0904_01_Piotrkow Trybunalski - Allied AI - PzC 31 Poland '39

Date: September 4th, 1939 - Size: Small - Location: Piotrkow Trybunalski

Intended for play as Axis Human vs Allied AI or Head to Head

Scenario Briefing: By September 3rd, it was clear that Army Lodz had failed to hold the border. No elements of the army’s forward defense had stayed in position more than 48 hours and the defeated elements of Operational Group Piotrkow retreated toward the incomplete fortifications behind the Widawka. Though the German 10th Army had achieved success in the battle for the border, it had come at a price. Elements of 4th Panzer and 18th and 19th Infantry divisions had suffered significant losses in the vicious fighting at Mokra and on the Warta river. The advance slowed on the 3rd as 10th Army’s motorized and mechanized elements ran low on fuel and ran into stiff, if scattered resistance. A freshly mobilized battalion of Polish reservists repulsed the advance guard of 1st Panzer at Rozprza and, on the night of September 3rd-4th, a Polish cavalry raid at Kamiensk knocked out several tanks and motorized vehicles and sowed confusion in the advancing German columns.

Meanwhile, generals Rommel of Army Lodz and Dab-Biernacki of Army Prusy worked to re-establish a coherent defense. Operational Group Piotrkow, reinforced by one regiment from 2nd Legions Infantry Division and a couple of battalions of reservists, was deployed in a line from the Widawka to west of Rozprza. Rozprza and the immediate defense of Piotrkow Trybunalski, an important road junction on the way to both Warsaw and Lodz, was left to elements of the still-arriving Army Prusy. Though the Poles had re-established a contiguous defense south of Piotrkow and Lodz, the line was paper-thin. General Dab-Biernacki hoped to blunt the German advance, which would surely break through the Rozprza defenses, with a counterattack involving elements of two infantry divisions, 11th Rifle Battalion, and a battalion of modern 7TP tanks.

After pausing on the morning of September 5th to wait for fuel, artillery, and reinforcements to be brought up, 1st Panzer Division was ready to renew its attack at midday. 1st Motorcycle Rifle Battalion, supported by a battalion of tanks, would attack Rozprza while 1st Rifle Regiment attacked to the west. After piercing the Polish lines, 1st Panzer would drive on Piotrkow from the south with 4th Panzer following closely behind. As at Mokra, superior German numbers and firepower would be met with Polish courage and tenacity. The Battle of Piotrkow Trybanalski was to be among the most hard-fought of the Polish campaign.

Recommended Rules: (Default)
Alternative Assault Resolution, Artillery Set Up, Recon Spotting, Virtual Supply Trucks, Optional Surrender, Low Visibility Air Effects, Quality Fatigue Modifier, Counter Battery Fire, Night Fatigue, Programmed Weather.

Additionally, Delayed Disruption Reporting will provide a more challenging experience for the attacking player.