Action Along the Bzura

[Sir Richard]

Story 04 of The Polish Campaign

Action Along the Bzura
September 09, 1939
Played as German

Note: After 3 decisive victories, I have started the practice of moving the "advantage" notch in favor of the allies with each victory, and in favor of the axis with each defeat. A minor victory (defeat) is worth half a tick, a decisive victory (defeat) is worth a full tick.

So, this scenario begins with one 'tick' in favor of the Allies.


START REPORT:

When I was young, I spent some years in the American Midwest. Tornados are very common there. What surprised me about tornados was their highly selective destructiveness. One building would be leveled, his neighbor's house would be virtually untouched.

War was like that. As I sat with Colonel Fiedler in his command car, we drove past villages that had been leveled by shelling and fields filled with still smoldering tanks. Then, there was miles of countryside without a single sign of the blemishes of war. As I looked across the fields and trees, and across the river valley to our left, all was peaceful.

War handed out death with the same randomness. I was starting to get used to that thought. At any moment, a bullet could rip through my body, or a shell could blast me apart. It provided a constant background tension.

I hoped the bullet or the blast would be fatal. We often bestow our greatest honors on those who have given their lives for their country.
As I recalled standing in the midst of battle, I thought that the honor was misplaced. The mangled and broken survivors sacrificed far more.

What did worry me is that I started to wonder about those whose bodies got mangled and broken fighting on the wrong side of a war. It was one thing to suffer such a loss when fighting for a good cause. The pain and loss can be balanced against the good one has accomplished.

However, what if the things that one suffered for were not that good?

That thought frightened me, that I would spend nearly all of my adult life mangled and broken, without being able to look back in pride at what I had done with the healthy body I once had.

Colonel Fiedler handed his radio phone back to the communications officer in the front seat of his car, and sat back. The wind, as we sped down the highway to Warsaw, jostled his hair -- what little of it he had left. "The Poles are running so fast we are having a hard time catching up with them," he said with a smile.

The II Battalion was on its way up the road, to help cover the ever-growing left flank of General von Reinstadt's advance. He looked at his map, struggling to keep the wind from flapping it too violently.

We noticed the radio operator's sudden change in interest. He put his hands up to the headphones and pressed them tightly against his ears.

Colonel Fiedler waited.

"Heir Colonel, Major Siegmann is reporting that his units are seeing major enemy movement at Sobota. He says, a company of tanks, and a company of trucks. They are moving across the valley to his forward units.

The Colonel looked at his map, and found Sobota just ahead of us and to the left. about 10 kilometers away.

"Perhaps the Poles have learned not to run," I said.

"Or, perhaps, they are running in the wrong direction," Fiedler answered. "Either way, it is good weather for a hunt. This assignment has been much too boring anyway."

Fielder looked at his map again, then leaned over to shout into his radio operator's ear. "Tell Major Siegmann to assemble his forces at Piotrowice. If attacked, he is to hold the town until further orders."

We waited while the operator repeated the instructions in code.

"Major Siegmann wants to know if this includes the 2nd Engineers Company."

Fielder sat back for a moment. "Sure. But tell him, between the engineers and the armored cars, I expect great things from him."

The radio opeator relayed the instructions.

"Now," Fielder continued, "Get Major Becker on the line. Give him the report and tell him to occupy the town of Bielaway. Tell him to prepare for an attack from the direction of Sobota."

While the radio operator relayed those instructions, Fiedler sat back. "Well, Mr. Schmidt, since it is your job to find out what we are up against, I think you should clock in and start work."

He signalled his command car off the side of the road. The motorcycle car that had been following us pulled off behind us.

I got out of the car, and the Colonel sped off. The motorcycle driver came up beside me. Private Mitzer pulled his goggles up and asked, "What's up?"

"We have some unfriendly visitors," I announced as I got in the sidecar. I pointed generally in a westward direction. "Let's just stay on the highway for a while, and see where it takes us."

