Excalibur Squadron OOC - European Tour '39 - CLOSED

[Grenartia]

Could it be said that this is an elite unit and so have access to most of the working MP38s the Army can get their hands on? Ammunition might be a bit difficult in that case...

more the magazines since the mp series uses the same ammo as most interwar pistols

Ammo, sure, but almost certainly not mags. Just look at the angle difference between the MP 38 and the Luger. To say nothing of capacity.

[Monfrox]

I'll work on a post soon, I promise

[Grenartia]

more the magazines since the mp series uses the same ammo as most interwar pistols

Ammo, sure, but almost certainly not mags. Just look at the angle difference between the MP 38 and the Luger. To say nothing of capacity.

I just realized I misread the post.

[Morrdh]

Still, ammo would be pretty scarce. Almost certainly only enough for one or two people.

True. I guess the gamble you'd be making is that there'd be enough dead Nazis to loot once you got there that you could make up for it

Yeah, this was part of Wade's reasoning in addition to making it easier to blend in.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

Ach, sorry guys, I realized at the last second I needed to add a whole bunch of other stuff.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be less busy.

[Grenartia]

Ach, sorry guys, I realized at the last second I needed to add a whole bunch of other stuff.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be less busy.

It happens, man. No hard feelings.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

So these Osprey books are not nearly as concise or easy to understand as they would appear to be at first glance

WEAPONRY
- Personal weapon - usually a Berthier FM 07/15 rifle, MAS-36 rifle, or Berthier M16 carbine
- Erma-Vollmer EMP submachine gun (for Mobile Gendarmerie)
- Sidearm - usually an MAS Modele 1935 pistol
- Two grenades
- Combat knife
- Bayonet
- MAC FM24/29 7.5mm machine gun (for MG gunners)
- PA 7.65mm Ruby pistol (for MG loaders)
- 8 VB rifle grenades (for grenadiers)
- M23 cavalry saber (for cavalry officers)
UNIFORM
- M38 uniform - capote greatcoat, tunic, jersey pullover, trousers, puttees, boots
- M37 colonial uniform - capote hooded jacket, sleeveless shirt, shorts, leggings, boots
- Full dress uniform - dress tunic, trousers, dress shoes (for officers)
- Service dress uniform - manteau overcoat, vareuse jacket, shirt, tie, breeches, M19 boots (for officers)
- “Pourchier Ensemble” mountain/arctic uniform - canvas anorak, sheepskin vest, wool pullover, arctic trousers, mountain boots, cape (for Alpine troops)
- Motorcyclist uniform - canvas coat, jacket, fur-lined under-jacket, salopette overalls, leggings, boots, goggles, scarf
- Armored crewman uniform - M38 cotton uniform, canvas jacket, salopette overalls, gloves, goggles, scarf, M35 helmet, boots, leather jacket (for officers)
- Various colonial uniforms depending on unit and location, including Zouaves, Legionnaires, dragoons, tiraillleurs Senegalais, Moroccan troops...
- M26 “Adrian II” steel helmet
- M18 sidecap
- M35/36 steel helmet (for motorized troops and AA gunners)
- M31 sun helmet (for colonial troops)
- Beret (for armored troops, Alpine troops, and Alpine fortress troops)
- Kepi (for officers and Legionnaires)
- “Chechia” cap (for Zouaves and North African colonial troops)
- “Rezza” head-dress (for Moroccan troops)

OUTFITS
- Standard Infantry
- Infantry Officers
- Armored Crewmen
- Armored Officers
- Alpine Infantry
- Fortress Infantry
- Legionnaire Infantry
- Zouaves
- Colonial Infantry
- Motorcyclists

EQUIPMENT
- M35 haversack and webbing/pouch/brace kit
- Bergen rucksack (for Alpine troops)
- Gas mask
- Canteen
- Mess kit
- Soap
- Spare underclothes
- Towel
- Massive amounts of Gauloise cigarettes
- Entrenching tools (M79 spade, M09 shovel, billhook, axe)
- Binoculars (for officers and scout troops)
- Maps (for officers)

[Grenartia]

So these Osprey books are not nearly as concise or easy to understand as they would appear to be at first glance

