章 87: Chapter 165 The Battle of Poland (28)
After destroying the Poznań Army and the Lodz Army, the Rommel Group took advantage of the victory and pursued it, approaching the city of Kutno, 113 kilometers west of Warsaw. After a brief exchange of fire, this transportation hub was captured, completely cutting off the retreat of the remaining Pomeran Army in the north, and forcing it and the Fourth Army heading south to surrender.
After a short rest, the Rommel Group continued to move eastward, heading straight for their destination, Warsaw.
On the fifth day of the battle, Rommel's Group arrived in the western suburbs of Warsaw. On the same day, the leading troops of the 10th Army Group South arrived in the southern suburbs of Warsaw. The next day, the 3rd Regiment of Army Group North arrived in the northern suburbs of Warsaw. The 3rd Regiment Army and the 10th Regiment Army sent troops back to the east of Warsaw, and Warsaw was surrounded on three sides.
Warsaw, it's urgent! There was anxiety in the city. Many people began to pack their bags and were ready to leave this city that was about to become a front line.
At noon that day, a shrill air-raid siren sounded over Warsaw.
A middle-aged man who was walking down the street holding the hand of a little boy hurriedly picked up the child and ran to the nearest air-raid shelter. When he ran to the air-raid shelter out of breath, he found that it was already overcrowded and there was no way to squeeze in.
He didn't know when the German bombs would fall, and he couldn't rush out to another air raid shelter. Even if he went there, he might not be able to get a seat. He could only squeeze in at the entrance of the cave, protect his children tightly, and pray that the German bombs wouldn't hit him.
After a long time, no explosion was heard, but the child in his arms pointed outside and whispered. "Dad, it's snowing outside."
snow? How can it snow this month?
The middle-aged man turned his head in confusion and saw countless white leaflets flying in the sky. These leaflets fell like snowflakes, as if the snow season had arrived early.
After discovering that the German plane dropped leaflets instead of bombs, the panic on the faces of the citizens hiding in the air-raid shelters also dissipated a lot, replaced by curiosity. As soon as the air-raid warning ended, they walked out of the air-raid shelters to pick up the flyers from the ground.
The content on the flyer is shocking. It clearly states that the German army will attack Warsaw in the near future. Anyone staying in the city, regardless of gender, old, young, women, or children, will be regarded as the enemy and will be killed without mercy! In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, all citizens in Warsaw are asked to leave within 24 hours!
Throwing down the flyer in his hand, the middle-aged man hurried home with his son. They had actually packed their luggage a long time ago, but one of them was hesitant to leave. Today's incident made him determined to leave as soon as possible.
As the supreme commander, Marshal Śmigły also received such a leaflet. He glanced at the contents on the leaflet and said with disdain. "As long as the French army attacks Germany, Germany's demise will be just around the corner. They will definitely stop their current attack!"
It's a pity that the British and French allies he looked forward to most slapped him hard in the face.
"What?!" When the marshal heard the adjutant's report, he simply didn't believe his ears. "The French army hasn't attacked yet?!"
"That's not it." The deputy scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and relayed the information from the commander of the French military delegation in Poland, General Louis Xiaoyu. "The French army has indeed attacked Germany. However..."
"That's good." Marshal Śmigły was overjoyed and noticed that the adjutant's expression was a little strange. "But what? What does it mean to have attacked?"
The adjutant said helplessly. "The French said that they had attacked once, but the losses were too heavy and they had to temporarily stop the offensive."
The French did invade Germany, but not long after the attack, they encountered a huge minefield.
Before the war began, Germany in the original time and space built a fortification system on its western border area to resist the French Maginot Line. It is called the "Western Wall" or "Siegfried Position", and other countries call it the "Siegfried Line". The purpose of building the Siegfried Line was to cover the German Western Front and serve as a garrison for the westward attack and a heavy artillery position to support the attack.
The defense line starts from Kleve, Germany, near the Dutch border, and extends along the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, and France to Basel, Switzerland, with a total length of 630 kilometers. The defense line consists of three parts: the obstacle zone, the main defense zone and the rear position, with a depth of 35 to 75 kilometers.
Compared with the Maginot Line, the Siegfried Line is characterized by that most of the fortifications are smaller and simpler in structure, but the number is as high as 11,860, far exceeding the Maginot Line. The defense line used 9.31 million tons of concrete, 2.4 times that of the Maginot Line; it used 350,000 tons of steel, 2.3 times that of the Maginot Line.
At this time, Wilhelm thought that this defense line was a waste of resources and did not build it at all. After all, if these 350,000 tons of steel were used to make tanks, there would be enough to build 10,000 more tanks.
A strong wall was built on the border to protect the country, and a large number of mines were laid to replace the defense line.
It can be said that the French have tried all kinds of fancy landmines, including chain mines and treadle mines used to deal with large enemy forces; sub-multiple mines and hair mines used to deal with enemy demining engineers; and hair mines used to deal with enemy armored forces. Anti-tank mines; what other types of stepping mines, mixed mines, flying mines, mother-child mines, scorpion mines, "Tiannu Scattered Flowers"...
Wilhelm used all the essence of the movie "Mine Warfare" he watched as a child to deal with these invading French people. The bombings of the French army made them cry for their fathers and mothers. After nearly a company of demining engineers was wiped out, no one dared to move forward even half a step. The French army did not even see a single German soldier, and they lost more than 400 soldiers, a dozen various vehicles and two tanks.
This time, the conservatives who had originally disapproved of attacking Germany found an excuse to vigorously attack those warring factions. The Assembly quarreled from noon to evening, deciding to postpone the date of the main offensive on the Western Front.
Marshal Śmigły waved his hand suddenly, what he wanted to hear now was not these lies. "Then when will they attack?!"
The adjutant shook his head. "They didn't say the specific date. General Xiaoyou just said that they had assembled 25 divisions at the border and attracted at least 6 German divisions to withdraw from Poland." Before he finished speaking, the phone on the marshal's desk rang. "Yes, Mr. President."
President Mościcki said slowly. "Marshal, the French ambassador just suggested that we move to Romania together."
"!!" Marshal Śmigły was stunned on the spot. If a country's head of government moves to another country, isn't that a government in exile? In other words, the country has actually been subjugated. He couldn't believe that Poland, which was originally so powerful, would be destroyed in just a few days?
The president on the other end of the phone shouted a few times without seeing any response from the marshal. "Marshal, marshal?"
Marshal Śmigły asked in disbelief after he recovered. "Excuse me, Mr. President, what did you just say?"
The president repeated. "I said Marshal, you should also prepare to leave."
"..." Silently hung up the phone, and after sitting blankly for a while, Marshal Śmigły suddenly let out a hysterical roar. "I will not leave like a coward. I will live and die with Warsaw!"
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