Chapter 200: The Encirclement and Annihilation

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“General! General! The Germans are attacking again! German tanks have appeared in the eastern districts. The troops there are about to break! They are compressing our defensive line and then using artillery to lower our morale,” an officer reported loudly, bursting into the command post.

Another officer who came in with him was patting the dust off his body. One of his eyes was wrapped in a gauze bandage, through which bloodstains could be faintly seen. “Commander! News from the direction of the northern Pomeranian Army! They have already begun to break out to the east and can no longer support our breakout! Those sons of bitches! At a time like this, they’re still only thinking of saving their own skins! Bastards!”

“I’m not deaf! I can hear the cannons! Get me the commander of the 11th Corps! I will personally deploy the defenses within the town! The commander of the Łódź Army will never flee!” the commander of the Łódź Army, Kosacki, said loudly, standing up.

“The 11th Corps has already collapsed! The corps commander has taken his troops and surrendered in the chaos! That’s why a huge gap has appeared in our defensive line, sir!” one of the two officers said with his head bowed. “Right now, we have about one infantry division’s worth of defensive forces here, as well as the 10,000 battered remnants who retreated from the city of Łódź a few days ago, about 20,000 troops from the 13th Corps, and twenty 75mm cannons. These troops are temporarily under our command!”

“In the end, Poland still has its loyal soldiers,” Kosacki said, looking over the few civilian officers in his headquarters and the two officers who had come to report. “You must defend this place! As long as the German army’s rapid advance is halted, the British and the French will attack Germany from the rear. They are on our side! Do not give up!”

“Yes, Commander!” the two officers said, nodding. “Sir, based on our previous combat experience with the German army, the troops in the field positions will soon be defeated by the enemy’s tanks and artillery. We should prepare for street fighting!”

Kosacki thought for a moment and said, “Then let’s just abandon some of the areas that don’t need to be defended! Concentrate our forces in the residential areas and near the church! I will fight the German army to the death!”

“Yes, sir!” The two officers bowed and retreated. The command post returned to silence. Kosacki looked at the operational map hanging on the wall. He knew that his final moment was fast approaching.

As what was originally Poland’s strongest frontline army group, the Łódź Army had possessed many tanks and even aircraft under its direct command—but now, these weapons had all been either destroyed or had become trophies of the German army. This time, Kosacki had been surrounded in a not-so-large encirclement by the German forces that had attacked from the north, and he could no longer escape.

A few hours later, Kosacki, with a dozen or so soldiers, inspected most of his army group’s defensive lines. He witnessed with his own eyes the German troops capture a position less than 200 meters away from him. From a distance, he saw a dozen German grenadiers, under the suppressive cover of machine guns, quickly cross the street and then hang a huge red swastika flag on a building there. It was a small factory, only two thousand meters away from Kosacki’s command post. The black swastika in the white circle in the middle of the flag was like a steel knife, piercing Kosacki’s heart.

After a brief rest of a few dozen minutes, the sound of machine guns, like sawing wood, rang out again. The German soldiers, under the cover of machine guns, launched a fierce attack on the Polish defenders in the church area. The Polish troops fought back stubbornly, holding their positions in the fortifications near the church, using overturned trams as temporary anti-tank obstacles, and resisting the German army’s attack inch by inch.

The two sides fought repeatedly in the streets and buildings. By evening, this once-prosperous major town in northwestern Poland had been almost completely reduced to a ruin. The forces under Kosacki’s command were too few. By midnight, he could no longer find any reserves, but the attacks launched by the German forces surrounding the Łódź Army were still continuing without end.

The great fires in the town lit up the sky. The sound of explosions and machine-gun fire was incessant. The Germans used assault guns to accompany their tanks in an attack on the Polish army’s defensive line, with a large number of infantry following behind. This main attack force rampaged through the streets, only to be repulsed by Polish soldiers firing stubbornly from the buildings on both sides with hand grenades and machine guns.

In the end, it was proven that not all Polish forces would collapse at the first touch. At the very least, the elite troops of the Polish Łódź Army had held off the frantic offensive of the powerful German army. By the next morning, most of the streets were still in Polish hands. But they were already surrounded. A few dozen meters outside the small town was already German territory, and the last road to the rear had been occupied by German troops. The main German force outside the town had completely closed this once-large encirclement.

The battle continued until ten in the morning. The church had been completely destroyed. Kosacki was pulled from the ruins of the church by his subordinate officers and hid in the manor of a farmer in the small town. The place was already deserted, with only a pile of broken furniture left behind.

