Chapter 11 The beginning of the situation

The plan drawn up by the German Army Headquarters was to make a large-scale detour against the Polish Army from East Prussia and Silesia.When Army Group North has driven the Poles out of the corridor and established a link between East Prussia and Pomerania, it is time to move straight behind the Vistula in order to attack from the rear in positions on the Great River. The main force of the enemy forces in the bay. The task that Army Group South should undertake is to engage the enemy as far as possible in front of the Vistula in order to prevent their attempts to retreat to the rear of the Vistula and San.This means that the tank units of the Tenth Army (the infantry should follow as closely as possible) should work together to rush through the enemy's troops that may be assembled near the national border, so that the armored forces may rush ahead of the enemy and reach from Demblin. ) to the crossings of the Vistula River up to Warsaw.It must also be assumed that the Fourteenth Army, advancing through Grisia, will also be able to reach and cross the San with maximum speed.If the enemy's intention is to make a decisive resistance on the San and Vistula rivers, this army group can immediately sweep the defense line of the river from the south, and with the eastern flank of the northern army group advancing from the north, it will be in the enemy's rear. Meet in the depths.The following facts are also destined to give the Fourteenth Army considerable help.Because its right wing extends eastward into the territory of Slovakia.The concentration on the enemy's deep flank in the Krakow area thus constituted an immediate threat, and it also made it impossible for them to make any effective long-term defense of Grisia.

The operations of Army Group South in Poland were based on this line of action.Its purpose is to destroy the main force of the enemy in front of the Vistula River.At the same time, he must try to prevent him from realizing his attempt to retreat to the rear of the San River and the Vistula River before accepting a decisive battle. A day-to-day account of this operation would be useful, but it is undoubtedly too trivial for such a lightning campaign, so I will only give a general account of its necessary stages.These stages are sometimes sequential in time and sometimes simultaneous.They can be briefly described as follows:

(1) The fourteenth army fought fierce border battles in Grisia and pursued the remnants of the enemy to Lwow and above the San River. (2) The breakthrough of the Tenth Army to the Vistula River and the battle with the Radom encirclement. (3) In the Battle of Bzura, which was directly commanded by the headquarters of the Army Group in the South, the Tenth and Eighth Armies destroyed the enemy's powerful forces. (4) The attack on Warsaw and the final battle.At this time, the Russian army was advancing towards Eastern Poland.It crossed the Polish border on September 17, 1939.