WEAPONRY
- Personal weapon - usually a Berthier FM 07/15 rifle, MAS-36 rifle, or Berthier M16 carbine
- Erma-Vollmer EMP submachine gun (for Mobile Gendarmerie)
- Sidearm - usually an MAS Modele 1935 pistol
- Two grenades
- Combat knife
- Bayonet
- MAC FM24/29 7.5mm machine gun (for MG gunners)
- PA 7.65mm Ruby pistol (for MG loaders)
- 8 VB rifle grenades (for grenadiers)
- M23 cavalry saber (for cavalry officers)
UNIFORM
- M38 uniform - capote greatcoat, tunic, jersey pullover, trousers, puttees, boots
- M37 colonial uniform - capote hooded jacket, sleeveless shirt, shorts, leggings, boots
- Full dress uniform - dress tunic, trousers, dress shoes (for officers)
- Service dress uniform - manteau overcoat, vareuse jacket, shirt, tie, breeches, M19 boots (for officers)
- “Pourchier Ensemble” mountain/arctic uniform - canvas anorak, sheepskin vest, wool pullover, arctic trousers, mountain boots, cape (for Alpine troops)
- Motorcyclist uniform - canvas coat, jacket, fur-lined under-jacket, salopette overalls, leggings, boots, goggles, scarf
- Armored crewman uniform - M38 cotton uniform, canvas jacket, salopette overalls, gloves, goggles, scarf, M35 helmet, boots, leather jacket (for officers)
- Various colonial uniforms depending on unit and location, including Zouaves, Legionnaires, dragoons, tiraillleurs Senegalais, Moroccan troops...
- M26 “Adrian II” steel helmet
- M18 sidecap
- M35/36 steel helmet (for motorized troops and AA gunners)
- M31 sun helmet (for colonial troops)
- Beret (for armored troops, Alpine troops, and Alpine fortress troops)
- Kepi (for officers and Legionnaires)
- “Chechia” cap (for Zouaves and North African colonial troops)
- “Rezza” head-dress (for Moroccan troops)
EQUIPMENT
- M35 haversack and webbing/pouch/brace kit
- Bergen rucksack (for Alpine troops)
- Gas mask
- Canteen
- Mess kit
- Soap
- Spare underclothes
- Towel
- Massive amounts of Gauloise cigarettes
- Entrenching tools (M79 spade, M09 shovel, billhook, axe)
- Binoculars (for officers and scout troops)
- Maps (for officers)

The Eternal Baguette!

[The Two Jerseys]

Will try to post something in the next couple days.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

So these Osprey books are not nearly as concise or easy to understand as they would appear to be at first glance

WEAPONRY
- Personal weapon - usually a Berthier FM 07/15 rifle, MAS-36 rifle, or Berthier M16 carbine
- Erma-Vollmer EMP submachine gun (for Mobile Gendarmerie)
- Sidearm - usually an MAS Modele 1935 pistol
- Two grenades
- Combat knife
- Bayonet
- MAC FM24/29 7.5mm machine gun (for MG gunners)
- PA 7.65mm Ruby pistol (for MG loaders)
- 8 VB rifle grenades (for grenadiers)
- M23 cavalry saber (for cavalry officers)
UNIFORM
- M38 uniform - capote greatcoat, tunic, jersey pullover, trousers, puttees, boots
- M37 colonial uniform - capote hooded jacket, sleeveless shirt, shorts, leggings, boots
- Full dress uniform - dress tunic, trousers, dress shoes (for officers)
- Service dress uniform - manteau overcoat, vareuse jacket, shirt, tie, breeches, M19 boots (for officers)
- “Pourchier Ensemble” mountain/arctic uniform - canvas anorak, sheepskin vest, wool pullover, arctic trousers, mountain boots, cape (for Alpine troops)
- Motorcyclist uniform - canvas coat, jacket, fur-lined under-jacket, salopette overalls, leggings, boots, goggles, scarf
- Armored crewman uniform - M38 cotton uniform, canvas jacket, salopette overalls, gloves, goggles, scarf, M35 helmet, boots, leather jacket (for officers)
- Various colonial uniforms depending on unit and location, including Zouaves, Legionnaires, dragoons, tiraillleurs Senegalais, Moroccan troops...
- M26 “Adrian II” steel helmet
- M18 sidecap
- M35/36 steel helmet (for motorized troops and AA gunners)
- M31 sun helmet (for colonial troops)
- Beret (for armored troops, Alpine troops, and Alpine fortress troops)
- Kepi (for officers and Legionnaires)
- “Chechia” cap (for Zouaves and North African colonial troops)
- “Rezza” head-dress (for Moroccan troops)
EQUIPMENT
- M35 haversack and webbing/pouch/brace kit
- Bergen rucksack (for Alpine troops)
- Gas mask
- Canteen
- Mess kit
- Soap
- Spare underclothes
- Towel
- Massive amounts of Gauloise cigarettes
- Entrenching tools (M79 spade, M09 shovel, billhook, axe)
- Binoculars (for officers and scout troops)
- Maps (for officers)

The Eternal Baguette!

