The alignment of forces in the Polish campaign

In accordance with the Weiss plan, Germany concentrated five armies and a reserve, which included 14 infantry, 1 tank, and two mountain divisions, for invading Poland. General command of the invasion forces was carried out by Colonel General Walter von Brauchitsch . The troops entrusted to him attacked from three directions: Silesia − Slovakia, Western Pomerania and East Prussia. All three directions converged at Warsaw.

In total: 56 divisions, 4 brigades, 6000 guns, 2500 tanks, 1300 aircraft. The number of personnel of the ground forces is 1,500,000 people ^[1] .

Against Poland, the Germans had 1,084 single-seat fighters, of which 28 were Ar 68 biplanes, 36 were Bf.109 modifications B and C, 389 were Bf.109D, 631 were Bf.109E1. Armed with night fighter squads consisted of Ar-68 and Bf.109C. The total number of combat-ready 109s was 946 vehicles. Not all of this armada took part in the battles: 220 Bf.109 ^[2] took a direct part in the battles.

After only a few days, the Polish Air Force practically ceased to exist, and fighters were involved in assault attacks on ground targets. Two weeks later, the Luftwaffe withdrew two air groups from Poland and transferred them to the western borders. During the fleeting campaign, 67 Bf.109 was lost, mainly from anti-aircraft fire ^[3] .

Army Group North

Army Group North - Colonel General Fedor von Bock

3rd Army - Artillery General Georg von Kuhler

• 1st Army Corps

• 11th Infantry Division ;
• 61st Infantry Division ;
• Kempf tank division ;

• 21st Army Corps

• 21st Infantry Division ;
• 228th Infantry Division ;

• Army Corps Vodrig

• 1st Infantry Division ;
• 12th Infantry Division ;

• Task Force Brand

• infantry brigade "Lötzen";
• Goldap infantry brigade;

• Reserve

• 217th Infantry Division ;
• 1st Cavalry Brigade

4th Army - artillery general Gunter von Kluge

• Regional Border Guard

• 207th Infantry Division ;

• 2nd Army Corps

• 3rd Infantry Division ;
• 32nd Infantry Division ;

• 3rd Army Corps

• 50th Infantry Division ;
• infantry brigade "Netze"

• 19th Motorized Corps

• 3rd Panzer Division ;
• 2nd Motorized Division ;
• 20th Motorized Division ;

• Reserve

• 23rd Infantry Division ;
• 218th Infantry Division

1st Air Fleet - Aviation General Albert Kesselring

• 1st Air Division
• air group "East Prussia"
• air instrumental division

Reserve Army Group "North"

• 7th Infantry Division ;
• 206th Infantry Division ;
• 208th Infantry Division ;
• 10th Panzer Division

Army Group South

Army Group South - Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt

8th Army - Infantry General Johannes Blaskowitz

• 10th Army Corps

• 24th Infantry Division ;
• 30th Infantry Division ;

• 13th Army Corps

• 10th Infantry Division ;
• 17th Infantry Division ;

• SS motorized regiment "Leibstandart Adolf Hitler"

10th Army - Artillery General Walter von Reichenau

• 4th Army Corps

• 4th Infantry Division ;
• 46th Infantry Division ;

• 11th Army Corps

• 18th Infantry Division ;
• 19th Infantry Division ;

• 14th Motorized Corps

• 13th Motorized Division ;
• 29th Motorized Division ;

• 15th Motorized Corps

• 2nd light division;
• 3rd light division;

• 16th Motorized Corps

• 1st Panzer Division ;
• 4th Panzer Division ;
• 14th Infantry Division ;
• 31st Infantry Division ;

• Reserve

• 1st light division;

14th Army - Colonel General Wilhelm Liszt

• 8th Army Corps

• 5th Panzer Division ;
• 8th Infantry Division ;
• 28th Infantry Division ;
• 239th Infantry Division;
• SS motorized regiment "Germany"