 

[Sir Richard]

Mitzer and I zoomed along the hardtop toward Bielawy, but we did not enter the town. The highway turned toward the north just before entering the city, then turned east again after missing the town.

My map told me that I would have a good view of the valley about a mile north of the city. That's where I directed Mitzer.

Meanwhile, Major Becker was preparing for the defense of the city behind us. From left to right, he positioned 7th Company to control the fields north of town. This included setting up a blockade along the highway, in case the enemy wanted to outflank us and then bring the road south. A platoon reinforced with anti-tank guns set up to control the approaches.

On the north end of town itself, Becker ordered the 6th Company to dig in. These units took their position on a collection of suburban houses on the hills overlooking the town on its north end.

Mitzer and I were on the grassy flats between 7th and 6th companies, trying to get a good vantage point for looking at the valley.

The town itself was in a deep valley, with a kilometer-wide mouth that opened up to the north, exactly where the enemy was coming from. Because of the importance of controlling this mouth of the valley, Becker ordered the 8th Machine Gun Company to hold this place. An engineer platoon was also assigned to bolster the defenses.

This left the hills on the south end of town. 7th Company was already here when the alert went out. They simply stopped their trucks and started digging in.

I have no idea why I thought to look over my shoulder. Perhaps I heard a bullet whiz by. Perhaps I picked up something on the radio. Either way, I turned around, and saw a scene from an old American western movie. A platoon of Polish cavalry was chasing us. I have no idea how it got behind us, with 7th Company taking control of all of the roads entering town from the north. But it was there.

These were not the only cavalry coming at us. I looked into the forest on our left and saw a couple more platoons following the railroad tracks.

Fortunately, elements of 7th Company was under orders to move into that neck of the woods, and they had spotted the cavalry. Elements of 6th Company had spotted the cavalry behind us, Squads quickly set up their small machine guns and began to flood the areas of enemy squads with bullets. Horses and men screamed with pain and fell.

Ultimately, we did not lose a second of time. Mitzer drove me to forward, and suddenly the whole valley opened up before me.

While 7th Company set up in the forest to my left, 6th Company set up in the buildings on the edge of town about a kilometer behind me. 8th Company was taking over buildings at the mouth of the valley down to my right, and 5th Company was setting up to hold the approaches to town on the other side of the little side valley that held Bielawy.

They were all still scampering to get into position, and the enemy was not giving them much of an opportunity. From my perch on the hill I could see machine gunners moving up against 7th Company. Across the valley to my right, two platoons of tanks backed by two platoons of armored cars were moving up against 5th Company.

Members of II Battalion that were not already involved in a shooting war with the attackers were busy throwing up barricades and digging fox holes.

As I watched, a new force appeared in the valley ahead of me. Eight armored cars came up the middle of the valley. I assumed they were heading for the center, right where the 8th Machine Gun Company, supported by engineers, was waiting for them. Another platoon of machine gunners came from the left.

Then came the dreaded sound of enemy artillery. I did not hear the guns -- or, at least, I could not pick them out from the background noise. However, I heard their effects They were concentrating on the right flank; 5th Company, where the larger enemy tanks had shown up. I could not see those tanks any more.

Our own artillery was answering along the full length of the front. 5th Company was getting some support, but the forces coming up the center and on the left were not being ignored.

The assault on the right flank seemed to stall for a moment with the disappearance of the two platoons of tanks. On the left, 7th Company, with the support of artillery, caused the attackers there to pull back. However, in the center, the enemy advanced without resistance.

10 armored cars came out of a wheat field and crossed the grassy lowlands. They did not aim straight for the gap into Bielway, but for the side closest to me. Two platoons of infantry came behind them in support.

I grabbed Mitzer, and we scampered down among the rocks as armored cars passed within 100 meters on our right. They came up the hill and, instead of hitting the heavy weapons of 8th Company, drove their armored cars at 6th Company instead.

