Part IV: In Preparation
19th of September, 1939
'This is boring! I want WAR!' Hitler whined in his chair.
His generals looked up at him, eyebrows firmly down.
'We have taken over Czechoslovakia in two brilliant political strategies, leader! You forced over Memel to Germany, and you got Italy to join the Axis war machine. And your inspired non-aggression pact with the Communist scum!' Rommel recounted.
'Yes, I know that! But are we ready to invade?' Hitler sighed.
'Well, here are our armies. Decide for yourself.' Rommel said, showing Hitler the armies.
'Here are our western forces. I'm not sure if they're ready for an assault on France yet.' Rommel admitted.
'Here are our Polish invasion forces.' he continued.
'And here are our African corps!' Rommel smiled, 'I hear their leader is a brilliant strategist!'.
'Looks good. What about our allies' power?' Hitler asked.
'I have that right here!' Rommel said.
'Do you think we're ready?' another commander asked.
'Yes. Attack tomorrow!' Hitler demanded, 'I have prepared some battleplans already. Take a look. I have called it Fall Sonnenuntergang - Plan Sunset' he added.
[Blue indicates first phase, green indicates second phase, red indicates in this case a complete encirclement]
Hitler pointed out that he wanted to keep East Prussia away from becoming a driving force in the attack - the divisions were pure infantry and there weren't many of them. Pushing the Polish back a little would create a small buffer in case the Polish unexpectedly bring up divisions. The attack on Danzig would come on two points, supported by strong tactical bombers, multi-roles and close air support.
The driving force would come in the centre of Poland:
Two powerful corps, supported by the airforce, would strike the Polish at their heart, Warsaw, splitting their western armies to north and south. Hitler envisioned a quick strike at their heart. Some of the commanders said a slow push would be a better idea, explaining it would take six weeks. Hitler laughed. Six weeks? What pathetic doctrine would take six weeks to take over this pushover country?
No. Hitler would use Blitzkrieg! A lightning-fast strike at their heart.
Not a lot was planned for southern Poland; most important Polish cities were centre or north, not south. A division would attack at Krakow when the Polish divisions there were redeployed to Warsaw, north.
Under a more powerful country like France, Hitler would not even have considered such risky assaults on major, garrisoned and forted cities. But this was Poland. And the German high command doubted Poland's ability to fight.
Hitler stood up. 'Men, this is it. Tomorrow, it is war. I'll demand Danzig from them; they'll undoubtedly refuse. We'll make up some story of the Polish mistreating German minorities - those foolish British won't realise it's the same excuse we used on Czechoslovakia! The Polish see undefended provinces to the south! No large stacks of divisions anywhere! They won't realise our individually superior men until Warsaw is taken and the Reich is expanded!' Hitler chuckled.
Poland was about to become the first victim of Germany's armies.
19th of September, 1939
'This is boring! I want WAR!' Hitler whined in his chair.
His generals looked up at him, eyebrows firmly down.
'We have taken over Czechoslovakia in two brilliant political strategies, leader! You forced over Memel to Germany, and you got Italy to join the Axis war machine. And your inspired non-aggression pact with the Communist scum!' Rommel recounted.
'Yes, I know that! But are we ready to invade?' Hitler sighed.
'Well, here are our armies. Decide for yourself.' Rommel said, showing Hitler the armies.
'Here are our western forces. I'm not sure if they're ready for an assault on France yet.' Rommel admitted.
'Here are our Polish invasion forces.' he continued.
'And here are our African corps!' Rommel smiled, 'I hear their leader is a brilliant strategist!'.
'Looks good. What about our allies' power?' Hitler asked.
'I have that right here!' Rommel said.
'Do you think we're ready?' another commander asked.
'Yes. Attack tomorrow!' Hitler demanded, 'I have prepared some battleplans already. Take a look. I have called it Fall Sonnenuntergang - Plan Sunset' he added.
[Blue indicates first phase, green indicates second phase, red indicates in this case a complete encirclement]
Hitler pointed out that he wanted to keep East Prussia away from becoming a driving force in the attack - the divisions were pure infantry and there weren't many of them. Pushing the Polish back a little would create a small buffer in case the Polish unexpectedly bring up divisions. The attack on Danzig would come on two points, supported by strong tactical bombers, multi-roles and close air support.
The driving force would come in the centre of Poland:
Two powerful corps, supported by the airforce, would strike the Polish at their heart, Warsaw, splitting their western armies to north and south. Hitler envisioned a quick strike at their heart. Some of the commanders said a slow push would be a better idea, explaining it would take six weeks. Hitler laughed. Six weeks? What pathetic doctrine would take six weeks to take over this pushover country?
No. Hitler would use Blitzkrieg! A lightning-fast strike at their heart.
Not a lot was planned for southern Poland; most important Polish cities were centre or north, not south. A division would attack at Krakow when the Polish divisions there were redeployed to Warsaw, north.
Under a more powerful country like France, Hitler would not even have considered such risky assaults on major, garrisoned and forted cities. But this was Poland. And the German high command doubted Poland's ability to fight.
Hitler stood up. 'Men, this is it. Tomorrow, it is war. I'll demand Danzig from them; they'll undoubtedly refuse. We'll make up some story of the Polish mistreating German minorities - those foolish British won't realise it's the same excuse we used on Czechoslovakia! The Polish see undefended provinces to the south! No large stacks of divisions anywhere! They won't realise our individually superior men until Warsaw is taken and the Reich is expanded!' Hitler chuckled.
Poland was about to become the first victim of Germany's armies.
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