I'm mainly doing this because it bugs the crap out of me to not have any idea how to refer to someone's uniform or clothing properly.

[Grenartia]

The Eternal Baguette!

I'm mainly doing this because it bugs the crap out of me to not have any idea how to refer to someone's uniform or clothing properly.

Fair enough.

In other news: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Cowell

[Monfrox]

I finally did it.

[Len Hyet]

The Eternal Baguette!

I'm mainly doing this because it bugs the crap out of me to not have any idea how to refer to someone's uniform or clothing properly.

I spent an amount of time I'm not proud of deciding whether or not to write the Wehrmacht designation for Richter's bayonet.

[Grenartia]

I'm mainly doing this because it bugs the crap out of me to not have any idea how to refer to someone's uniform or clothing properly.

I spent an amount of time I'm not proud of deciding whether or not to write the Wehrmacht designation for Richter's bayonet.

I'm actually trying to figure out whether or not its feasible to app a trans character.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

I'm mainly doing this because it bugs the crap out of me to not have any idea how to refer to someone's uniform or clothing properly.

Fair enough.

In other news: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Cowell

Cowell's story is pretty amazing.
It's sad she ended up being a bigot in a different way, with regard to the chromosomal justification for the procedure.

I spent an amount of time I'm not proud of deciding whether or not to write the Wehrmacht designation for Richter's bayonet.

I'm actually trying to figure out whether or not its feasible to app a trans character.

It could be feasible. From what I've read about Dillon and Cowell, though, I think the prerequisite you'd need to have was a lot of money. Only the super-wealthy could really afford a procedure like that (and to take all the measures that were needed to keep it from society).

[Grenartia]

Fair enough.

In other news: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Cowell

Cowell's story is pretty amazing.
It's sad she ended up being a bigot in a different way, with regard to the chromosomal justification for the procedure.

Sadly. Christine Jorgensen was way better on that front, honestly.

I'm actually trying to figure out whether or not its feasible to app a trans character.

It could be feasible. From what I've read about Dillon and Cowell, though, I think the prerequisite you'd need to have was a lot of money. Only the super-wealthy could really afford a procedure like that (and to take all the measures that were needed to keep it from society).

Indeed, but I figure if I can get everything right, she could be introduced during the op.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

So just as a general sort of policy going forward, if I go inactive, it's not because I'm abandoning anything. Work is already an absolutely ridiculous 40-hour-a-week crusade, and there's also some pretty serious stuff going on in my family now that is pretty time-consuming/draining/sad. So, my mind's not on NS very often.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

some more EF stuff anyways

Other than the Westerplatte Military Transit Depot, the only real Polish military strongpoint within the Danzig Free State was, somewhat surprisingly, the local post office. Because the building was legitimate Polish government property, and for lack of any better option, the Polish government decided to make it a sort of fort within the city. By 1939, the Post Office enjoyed the protection of several dozen Polish soldiers and reservists, armed with rifles and machine guns. What exact tactical or strategic effect this was meant to have was unclear - the place definitely couldn’t hold out against a cohesive assault for long - but the place certainly wouldn’t be a walkover if anybody tried to, say, walk over it.

On the morning of September 1st, 1939, that was exactly what came to pass. The Polish buildup at the Post office had not gone unnoticed by the local Nazis, who had taken care to prepare for an assault on the building when the invasion started. Before sunrise, German operatives working for the regional Nazi Party cut the power to the building, and as the Schleswig-Holstein began its bombardment of Westerplatte, the local police forces converged to surround the building.


_{German troops surrounding the Post Office. Note the Austrian ADHZ armored cars, which had been absorbed into the Wehrmacht after the Anschluss and had subsequently been assigned to the SS-Heimwehr.}

Within the post office itself, no more than a few dozen reservists and postmen were on station. But in a remarkable show of defiance, they roused themselves, grabbed weapons from the stocks in the basement, and proceeded to take up defensive positions, firing at the Danzig police so unmercifully that the cops had to call in backup from the SS-Heimwehr Danzig and for artillery support from the marine infantry company assaulting Westerplatte. The first assault, made by police alone, was called off once the firing started. The second, made by the police with SS-SA assistance, was again forced back after withering fire killed two policemen, and wounded several more. The Heimwehr’s quartet of armored cars were called in to solidify the siege, only for one of them to be hit and then incinerated by a firebomb thrown from the post office’s window. This was caught on camera by German journalists who had arrived at the scene.