Anti-tank guns held their fire until the enemy was in point blank range, then. One armored car took a hit, and threw smoke and car parts fifty meters into the air. 6th Company managed to disable another one of the armored cars. Then the Engineers that had been supporting 8th Company crossed over. When they opened up on the armored cars, they blew up one after another. The field became so littered with smoke and flame I could barely make out what was going on, until the surviving armored cars started to retreat. Four surviving vehicles left the battlefield, heading straight for the rocks where Mitzer and I were hiding.

 

[Sir Richard]

Through the binoculars, I watched the assault on 5th Company across the valley. Two Polish infantry companies were coming across the valley. To help out, 5th Infantry was hogging every artillery FFE available. Meanwhile, on our side of the war, the situation continued to deteriorate as well, particularly for Mitzer and myself.

Behind us, four armored cars that had attacked 6th Company and were driven back, were aiming straight for us. Continued threats from the II Battalion engineers herded them on.

To our left, 7th Company was engaged in a firefight with a polish machine gun company supported by regular infantry, with another machine gun platoon spotted moving around their left flank.

Then, below us, I saw the Polish tanks. These were not the armored roller skates I had seen in earlier battles. These were genuine tanks, comparable to our own Panzer IVs, at least in size and armament.

The only vehicles we had for going against these were the armored cars of our Recon Battalion, with their 20mm cannon. But they weren't here. They were over at Piotrowice, and the Colonel had other plans for them.

Mitzer had been keeping me informed of events on other parts of the battlefield that he had picked up on the radio. The recon battalion at Piotrowice had not seen any action. Major Stegmann never received the attack he had been expecting. Therefore, he sent his 2nd Company forward as a reconnaissance in force. This company was half way to Sobota, without encountering a sign of the enemy.

"Take Soboto," Colonel Fiedler commanded Stegmann. "That's their rear area. If you can find their artillery, then silence it. If you find their headquarters, blow it away."

Stegmann was getting ready to move forward with his 1st Company. This 3rd Company, as well as the 2nd Engineers, were going to stay behind in Piotrowice.

This left us facing four armored cars behind us, and ten medium tanks ahead of us, with nothing but infantry anti-tank weapons and three 37mm anti-tank guns.

If the tanks decided to come to the aid of the armored cars behind us, they would be rolling right over the top of us. If Mitzer and I decided to run for cover, we would have to cross over 600 meters of open grass. This were trapped.

I then urgently spoke to Mitzer. "Tell Colonel Fiedler that we have ten tanks in the open at coordinates 25 by 16, moving southwest. They would be perfect targets for a squadron of Stukas."

The Stukas would not be able to help either 5th Company or 7th Company because enemy troops and friendly troops were too close together. It was difficult to distinguish targets from the air, so people did not like to have close-air support too close. These medium tanks were still two kilometers from the nearest fight, but they were closing quickly.

I scanned the sky for signs of the planes, but I knew it was hopeless. I would hear the airplanes long before I saw them. Hitler himself had come up with the idea of putting sirens on the dive bombers, because he knew that it did far more damage to frighten a large number of soldiers than to blow up a much smaller number.

I kept my eye on the tanks. They were coming straight for us, unhindered. Then the tanks suddenly turned. Instead of coming toward us, they turned against 7th Company.

I was just about to lose sight of them behind a copse of trees when I heard the sirens of the Stuka. Knowing how slowly the sounds of the sirens traveled, I looked well ahead of the noise to see the plane.

One plane, but he was heading straight for the tanks. Machine guns blasted, stirring dust around the tanks. Then, two black dots fell from the plane. One created a fountain of dirt in front of a tank. The other blasted a tank into scrap metal. Nine tanks left to go.

I heard a second siren. This one was much too close. I looked straight up. It could have been coming for me, but it was moving slightly south of us, in the direction of 6th Company.

This is exactly why command did not like close air support.

The pilot had spotted the armored cars, and had apparently thought that they were the target. This time, it proved a harmless mistake. The armored cars proved to be softer targets, and the machine guns actually appeared to do some damage, before one of the cars was covered in the debris of two bomb explosions. As the pilot flew off, one more armored car sat in flames.

