Army "Pruss" ( Polish. Armia "Prusy" , which literally means Army "Prussia" ) - the army of the Polish Army, formed in the summer of 1939 and participated in the defense of Poland at the beginning of World War II.
Content
Creation History
The Prus army was created in June 1939 in accordance with the West plan (war plan with Germany) as a reserve for the High Command, and division commander Stefan Domb-Bernacki was appointed its commander. In the event of war, it had to be formed from units mobilized in the second and third turn, while the cover armies were holding back fights on the border. After its formation, it was supposed to interact with the armies of Lodz and Krakow , respectively, and the army was formed in two groups: the north - in the rear of the Lodz army, the south - in the rear of the Krakow army.
Battle
The Prussia army included the following units and formations:
- 39th Infantry Division
- 44th Infantry Division
- Northern Group (commander - Division General Stefan Domb-Bernatsky)
- 13th Infantry Division
- 19th Infantry Division
- 29th Infantry Division
- Vilna cavalry brigade
- 1st tank battalion
- Southern group (commander - Stanislav Skvarchinsky)
- 3rd Infantry Division of the Legionnaires
- 12th Infantry Division
- 36th Infantry Division
Battle Path
By the beginning of the war, of the nine Prus army formations, only three arrived by rail and unloaded in the area of concentration (the Tomaszow-Mazowiecki – Kielce – Radom triangle). The remaining troops of the main reserve on September 1 were still mobilized, partially moving in echelons or were loading. The actions of German aviation seriously hampered the concentration of Polish forces after the outbreak of the war, and the unexpectedly rapid advance of German ground forces forced the troops to be thrown into battle under-staffed. However, the appearance between the flanks of the Lodz and Krakow armies of the “Czestochowa breach”, into which the German tanks went, left the Polish command no other choice.
On September 4, only the 19th and 29th Infantry Divisions and the Vilna Cavalry Brigade arrived in the Piotrków region. These formations took up defense on a wide front in a significant separation from each other, there was no connection with the headquarters of the Lodz army. On the afternoon of September 5, the German 1st Panzer Division reached the approaches to Piotrków and attacked the Polish 19th Infantry Division. The Polish commander left the command post with the start of the battle and left for the army headquarters to "agree on an offensive", at night he came across a German tank column and was taken prisoner. Having pushed the 19th infantry division to the north, the German 1st Panzer Division entered the rear of the Prus army. This caused a panic in the troops, which soon spread to the entire sector of the front all the way to Warsaw. Continuing to move north-east, the Germans defeated the newly arrived units of the 13th Infantry Division in the area of Tomashuv-Mazowiecki.
On the afternoon of September 5, General Domb-Bernatsky arrived at the headquarters of the 29th Infantry Division and immediately ordered the advance to the west. Arriving then in Sulejuv , where the main attacking column was being formed, and having seen with his own eyes the panic and chaos reigning there, he changed his order. Now it was supposed to withdraw the Vilna cavalry brigade for Pilica and defend its crossings, and advance with infantry divisions. Having left at night from Sulejów to Piotrków, the general was shot at by the Germans on the outskirts, and only by chance was not captured. Returning immediately to Sulejów, he received a radiogram from the General Headquarters informing about the withdrawal of the Lodz army and ordering the Prus army to retreat north of Piotrków.
Domb Bernatsky ordered the 29th Infantry Division to turn north, and decided to take the Vilna Brigade behind Pilica to the southeast. However, the 29th Infantry Division was already moving along several roads to the west, following the previous order, and there was no connection with it. Soon the division was divided into parts. On this reserve army "Prussians" ended its existence as an organized military force.
Sources
- M.Meltiukhov “Soviet-Polish wars. Military-political confrontation. 1918-1939. ”- Moscow: Veche, 2001. ISBN 5-7838-0951-9