_{Most of the pictures of this engagement, you’ll notice, come from those same German journalists. So there’s lots of pictures of Germans squatting behind their armored cars.}

By midmorning, the attack was being directly supervised by Albert Forster, the commander of the Danzig Nazi Party. The siege troops began to get serious. Artillery support was directed onto the building, but the mortars were falling dangerously short, and the heavier artillery was simply not doing enough damage to the building. The Germans launched yet another assault before noon, which was again a failure. After the third failure, Forster reluctantly allowed German engineers to start dropping the building’s walls. After successfully sapping one wall, German forces swarmed the office at about five in the afternoon and seized most of the building, finally forcing the defenders in the basement to surrender after throwing firebombs into the crowded rooms. Both of the Polish defenders who attempted to show white flags and end the fighting were shot on sight by SS troops.

Barely fifty Polish reservists and mail-carriers had held off hundreds of German paramilitary troops, backed by armor and artillery, for sixteen straight hours. Six of the defenders had been killed (three alone in the last few minutes, as the Germans stormed the basement with gas bombs), while ten German troops had been killed and an armored car burned out. Numerous civilians were among the wounded and the dead, including at least one child. Under Forster’s direct supervision, and with the approval of the German military forces now garrisoning the city, every single Polish survivor of the attack on the Polish Post Office was tried as an “illegal combatant” and executed over the next few weeks. Aside from the horrific brutality and blatant illegality of such an event, one cannot help but sense the profound fury and embarrassment that Forster and the military must have been feeling, to have been humiliated so badly by a handful of mailmen.

[Grenartia]

So just as a general sort of policy going forward, if I go inactive, it's not because I'm abandoning anything. Work is already an absolutely ridiculous 40-hour-a-week crusade, and there's also some pretty serious stuff going on in my family now that is pretty time-consuming/draining/sad. So, my mind's not on NS very often.

I get it, man. I've been there, myself. Here's hoping you get some Nazi tears to grease your gears.

some more EF stuff anyways

Other than the Westerplatte Military Transit Depot, the only real Polish military strongpoint within the Danzig Free State was, somewhat surprisingly, the local post office. Because the building was legitimate Polish government property, and for lack of any better option, the Polish government decided to make it a sort of fort within the city. By 1939, the Post Office enjoyed the protection of several dozen Polish soldiers and reservists, armed with rifles and machine guns. What exact tactical or strategic effect this was meant to have was unclear - the place definitely couldn’t hold out against a cohesive assault for long - but the place certainly wouldn’t be a walkover if anybody tried to, say, walk over it.

On the morning of September 1st, 1939, that was exactly what came to pass. The Polish buildup at the Post office had not gone unnoticed by the local Nazis, who had taken care to prepare for an assault on the building when the invasion started. Before sunrise, German operatives working for the regional Nazi Party cut the power to the building, and as the Schleswig-Holstein began its bombardment of Westerplatte, the local police forces converged to surround the building.

(Image)
_{German troops surrounding the Post Office. Note the Austrian ADHZ armored cars, which had been absorbed into the Wehrmacht after the Anschluss and had subsequently been assigned to the SS-Heimwehr.}

Within the post office itself, no more than a few dozen reservists and postmen were on station. But in a remarkable show of defiance, they roused themselves, grabbed weapons from the stocks in the basement, and proceeded to take up defensive positions, firing at the Danzig police so unmercifully that the cops had to call in backup from the SS-Heimwehr Danzig and for artillery support from the marine infantry company assaulting Westerplatte. The first assault, made by police alone, was called off once the firing started. The second, made by the police with SS-SA assistance, was again forced back after withering fire killed two policemen, and wounded several more. The Heimwehr’s quartet of armored cars were called in to solidify the siege, only for one of them to be hit and then incinerated by a firebomb thrown from the post office’s window. This was caught on camera by German journalists who had arrived at the scene.