 

[Sir Richard]

Through my binoculars, the scene across the valley was the physical representation of the phrase "war is hell".

The center of 5th Company was firmly embedded in a farm complex. The platoon had taken over the main buildings, barns, and tool sheds. A platoon on their right flank had anchored itself into a copse of trees. Their left flank was secured by a platoon that had dug itself into a wheet field. The loose dirt allowed this platoon to set up breastworks and fox holes before the attack became serious.

It was serious. The Poles, coming across the grassy hillside, moved carefully. While one group provided cover fire, other groups moved closer. They would then lay down flat and set up covering fire for others to advance.

They had very little protection from the German guns, but they had numbers. As many Poles as I saw get shot or blown aside by the blast of an artillery shell, their numbers did not seem to diminish. They pressed their advance, getting closer and closer to the defenders.

German artillery saturated the hillside, and Polish artillery landed shells among the trees and buildings occupied by the German defenders.

I watched the corner of an upper story of a farm house burst apart. Shells blasted a tractor sitting in the yard. A barn took a couple of hits. In the field, there was nothing for the artillery to hit except Polish soldiers.

Three squads lay down and fired into the trees held by the Germans. A fourth squad suddenly stood and ran, past their comrades, closer to the German lines. One took a shot to the leg and fell forward. Another took a bullet -- I could not tell if it was a head shot or a shot in the chest -- but he flew back and did not move. As the six survivors lay down and started firing, the rear-most squad stood and made its approach on the trees.

Right up against the German line, the attack broke. Heavy fire from the sMGs tore through their lines. Somebody made the decision that they had either taken too many losses to sustain the attack, or maybe the Poles simply paniced and fled. They started to fall back, in small numbers at first, then in larger groups.

Behind them, officers attempted to stop the soldiers, rally them, and turn them back against the Germans. Some were more successful than others. However, the momentum of the attack was lost. Those who were rallied approached the German defenses in smaller numbers; numbers that made them easy targets for the defenders.

Manwhile, on my side of the battle, the air attack seemed to have stunned one of the tank platoons. It remained in the field where the one tank had blown apart. But its companion unit continued to press the attack. It went up the road to our left. I lost sight of it up the valley. I knew that 7th Company commanded the head of that valley, and soon I heard the sounds of infantry battling the tanks. I could also still see the Polish infantry, still in the valley, firing at 7th Company. If the tank could create a hole, I suspected the infantry would be quick to exploit it.

That was not the only battle going on behind us. The anti-tank gun belonging attached to 6th Company had taken out another armored car, but two still lived. They devoted most of their bullets to 7th Company as well.

Even further behind them, an enemy machine gun platoon had broken into the open, and was trapped in the open between the left flank of 6th Company and the right flank of 7th Company. Still, if the machine gunners got their wits about them and broke into the town, or turned to put additional pressure on 7th Company, they could make a mess of things.

Cautiously, I climbed up the slope so that I could get a look at Company 7th's Positions. The Polish tank platoon was taking a road that climbed the far side of the draw. A platoon from 7th Company assigned the task of blocking this route of advance gave up their mission. The tanks drove on, unscathed.

I looked to see if the Polish infantry would rush forward to take advantage of the hole. They remianed where they were. It was the only thing that seemed to count as a break for our side.

"They have a major," Mitzer shouted suddenly. "The Recon battalion reports capturing an enemy major. They're not far from Sabota, and apparently they caught a major abandoning the front lines and returning to the city."

"That could be useful," I mumbled. However, it would have little immediate use. It would only be useful some time in the future. It would not be of immediate use.

1st Company and 2nd Company of the 26th Recon Battalion were just a stone's throw away from the edge of Sabota, and would be entering the city in just a few minutes. The hope was that they would be able to identify and destroy enemy headquarters units and artillery. So far, the only reports I had heard, other than the capture of the Polish major, was of a set of armored cars rolling over the top of around 100 bycicles.

