All,
It's 1500, 12 Sept 1939, and KG Klink has rushed west from the Wola suburb of Warsaw, back to the juncture of the Vistula and Bzura rivers, where the Polish Pomorze and Poznan Armies have fought from north (through Guderian's troops) and west (through Von Kluge's troops) to reach each other, then counterattack northeast to relieve Warsaw, while simultaneously fighting southeast to reach the Romanian corridor. With a mix of two German armies and two Polish armies fighting into and out of the pocket at the juncture of the two rivers, and arriving from all points of the compass, the fighting is necessarily confused, and, as the Poles are fighting for their very survival, necessarily fierce.
The situation is such: KG Klink is on the east bank of the Bzura river, where elements of various Polish units are seeking crossings to attack and breakthrough the tightening German noose. 2nd Lt Weider's 1st Motorcycle Platoon was dispatched west along the river, where it found the enemy; a call for reinforcements was immediately made, and 2nd Lt Wehner, the acting Reconnaissance Company Commander led 2nd Lt Wendt's 2nd Motorcycle Platoon to reinforce them, and several tanks of 2nd Lt Gerhart's 3rd Panzer Platoon were dispatched from KG positions further south. The Poles are moving directly towards Lt Weider's 1st M/C Plt, and Lt Wendt's 2nd M/C Plt has just arrived as we pick up the action.
The opposing forces: The Germans have two understrength Motorcycle Platoons, and an understrength Panzer Platoon, and the Poles have six rifle squads, a .30 cal. MG, and two medium tanks.
Overview, north is up, Poles are on the left (west) and Germans on the right (east). The Poles have one MG and some infantry in the woods at top left (that MG would cause serious problems throughout the entire fight), several squads south of the ford, and two tanks coming across the ford presently. 1st M/C Plt is in the buildings at top right, and 2nd M/C Plt is just pulling in, still mounted. The German 3rd Panzer Plt has just entered the area at bottom right. The German infantry has no heavy weapons and no means for dealing with the enemy tanks, save close combat.
The tank fight was quick and violent, with Sgt Friessler's crew distinguishing itself with two kills, though both of his panzer brethren were knocked out…
And the enemy MG at top left frustrated my every effort in the north, thoroughly dominating that sector.
Which combined with a Polish smokescreen set the stage for the climactic and decisive scrum in the center.
What a fight!!! To see the rest of the report, please visit the blog at:
link
I've got the write-up for Fight 10 almost completed, need to do the write-up for Fight 11, and Fight 12 is set up on the tabletop for Saturday morning, so stay tuned folks.
V/R,
Jack
tackles his greatest foe - another Green Vehicle...