“Sir! Let us protect you while you break out! Retreat in the direction of Warsaw! You cannot die here, sir! If you die here, Poland will truly be finished!” an officer with a blood-covered face pleaded with Kosacki, his voice tinged with tears. “Let’s go, sir!”

“Most of the troops defending the various sectors can no longer be contacted. The directly commanded troops we can gather are only about a thousand men. We lack heavy weapons and have no cavalry. It will be very difficult for us to break out!” the dust-covered commander analyzed. “Right now, the only way is to try to disguise ourselves as prisoners in the chaos and find a way to escape halfway!”

“Who said I’m leaving? I will die before I go! This small town will be Kosacki’s grave! I want the Germans, the whole world, to know that a Polish general would rather die than retreat!” Kosacki said loudly.

“You can all die for Poland! I can also die for my motherland, Poland!” His eyes were filled with determination as he spoke loudly. In his life, he had risen from the lowest rank of a private second class to an army group commander. Even if he had lost now, there was nothing to complain about.

A soldier climbed over the collapsed courtyard wall into the courtyard where Kosacki was, moved slowly, and finally climbed into the room through a window.

He patted the dust off his body, which instantly made the already smoky room fill with dust. He smiled at the few frowning soldiers and walked into the living room.

“Sir,” the newcomer saluted. It was as if this war had nothing to do with him. “The acting commander of the 11th Corps has been killed in action in the civilian residential area. The resistance there is on the verge of collapse. The German army will soon turn its spearhead toward here.”

“I know. All of you, return to your posts,” Kosacki said, waving his hand helplessly and sighing. “Order the troops! Hold out until the last minute! Poland depends on us to protect her! May the flag of Poland—never fall!”

“Yes, sir!” The several officers saluted and turned to leave the room. The large living room was filled with dust, and there was a suffocating smell of decay in the air.

From the next room came the cries and screams of several wounded soldiers, and the fear-filled gasps of the terminally ill. A German shell exploded not far away. It seemed the other side had already confirmed their position and was organizing a large-caliber artillery barrage for suppressive fire.

Kosacki watched as the officers walked out of his command post. He silently drew his pistol from his waist, placed it in the palm of his hand, and looked at it over and over again. A large-caliber howitzer shell landed in the courtyard, kicking up a sky full of black smoke. The entire small building shook in the explosion, the ground trembled, and a few small pieces of shattered stone fell down, landing on the table in front of Kosacki, which was covered with a city defense map.

Just a short while later, the German Wehrmacht’s offensive began. To break the Poles’ will to defend, the German forces attacking the Łódź Army even called in two Stuka dive bombers to assist in the battle. Under the cover of machine guns and artillery, the German army poured into the defensive positions held by the Poles. Soon, the Polish defenders were overwhelmed by the Wehrmacht’s firepower. The defensive circle was compressed smaller and smaller. The Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Łódź Army, Kosacki, had reached his final moment.

He really did not have the courage to commit suicide. A man of commerce by birth, he held the pistol and thought for a long time but could not find the courage to put a gun to his own head. He just sat there, listening to the shouts of the soldiers outside. He knew that death was getting closer and closer.

“You! And you! Go over there and help! Tell Mawa to hold on! I have no reinforcements to give him!” a voice shouted. Someone over there replied loudly, “Yes, sir!”

“What happened to Jaskier’s side? Why has no one come back to report! Quick, make contact! Quick!” another voice questioned, trembling, but the reply was inaudible.

Suddenly, a large-caliber shell directly hit the small building where Kosacki was. The building, which was already full of cracks, could not bear the load and suddenly collapsed. Kosacki’s vision went black, and he knew nothing more.

The Commander-in-Chief of Poland’s most elite central army group, the Łódź Army, Kosacki, was hit by a large-caliber howitzer shell and killed in action in a not-so-large town east of Łódź, in an inconspicuous two-story building.

Half an hour later, the entire town, which had held out for two days, ceased its resistance. A team of German soldiers climbed onto the church, the high point of the now-ruined city, and planted a large red swastika flag, symbolizing the blood and sacrifice of their comrades. On the main front, between Germany and Warsaw, there were no more armies that could stop the German advance.

Rommel could finally adjust his direction of attack. Just now, the SS troops had sent a message. The Führer, Akado Rudolph, was coming to inspect the northern army. He would take this enemy capital city as a sacrifice… This time, Rommel did not hesitate. He decided to attack Warsaw in one go and give his great Führer a carefully prepared birthday gift.