Footsteps could be heard outside the room, and Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigł lifted his tired gaze toward the door.
Just as he expected, it opened, and the other officers, leaning against the table, finally looked up.
"Generals!" a soldier shouted, catching his breath while holding a piece of paper, stretching out his arm.
The Marshal stepped forward and grabbed the paper, his eyes scanning the document. He walked slowly back to the table, then froze, letting the letter fall to the ground.
Suddenly, he seized a metal figure on the map and threw it across the room.
"Marshal!" a general shouted.
The figure landed somewhere on the floor, rolling beneath a table.
"The 14th Infantry division is no more," he said slowly, quietly. "They were completely overrun by a German tank division, slaughtered."
He balled his fist.
"Fuck," a general muttered. The stillness in the room made the word sound impossibly loud.
The Marshal sighed, leaning onto the table again.
"We face a complete encirclement of Danzig if this Panzer Division continues."
Another general nodded.
"The reserves?" he asked.
"The reserves? Are you out of your mind?" another general shouted. "Look what they did to one of our experienced infantry divisions. Infantry is like livestock to these tanks. We have to send tanks of our own."
Tanks, the Marshal thought, watching the discussion before clearing his throat.
"We can only divert the first and second armored brigades from the south. The next wave of reservists will replace them," he ordered, shaking his head while studying the map.
"Yes, we have to reinforce the city of Bydgoszcz no matter what. If it falls, almost two hundred thousand men could be lost," a general said, nodding in agreement."As for the south, no reports have yet mentioned a Panzer division as fearsome as the one operating in the north..."
The marshal's gaze remained fixed on the silver tank icon, just outside Bydgoszcz..
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Paul stood before a corpse, staring at the man lying on the ground.
"A brave soldier," Hasso said, appearing behind Paul.
"Indeed," Paul replied, suddenly turning. "Bury him."
"But what about our speed?" Hasso asked, confused.
"We will stop for a couple of hours," Paul ordered, not answering the question.
The man studied Paul for a moment, trying to decipher his poker face, but he failed.
"Yes," he said finally, walking away to carry out the order.
Soon a perimeter was established, tanks scouting the area while soldiers set up their tents. Luftwaffe planes occasionally flew overhead, patrolling the skies.
Most soldiers rested as ordered, using every free moment to sleep.
Paul did not rest. He entered his command tent, Hasso following behind.
"So, are you going to tell me?" Hasso finally asked, impatience in his voice.
Paul again did not answer. He walked straight to the radio operator. "Contact General St… no, wait. Contact General Manstein."
Hasso tilted his head in curiosity.
The operator nodded and went to work immediately. After a short while, he stepped aside, allowing Paul to sit.
"Good day, General," the operator said.
"Good day, Oberst Jeager," Mannstein's voice crackled through the radio.
"I heard you have made good progress, breaking through their defenses. How far are you inside enemy territory? Last I was informed, it was forty kilometers," Mannstein said.
Paul smiled slightly. "Around eighty kilometers," he answered.
"In seven hours?" Mannstein asked, surprise evident.
"We are about thirty kilometers from Bydgoszcz and have halted our advance. I believe they have taken the bait."
For a moment, only silence followed before Mannstein finally responded.
"Good, good. If they really did… well, I have to contact the Luftwaffe and Rommel for scouting. But if they really did, then that is major. Once I have the information, I will contact you again."
"Yes, General," Paul answered, ending the call.
"What was that? Have we laid a trap?" Hasso asked, eagerly leaning over the map.
Paul smiled. "Right now, we have nothing. But we have a chance to change that." He stood next to Hasso. "I will brief you now. Go fetch the other officers."
A few minutes later, Major Reicher and Major Leichthofer arrived, accompanied by two older officers.
"Gentlemen," Paul began. "So far, we have done well. Our victory did not just cost the enemy soldiers and land; it has cost them their sanity. We have instilled fear." A dangerous glint appeared in his eyes.
"Look here," Paul said, pointing to a small tank icon on the map. "We are roughly thirty kilometers from Bydgoszcz, the next major city. As you know, Oberst Rommel's tank division attacked here," he pointed to a more southern area, still north of Krakau. "He has also been quite successful, according to reports from the General Staff. This is our current situation."
"The Polish have major division clusters here," Paul indicated around the greater Danzig area and then to another point.
"Poznan," Hasso realized.
"General Guderian has advanced south from Königsberg," Paul added. "What would you do, gentlemen?"
All eyes turned to Paul, then back to the map. They knew this was a test.
"Well, if we advance…" Leichthofer began. "We could try to encircle the army cluster in Danzig. It's only about one hundred kilometers to Guderian's current position."
Paul scanned the room, seeing nods of agreement, and he nodded as well.
"Yes, Leichthofer, that would match our current style of Blitzkrieg."
Major Leichthofer smiled proudly, but before he could truly rejoice, Paul continued.
"But the Polish are no fools. They know what we could do and have begun to understand the dimensions of our speed. As I said, they fear it."
"To stop us, they would do everything in their power, and that is…" Paul began.
"Their armored battalions," Hasso interrupted, pointing at the southern region where Rommel's division was located.
"Most likely," Paul said, nodding in approval. "If they have moved their battalions, we will receive confirmation soon."
Paul moved the tank icons further north, ahead of their Panzer division.
"Then they have revealed a weakness. A gaping hole. We will use it. Rommel will use it."
Reicher and Leichthofer's eyes widened.
An older major asked, intrigued, "Rommel will advance, but what will we do?"
Paul laughed. "Well, what else would we do?" he said, looking at the older major. "But not further northwest." He stepped back slightly.
The others looked at him in confusion until Reicher and Hasso's eyes widened simultaneously.
"You want to encircle Poznan?" they asked in unison.
"Correct answer," Paul said, putting his hands behind his back and slowly pacing the room. "The Polish fear our speed, but they have yet to see the true horror. They have yet to see a true Blitzkrieg."
"Instead of changing your strategy as they adapt, you just use it more intensely?" Hasso asked.
"Yes. They would never expect that and that...," Paul suddenly raised his voice. "That is the essence of Blitzkrieg. Such speed that we suddenly appear not a hundred kilometers toward Danzig, but two hundred kilometers in Krakau. Instead of meeting Guderian, we will meet Rommel and together encircle the entire Poznan army cluster. Which amounts to…"
"Three hundred thousand soldiers," Reicher said quietly, still processing.
"They will never expect such audacity," Hasso muttered.
"Audacity wins wars, my friends, and surprise does." Paul said, finally completing his circle.
"Tonight we will give the Polish a true reason to fear us. Tonight we will show them what a real Blitzkrieg is," Paul continued. "Do you agree, gentlemen?"
All of them nodded, their expressions filled with respect.
"Once we receive confirmation, we will ready the tanks immediately and advance under the cover of night," Paul said, bringing the meeting to an end.
Midnight, end of the first day
A small rabbit hopped through the grass in search of food, its tiny feet rustling softly among countless other creatures, insects hidden beneath the blades.
Suddenly, everything froze.
The rabbit stiffened, its eyes fixed on a distant point in the darkness. For a brief moment, it listened. Then it turned and bolted, vanishing into the night.
The ground began to tremble.
A massive track crushed the soft earth beneath it. Then another. And another.
A second. A third. A fifth. A twentieth.
Soon, the grassland was overwhelmed as countless tanks thundered forward, their weight flattening the land, steel replacing silence, driving even the last cricket into hiding.
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