3 Armeekorps, the
VIII. AK (General
Busch),
XVII. AK (General
Kienitz) and
XVIII. AK (General
Beyer), plus a corps-sized sub-command, the
GaK 3. All together, a fighting force of over
110.000 men and
12 divisions.
The role of
14. Armee is double : first, it must try to encircle the polish forces in the
Krakow area and to destroy them then. Doing this, it will also provide some sort of cover to the right flank of General von Reichenau's
10. Armee.
In the same time, like the
3. Armee in the north, the
14. Armee has to send elements in the region of
Przemysl and to establish there a defense line against polish elements possibly coming from the east.
- Guter Plan, Herr GeneralLeutnant ! Our units have been in place in their second line positions for days now and they will go to their starting positions on August the 31st to avoid detection. We have build enough logistic depots to support the full operation without too much delays.
- Herr General Halder. I have no doubts it will succeed but the remaining question is : how long will it take ? It has to be quick so we can redeploy our troops to face France.
- Yeep... Time is the key. Anyway, the dice are rolling. "
Alea Jacta Est" said someone...
- 'See you in Warsaw, Herr General..."