The Line Holds

(Source)

Jan sat at the bottom of the trench, exhausted. They had finally reached their defensive positions near the town of Pszczyna after a long march struggling against occasional small groups of refugees heading in the opposite direction and intermittent strafing attacks. It did seem, Jan thought, that the German efforts in the air were focused elsewhere and that the strafing of his unit was incidental.

It was getting on towards noon and Jan began to wonder where the German Army was, they could hear artillery and small arms fire in the distance to the north and south, but nothing to the west, where they expected the Germans to approach from, as Jan pondered that fact, he heard a shout which sent a shiver up his back.

"Tanks!"

Oberfeldwebel Wolfram Müller was trying to stay low in the hatch of his Panzerkampfwagen II ausf. C¹, they were all worried about getting hit by small arms fire while moving towards the Polish lines. His 5th Panzer Division was off to a slow start after the infantry and artillery ahead of them had signaled back that Polish resistance was rather light.

He turned to his left when he saw his company commander signaling. Somewhat chagrined he stood up in his hatch, Oberleutnant Krauss wanted his tank commanders up in their hatches so they had a full 360 degree view of the battlefield. Of course, now they were exposed to small arms fire, he almost hoped that the Poles would open fire, see if Krauss stayed upright then!

Elżbieta turned to look at the shopkeeper as she hung up the telephone, "Thank you Mrs. Gniewek. How much do I owe you?"

Mrs. Gniewek huffed and said, "Nothing Elżbieta, save your money for the trip to Warszawa. When do you leave?"

"I have to be at the train station in ..."

Before she could complete the sentence, both women heard a strange whistling noise overhead and the sound of aircraft engines. Both dropped to the floor as a string of German bombs landed some two blocks away.

Mrs. Gniewek helped Elżbieta to her feet, "Are you all right?"

"Yes ma'am, I guess I better go, before the Germans cut the railroad to the capital. Stay safe!"

Elżbieta wondered if anyone would survive this war, she had seen dead people in the streets near Jan's apartment. The Germans seemed intent on destroying her world!

Müller heard the crack of a Polish anti-tank gun and ducked involuntarily. He heard his driver shout out, "Krauss' tank has been hit!"

Gefreiter Will Hoffmeister looked back to his front, he had seen Krauss' tank lurch to one side, then roll into a ditch. Smoke was coming from the hatches. As he maneuvered his tank around a shell hole, Müller kicked his right shoulder, obediently he steered the tank to the right without question. Müller then yelled down at him, "Polish trenches ahead, maneuver as you see fit, I'll be on the gun!"

The 2 cm cannon in the small turret began to bark as Willi maneuvered. "We're in the shit now!" he yelled back at the radioman.

Panzerschütze Fritz Weber grimaced, only Willi would find this exciting. He was terrified and was trying hard to keep his ear to the company radio net. While he couldn't transmit, he could hear the officers with transmitters barking orders. All Hell seemed to be breaking loose.

Jan watched as the German tanks, at least three of them on fire, tried to maneuver. As they did so, Polish artillery began landing among them. After two more of the German tanks were hit, the others began to fall back.

Jan saw two Germans in black uniforms climbing from a disabled tank, they were trying to pull a third man out of the disabled machine. A Polish machine gun just down the line from Jan opened fire. Jan watched in dismay as the three Germans were knocked over like targets at a shooting gallery.

Plutonowy Szymon Jagoda slapped Jan's helmet as he yelled, "Fire at them Kołodziej, kill them, they will kill you if you let them. Kill all of the bastards!"

Jan could see no one to shoot at, then he saw one of the black-uniformed Germans limping towards the rear, perhaps a hundred meters away. Carefully Jan lined the man up in his sights as he had been taught, then squeezed the trigger of his Kbk wz.29.²

Jan saw the man stagger, then fall to his knees.

"Oh dear God, did I just kill a man?" Jan moaned aloud.

A burst of machine gun fire knocked the dying German tanker to the ground as Jan Kołodziej began to vomit into the trench.

For now the line in front of the town of Pszczyna was holding. As the sun set on this first day of war, every man in the Polish trenches took heart, the Germans had suffered badly and had fallen back. Perhaps Poland had won the war?

No, they had not.

¹ Armored Fighting Vehicle II, Model C (Panzerkampfwagen II ausf. C)

² Abbreviation for the Karabinek wz. 1929, (Carbine Model 1929) the standard Polish infantry rifle in 1939, which was based on a German design.