Poland

The invasion of Poland in September 1939 was a very sad affair.  The Germans were able to attack from the north, the west and the south, with the Soviet Union subsequently attacking from the east.  The Polish Army did not help by trying, understandably, to defend nearly everywhere.  Politically authoritarian, the High Command that had won Polish independence was understandably reluctant to listen to dissenting views.  Dissonance at the top between generals together with putting dissenters into backwater commands did not help. 

 

Nevertheless, the soldiers fought very valiantly and with great bravery.  Nor was the High Command unaware of military changes, developing some useful military hardware.  They were restricted by budget limitations but tried nevertheless to equip themselves well.  Unfortunately, this has also given rise to myths such as the cavalry charge against tanks, a piece of Nazi propaganda that the Polish Government are still irritated by; fake news that still surfaces periodically despite the best efforts of historians to correct it.  Horses were widely used on both sides.  The cavalry was, of course, mounted infantry and they carefully placed anti-tank guns to ambush the German tank advance.  At the Battle of Krojanty, Polish cavalry charged a resting infantry unit in the evening of the first day of the war.  The Italian Savoia Cavalleria at Izbushensky in 1942 would successfully charge Soviet infantry. The Germans lost badly against Polish anti-tank weapons; the Polish Army knew how to fight.

 

Many Poles escaped and subsequently fought in Free Polish forces.  French and British generals seem to have smugly thought that the Germans had only faced a second-class enemy; the more thoughtful ones seem to have taken note of the German tank attacks and started forming similar units.  What is depressing is to see how little the Western Allies did in direct support.  The British Army was still deploying to France but the French put in only a limited attack before withdrawing back to their Maginot Line.  If the expectation was that the blockade would starve out the German economy it was very poorly thought out.  The world saw for the first time what a modern tank-based army could do to bring victory quickly.

 

Refighting this, the action has been limited to the drive on Warsaw by the German 10^th Army against the defending Lodz Army.  The Germans are assumed to be led by the 4^th Panzer Division and the defenders being 28^th Infantry Division, the latter being given support from various tank units.  Not included is any armoured train, although some were involved from the first day!