Chapter 240 The Longest Day Part 8

Major General Przyakovski was not one of those Polish soldiers sitting on the road waiting to be caught. Because he has a horse and can ride away. So when Armored Meier's convoy rushed towards the Brasi River Bridge, he had already led a small number of cavalry and officers across this very strong bridge built by the Germans before the last World War. Moreover, he also encountered a reinforcement on the east bank of the Big Blasi River that frustrated him - a battalion of lancers!

Countless German tanks will soon arrive, but the Poles only have old lancers.

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

"According to the order of the Army Group Headquarters, our Coastal Cavalry Brigade plus the 1st Infantry Battalion and 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 were ordered to come for reinforcements Your 15th Infantry Division."

The Coastal Cavalry Brigade is the elite unit of the Polish army, consisting of the 8th Mounted Rifle Battalion, the 16th Mounted Rifle Battalion, the 18th Mounted Rifle Battalion, the 11th Mounted Artillery Battalion, the 91st Motorized Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, the 81st Tank Company and the 81st Cavalry Battalion. 81st Bicycle Company. Therefore, it is a trump card in the hands of the Coastal Army Headquarters. If it were not for the tight situation in Tuhola Forest, it would not be willing to use it.

But they were still late. The Tuhola Forest had been breached, and the 15th Infantry Division had suffered heavy casualties and was about to be wiped out. In fact, it was useless even if they arrived earlier. How could a cavalry group be an opponent of a tank group?

"But I only saw the lancers, where were the others?" Major General Przyakovsky looked at the hundreds of cavalrymen holding spears in their hands, and the words "ridiculous" suddenly came to mind. Now is the era when tanks and aircraft dominate the battlefield, but the Polish Army actually still has such outdated units as "Lancers". The most ridiculous thing is that the Polish Army, which regards the "Lancers" as its 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 attack on the road," the Lancer battalion commander said. "Our battalion arrived first without being bombed. The others are still behind and will arrive soon."

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

"General, where should we start our counterattack?" The Lancer battalion commander looked at the embarrassed Major General Przyakovsky and asked with some uncertainty.

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

"Blow up the bridge?" The cavalry major was startled, "But this is the Brahi River!"

The order he received was to reinforce the 15th Infantry Division in the Tuhola Forest area. Why did he want to blow up the Brahi River Bridge now?

"I know, but the Germans are very fast..." Major General Przyakovsky suddenly heard the roar of the bottom motor in his ears. He turned to look west and saw light yellow smoke appearing in the air on the other side of the Brasi River, getting closer and closer to the bridge.

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

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

The leader of the shouting was a cavalryman who was fleeing with Major General Przyakovsky. He was very young and had a look of fear on his face, like a frightened rabbit. His shouts soon brought a whipping from the hands of Major General Przyakovsky.

He raised the riding whip in his hand, pointed at the bridge and said to the people around him: "It seems that there is no time to blow up the bridge. But since our reinforcements are about to arrive, then we should at least hold on to this bridge for Poland!"

"For Poland!"

"for Motherland!"

A group of Polish lancers who did not yet know the power of German tanks raised their carbines and shouted in response.

However, the spears in their hands are ineffective most of the time. In most cases, these lancers will dismount and fight, and will not stupidly stab the tanks with their spears. In fact, this coastal cavalry brigade is also a semi-mechanized cavalry brigade with tanks and motorized troops, but it is different from the German cavalry brigade. Compared with armored forces, they are still too outdated.

…

The wheeled armored vehicle that Armored Meyer was riding in once again turned on its full power and started running wildly 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 and numerous. It has thick armor, heavy firepower, and runs very fast. The 6-wheeled vehicle that Armored Meyer is now riding can reach a speed of 65 kilometers per hour on the road, while the other 8-wheeled vehicles in his company can reach a speed of 90 kilometers per hour.

Now he threw away the tanks and half-tracks, and together with a motorized reconnaissance company, he raced on the road at a speed of nearly 50 kilometers per hour, and soon rushed under the Brachi River Bridge.

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

"Everyone stop advancing!" he shouted into the intercom. "Go to Car No. 3 and conduct reconnaissance. Be careful and pull back immediately if you find the situation."

"Understood!" The voice of No. 3 Commander Schwartz came from the earphones.

Armored Val once again pushed open the hatch cover above his head, stood up straight from his seat, and looked through the 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.

We are 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," Hessman 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!