(Image)
_{Most of the pictures of this engagement, you’ll notice, come from those same German journalists. So there’s lots of pictures of Germans squatting behind their armored cars.}

By midmorning, the attack was being directly supervised by Albert Forster, the commander of the Danzig Nazi Party. The siege troops began to get serious. Artillery support was directed onto the building, but the mortars were falling dangerously short, and the heavier artillery was simply not doing enough damage to the building. The Germans launched yet another assault before noon, which was again a failure. After the third failure, Forster reluctantly allowed German engineers to start dropping the building’s walls. After successfully sapping one wall, German forces swarmed the office at about five in the afternoon and seized most of the building, finally forcing the defenders in the basement to surrender after throwing firebombs into the crowded rooms. Both of the Polish defenders who attempted to show white flags and end the fighting were shot on sight by SS troops.

Barely fifty Polish reservists and mail-carriers had held off hundreds of German paramilitary troops, backed by armor and artillery, for sixteen straight hours. Six of the defenders had been killed (three alone in the last few minutes, as the Germans stormed the basement with gas bombs), while ten German troops had been killed and an armored car burned out. Numerous civilians were among the wounded and the dead, including at least one child. Under Forster’s direct supervision, and with the approval of the German military forces now garrisoning the city, every single Polish survivor of the attack on the Polish Post Office was tried as an “illegal combatant” and executed over the next few weeks. Aside from the horrific brutality and blatant illegality of such an event, one cannot help but sense the profound fury and embarrassment that Forster and the military must have been feeling, to have been humiliated so badly by a handful of mailmen.

Going postal on some Nazis.

[The Two Jerseys]

some more EF stuff anyways

Other than the Westerplatte Military Transit Depot, the only real Polish military strongpoint within the Danzig Free State was, somewhat surprisingly, the local post office. Because the building was legitimate Polish government property, and for lack of any better option, the Polish government decided to make it a sort of fort within the city. By 1939, the Post Office enjoyed the protection of several dozen Polish soldiers and reservists, armed with rifles and machine guns. What exact tactical or strategic effect this was meant to have was unclear - the place definitely couldn’t hold out against a cohesive assault for long - but the place certainly wouldn’t be a walkover if anybody tried to, say, walk over it.

On the morning of September 1st, 1939, that was exactly what came to pass. The Polish buildup at the Post office had not gone unnoticed by the local Nazis, who had taken care to prepare for an assault on the building when the invasion started. Before sunrise, German operatives working for the regional Nazi Party cut the power to the building, and as the Schleswig-Holstein began its bombardment of Westerplatte, the local police forces converged to surround the building.

(Image)
_{German troops surrounding the Post Office. Note the Austrian ADHZ armored cars, which had been absorbed into the Wehrmacht after the Anschluss and had subsequently been assigned to the SS-Heimwehr.}

Within the post office itself, no more than a few dozen reservists and postmen were on station. But in a remarkable show of defiance, they roused themselves, grabbed weapons from the stocks in the basement, and proceeded to take up defensive positions, firing at the Danzig police so unmercifully that the cops had to call in backup from the SS-Heimwehr Danzig and for artillery support from the marine infantry company assaulting Westerplatte. The first assault, made by police alone, was called off once the firing started. The second, made by the police with SS-SA assistance, was again forced back after withering fire killed two policemen, and wounded several more. The Heimwehr’s quartet of armored cars were called in to solidify the siege, only for one of them to be hit and then incinerated by a firebomb thrown from the post office’s window. This was caught on camera by German journalists who had arrived at the scene.

(Image)
_{Most of the pictures of this engagement, you’ll notice, come from those same German journalists. So there’s lots of pictures of Germans squatting behind their armored cars.}

By midmorning, the attack was being directly supervised by Albert Forster, the commander of the Danzig Nazi Party. The siege troops began to get serious. Artillery support was directed onto the building, but the mortars were falling dangerously short, and the heavier artillery was simply not doing enough damage to the building. The Germans launched yet another assault before noon, which was again a failure. After the third failure, Forster reluctantly allowed German engineers to start dropping the building’s walls. After successfully sapping one wall, German forces swarmed the office at about five in the afternoon and seized most of the building, finally forcing the defenders in the basement to surrender after throwing firebombs into the crowded rooms. Both of the Polish defenders who attempted to show white flags and end the fighting were shot on sight by SS troops.

