Excerpts from a Brief History of the Red Lion
Chapter 14 - The Battle for the Republic
As mentioned previously the government of the Russian Empire had become captured by Russian nationalists in 1926, and they had cemented their hold on power over the next decade. The death of the Tsar in 1932 brought to power his much more malleable son, who proved also proved easily enraptured by the bold visions of the Party of Russia. Whereas the old Tsar had acted as something of a moderating influence, in partnership with the new Tsar the Russian premier - Sergei Kostrikov - the country rapidly developed a nationalistic cult whipping up feelings of humiliation that so much “Russian” land was under foreign dominion, and used a military build-up and massive infrastructure projects as a method of quick-starting the stagnant economy.
When the German Revolt occurred Kostrikov saw a golden diplomatic opportunity to support his fellow nationalists. Whilst holding no true affection for the Germans or Germany, mutual enmity with the Danes, and the opportunities presented by the Republic of All People, proved alluring enough. The alliance between the two nations actually was agreed in early 1938, but they proceeded very carefully. Whilst the Germans were able to hoodwink the Republic with their troop movements, the Russians knew they would never able to do so. So they had a more public build-up of their military along with a few carefully staged incidents over the winter of 1938-9. This caused the Republic to position a greater part of its free military on their long eastern frontier. Thus the German front - except in the vicinity of the ongoing Battle of the Line - was not only caught by surprise on 15th May, but was also under-garisonned.
The four days following the German attack were just enough to allow the Republic to start transporting troops from the Eastern front back to the West, when the Russians attacked. Thus was tactical mastery ensured on both east and west.
The Russian build-up had also been obvious to the Danes. In August 1938 the King of Denmark dismissed the civilian government, and retook control of power. In actuality this was less a return of absolutism as a vital infusion of leadership. Recognising the Danish government as having been hopefully tarnished he appointed a new, more diverse government. He also promoted Mammerheim to Field Marshall and appointed him Chief of the General Staff - in overall charge of the military. Given he was the one general officer in the Danish Army with an unblemished record in the war to date, this proved to be one of the easier moves the King attempted.
Mannerheim had noted the increase in Russian activity. Later he admitted he thought more in terms of Russia making a separate attack on a weakened Denmark than the joint Russo-German attack that actually took place, but even so it was enough. He setup about working to make the Empire’s eastern possessions more defensible. This essentially boiled down to knowing where to abandon, setting in plans for evacuation of those areas and scorched earth tactics, and building up defences in depth where proved appropriate, taking advantage of natural features where possible. In Courland in particular he was blessed by the still extant works of Arthur Wellesley from a century before, which remained formidable despite being in need of updating.
Thanks to Mannerheim, whilst the Republic was in chaos, the Danish forces knew exactly what to do. The trickiest task was facing the Army of the Line. Mannerheim wished for this army to withdraw safely, but also to save the Republic army opposite. As soon as the attack began the local general contacted his Republic counterpart, making a formal offer of cooperation and haven in the Danish holdfasts already prepared. It took until the 20th for the general to realise his army was at risk of being destroyed if it moved south, and agreed to retire northward. The Army of the Line had already moved some units northward itself to try and keep the route open, and a furious battle was in southern Livonia against advance Russian elements. In addition the northern division of the Republic’s 4th Army made the same retreat. The operation proved a success. The sole success of those early days.
Whilst the Germans smashed towards Warsaw, the Russians had made two large offensives through the Belarus and through Ukraine. The sudden ferocity of their assault and the large concentration of mechanised forces in those two thrusts (using nearly every tank, lorry, and half-track in the Russian army) and massive local superiority crushed the forces immediately opposing them. The Russian divisions flooded in, driving headlong into Republic territory aiming - successfully - to create a large encirclement between the two thrusts.
By the 23rd May it was clear the Republic was effectively beaten. Oh there was still fighting to be done - but the Republic was shattered. Then a most curious thing happened - the Republic hired the Red Lion.