• 17th Army Corps

• 7th Infantry Division ;
• 44th Infantry Division ;
• 45th Infantry Division ;

• 18th Army Corps

• 2nd Panzer Division ;
• 4th light division;
• 3rd Mountain Division ;

4th Air Fleet - General of the Air Alexander Löhr

• 2nd Air Division
• 7th Airborne Division
• special operations units

Reserve Army Group "South"

• 7th Army Corps

• 27th Infantry Division ;
• 68th Infantry Division;

• 62nd Infantry Division ;
• 213rd Infantry Division ;
• 221st Infantry Division;

Reserve OKH

Reserve OKH

• 22nd Army Corps

• 1st Mountain Division ;
• 2nd Mountain Division ;

• 56th Infantry Division ;
• 57th Infantry Division ;
• 252nd Infantry Division;
• 257th Infantry Division;
• 258th Infantry Division

Navy

Navy Vostok - Admiral Conrad Albrecht

• Training battleship "Schleswig-Holstein"
• 3rd submarine flotilla
• 1st destroyer flotilla
• 1st flotilla of anti-submarine ships
• 1st and 3rd flotilla of minesweepers
• Escort flotilla
• 5th Watch Flotilla
• Mine Flotilla
• Minesweeper Training Flotilla
• Training flotilla of torpedo bombers
• Mine Trap Flotilla
• Baltic Sea Naval Aviation

The total number of Slovak troops was 50,000. The Slovak sector was located in the combat zone of Army Group South. An ally of Germany put up the Bernolac army under the command of General Ferdinand Chatlosch . The composition of the “Burnolac” included:

• 1st Infantry Division (divisional general 2nd rank Anton Pulanik) - two infantry regiments and a separate infantry battalion, artillery regiment and division.
• 2nd Infantry Division (until September 5th, the division was Lieutenant Colonel Jan Imro, from September 5th - 2nd-rank general Alexander Chunderlik) - one infantry regiment, three infantry battalions, an artillery regiment.
• 3rd Division (commander Colonel Augustin Malar) - 2 infantry regiments, 2 infantry battalions, artillery regiment and division. The division was part of the German 18th mountain corps.

In addition to the Burnolak army, the Slovak invasion forces included: the Kalinchak mobile group (Lt. Col. Jan Imro took command), two artillery regiments, the Burnolak armored train, the Burnolak communications battalion, the Topol battalion, two separate battalions infantry.

The RP military forces included 7 armies and the Narev task force. All Polish armed forces were subordinate to the commander in chief - Marshal Edward Rydz-Smigly. The main headquarters of the VP was led by Brigadier General Vaclav Stachevich. Already during the war, additional formations were formed: the Warsaw Army and the separate Polesye task force. In total, the Polish army consisted of 39 infantry, 11 cavalry, 3 mountain brigades and 2 motorized armored brigades. The total number of personnel is about 1 million people. 870 armored vehicles (220 tanks and 650 TKS Tankettes ), a small number of Wz.29 armored vehicles , 4,300 artillery pieces and mortars, 824 ^[1] (407 fully operational and operational) aircraft (of which 44 are heavy bombers and 142 fighters) ^[4] . Poland was armed with 341 155 mm heavy howitzers, 43 120 mm guns, 254 105 mm guns , 908 100 mm howitzers (100 mm wz.1914 / 19P) , 1374 75 mm French and 466 Russians (converted to French shot) field guns , 25 65-mm mountain guns - a total of 3393 field guns. The army was distinguished by a very low level of motorization, communications remained at a primitive level. Artillery was almost exclusively horse drawn, almost all guns remained since the First World War, only a part met the new standards ^[5] . From the air, the Polish Army was to cover 36 new 75-mm guns of the 1936 model of the Bofors company and 84 of the same caliber of guns in 1914, 350 40-mm anti-aircraft guns "Bofors" - a total of 470 air defense guns. The armored forces of the potential enemy will have to block 1124 37-mm anti-tank “bofors” and 4500 (more than 3500 ^[6] ) anti-tank rifles “Ur” (in total 7610 rifles were fired, but not all fell into the troops ^[7] ), support infantry with fire battalions - 2142 81 mm moździerz piechoty wz. 31 , and 3860 46-mm company grenade launchers are intended as heavy weapons for infantry companies.

