Chapter 850 Cavalry vs Tank

Facts have proved that morale has a great impact on the combat effectiveness of an army.

Although the Polish army was able to resist the German army heroically in the early stage, when it learned that rear support was blocked, the morale of the Polish army suffered severe fluctuations.

The biggest impact was that when Polish soldiers faced the German army, they lost their determination to win and the courage to not fear death.

Meeting on a narrow road, the brave wins. Richard's 5th Infantry Regiment quickly won the battle with the Polish army and successfully captured the position of the Polish 8th Infantry Regiment before dark.

The position of the Polish Eighth Infantry Regiment is still very important. After the position was captured, a large gap was opened in the entire Polish 35th Division's front, waiting for the entry of German troops at any time.

The terrible thing is that once the 35th Division is defeated, the Polish Third Army's defensive front will also have problems. Rising to the entire Third Army, this would be extremely harmful to the entire Polish front line.

This is a real battlefield. The defeat of a small-scale army may lead to a comprehensive defeat on a larger scale.

The most terrible thing is that the entire Polish Third Army has suffered heavy losses.

As one of the most elite armies in Poland's defense against Germany, the Third Army had a total of seven infantry divisions, three artillery divisions, one tank division and four cavalry divisions.

So far in the war, the total strength of rear support provided to the Third Army is no more than one division, but the Third Army's battle losses have exceeded the strength of two infantry divisions.

This also means that the Third Army no longer has many reserve troops to support the troops whose defense lines have collapsed.

The cavalry division cannot be allowed to abandon its horses and enter the trenches to engage in offensive and defensive battles with the enemy.

Although this may relieve the urgent needs of the front line, for the Third Army, it is equivalent to giving up its most elite cavalry unit and pinning all hopes on the infantry.

This is simply impossible for the Polish army, which attaches great importance to cavalry. In order to hold the front line, the commander of the Third Army formulated a plan to use cavalry to raid the German flanks in an attempt to delay the German attack.

This also created one of the famous scenes of World War II in history.

Following the orders of the commander of the Third Army, three Polish cavalry divisions launched a deliberate surprise attack against the German Second Army.

Why were only three cavalry divisions dispatched? Because the remaining cavalry division must stay to protect the headquarters of the Polish Third Army and serve as the only reserve force of the entire Third Army.

In order to create as many opportunities as possible for these three cavalry divisions, the Polish Third Army put all its reserve forces on the battlefield, trying to delay the Germans as much as possible.

Although only 20 years have passed since World War I, compared with World War I, the fighting methods of World War II have undergone a lot of changes.

It is undoubtedly very difficult for three cavalry divisions to bypass the rear and attack the flanks of the German Second Army.

You know, the German Air Force occupied the frontline airspace advantage and dispatched a large number of reconnaissance aircraft to detect intelligence on the Polish army.

In order to hide these reconnaissance planes and execute the raid mission perfectly, the requirements for the Polish cavalry are very high.

The Polish cavalry did a good job at the beginning, not only hiding the German reconnaissance planes, but also reaching the planned assault position from the beginning.

But when the Polish cavalry approached the German army, they discovered something was wrong. The flanks of the German Second Army were not infantry, but tanks and motorcycle units surrounded by iron lumps.

The Polish army tried to calm down and launched an attack on the German tank units that had been prepared in front.

But soon, Polish soldiers realized the huge gap between cavalry and tanks.

The enemy tanks acted like a mobile fortress, able to withstand their rifle and machine gun fire.

This situation is completely different from World War I. When the cavalry faced the tanks, it seemed that there was no room for resistance.

Although the cavalry division also carries a small number of artillery, it is obviously impossible to stop and rely on artillery to bombard the enemy tanks at this time.

Looking at the enemy's slowly rotating gun barrels, they will definitely not be given a chance to stop and deploy their artillery.

boom! Boom boom!

With the continuous firing of tanks, the three Polish cavalry divisions were severely affected in an instant.

Although the horses of the cavalry division have been trained, the explosion of artillery fire still caused a certain amount of panic to these horses.

As the cavalry got closer and closer to the tanks, the enemy tanks also stopped bombarding them with artillery fire and began to use the machine guns on the top of the tanks to fire.

From the beginning, the outcome of this encounter was determined.

Polish cavalry was unable to deal with German tanks at all. German tanks were completely invincible and could easily deal with various attacks by Polish cavalry divisions.