We now know the Imperial Commonwealth were arguing them to do this for a couple of days, and effectively promised to subsidise the deployment. A token payment would be made (and was made on the 25th), and thus the Red Lion - but not the Imperial Commonwealth - entered the war. It was a moment the Red Lion had been preparing for.
They sent three expeditionary forces into the Republic. The majority of Red Lion troops though had been training in their appanage in and around Constantinople. From those forces they sent a smaller force into Crimea, aiming to secure the peninsula. This was relatively easy to achieve, with the isthmus itself and the straits of Kerch being secured and further fortified. There then developed in the Sea of Azov a frantic fight of small naval craft as the Red Lion and Republic forces tried to evacuate as many soldiers as possible that had been caught in Donetsk region.
The much larger force was shipped to Odessa, and then sent northward in Ukraine. It was hoped they might - just - be able to save something of the Republican armies even now being cut off, but that proved unrealistic. Even as they approach the Russian pincers had closed forming a very large pocket. Although substantial Russian forces now had to work on reducing that pocket there were numerous enough to send a force large enough to thwart any further Red Lion advance. This force then set about stabilising the remaining line as it became filled up with Republic volunteers and conscripts.
The final Red Lion force - crossed into the Republic from Moravia - had a not dissimilar goal. They could not prevent the German and Russian forces linking up, and in all seriousness never expected to. Their realistic role was to provide additional support for the defence of southern Poland and to try and relieve pressure on Krakow, and in doing so became involved in one of the great legends of the war.
The Republic of all Peoples, as set forth in its name, was truly the first nation to have a universal view of humanity. Explicitly all were welcome, all races and creeds. It is the first place to grant equality to women as well. As such, it naturally became a haven for exiles, either voluntary or forced, from most of the rest of the world. This meant that, although the Republic’s territory broadly was similar to that of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of old - if not a little larger - by 1930 somewhere between 30 and 35% of the population within two generations of an immigrant. Some of these immigrants were poor, but a few were not. One of the more aristocratic arrived in 1912, by a sort of mutual arrangement from his home nation. Some exiles arrived full of ire, but some - like this particular exile - began their time in their new home in a pit of despondency. It was not until around 1916 that he began to involve himself in local causes, and by 1921 had gotten himself elected to the Assembly. Un-usually he made an effort to learn Polish, and to at least get some facility in the other major languages of the Republic. In Polish though through arduous effort he arrived at a rare fluency.
By the late 1930s this man was ageing, but still hale, and forthright. He had been warning about the dangers of the German rebellion and the Russian nationalists for a number of years, and whilst it is not fair to say he was ignored, he fears were downplayed. Now, he was proven all too brutally right, but this was not a man to fail to take up a challenge offered.
With Republican units in full flight he appealed to volunteers on local radio in Krakow to form defence battalions. In the chaos of the times none of those recordings have survived, or indeed any of his speeches from those frightful weeks, but it was remarked that he marshalled every language he spoke and sent them into battle. He travelled outside the city to intercept the broken troops to rally them when their officers either could, or would, not. From such inauspicious scraps he strung together a defence force that handed the Germans their first serious defeat.
Now the first German approach to the city was hardly the most serious effort, but a victory of any sort was all this man needed. The second German attempt was altogether a different affair, and fierce fighting raged on the outskirts of the city. And this man was there, at the front, exhorting those around him to greater efforts. Men (and women) stunned by shell and shot and probable defeat would suddenly finding themselves standing straighter, and ready to make another desperate assault to recapture a vital area, or defend one. In the battered streets of Krakow, the legend of Winston Churchill was born.
Few people have had so many conspiracy theories cling to them as Churchill, and he had plenty of disparagers who claimed the professional officers were the real architects of victory, or the Red Lion artillery and airpower, or a number of different factors. I can only repeat what has been demonstrated time and again from the men and women who bled on those streets, that it was Churchill who kept them fighting when all they wanted to do was quit.
Ultimately though Churchill collapsed in July, his body struggling through sheer effort. By then though the defence of Krakow had been reformed, and though several more furious battles would be fought the ancient city would never be fully taken. It was a symbol, and it was said whilst there was still fighting in Krakow the Republic was still alive.
And so it proved.