Barely fifty Polish reservists and mail-carriers had held off hundreds of German paramilitary troops, backed by armor and artillery, for sixteen straight hours. Six of the defenders had been killed (three alone in the last few minutes, as the Germans stormed the basement with gas bombs), while ten German troops had been killed and an armored car burned out. Numerous civilians were among the wounded and the dead, including at least one child. Under Forster’s direct supervision, and with the approval of the German military forces now garrisoning the city, every single Polish survivor of the attack on the Polish Post Office was tried as an “illegal combatant” and executed over the next few weeks. Aside from the horrific brutality and blatant illegality of such an event, one cannot help but sense the profound fury and embarrassment that Forster and the military must have been feeling, to have been humiliated so badly by a handful of mailmen.

Moral of the story: if you want the job done right, call an engineer.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

For those who didn't see, we now have a Discord channel just for plotting and planning future ES stuff

[The Two Jerseys]

For those who didn't see, we now have a Discord channel just for plotting and planning future ES stuff

Doesn't that spoil some of the suspense?

[The Tiger Kingdom]

For those who didn't see, we now have a Discord channel just for plotting and planning future ES stuff

Doesn't that spoil some of the suspense?

It might?
I dunno, I like the idea of bouncing ideas off people, and oftentimes maintaining suspense is a bit impossible given the existence of tvtropes and things

[The Tiger Kingdom]

If one is to explain the Invasion of Poland, one must first explain the existence of the universe

If you were to design a country with the greatest number of geopolitical disadvantages imaginable, you would probably wind up with Poland.


_{It's like a diagram of my nervous system after three Five-Hours in a row, and had about the same degree of danger.}

Ever since the Medieval period, the wide, flat lands which would become the state of Poland were constantly the scene of back-and-forth warfare, sitting on the rich borderlands between Europe and Asia. Endlessly split, subdivided, and invaded by more powerful neighbors to the east, west, and south, the Polish state had long been seen as an impossible dream by the millions of people living in the region, whose history was full of failed rebellions, foreign domination, and crushed kingdoms. But at the end of the First World War, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and German Empires afforded Poland a once-in-a-century chance to seize its independence. It did so with aplomb.

But almost from the moment that Poland became independent, it showed it had perhaps learned too much from its oppressors. No sooner had the nascent Polish government announced and confirmed its existence then its soldiers immediately headed east to seize and conquer as much Russian territory as they could, as the Russian Empire collapsed into civil war between the Bolshevik “Reds” and Czarist “Whites”. The Polish forces quickly found themselves embroiled in a dangerous and potentially ruinous war that intensified as Red forces triumphed in their civil war and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Moscow. On the western frontier, Polish soldiers and militias also frequently skirmished with Weimar German national guard units and “Freikorps” right-wing militias, deputized by the Weimar state in a desperate attempt to strengthen their limited and often-unreliable military.

While the Allied nations were sympathetic to the Poles (the French dispatching a “military mission” to assist the Poles directly), not much real help was forthcoming, the Allied militaries being embroiled both in postwar drawdowns and the ongoing “shadow war” with the USSR in Murmansk and Siberia. To many observers, Poland was a stillborn country, only a year or two old and already ruined by a combination of poor location and even poorer diplomacy. The Red Army, at the peak of its size and fresh from its total victory over Czarist forces, defeated the attempted Polish invasion of Ukraine in May 1920 and counterattacked west. They invaded the eastern Polish territories with their sights set firmly on Warsaw, intent on crushing the Polish state before it could even truly form. By mid-August, a huge Soviet Army under Marshal Nikolai Tukhachevsky approached the outskirts of the city from the north. The end was extremely nigh.


_{Leon Trotsky, the Chairman of the Supreme Military Council and the People's Commissar of Army and Navy Affairs, giving a speech to Soviet troops. Despite his hot words, Trotsky was opposed to the war and believed that Poland would be intractably anticommunist for the foreseeable future.}

And then, something happened that many Poles would describe in the decades afterwards as a miracle. In a nice bit of foreshadowing, the nascent Polish intelligence branch had managed to crack Soviet military codes, and obtained Tukhachevsky’s marching orders for his army. This data revealed a crucial weakness in the Soviet lines - a split between the Soviet Western and Southwestern Fronts that could be exploited. With this data, Marshal Josef Pilsudski, the Supreme Leader of Polish forces, assembled a desperate but ingenious plan. Polish forces would mount token defenses of the Vistula bridgeheads on Warsaw’s doorstep, but would concentrate their forces on the southern frontier, allowing the Soviets to advance on the northern flank. As they did so, the main Polish reserve army would attack into the seam between the Soviet Fronts and strike northwards, cutting off the main Soviet thrust from its reserves and trapping them east of Warsaw. The French Military Mission, led by General Maxime Weygand, dismissed the plan as foolish, acidly noting that Pilsudski hadn’t even studied at a military school. Little did they know that Pilsudski was about to take THEM to school.


