Could the Modern Polish Military Have Saved the Country in 1939?
Saw this YouTube video:
Could the modern Polish military survive the German invasion of 1939?
The conclusion by the author of that post was, "No." That the Soviet invasion on Poland's eastern border in mid-September would seal Poland's fate.
[media=https://youtu.be/w6LY30OBxLU]
Well, most of you know that I could simply not resist posting a critcal response.
So, here is what I believed would have happened on September 1, 1939 with the time-traveling Polish armed forces.
At 04:45, the 14,000 ton German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish military transit depot in Westerplatte, in the Free City of Danzig. Minutes later it is sunk by two Harpoon missiles fired by the ORP frigate Generał Kazimierz Pułaski.
As the Schleswig-Holstein sinks, anti-aircraft defenses obliterate an attempted Luftwaffe airstrike against Wieluń.
At 05:00 a squadron of Polish F-16 strafe Luftwaffe airplanes on the ground at a dozen airbases near the German-Polish border.
At the same time, Polish artillery opens up along the northern front, pounding the German Third Army along the entire East Prussian front. Gen. Georg von Küchler's plan to invade Poland from East Prussia is shredded before it even begins.
At 05:15, the 1st "Warsaw" Armored Brigade, with its two M1A1 Abrams tank battalions smash across the border south of Schneidemühl, racing to the Baltic coast at Stettin. Gen. Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group North, realizes his entire force is in danger of being cut off and encircled, but his request to execute a retreat is refused by der Führer.
By 05:30, the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have each taken severe multiple hits while docked at Brunsbüttel from Harpoons fired from the ORP frigate Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko, which during the night had sailed past Copenhagen and Malmo at Koge Bay and then south thru the Great Belt and into Kiel Bay. The Kościuszko then unleashed a torrent of Harpoons at Kriegsmarine docks and command and control centers at Kiel andHamburg.
Before dawn, two Polish Air Force Lockheed C-130E Hercules and a Boeing 737 land at a Royal Air Force airfield in southern England. On board are several Polish army, air force and naval officers from the future. In a hastily arranged conference with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier and top British and French military commanders, the Polish officers not only detail the German battleplans for 1940 (along with videos on laptops showing the Blitz and the German occupation of Paris), but how the Soviet Union intends to invade Poland from the east by mid-September, Finland in November and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940.
The C-130s are also loaded with some of the most modern anti-tank missiles and the Polish government promises a lot more goodies, but explains that while they can hold their own against the Germans in the short term, they will eventually run short on diesel fuel. And it's diesel fuel that its modern tanks are going to need to crush the Soviet invasion in two weeks. As conserving diesel fuel is paramount, the Poles need help on their western front. They intend to push the Germans back to the Oder River. While not short on weapons, they are short on trained military personnel to use those weapons to blunt and eventually push back the German assault.
Given that the C-130E Hercules and Boeing 737 can transport quite a lot of troops in a short period of time . . . Uh, huh. This is going to be a VERY short war.
Could the modern Polish military survive the German invasion of 1939?
The conclusion by the author of that post was, "No." That the Soviet invasion on Poland's eastern border in mid-September would seal Poland's fate.
[media=https://youtu.be/w6LY30OBxLU]
Well, most of you know that I could simply not resist posting a critcal response.
So, here is what I believed would have happened on September 1, 1939 with the time-traveling Polish armed forces.
At 04:45, the 14,000 ton German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish military transit depot in Westerplatte, in the Free City of Danzig. Minutes later it is sunk by two Harpoon missiles fired by the ORP frigate Generał Kazimierz Pułaski.
As the Schleswig-Holstein sinks, anti-aircraft defenses obliterate an attempted Luftwaffe airstrike against Wieluń.
At 05:00 a squadron of Polish F-16 strafe Luftwaffe airplanes on the ground at a dozen airbases near the German-Polish border.
At the same time, Polish artillery opens up along the northern front, pounding the German Third Army along the entire East Prussian front. Gen. Georg von Küchler's plan to invade Poland from East Prussia is shredded before it even begins.
At 05:15, the 1st "Warsaw" Armored Brigade, with its two M1A1 Abrams tank battalions smash across the border south of Schneidemühl, racing to the Baltic coast at Stettin. Gen. Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group North, realizes his entire force is in danger of being cut off and encircled, but his request to execute a retreat is refused by der Führer.
By 05:30, the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have each taken severe multiple hits while docked at Brunsbüttel from Harpoons fired from the ORP frigate Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko, which during the night had sailed past Copenhagen and Malmo at Koge Bay and then south thru the Great Belt and into Kiel Bay. The Kościuszko then unleashed a torrent of Harpoons at Kriegsmarine docks and command and control centers at Kiel andHamburg.
Before dawn, two Polish Air Force Lockheed C-130E Hercules and a Boeing 737 land at a Royal Air Force airfield in southern England. On board are several Polish army, air force and naval officers from the future. In a hastily arranged conference with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier and top British and French military commanders, the Polish officers not only detail the German battleplans for 1940 (along with videos on laptops showing the Blitz and the German occupation of Paris), but how the Soviet Union intends to invade Poland from the east by mid-September, Finland in November and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940.
The C-130s are also loaded with some of the most modern anti-tank missiles and the Polish government promises a lot more goodies, but explains that while they can hold their own against the Germans in the short term, they will eventually run short on diesel fuel. And it's diesel fuel that its modern tanks are going to need to crush the Soviet invasion in two weeks. As conserving diesel fuel is paramount, the Poles need help on their western front. They intend to push the Germans back to the Oder River. While not short on weapons, they are short on trained military personnel to use those weapons to blunt and eventually push back the German assault.
Given that the C-130E Hercules and Boeing 737 can transport quite a lot of troops in a short period of time . . . Uh, huh. This is going to be a VERY short war.
36-40, F