The hidden mobilization deployment of the Polish forces, which began on March 23, 1939, affected 4 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry brigade. In addition, formations in several districts were strengthened and the directorates of the four armies and the operational group were created. On August 13-18, a mobilization of another 9 units was announced, and from August 23, a hidden mobilization of the main forces began. On August 26, with the receipt of the order by the troops to advance the mobilized formations to the designated concentration areas, the regrouping of troops, stipulated by the strategic deployment plan, began. On August 30, an order was given to the armies and operational groups of the first echelon to occupy the starting position. Activities to mobilize the army were carried out in secret even from the Anglo-French allies, who feared that these actions could push Germany to war. When they were about to begin open mobilization in Poland on August 29, England and France insisted that it be postponed until August 31. Nevertheless, thanks to the hidden mobilization by the morning of September 1, the mobilization plan was 60% complete, and the operational deployment of troops was less than half ^[8] . By the morning of September 1, Poland had deployed 24 infantry divisions, 3 mining divisions, 8 cavalry and 1 armored brigades ^[9] .

By the beginning of the war, the Polish Air Force included 224 PZL.23 single-engine bombers, which were part of five squadrons - No. 21, 22, 55, 64, 65 (50 pieces), approximately similar to the early Junkers-87 , and nine were confiscated from the Bulgarian party PZL.43 Czajka surpassed the latest at that time Junkers-87V-1.

Poland was inferior to the enemy only in the number of troops and the quantity of equipment, but not as weapons. It’s just that in Poland enough modern weapons were only enough for the 700,000th army. For example, German twin-engine bombers could not compare with the PZL P.37 "Elk" designed by Jerzy Dombrowski - the most modern Polish aircraft at that time, which were armed with Polish troops in the amount of 36 pieces ^[10] . Critical for Poland was the lag as fighters. The main - at that time was the Polish fighter PZL P.11 . At this moment, out of 225 delivered fighters, 165 were combat-ready ^[11] . With a speed of 389 km / h, it was superior to the Arado Ar 68, but was not a serious rival even for the early Messerschmitt models ^[12] . R-11 fighters were “yesterday” compared to Luftwaffe aircraft and their own bombers, and their numbers were very small ^[5] . In the summer of 1939, Poland had 824 combat aircraft of all types ^[13] . These were modern twin-engine bombers "Los", good close bombers "Karas" and hopelessly outdated fighters ^[14] .

The Polish and German infantry were armed with variants of the same rifle - Mauser 98 , and the Polish Mauser (wz. 29) was a bit more convenient (in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania there were rifles of the same system and caliber, under a common cartridge) ^{[ 15]} . The mobilization resources of Poland as of 1939 amounted to about three million people. The troops and warehouses had rifles wz. 29 - 256 400 pcs., Mauser rifles wz. 1898 (Polish) - 393,200 pcs., Lebel’s rifles wz. 1886 (under the Mauser cartridge) - 145,222 pcs., Mosin rifles converted to a caliber of 7.92 mm - 11,240 pcs. still stock from deliveries of 1919-1920, Vetterli or Berdan rifles (as well as unmarked three- rulers and Lebel rifles for the original 8-mm cartridge ) - 242,000 pcs. - but there was little ammunition for them. Thus, rifles had a maximum of 1,048,000 people. Wool, uniforms, dandy confederates and leather boots of the Polish Army were of very high quality, but the cost of equipping one soldier of the Polish Army was twice the cost of uniforms and shoes of a soldier of the Lithuanian or Czech army, and stocks of this form were barely enough for three hundred and fifty thousand reservists, the rest had to put on something simpler, but there was nothing to put them on. In addition to the regular army, without compromising the quality of weapons and equipment of the troops, up to 500 thousand bayonets could be called up. The following draftees could get only rifles as weapons (about four hundred thousand units), and then the drafting contingents would receive braids and axes .