 

[Sir Richard]

The battle going on behind where Mitzer and I hid ended quickly. Elements from 6th and 7th Companies combined their fire to surround and pick off the machine gunners that had tried to enter the city. At about the same time, the gun crews manning the 37mm anti-tank guns tied to 6th Company finally learned how to aim. They detonated the last two armored cars. That part of the battle had come to an abrupt end.

The battle against 5th Company had taken a turn as well. The Polish infantry had withdrawn, though groups of survivors would occasionally get up the nerve to try another attack. With so few attackers, and so many defenders, the attacks had no chance of succeeding.

Then the Poles decided to commit two platoons of armored cars to the fight. They rolled across the grass largely unchallenged, parked openly in the field, and began spitting machine gun fire at the Germans.

I could only imagine what would have happened if the Poles had included the armored cars in the original attack, giving the infantry some measure of cover as the cars advanced slowly, and adding their suppression fire to those of the infantry. 5th Company might still have held, but the issue would have been far more in doubt.

5th Company had an anti-tank group assigned to it as well. They waited for the enemy AFVs to get into range, than opened fire. Three nearly simultaneous well-armed shots bounced harmlessly off of the Polish armor. The cars continued to approach.

Their immediate target seemed to be the platoon on the right side of the 5th Company line. The Platoon held, and sent crews with anti-tank weapons forward to get closer to enemy. Some of the crews were driven back by machine-gun fire, but one got off a shot. Smoke started to leak out of the holes in one vehicle, then the door popped open and crew members bailed out into open air. One was cut down as he left the vehicle. Another sought shelter behind the useless mass of metal.

With the collapse of the infantry attack on 5th Company, artillery FFEs were again being allocated to other fights. 7th Company was using them against the machine gun company that still occupied the mouth of their little draw. Some of the Poles headed for shelter. Others apparently thought it was better to engage the Germans than to be sitting ducks for the artillery.

I heard the roar of tank engines.

I was guessing that the one platoon of tanks had stayed behind because the airplane had taken out its leader. It was taking time for them to recover from the shot and get organized under a new leader. But they did get organized, and as the machine-gunners approached 7th Company, the tanks passed them by and churned up the road.

The tank platoon that had gone up the road earlier had just kept going. I had no idea where they were, but they were leaving 7th Company alone.

Again, as the Polish tanks climbed the side of the draw, the German platoon in charge of blocking the road turned and fled. But, this time, the leader in charge of the platoon reacted much more quickly. He gathered the platoon around him and sent them back against the tanks. One crew of infantry tossed a bundle of grenades into the tread of a one tank and blew it apart. Another got into a position to fire an anti-tank weapon at the Polish armor from close range. Within seconds, half of the Polish armor had been destroyed. The rest continued up the road, running from the Germans as fast as their little wheels would carry them, leaving the soldiers behind.

But the soldiers did not give up. Flush from their victory, they chased down the road after the tanks, on foot.

The one group that I wished that I had tied myself to at the start of this fight was the 29th Recon Battalion. Mitzer kept me informed of their progress. The had reached the town. At one point, 1st Company's lead platoon of armored cars rounded a corner and got blasted by three anti-tank guns. Surprisingly, the cars lived through three point=blank shots. The platoon leader then commanded his drivers to charge forward. Before the gunners could reload. 1st Company's lead platoon just smashed into the emplacements, driving away the crews.

They then pushed through into the city, and caught sight of their prize.

"Artillery at grid coordinates 24 mark 6 and 25 mark 6."

The information had cost them. One artillery battery saw the armored cars of 1st Company before 1st Company had seen them, and opened fire at close range. They destroyed one and were working on taking others. The lead platoon, unable to take the heat, turned and ran into the shelter of the town. The remaining vehicles turned their weapons on the artillery.

