Battle of the Bzura
The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. (November 2020) |
Battle of the Bzura | |
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Part of Łódź Voivodeship, Poland 52°14′00″N 19°22′00″E / 52.23333°N 19.36667°E | |
Result |
German victory
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Władysław Bortnowski
Edmund Knoll-Kownacki
Mikołaj Bołtuć
Roman Abraham
Leon Strzelecki
5 armoured and motorized divisions
425,000 soldiers[1]
2–4 cavalry brigades
225,000 soldiers[1]
4,000 captured
50 tanks
100 cars
20 artillery pieces
32,000 wounded[2]
170,000 captured[2]
The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was both the largest battle[3] and Polish counter-attack[4] of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.[5][6] The battle took place west of Warsaw, near the Bzura River. It began as a Polish counter-offensive, which gained initial success, but the Germans outflanked the Polish forces with a concentrated counter-attack. That weakened Polish forces and the Poznań and Pomorze Armies were destroyed. Western Poland was now under German occupation.[7]: 65–70 The battle has been described as "the bloodiest and most bitter battle of the entire Polish campaign".[8] Winston Churchill called the battle an "ever-glorious struggle".[9]
Background
The Polish plan to defend from the German invasion,
The German offensive proved the folly of the Polish border defence plan during the first days of the war.
On 7 September, the Polish forces became aware of the German push towards Łęczyca, which, if successful, could cut off the retreat route of Polish forces.[11] By 8 September, advanced German troops reached Warsaw, which marked the beginning of the Siege of Warsaw.[11] At the same time, German forces had lost contact with Army Poznań, and the German command assumed that the army must have been transported by rail to aid Warsaw's defence. They were unaware that in fact Army Poznań had merged forces with Army Pomorze, which they considered, since its defeat at Bory Tucholskie, to be no longer a significant threat.[11] On 8 September, the Germans were certain that they had eliminated major Polish resistance west of Vistula and so prepared to cross it and to engage the Polish forces on the other side.[2]
Meanwhile, General Kutrzeba and his staff officers had suspected, even before the German invasion, that it would be the neighbouring armies that would bear the German attack and so they had developed plans at an offensive to the south to relieve Army Łódź.[12] During the first week of the campaign, however, those plans were rejected by the Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły.[12] By 8 September, Kutrzeba had lost contact with Rydz-Śmigły, who had relocated his command center from Warsaw to Brest. Those factors made Kutrzeba decide to go forward with his plan.[12] His situation was dire, as German forces were close to surrounding his units: the German 8th Army had secured the southern bank of the Bzura river, and the German 4th Army had secured the northern bank of Vistula, from Włocławek to Wyszogród, and its elements were attacking the rear of the Armies Pomorze and Poznań from the direction of Inowrocław and crossing the Vistula near Płock.[12]
Opposing forces
The Polish forces consisted of
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Battle
The battle can be divided into three phases:
- Phase I — Polish offensive towards Stryków, aiming at the flank of the German 10th Army (9–12 September)[1]
- Phase II — Polish offensive towards Łowicz (13–15 September)[1]
- Phase III — German counterattack and eventual defeat of the Poles, who withdraw towards Warsaw and
On the night of 9 September, the Polish
The German forces were thrown back approximately 20 km, and the Poles recaptured several towns, including
Initially underestimating the Polish advance, the Germans decided on 11 September to redirect the main force of the
On the morning of 14 September, General
On 15 and 16 September, Army Pomorze took up defensive positions on the north bank of the Bzura. General
The Polish forces were forced to abandon most of their heavy equipment while they crossed the river.[20] On 17 September, German heavy artillery was shelling the crossing north of Brochów, and the largest air operation of the campaign began, with the Luftwaffe attacking the retreating Polish forces.[14][20]
During the night of 17 September, the main forces of Army Poznań attacked the German forces to break out of the German encirclement between
.In the morning, the Germans started their drive towards the south along both banks of the Bzura and were supported by more than 300 aircraft and heavy artillery.[20] German howitzers, taking advantage of their position on the high ground of the Vistula's right bank, shelled Polish positions for the entire day.[20] After two days of heavy fighting, with no ammunition or food rations remaining, further attempts at a breakout for the Poles became impossible.[10]
Aftermath
"[My soldiers fought] in one of the biggest and most destructive battles of all times."
— Johannes Blaskowitz, Order of the 20th September[1]
Only a few Polish units managed to break out of the encirclement.[20] The groups entered Warsaw and Modlin, mostly around 19 and 20 September, crossed the Kampinos Forest and fought German units in the area (such as at the Battle of Wólka Węglowa).[14][22] Among them were Generals Kutrzeba, Knoll-Kowacki and Tokarzewski, two cavalry brigades (Wielkopolska and Podolska) of General Abraham and the 15th and 25th Infantry Divisions. The remainder (4th, 14th, 17th, 26th and 27th Infantry Divisions), which did not manage to cross the river, surrendered with General Bortnowski between 18 and 22 September.[2][14] Polish casualties were estimated at 20,000 dead, including three generals: Franciszek Wład, Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki and Mikołaj Bołtuć.[1] German casualties are estimated at 8,000 dead.[2]
After the battle, the remaining German divisions rushed towards Warsaw and Modlin and soon encircled both. The Bzura campaign ended in defeat for the Poles, but because of the initial Polish local successes, the German advance on Warsaw was halted for several days. The Wehrmacht was required to divert units from its push towards Warsaw.[23] That helped the Polish units defending Warsaw and its environs to organise their own long-term but ultimately failed defence of the capital.[24]
The campaign also showed the importance of taking initiative, proved that horse cavalry units were still an important factor on the battlefield, proved the importance of air superiority and confirmed that simple numerical superiority still mattered.[1][25]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.14
- ^ a b c d e f g "Wojna Światowa". Historia Polski. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
- ^ Richie, Alexandra (17 October 2023). "The Invasion of Poland". The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ISBN 978-1-135-81242-3.
- Brockhaus Multimedial Lexikongives 19 September 1939 as to the battle's end date.
- ISBN 9781841764085
- ISBN 978-0-578-02941-2.
- ^ Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm, vol. 1 of The Second World War (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1948), p. 445. Churchill gives "the battle of the river Bzura" as its name.
- ^ a b Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz....,34-128.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.5
- ^ a b c d Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.6
- ^ a b c d e f Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.8
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.11
- ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz...., 120-22.
- ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz....,124.
- ^ Elble Rolf, 1975, Die Schlacht an der Bzura im September 1939 aus deutscher und polnischer Sicht
- ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz....,124-125.
- ^ a b c Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.9
- ^ a b c d e f g Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., p.10
- ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz....,127.
- ^ Cisowski, Zalewski, Bitwa..., pp.12–13
- ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz....,128.
- ^ Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz....,128-129.
- ^ Andrzej Kunert in "Wrzesień 1939 9/19 - Bzura" claims that at least one pivotal attack was cancelled because while they were marching, the soldiers were asleep for the first time in a few days, which led to the loss of momentum. [1]
References
- (in Polish) Sławomir Cisowski, Wojciech Zalewski, Bitwa nad Bzurą, Chwała Oręża Polskiego 26 (47), Rzeczpospolita, 20 January 2007 (publication contains a map of the battle).
- Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978.
External links
- Juliusz Tym (2005). "Kawaleria w bitwie nad Bzurą (Cavalry in the Battle of Bzura)" (in Polish). Polonia Militaris. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.