The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1128 - 846: Disparity in Strength

Chapter 1128: Chapter 846: Disparity in Strength

No matter the stance of the United Kingdom and France, at this time along the border between Germany and Poland, a huge group of meticulously prepared German military forces, chanting “Long live Germania,” marched mightily across the border line.

As for the Polish Army stationed at the border, they had been eliminated by the vanguard troops hours earlier.

The current border line was hastily delineated, and the Polish forces stationed there had not even been properly deployed.

With no solid defensive structures for protection, a small force of the Polish Army was clearly no match for the tens of thousands of German soldiers.

In the early morning of October 17th, 1935, the German-Polish war had erupted for the third day.

At a secret military base in East Prussia, the lights were bright, with a large number of soldiers and personnel busily engaged in various tasks.

The view zooms in, and not far off, on a runway auxiliary path poured from concrete, a series of brand new airplanes were slowly moving.

On closer inspection, the models of these airplanes varied widely. There were Fiat CR.32 Arrow Fighters from Italy, decked out in dark green, reflecting the Italian characteristics.

There were also many airplanes that were clearly of German make, their surfaces painted in a highly oppressive black, with the German national emblem and political party symbols quite visible on the tails of the planes.

The aircraft appearing here were all from the fighter and bomber series tested in the Spanish Civil War by Germany and Italy.

Gathering these planes here had only one mission, and that was to launch a large-scale bombardment of the Polish border to the south.

Ding-ling-ling!

Accompanied by the ringing of the telephone in the airfield duty room, the head of the military airfield excitedly issued the order, “All planes, take off immediately. Mission target: all enemies and facilities along the entire border!”

The sky was pitch black at the time, providing greater concealment for the two dark-colored types of aircraft.

All the pilots swiftly boarded their planes and orderly proceeded toward the runway.

These planes were all the latest fighters and bombers manufactured recently, representing the most advanced level of German and Italian aircraft technology.

With a series of buzzing sounds, all the planes quickly took off into the dark sky, each forming into squadrons and heading towards different targets.

Although the German Army had entered the Polish border, this did not mean that the path ahead was clear.

On the contrary, due to the proximity to the Polish capital, Warsaw, the further east the German Army went, the more resistance it encountered.

Two full days had passed since the outbreak of the war, and the main forces of both parties had not yet met.

However, the various fortresses and military forces set up by the Poles within the border line did indeed cause considerable trouble for the German Army’s offensive.

The large-scale action of the Air Force was aimed at uprooting these fortresses while trying to eliminate as many of the enemy’s air forces as possible.

Only by securing air superiority could Germany take the initiative in the upcoming offensive.

That being said, the scope and quantity of equipment of the Polish military forces were intimidating enough.

Just looking at the data, the number of Polish aircraft had even surpassed those of Powers like France and Italy, second only to those superpowers with thousands of aircraft like the United Kingdom and Australasia.

And these numbers were real, meaning that the Poles indeed had that many planes at their disposal.

But the problem was that there were significant differences between planes.

With the development of aircraft, a plethora of types and functions have emerged; military aircraft had long gone beyond the three major categories of reconnaissance, combat, and bombing.

Among those 1,000+ Polish aircraft, nearly 550 were specifically for training purposes, which in later generations were commonly known as trainer aircraft.

Such aircraft did not have combat capabilities; their main role was to help pilots adapt to new types of aircraft. Put bluntly, the greatest use of trainer aircraft was for training purposes; they basically lacked combat power.

Besides nearly half being trainer aircraft, of the remaining 500+ planes in the Polish Air Force, more than 300 were outdated models.

Since Poland gained independence after World War I, many of these 300+ aircraft were from Germany’s post-war reparations to Poland.

Nearly 20 years had passed since World War I, and the combat effectiveness of these aircraft could no longer be guaranteed. If the Poles hadn’t been so keen on these outdated planes, maintaining careful preservation and upkeep, it would have been questionable whether these planes could even take flight.

Apart from the substantial number of training and outdated planes, the remaining 200+ aircraft were the truly combat-ready modern fighters of the Poles.

Still, because Poland had not been established for long, they actually couldn’t match those more powerful Powers in terms of aircraft research and development.

To strengthen their air force, Poland had previously purchased a large number of airplanes from France and the United Kingdom, and more than half of these 200-plus aircraft were British and French products.