Throughout the entire battle, I could hear the 150 mm howitzers that Colonel Fiedler had ordered set up in town. The deep rumble of the guns as they fired, and the massive concussion of the shells that they hit, had provided a steady drumming underscoring the sound of battle. For a minute after the coordinates came in, the rumbling of the 150 mm howitzers stopped. Then they fired again in rapid sequence.

Then the shells from the Howitzers showed up to rain on their parade.

Major Stegmann was leading the advance, and had no patience for the cowardice of 1st Platoon's lead company. He got them back in the fight. As artillery and the rest of the company kept the artillery pinned down, Stegmann himself lead the company around to overrun the artillery.

We received our reward almost immediately. No more shells were falling on the German defenses. These three batteries appeared to be all of the artillery the enemy had available.

They were not done fighting, however. The armored car platoons on the right continued to hold their ground on the very doorstep of 5th Company, and we still had tanks and infantry going up against 7th Company.

 

[Sir Richard]

The battle was over. It simply took the Poles a bit longer to realize this fact.

After taking out the enemy artillery, the two companies from the 29th Recon Battalion turned around and headed down the road toward Bielawy. They caught the bulk of the Polish attack force between them and II Battalion.

German anti-tank guns continued to fire at the two platoons of Polish armored cars standing up to 5th Company. Between the 37mm guns and the anti-tank weapons from 5th Company, the Poles were losing armored cars faster than the Germans were losing soldiers.

Then down the same road that these armored cars had used to enter the fight, 5th Company saw another company of armored cars emerge from the trees. But these were the armored cars of the 29th Recon. It took just a few minutes to reduce the remaining Polish cars to burning hunks of metal.

7th Company was ordered to dig in against the machine-gun company down the valley. Colonel Fiedler ordered the artillery to suppress the enemy fire. As soon as the larger pocket of Polish resistance had been dealt with, then this nuisance would be dealt with. The Poles did not give us the opportunity. They faded back into the forest and disappeared.

It was another decisive victory.

At the end of the fight, Colonel Fiedler counted around 70 soldiers killed or wounded, and 1 armored car lost. The Poles lost 22 AFVs, 16 guns, and over 1500 soldiers. The battle was terribly one-sided.

Part of the victory, I have to admit, was due to the totally incompetent use of cavalry by the Poles. The way they charged out of the woods on our left flank, they were open targets. We wiped out at least two companies in the opening minutes of the battle. Had these soldiers dismounted and pressed 7th Company, it would have likely been forced back. Of course, 6th Company still held the west side of town, but the battle against 6th and 7th Companies would have been just as fierce as the battle against 5th Company.

Gathering the Recon Battalion at Piotrowice proved a bit of luck. Colonel Fiedler was certain that Piotrowice was going to be attacked, and pleasantly surprised when he wasn't. This gave him the freedom to send the 29th Recon behind enemy lines.

3rd Company and the 2nd engineers of the 29th Recon were counting their blessings that night. They never entered the fight. They dug in and sat, waiting for an attack that never came.

I was ready to continue on to my next assignment. The forward units were approaching the gates of Warsaw, and I was to observe the attack on the city. But Colonel Fiedler insisted that I say; there was one more maneuver he wanted me to observe.

After the battle, Colonel Fiedler gave his soldiers new orders. First, he sent 29th Recon to block all of the roads leaving Soboto. Then he commanded II Battalion into Sobota itself. He rounded up all of the people they could find and herd them into a group near the banks of the river.

Then he waded into them, and selected 43 people. He sought to inflict as much pain as possible. He picked from families that seemed unusually close, broke apart couples, and took children. Each person was ordered to wear the name of a German soldier killed in the fight on his or her clothes. Then he marched his 43 victims to the nearby granary, lined them up against the cement wall, and had them shot.

He left the villagers to deal with the bodies.

I observed. I noted every soldier who looked sick as he followed the orders that were given to him, and who faded into the background so he would not be selected to participate. I noted each eager volunteer. I took names, and I made notes.