_{Polish troops fortifying in front of Warsaw. Note the French Chauchat machine gun occupying pride of place in the center of the frame.}

The attack went marvelously. The Soviets, embroiled in internecine fighting between their front commanders and already believing the war to be effectively over, were taken by complete surprise. Their planned victorious advance on Warsaw as caught flatfooted as Polish cavalry and infantry, fighting with desperate courage and knowing that the fate of the nation hung on the outcome of their actions, fought tooth and nail both on the offense and in defense, rolling into the Soviet split and severing the Russian lines of communication and supply. The Red Cavalry Corps, led by Marshal Semyon Budenny, refused to take to the field due to political maneuvering and instead went to besiege Lvov, preventing Tukhachevsky from using some of the USSR’s most elite troops to guard his flanks or to block the Poles. The Polish forces rolled north, the counteroffensive now involving almost the entire Polish front as Pilsudski’s lieutenant, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, pushed the Russians eastwards and away from the Vistula crossings that could have led Tukhachevsky to Warsaw.


_{The Polish ace weapon - their elite cavalry. The Polish-Soviet War was probably the last war anywhere where the cavalry was still a decisive arm of the involved militaries. The "2nd Death Squadron" pictured here was a cavalry unit originating somewhere around Lvov.}

The final phase of the battle was a Soviet rout. As Tukhachevsky desperately tried to reform his forces and restart the offensive, Polish cavalry streamed eastwards to keep him on the run, encircling and surrounding thousands of fleeing Soviet troops fleeing back towards Minsk and White Russia. As the hours and days passed, it became clear that the Pilsudski had decisively defeated Tukhachevsky, and that not only had Warsaw been saved, but that the war would have to end. 80,000 Soviet troops had been either killed or captured, and an entire arm of the Red Army had been neutralized. By September of 1920, Warsaw was safe - and by mid-October, the war was over.

Poland had been saved, but at a tremendous cost that would not truly be appreciated for years to come. Pilsudski’s victory made him the “iron man” of the Polish state, putting the military permanently at the forefront of Poland’s government. The civil state was weak and would only get weaker as the years passed. Governments collapsed, the economy stayed weak and stagnant, and eventually, Poland had turned into a backwards military autocracy, diplomatically and geographically isolated from any potential allies and controlling numerous territories on both its eastern and western frontiers that were coveted by much larger, more powerful states. The stage was set for a lonely, dangerous future.

[Grenartia]

If one is to explain the Invasion of Poland, one must first explain the existence of the universe

If you were to design a country with the greatest number of geopolitical disadvantages imaginable, you would probably wind up with Poland.

(Image)
_{It's like a diagram of my nervous system after three Five-Hours in a row, and had about the same degree of danger.}

Ever since the Medieval period, the wide, flat lands which would become the state of Poland were constantly the scene of back-and-forth warfare, sitting on the rich borderlands between Europe and Asia. Endlessly split, subdivided, and invaded by more powerful neighbors to the east, west, and south, the Polish state had long been seen as an impossible dream by the millions of people living in the region, whose history was full of failed rebellions, foreign domination, and crushed kingdoms. But at the end of the First World War, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and German Empires afforded Poland a once-in-a-century chance to seize its independence. It did so with aplomb.

But almost from the moment that Poland became independent, it showed it had perhaps learned too much from its oppressors. No sooner had the nascent Polish government announced and confirmed its existence then its soldiers immediately headed east to seize and conquer as much Russian territory as they could, as the Russian Empire collapsed into civil war between the Bolshevik “Reds” and Czarist “Whites”. The Polish forces quickly found themselves embroiled in a dangerous and potentially ruinous war that intensified as Red forces triumphed in their civil war and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Moscow. On the western frontier, Polish soldiers and militias also frequently skirmished with Weimar German national guard units and “Freikorps” right-wing militias, deputized by the Weimar state in a desperate attempt to strengthen their limited and often-unreliable military.

