Chapter 12 Fourteenth Army's offensive through Grisia

The first goal of the Fourteenth Army was to encircle the powerful enemy forces supposedly concentrated in the Krakow area.The original disposition of this army group from Silesia, through Moravsba Ostrava, to the Karpetia Mountains is enough to suggest the intention of this encirclement. The Eighth Army, commanded by General Bush (Gen‧Busch), has two infantry divisions, the Eighth and Twenty-eighth, and the Fifth Armored Division.Ordered to break through the strong Polish border fortress in the eastern part of Upper Silesia, and then advance to Krakow along the north bank of the Vistula River.The Seventeenth Army, commanded by Gen. Kienitz, under the command of the Seventh and Forty-fourth Infantry Divisions, attacked Krakow from Moravia along the Vistula River.The other two corps were sent to encircle the enemy presumably near Cracow.

The 22nd Armored Corps, commanded by General Kleist (Gen‧V‧Kleist), under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Armored Division and the 2nd Light Division, should rush from the center of the Araf River Valley in the Calpethia Mountains in the west out and attack Krakow from the south.The Eighteenth Mountain Army, commanded by General Bell (Gen‧Beyer), under the jurisdiction of the second and third mountain divisions, is scheduled to protrude from the Poprad River Valley east of High Tatra (High Tatra) , with the aim of advancing through Nowy Sacz towards Bochnia, west of Tarnow, and attacking the enemy at Cracow from the rear.

Farther to the east, the Slovakian troops were later ordered to attack through the Dukla defile, once famous in the First World War.Later, a mountain division (a brave and skilled Bavarian army) and two reserve divisions were also ordered to join this flanking battle. The prologue battle of the Fourteenth Army was quite difficult, especially the attack of the Eighth Army on the Polish border fortress.But from the operational point of view, the detour from Calpethia had already decided the fate of this border area.It was evident that the originally supposed plan to encircle and wipe out the enemy around Cracow did not materialize as desired, for the enemy, having recognized the danger of their situation, voluntarily withdrew from the western part of Grisia.But most of its force had been smashed in these early battles, and the pursuit followed, with the 22nd Panzer Corps finally overtaking its prey.The right flank of the army, the Mountain Army and the XVII Corps, captured the fortresses of Lvov and Prizimensl.Its left wing, including the Panzer Corps, Eighth Corps, and the Seventh Corps attached to the army group, was able to cross the San River south of the confluence of the San River and the Vistula River.Although in the subsequent battles, the Polish army could still fight bravely, and some of the battles were fierce, but they were still wiped out, and some enemy troops were transferred from the front of Warsaw or the North Army Group.At this time, we have already made contact with the left wing of the Army Group North.

By September 15, both Lvov and Prizisl had fallen, and the pursuit was virtually over, but further work was needed to clear the remnants of the Polish army in this area and east of the San River. fighting.