Chapter 154: The Polish Campaign (17)

The most unlucky ones were those who were killed directly by the bombs, followed by those who were captured, and the luckiest ones were those who escaped in time.

Colonel Wladyslaw Anders was one of the few lucky ones. When the Stuka bombers in the sky roared and dived down, he and several guards jumped on their horses and ran back without looking back. He actually escaped. He didn't dare to stop all the way, and ran to the Brachy River Bridge like a stray dog.

There was a platoon of soldiers guarding the bridge built by the Germans before the last World War. They were stunned to see the commander of the cavalry brigade who had crossed the bridge with high spirits not long ago become so embarrassed.

"Water, water!" Colonel Anders didn't care about his image and almost fell off his horse. He ran all the way here without stopping. He didn't even drink a sip of water. His throat seemed to be on fire, and he wanted to jump directly into the Brachy River under the bridge to drink.

"Here you go!" The platoon leader guarding the bridge quickly took off his water bottle and handed it over, and the others also distributed their water bottles to Colonel Anders' guards.

Gulp, gulp, Colonel Anders drank all the water in the water bottle in one breath, and took a long breath before he came to his senses. "Do you have any explosives here?"

"Explosives?" The platoon leader was stunned. "We only have grenades. What do you want explosives for?"

Colonel Anders pointed to the bridge under his feet. "Blow up this bridge. Since you don't have explosives, send someone to the rear to get explosives, as soon as possible!!" This bridge is quite strong, let alone grenades, even explosives will require a lot of them.

"Blow up, blow up the bridge?!" The platoon leader was shocked. "But this is the Brush River!" Is this colonel crazy? If he hadn't seen this colonel leading a cavalry brigade across the bridge yesterday, he would even suspect that this was a spy sent by the Germans.

If such an important traffic artery is blown up, how can the soldiers in the rear support the front line? ! How can the supplies pass through?

"I know, I know, but the Germans are fast..." Before the words fell, the low roar of the engine exploded in everyone's ears. The colonel turned his head suddenly in the direction of the sound, and saw a sky full of light yellow dust behind the distant hillside.

"Oh my God! The Germans are chasing us!!" One of the guards suddenly screamed, scaring everyone. He ran over and desperately pulled the reins of his horse, but the exhausted horse almost foamed at the mouth. No matter how he tossed it, it refused to stand up again. The guard sat on the ground weakly, crying desperately. "Oh my God, we can't run away!"

The sharp-eyed Colonel Anders found an empty supply truck parked not far away. "Hurry!! Get in the car!" After saying that, he ignored the others and ran to the truck, climbed into the cab, started the engine and stepped on the accelerator in one go.

When the row of soldiers guarding the bridge came to their senses, they could only stare at Colonel Anders and his guards driving away in amazement.

"Fuck!" The platoon leader couldn't help but swear. It was the first time he had seen such a shameless soldier. How did this kind of stuff become a colonel brigade commander?

The roar of the engine became clearer and clearer, and even the ground trembled slightly. Soon they saw the silhouette of German tanks in the distance, and a soldier asked nervously. "Platoon leader, what should we do?!"

The platoon leader didn't care to continue cursing the coward who fled in the face of battle, and shouted. "We are brave Polish soldiers!! Not those cowardly cowards!! We should at least defend this bridge for Poland!"

"For Poland!"

"For the motherland!"

A group of Polish soldiers who didn't know how powerful the German tanks were raised their rifles and responded loudly.

But sometimes, human courage can only do little except to make you die bravely.

A tank company came.

"Why are there no defenders on this bridge?"

"I saw a few little mice hiding in the grove on the opposite bank. Maybe they want to ambush us there. Everyone, target the grove on the opposite bank, one grenade, free fire!"

A few seconds later, 21 grenades flew to the grove on the opposite bank, and the not-so-big grove was immediately blown into a mess.

"Hans, get on the bridge."

"Captain, I'd better go. What if these Poles have installed explosives on the bridge?"

"I went up to take a look because I was afraid of explosives. If something really happens, you will be in charge."

Watching the captain's car slowly drive onto the bridge, the deputy captain ordered. "1st and 2nd platoons prepare grenades, 3rd and 4th platoons prepare armor-piercing shells, and pay close attention to the woods. Fire if there is any movement!"

When the captain's tank drove to the center of the bridge, two flashes of fire suddenly flashed in the woods and hit the front armor of the tank fiercely.

"We've been hit!" the mechanic screamed, he felt the shell hit the armor in front of him.

"Shut up, it didn't penetrate! It was a small-caliber artillery."

Whatever the gun was, it didn't pose a threat to the tank, it just knocked out two shallow pits on the front armor that posed no threat. However, the Poles didn't have a second chance. A row of tanks that were on high alert fired their own grenades almost at the same time as the artillery on the other side was firing. The Polish artillery and the remaining soldiers were blown up into the sky.

After the company commander's tank drove across safely, the follow-up tanks also crossed the bridge.

"Send a telegram to the division headquarters," the company commander ordered. "We have taken control of the Brashi River Bridge, and the bridge is intact."

"Build a defensive position immediately! Prevent the Polish counterattack!" But he was not worried. With 20 tanks and two companies of soldiers, he was confident that he could defend the bridge. Besides, the large force behind could support him at any time.

…………

"Your Highness." A staff officer in the headquarters put down the phone in his hand and reported to Yannick. "The 4th Army reports that the vanguard company of the 19th Armored Army has captured the Brachy River Bridge, and the bridge is intact."

"It seems that General Guderian will be able to cross the river this afternoon. The Pomeranian Army and the Poznan Army are almost finished. Their front will soon collapse." His eyes wandered on the map table and soon fell on the Poznan Army south of the Pomeranian Army. "General Rundstedt, can we wipe out these two armies?" Although the "white plan" of the original time and space was implemented, the progress of the war was also very different because the execution time and the weapons and equipment of the German army were completely different from the original time and space.

So such specific problems still depend on real soldiers.

Rundstedt carefully observed the map, sorted out the reports he had collected, and shook his head slightly. "Your Highness, since we are taking a pincer attack from north to south, our forces in the middle are very weak and unable to annihilate the Poznan Army Group. The forces used to attack the Lodz Army Group are also insufficient... With the current forces, we can only cripple the Pomorie Army Group, but cannot besiege and annihilate it. These remnants will surely retreat to the southeast, and the Poznan Army Group, which has not been severely damaged, is expected to retreat eastward under serious threats to its flank. In this way, there is a high probability that the Pomorie Army Group and the Poznan Army Group will meet on the west bank of the Vistula River, and even some troops of the Lodz Army Group will join, thus forming a relatively large cluster. If these Polish troops retreat into Warsaw and prepare to defend to the death, it will also be a big trouble."

Yannick said nonchalantly. "Then we can wipe them out in one fell swoop. It is also a good opportunity to use them to practice our 'street fighting troops'." Street fighting is cruel, and it is also a good choice to practice with the weak Poles.

At this time, Anne came in and reported, "Your Highness, the British envoy wants to see you."