Only the remaining few dozen planes, which clearly differed in style, were truly domestically produced Polish aircraft.

Of course, after entering the 1930s, this situation was set to improve significantly.

The Poles spent a great deal to develop the PLZ P.11 fighter aircraft, which not only changed the situation of Poland lacking an outstanding domestic fighter, but also allowed Poland to compete with other powerful nations in the aviation market with an excellent fighter aircraft.

Unlike many countries that were still using biplane fighters, the Poles decided that their new fighter would have a monoplane structure.

Clearly, judging by the results the Poles achieved, their development of fighter aircraft was fairly successful. The PLZ P.11 was an excellent performer, absolutely capable of rivaling the mainstream fighters of other powerful nations.

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So the question arose, if Polish fighters were already first-class in Europe, why was the quantity of domestically produced fighters still so few?

This inevitably brings us to France, which has close ties with Poland.

As one of the powerful nations, France also placed great importance on fighter aircraft. When expanding their air force, the French allowed domestic aviation enterprises to compete with foreign companies, and ultimately the Poles emerged victorious, winning the favor of the French.

To export the PLZ P.11, Poland specially developed the P.24 version of the fighter.

After replacing it with a new metal, three-blade propeller and improving the aircraft’s streamlining, cooling system, and fuel tank, the P.24 fighter gained an order from the French air force, thrilling the Poles at the time.

Because the P.24 fighter almost reached a terrifying speed of 400 kilometers per hour in level flight, the Polish media even proudly hailed it as the fastest fighter aircraft in the world.

The orders for fighter exports provided Poland with a substantial boon, and they had temporarily suspended their plan to build domestic aircraft, focusing instead on exports.

There was no helping it, as exporting just two aircraft brought Poland enough profit to build another one.

As long as they could export the P.24 in large quantities, the Poles could even arm a formidable air force without spending their own money.

Moreover, the Poles were confident that with their army of up to 700,000 and a large number of tanks and artillery, they were not inferior to any country and need not worry about invasion from anyone.

This led to the Polish building fewer than 50 fighters for themselves over the years after the PLZ P.11 emerged, with all the rest earmarked for export, indeed earning them a considerable income.

But clearly, when faced with war, the disadvantage of insufficient new aircraft was completely exposed.

If the Poles had had more than 700 PLZ P.11 fighters, they could have devastated the skies over Germany and Italy.

Unfortunately, they could not even muster 70, let alone 700.

The aircraft that the United Kingdom and France sold to Poland were indeed modern, but definitely not the most advanced from Britain and France.

While these aircraft did have some combat capability, it was very difficult to rely on them to defeat the most advanced German and Italian aircraft.

Keep in mind, the PLZ P.11 that the Poles proudly and widely claimed was the fastest aircraft in the world, had a flight speed in its prototype that was at the same level as the Italian Fiat CR.32 Arrow Fighter.

The Germans deployed over 400 aircraft in this operation, more than 250 of which were the Italian Fiat CR.32.

This overwhelming numerical superiority of new aircraft had already predetermined the astonishing victory of the German air force when facing the Polish air force.

When the air force was in action, the army naturally would not sit quietly waiting.

Under the planning of the German General Staff, the German troops launched a fierce attack on Poland from two directions.

All 300,000 troops attacking Poland were divided into the First Army Group and the Second Army Group.

The First Army Group, stationed in East Prussia, had the task of moving south to bisect Poland and split the country in two.

The Second Army Group, stationed on the German-Polish border, aimed to gradually push the frontline and achieve the strategic goal of encircling Poland from inside and out together with the First Army Group.

Because the two army groups had distinctly different missions, there were significant differences in their specific composition as well.

The First Army Group’s main mission was to bisect Poland, which required testing the mobility of the First Army Group. With help from Italy, the First Army Group was equipped with numerous military trucks and tanks, having reached an excellent level of mobility.

The Second Army Group’s mission was to push the frontline, implying that they would be facing the main force of the Polish Army.

To enhance the firepower of the Second Army Group, Germany and Italy put together more than 5,000 artillery pieces, aiming to suppress with overwhelming firepower and directly demolish the Polish forces that the Poles prided themselves on, with the goal of quickly defeating Poland.