The Rise of the Third Reich

Major General Prijakovski was not one of the Polish soldiers sitting on the road waiting to be caught. Because he had a horse and could ride away. So when Panzer Meyer's convoy rushed to the Brach River Bridge, he had already crossed the very sturdy bridge built by the Germans before the last World War with a few cavalry and officers. And he also met a frustrated reinforcement on the east bank of the Brach River - a lancer battalion!

The Germans' countless tanks were about to arrive, and the Poles only had old-fashioned lancers.

"General, we belong to Major General Grzymot-Skonicki's Coastal Cavalry Brigade," a cavalry major said to Major General Prijakovski, who looked very embarrassed.

"According to the order of the army headquarters, our Primorsky Cavalry Brigade, together with the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 1st Artillery Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division (1st Battalion of the 9th Artillery Regiment of the 9th Division), formed a Zhesk Tactical Group and was ordered to come to reinforce your 15th Infantry Division." The Primorsky Cavalry Brigade is the elite force of the Polish Army, with the 8th Cavalry Rifle Battalion, the 16th Lancer Battalion, the 18th Lancer Battalion, the 11th Cavalry Artillery Battalion, the 91st Motorized Anti-aircraft Artillery Company, the 81st Tank Company and the 81st Bicycle Company. Therefore, it is a trump card in the hands of the Primorsky Army Command. If it were not for the tight situation in the Tukhora Forest, it would not be willing to use it. But they were still late. The Tukhora Forest had been breached, and the 15th Infantry Division also suffered heavy casualties and was about to be wiped out. In fact, even if they came earlier, it would be useless. How could a cavalry group be the opponent of a tank group? "But I only saw the Lancers, where are the others?" Major General Przyakovsky looked at the hundreds of cavalrymen holding spears, and the words "absurd" suddenly popped up in his mind. Now is the era when tanks and planes dominate the battlefield, but the Polish Army still has such an outdated branch of the army as the Lancers. The most ridiculous thing is that the Polish Army, which regards the Lancers as elite, has always felt very good about itself, thinking that it is the second largest army in the world - second only to France.

"General, we encountered an air raid on the road," said the Lancer Battalion Commander, "Our battalion was not bombed much, but we arrived first. The others are still behind and will arrive soon."

Major General Przyakovsky thought to himself, it turns out that the German Air Force is too lazy to bomb you!

"General, where should we start the counterattack?" The Lancer Battalion Commander looked at the embarrassed Major General Przyakovsky and asked uncertainly.

"Counterattack?" Major General Przyakovsky smiled bitterly, raised his hand and pointed at the bridge behind him, "Let's find a way to blow up the bridge first."

"Bomb, blow up the bridge?" The cavalry major was stunned, "But this is the Brush River!"

The order he received was to reinforce the 15th Infantry Division in the Tuhora Forest area. Why is he going to blow up the Brush River Bridge now?

"I know, but the Germans are coming soon..." Major General Priyakovsky suddenly heard the roar of the motor on the bottom floor. He turned his head to the west and saw yellowish smoke in the air on the other side of the Brush River, getting closer and closer to the bridge.

"The Germans are coming! They are coming!" Suddenly someone shouted in fear, "Oh my God, we can't run away."

"German tanks are coming, let's run!"

The one who led the shouting was a cavalryman who fled with Major General Priyakovsky. He was very young and looked terrified like a frightened rabbit. His shouting soon attracted a whip, which was done by Major General Priyakovsky.

He raised the whip in his hand, pointed at the bridge and said to the people around him: "It seems that it is too late to blow up the bridge. But since our reinforcements are coming, we should at least hold on to this bridge for Poland!"

"For Poland!"

"For the motherland!"

A group of Polish lancers who didn't know how powerful the German tanks were raised their carbines and responded loudly.

However, the long guns in their hands were ineffective most of the time. In most cases, these lancers would dismount and fight, and would not foolishly use their long guns to poke tanks. In fact, this coastal cavalry brigade is also a semi-mechanized cavalry brigade with tanks and motorized troops, but compared with the German armored forces, it is still too outdated.

…

The wheeled armored vehicle that Armored Meyer was riding once again ran at full power on the road. In the early days of World War II, German tanks were not the best, but their various wheeled armored vehicles were indeed very good, with a large number, thick armor, strong firepower, and fast running. Now the 6-wheeled vehicle that Armored Meyer was riding can run at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour on the road, while the other 8-wheeled vehicles in his company can run at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour on the road.

Now he left the tanks and half-track vehicles behind, and together with a motorized reconnaissance company, he rushed at a speed of nearly 50 kilometers per hour on the road and soon rushed to the bottom of the Brush River Bridge.