While the Allied nations were sympathetic to the Poles (the French dispatching a “military mission” to assist the Poles directly), not much real help was forthcoming, the Allied militaries being embroiled both in postwar drawdowns and the ongoing “shadow war” with the USSR in Murmansk and Siberia. To many observers, Poland was a stillborn country, only a year or two old and already ruined by a combination of poor location and even poorer diplomacy. The Red Army, at the peak of its size and fresh from its total victory over Czarist forces, defeated the attempted Polish invasion of Ukraine in May 1920 and counterattacked west. They invaded the eastern Polish territories with their sights set firmly on Warsaw, intent on crushing the Polish state before it could even truly form. By mid-August, a huge Soviet Army under Marshal Nikolai Tukhachevsky approached the outskirts of the city from the north. The end was extremely nigh.

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_{Leon Trotsky, the Chairman of the Supreme Military Council and the People's Commissar of Army and Navy Affairs, giving a speech to Soviet troops. Despite his hot words, Trotsky was opposed to the war and believed that Poland would be intractably anticommunist for the foreseeable future.}

And then, something happened that many Poles would describe in the decades afterwards as a miracle. In a nice bit of foreshadowing, the nascent Polish intelligence branch had managed to crack Soviet military codes, and obtained Tukhachevsky’s marching orders for his army. This data revealed a crucial weakness in the Soviet lines - a split between the Soviet Western and Southwestern Fronts that could be exploited. With this data, Marshal Josef Pilsudski, the Supreme Leader of Polish forces, assembled a desperate but ingenious plan. Polish forces would mount token defenses of the Vistula bridgeheads on Warsaw’s doorstep, but would concentrate their forces on the southern frontier, allowing the Soviets to advance on the northern flank. As they did so, the main Polish reserve army would attack into the seam between the Soviet Fronts and strike northwards, cutting off the main Soviet thrust from its reserves and trapping them east of Warsaw. The French Military Mission, led by General Maxime Weygand, dismissed the plan as foolish, acidly noting that Pilsudski hadn’t even studied at a military school. Little did they know that Pilsudski was about to take THEM to school.

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_{Polish troops fortifying in front of Warsaw. Note the French Chauchat machine gun occupying pride of place in the center of the frame.}

The attack went marvelously. The Soviets, embroiled in internecine fighting between their front commanders and already believing the war to be effectively over, were taken by complete surprise. Their planned victorious advance on Warsaw as caught flatfooted as Polish cavalry and infantry, fighting with desperate courage and knowing that the fate of the nation hung on the outcome of their actions, fought tooth and nail both on the offense and in defense, rolling into the Soviet split and severing the Russian lines of communication and supply. The Red Cavalry Corps, led by Marshal Semyon Budenny, refused to take to the field due to political maneuvering and instead went to besiege Lvov, preventing Tukhachevsky from using some of the USSR’s most elite troops to guard his flanks or to block the Poles. The Polish forces rolled north, the counteroffensive now involving almost the entire Polish front as Pilsudski’s lieutenant, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, pushed the Russians eastwards and away from the Vistula crossings that could have led Tukhachevsky to Warsaw.

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_{The Polish ace weapon - their elite cavalry. The Polish-Soviet War was probably the last war anywhere where the cavalry was still a decisive arm of the involved militaries. The "2nd Death Squadron" pictured here was a cavalry unit originating somewhere around Lvov.}

The final phase of the battle was a Soviet rout. As Tukhachevsky desperately tried to reform his forces and restart the offensive, Polish cavalry streamed eastwards to keep him on the run, encircling and surrounding thousands of fleeing Soviet troops fleeing back towards Minsk and White Russia. As the hours and days passed, it became clear that the Pilsudski had decisively defeated Tukhachevsky, and that not only had Warsaw been saved, but that the war would have to end. 80,000 Soviet troops had been either killed or captured, and an entire arm of the Red Army had been neutralized. By September of 1920, Warsaw was safe - and by mid-October, the war was over.

Poland had been saved, but at a tremendous cost that would not truly be appreciated for years to come. Pilsudski’s victory made him the “iron man” of the Polish state, putting the military permanently at the forefront of Poland’s government. The civil state was weak and would only get weaker as the years passed. Governments collapsed, the economy stayed weak and stagnant, and eventually, Poland had turned into a backwards military autocracy, diplomatically and geographically isolated from any potential allies and controlling numerous territories on both its eastern and western frontiers that were coveted by much larger, more powerful states. The stage was set for a lonely, dangerous future.

When you unexpectedly crush the Red Army with calvary.