Not far from the battlefield, an obviously larger tank appeared, and the tank division commander chuckled: "The stupid Poles are still fighting with the thinking of the last European war. They don't even know how far away they are from the last European war." Twenty years have passed since the war.

Now it is time to send them to meet God. Our task is not these cavalry units, but the main Polish force on the frontline battlefield. "

Just as the German commanders ridiculed, cavalry raids and frontal charges were the tactics used in World War I 20 years ago.

At that time, there were not many tanks in various countries, and the failure rate was very high. Cavalry still played an extremely important role.

But now, in addition to the certain strategic role of cavalry in some steep mountainous areas, it is obvious that tanks are more dominant on vast flat plains.

Although Poland had more numbers, three cavalry divisions still had no room for resistance in front of one tank division.

The encounter lasted less than two hours and ended with a complete victory for the German army.

Except for a small number of Polish cavalry who fled the battlefield, the remaining Polish cavalry either fell in the previous charge or were captured by the German army.

The appearance of the tank army completely changed the situation of the entire German-Polish War.

I have to mention the deployment of the Polish army here. As in World War I, the Polish army generally adopted full-line defense measures.

To put it simply, although Poland has more than 300,000 troops on the western front, these 300,000 troops are deployed along the entire border like a wide net.

Although the number of troops has now increased to about 400,000, it still cannot change the fact that the Polish army is very small and scattered along every border.

If it was World War I and the two sides were conducting a frontal assault by group armies, there would be nothing wrong with such a defense.

But times have changed, and the Poles still take such defensive measures, which is obviously an initiative to expose weaknesses to the Germans.

How to effectively deal with the Polish dispersed defense layout?

The simplest method is to use tank troops like sharp knives to quickly tear apart the Polish defense.

Five days after the war broke out, a large number of German tanks finally arrived to join the battle against Poland.

Although the German Second Army did not have many tanks, it still had the size of two tank divisions.

Compared with Polish tanks, German tanks pay more attention to defense and firepower, and have more advantages in combat.

Coupled with the fact that the Polish Third Army only had one tank division, it was obvious that it was unable to compete head-on with German tanks.

First, the news that the cavalry assault failed and even completely collapsed shocked the commander of the Polish Third Army. Subsequently, the German tanks quickly cut through the Polish defense line like sharp knives, leaving the commander of the Polish Third Army at a loss.

The current problem is no longer that German tanks cut through the defense line. But after the defense line is cut, the large influx of German troops will tear the entire defense line apart, thereby destroying the Third Army's defensive front.

What's even worse is that around the battlefield, Poland's main army is only the Third Army. If the Third Army was defeated, the road to Warsaw would be clear without sufficient support.

Moreover, the defeat of the Third Army would seriously affect the Modlin Army and the Nalev Army in the north of Warsaw. The Polish Second Army composed of these two troops was the main force against the German First Army.

If it affects the defense of the Polish Second Army, what they will face at that time may be the German First and Second Army jointly encircling Warsaw.

When the German troops form a line, the Polish First Army will also fall into the encirclement of the German troops. As a result, Poland will be at a huge disadvantage.

Not only will the capital be surrounded, most of the troops on the Western Front battlefield will also face crisis.

"The Germans must not be allowed to break through the defense line!" the commander of the Polish Third Army said firmly: "It's time to test us! Tell all division commanders that I want them to hold the defense line at all costs, at least until reinforcements arrive."

So where are the reinforcements?

The commander of the Polish Second Army also had such questions at this time.

Compared with the Third Army, the Polish Second Army faced less pressure.

Because so far, the German First Army has not launched a large-scale offensive. This also led Poland to conclude that the main battlefield was on the Western Front, and mobilized some soldiers from the eastern border to the Western Front.

But the commander of the Polish Second Army always felt that something was wrong. Since the Germans were well prepared for war, they could not launch an attack only from the front.

You know, after taking back the Polish Corridor, Poland's situation in the west is not very good. East Prussia and Silesia were like open mouths, swallowing Poland whole.

This also means that attacking Poland from these two directions can achieve better results.

Especially in the direction of East Prussia, which is very close to Warsaw, the capital of Poland, it is also one of the directions where the Germans are likely to attack.

Although the Germans have made little movement so far, the commander of the Polish Second Army believes that the situation is not that simple.

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