Modlin Army

Brigadier General Emil Krukovich-Pshedzhimirsky

• 8th Infantry Division (Colonel Theodore Furgalsky )
• 20th Infantry Division (Colonel Wilhelm Lavich-Lishka )
• Masovian Cavalry Brigade (Colonel Jan Karch )
• Navahrudak cavalry brigade (Brigadier General Vladislav Anders )
• Warsaw Brigade NO ( Colonel Jozef Sas-Hoszowski )

Army Pomerania

Division General Vladislav Bortnovsky

• 9th Infantry Division (Colonel Jozef Verobei )
• 15th Wielkopol Infantry Division (Colonel Zdzislaw Pshiyalkovsky )
• 27th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Juliusz Drapella )
• Pomeranian cavalry brigade (Brigadier General Stanislav Gzhmot-Skotnitsky )
• Pomeranian Brigade BUT) (Colonel Tadeusz Majewski)
• Helminskoye brigade NO (Colonel Anthony Zhurakovsky)
• A separate unit of Wisla ( second lieutenant Roman Kanafoysky )

Vostok Task Force

Brigadier General Mikolay Chatter

• 4th Infantry Division (Colonel Tadeusz Lubicz-Nezabitovsky, from September 4, 1939 - Colonel Mechislav Ravich-Myslovsky , from September 12, 1939 - Colonel Jozef Verobei )
• 16th Pomeranian Infantry Division (Colonel Stanislav Shchvitalsky , from September 2, 1939 - Colonel Zygmunt Bogush-Shishko

Separate Yablonovo Group

• 208th Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. Jan Shevchik )
• Battalion NO Yablonovo
• Battalion NO "Grudziadz" (Captain Jozef Krakowski) ^[16]
• Pomorie Army Aviation (Colonel Boleslav Stakhony ) - 2 squadrons and a fighter division, as well as reconnaissance units

Poznan Army

Division General Tadeusz Kutsheba

• 14th Wielkopol Infantry Division (Brigadier General Frantisek Vlad )
• 17th Velkopol Infantry Division (Colonel Mechislav Mozdynevich )
• 25th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Frantisek Alter )
• 26th Infantry Division (Colonel Adam Bzhekhva-Aydukevich )
• Wielkopol Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General Roman Abraham )
• Podolsky cavalry brigade (Colonel Leon Strzheletsky)
• Poznan Brigade BUT (Colonel Stanislav Schyuda)
• Kalisz brigade NO (Colonel Frantisek Sudol)
• 71st and 72nd Panzer Divisions
• Poznan Army Aviation (Colonel Stanislav Kuzminsky ) - 2 squadrons and a fighter division, as well as reconnaissance units

Lodz Army

Division General Juliusz Rummel

• 10th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Frantisek Ankovich )
• 28th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Vladislav Boncha-Uzdovsky )
• 22nd Mountain Infantry Division (Colonel Leopold Engel-Ragis ) ^[17]
• Cavalry Border Brigade (Colonel Stefan Hanka-Kulesha , from September 4, 1939 - Colonel Jerzy Grobitsky )
• Lodz Army Aviation (Colonel Vaclav Ivashkevich ) - 2 squadrons and a fighter division, as well as reconnaissance units

Piotrkow Task Force

Division General Victor Tomme

• 2nd Infantry Division of the Legions (Colonel Edward Doyan-Suruvka , from September 8, 1939 - Colonel Anthony Steich ; from September 2, 1939)
• 30th Polesie Infantry Division (Brigadier General Leopold Tsekhak )
• Volyn brigade of cavalry (Colonel Julian Filipovich )
• Armored train number 52 "Pilsudchik" (Captain Mikolay Gonchar)
• Armored train number 53

