The War Begins - Eastern Front Week-by-Week Prelude #9

The Second World War was the largest and most destructive conflict in human History. Hitler’s

war of aggression in Europe was unmatched in intensity and bloodletting. We left off last

week with a look at the relations between the Soviet Union and Germany in the final days of

peace before the first shots of the second world war. This week, we will continue with the ninth

video in our prelude to the Kings and Generals Weekly Eastern Front Series. Welcome to our video

looking at the beginning of the Second World War as Hitler’s troops crush Poland, Norway,

Denmark, France, Belgium and the Netherlands while pushing Britain to the brink of defeat.

Throughout the summer of nineteen thirty-nine, Germany prepared to invade Poland. Codenamed

Case White, the plan called for the bulk of the Wehrmacht to strike through Polish lines

in a pincer that would meet at Warsaw. The German Army, also known as the Heer, was divided into two

large Army Groups for the invasion and a smaller Army group in the west to hold off any French or

British moves. In the West, Colonel General Ritter von Leeb was in command of Army Group

C. He was designated to defend the Westwall, which stretched from Duisburg in the north to

Mainz in the center and the Swiss border in the south. For this task, he was given a token force,

though nominally, he had three field armies, 1st, 5th and 7th , under his command. However,

these were mostly empty shells designed to give the impression of much larger forces

to intimidate the French and British. There were no tanks available in the west. Leeb’s

troops were only supported by Luftwaffe reconnaissance and anti-aircraft elements.

In the Polish theatre of operations, the Army was divided into two groups for the invasion.

The main effort was placed in the hands of Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt at

the head of Army Group South. He was to drive his troops from Silesia in an upward swing to

Warsaw through Lodz. Rundstedt had three field armies, the 8th, 10th, and 14th, as well as the

majority of the Panzer divisions. There were only six panzer divisions in the entire army at this

time. There were also the four Leichte or “Light” divisions, each of which possessed a single panzer

battalion married to an infantry brigade and an artillery regiment. These amalgamated divisions

had only 39 tanks. They possessed more mobility than a standard infantry division, but were around

half the size of the motorized infantry division, which had no tanks. Rundstedt was given command

of all four “Light Divisions,” the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Additionally, he had four of the

six panzer divisions, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th. The other army group in the Polish theater was

Army Group North under Colonel General von Bock. He had two field armies under his command, the 3rd

deployed in East Prussia, poised to strike south and meet Army Group South in Warsaw and the 4th

Army in Pomerania with a goal to close the Polish Corridor. Bock was given a motorized corps under

General of Panzer Troops Guderian with one panzer division. He was also given Panzer-Division Kempf,

an amalgamated task force of Panzer and SS regiments that was not quite the strength

of a regular division. OKH held in reserve a total of one panzer, thirteen infantry,

and two mountain infantry divisions. Eleven of the thirteen infantry divisions were held in strategic

reserve in case of a major effort in the west that threatened Army Group C. The remaining forces were

allotted as reserves for the Polish campaign. In total, the Germans were bringing a formidable

force. One million, five hundred thousand men were joined by two thousand seven hundred fifty tanks