"Stop moving forward!" Armored Meyer has learned his lesson now and knows not to rush to the bridge rashly.

"Everyone stop moving forward!" He yelled into the intercom, "Car No. 3, go up and scout, be careful, and immediately pull back if you find any situation."

"Understood!" The voice of the No. 3 tank commander Schwartz came from the headset.

Armored Val once again pushed open the hatch on his head, stood up from his seat, and observed with a telescope.

All I saw was the huge armored vehicle driving slowly towards the bridge. There were no people or other vehicles on the bridge. On the other side, except for a small forest, there was a wheat field as far as the eye could see. Suddenly, three flashes of fire flashed out of the woods. Car No. 3 shook as if it had been hit hard by something. Then a loud sound of metal collision came from Meyer's earphones, and then there was a heartbreaking sound. The screaming in the lungs was Schwartz's voice: "Oh God! He was shot! We were shot! It must be a 37mm gun, ah, little Hans was killed..."

"It's 37 guns! Damn it! There's an ambush in the woods! Fire quickly! Everyone fire!" Armored Meyer shouted the order, but before he could finish his words, there was a loud noise from the earphones. He had yelled before. Schwartz suddenly fell silent.

I'm going to lose a few brothers again!

Armored Meyer's heart skipped a beat, he knew that Car No. 3 was finished! After all, a wheeled armored vehicle is not a Panzer IV with a 50mm frontal armor, so how can it block a 37mm gun? But why is there a 37mm anti-tank gun here? The Poles don't have as many 37mm guns as the Germans, and they are generally only available to regiment-level and battalion-level troops.

"Send a report to the division headquarters," Panzer Meier said, "We are blocked at the Brachi River Bridge. The bridge is intact. There is about a battalion of enemies guarding the other side of the river. They have several 37mm anti-tank guns..."

…

"Your Excellency, General," Manstein put down the phone in his hand, "The 4th Army reported that the 19th Armored Corps has advanced to the west bank of the Brasi River, and the Brasi River Bridge is basically intact. It seems that this afternoon Guderian The general can cross the river."

"Are there any Poles on the other side of the river?" Hersman asked in a low voice, holding the map table with both hands.

"There was about a brigade-sized group," Manstein said. "It was discovered by Air Force reconnaissance... It was a cavalry group, and there were some TKS tanks."

"Got it," Hersman nodded. A brigade-level cavalry group couldn't stop the 19th Armored Corps at all, and there were also Air Force dive bombers and attack aircraft to help. "But one cavalry brigade can't change anything. The Coastal Army is almost finished. Their front will collapse soon."

His eyes wandered around the map table, and soon fell on the Poznan Army Group south of the Coastal Army.

"The remnants of the Coastal Army should retreat to the southeast, while the Poznan Army has not been hit, and it is estimated that it will withdraw eastward under severe threats on its flanks. In this way, there is a high chance that the Marina Army and the Poznan Army will retreat in Vis They will join forces on the west bank of the Wa River, and even some troops from the Rhodes Army will join in, forming a relatively large cluster."

Hersman paused and then said, "We must prevent this cluster from retreating into Warsaw, which will pose difficulties for us to solve the Polish problem. Now we should consider a plan to annihilate it outside Warsaw."

Manstein looked at the map for a while and nodded slowly, "This possibility does exist! Since we adopted a large pincer offensive from the north to the south, the troops in the center are very weak and unable to annihilate the Poznan Army Group and use it to attack Luo The strength of the Poznan Army is also insufficient..." He thought for a moment and then said, "The main force on the southern front is the 8th Army, which is too weak and is very likely to become the target of the stronger Poznan Army! No, it is not very likely! ! But it is inevitable. Because the 19th Armored Army on the northern front is attacking very quickly, the Poles will definitely not choose to fight head-on. The main force of the 10th Army and the 14th Army on the southern front are too far to the south. It’s to attack the 8th Army.”

"Erich, what are your plans?" Hessmann asked, crossing his arms.

Manstein thought for a while and nodded: "With... we can allow the 10th Army to immediately dispatch a division-level armored group north to strengthen the 8th Army after arriving near Warsaw. At the same time, after the 19th Armored Army completes After the first phase of the mission broke into East Prussia, the 10th Armored Division was mobilized to form a new tactical group along the Vistula River with the 23rd Division, 218th Infantry Division, and 207th Infantry Division in the 4th Army Reserve. Head south."

"Very good," Hessmann looked at Manstein, "Erich, I will appoint you as the commander of this tactical group. Your appointment at the Eastern Front Headquarters will be until September 4th. Hand over the work to Major General Rommel."

"Yes!" Manstein was very excited. This was a rare opportunity. He could command an army-level group to encircle and annihilate a Polish army!