Krakow Army

Brigadier General Anthony Schilling

• 6th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Bernard Mond )
• 7th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Janusz Gonsierowski )
• 23rd Infantry Division (Brigadier General Vladislav Povezha )
• 21st Mountain Infantry Division (Brigadier General Jozef Kustron )
• 55th Reserve Infantry Division (Colonel Stanislav Kalabinsky )
• 10th Cavalry Brigade (Colonel Stanislav Machek )
• Krakow brigade of cavalry (Brigadier General Sigmund Pyasetskiy )
• 1st Mountain Brigade (Colonel Janusz Galadık )
• Krakow Army Aviation (Colonel Stefan Schnuk)

Lublin Army

Division General Tadeusz Piskor

• 39th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Brunon Olbricht ) ^[18]
• Warsaw Motorized Tank Brigade (Colonel Stefan Rovecki )
• Cavalry Combined Brigade (Colonel Adam Zakshevsky)
• Sandomierz Group
• Two artillery divisions

Carpathian Army

Brigadier General Kazimierz Factory

• 11th Carpathian Infantry Division (Colonel Bronislav Prugar-Ketling )
• 24th Infantry Division (Colonel Boleslav Kshizhanovsky )
• 38th Reserve Infantry Division (Colonel Aloise Vir-Conas )
• 46th heavy artillery division (captain Stanislav Kozlovsky)
• 47th Heavy Artillery Division (Major Michal Kubitsky)
• The Hungary group (216th reserve infantry regiment (Lt. Col. Zygmunt Semerga))
• 2 reconnaissance squadrons

Task Force Jaslo

• 2nd Mountain Brigade (Colonel Alexander Stavazh )
• 3rd Mountain Brigade (Colonel Jan Stefan Kotovic)

Task Force Narev

Brigadier General Cheslav Mlot - Fyalkovsky

• 18th Infantry Division (Colonel Stefan Kossetsky )
• 33rd Reserve Infantry Division (Colonel Tadeusz Kalina-Zelenevsky)
• Suval Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General Zygmunt Podhorsky )
• Podlasie Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General Ludwik Kmitits-Skrzynski )
• 1 fighter squadron and 2 reconnaissance squadrons

Reserve of the General Staff of the VP

Prussian Army

Division General Stefan Domb - Bernacki

Northern Group

• 13th Infantry Division (Colonel Vladislav Zubosh-Kalinsky)
• 19th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Jozef Kwaciszewski )
• 29th Infantry Division (Colonel Ignacy Ozevich )
• Cavalry Vilnius Brigade (Colonel Constant Drutsky-Lyubetsky )
• 1st Light Tank Battalion (Major Adam Kubin)
• 2nd Light Tank Battalion ( Major Edmund Karpov)

Southern Group

• 3rd Infantry Division of the Legions (Colonel Marian Turkovsky )
• 12th Infantry Division (Brigadier General Gustav Pashkevich )
• 36th Reserve Infantry Division (Colonel Boleslav Ostrovsky )

The infantry divisions consisted of 16,492 military personnel (15,977 lower ranks and 515 officers). The Polish infantry division had three 155 mm howitzers and 105 mm guns, 12 100 mm howitzers, 30 75 mm guns, 27 37 mm anti-tank and 4 40 mm anti-tank guns, 66 anti-tank guns, 42 81 mm mortar and 81 46-mm company grenade launcher, 326 light and 132 machine guns.

The Finnish division for example had 14,200 people. In the Finnish infantry division, there were 250 Lahti machine guns , 116 7.62 mm Maxim machine guns, 18 81 mm mortars, 18 37 mm anti-tank guns, 24 field guns of 76.2 mm caliber, 12 field howitzers or cannons of 105-152 mm caliber. The Polish division in terms of aggregate firepower of machine guns, mortars and guns was one and a half times superior to the Finnish one. The only thing that surpassed the Finnish division was the presence of 250 submachine guns.

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