The delay in sending reinforcements to the 30th Division by the German Army Group South was not due to the failure to see the tactical objectives of the Polish army in time, nor was it due to the lack of troops to be transferred. The real reason lies in the fact that Manstein, the chief of the German General Staff who was ridiculed by Berente, did not have the slightest intention of acting according to the combat intentions of the Polish army from beginning to end.

Manstein, who likes to go off the rails, grasped the key point of this encounter as early as the very beginning!

Both sides knew that the Polish army had come up with force to the bottom of the box, trying to regain the initiative through this desperate massive counterattack before they were defeated. According to normal military thinking, when the inferior Polish army concentrated its forces and tried to strike at the weak links of the German army locally, the safest course of action for the German army, which was superior in overall strength, was to also gather forces around the Polish army and re-suppress the other side. Although this will slow down the progress of the offensive on the front line, it will also be able to win nine times out of ten.

But the Germans couldn't do that!

For Manstein knew that if the Germans engaged the Polish army according to the usual procedures, the time taken for the Polish campaign would be greatly increased. This is not in line with the strategic thrust of the "White Plan"!

The reason why the Polish army withdrew some of the defensive forces in other areas and concentrated them to launch this dying counterattack was to delay the German attack on their capital, like a nail, and firmly hold the German forces in the direction of their counteroffensive.

The strength of one army group, plus ten newly formed "cannon fodder divisions", totaled more than 250,000 troops. Although it is very unlikely that the German army will be completely defeated and reversed. But if it is used to attract the forces of the German army, the German army cannot concentrate on taking Warsaw, it is simply more than enough!

Manstein, a participant in the formulation of the White Plan, knew very well that once the war developed to that level, the German plan to blitz Poland would be completely frustrated. Even if the Germans turned around and ate the Polish counterattack in front of them, it would no longer be possible to achieve the original strategic goal of a quick victory.

So, Manstein boldly chose another option, a choice of a dangerous road!

Even if there is a local crisis in the defensive line where the 30th Division of the Eighth Army is located, even a very serious crisis, this will not cause a major obstacle to the overall situation of the operation. The city of Lodz was originally an empty city that the Germans "picked up" without a fight, and it did not have any strategic significance in the general strategic direction of the German army. Now, even if the Polish army is allowed to take it back, it will not affect the next move of the German army.

On the contrary, this counterattack, which the Polish army had done with all its might, provided Army Group South with an opportunity to achieve a major victory.

After so many years in the General Staff, which gathered all the wisdom of the German army since the Prussian period, Manstein could not see the route of this tactical counterattack of the Polish army, which was nothing more than to move all the way in the direction of the Vistula, so as to meet the possible reinforcements of the German army along the Vistula River later.

However, what the Polish High Command did not expect was that Manstein, after consulting with Rundsteadt, the commander of Army Group South, directly proposed a proposal that at the time seemed to be the largest encirclement operation ever launched by the German army.

Manstein believed that since the Polish army was trying to drill into the hinterland of Army Group South, Army Group South could also arrange a pocket in turn and encircle the huge force that the Polish High Command had managed to assemble into the encirclement of the German army in one go.

Although the plan may seem risky, Manstein believes that there are three benefits to its implementation:

First, in order to open up the city of Lodz as soon as possible, the Polish army has concentrated all their counterattack forces in a very small area. This was a disguised way to narrow the encirclement that needed to be rolled out for the Germans.

Second, if the Polish army penetrates deep into the hinterland of Army Group South and pulls the main forces and artillery to the front, then the rearguard forces deployed at its end will certainly not be too strong. Army Group South could benefit the armored forces originally asked by the 30th Division to stabilize the defensive line, and in one fell swoop to crush the weak rearguard of the Polish army, thus sealing the mouth of the encirclement.

Thirdly, the Polish army attacked in reverse, and the deeper they fought, the deeper they sank into the encirclement of Army Group South, which did not even need to launch a surprise attack on its flanks in order to encircle the Polish army, because they had already broken into the heart of the German army, and there were German troops on both flanks a little further away. In this way, there is almost no pressure to surround it.

After the command of Army Group South had carefully analyzed Manstein's plan, the experienced Commander Rundstead gave only a short order: "Fight like this!" ”。

At this moment, Manstein, who had proposed this plan to take advantage of the encirclement, had already received heartfelt praise from a group of veteran generals, including Rundsteide, in the headquarters of Army Group South.

Looking at the red arrows representing the various units of the German army on the combat map and the huge blue arrows representing the Polish counterattack troops from all directions, Rundstead suddenly laughed: "This will be a big bad luck for the Poles, an elite army group plus ten garrison divisions that should have been deployed in Warsaw, and now because of a clever counterattack plan, all of them have been sent to the mouth of our Southern Army Group." This is simply a gift that God deliberately sent us because he wanted us to make meritorious contributions! ”

Hearing Rundstead's laughter, Manstein also took a few staff officers to the battle diagram by the wall, and said with a confident smile: "Yes, the hundreds of thousands of main forces in Poland will not be able to fly out of our encirclement even if they put on their wings this time." Speaking of which, this is what they desperately want to crash into. ”

The idiom that wings are inescapable, originally reinvented often by Reinhardt. However, after Manstein heard it, he also found the parable very interesting to use in war, so he copied it and learned it.

"Can't fly out with wings? It's an interesting analogy. Because it was the first time to go to this metaphor of encirclement in the East, Rundstead, who had fought all his life, also felt a little novel. But after thinking about it, he also felt that this metaphor was very much in line with the current situation.

Looking at the operational diagram on the wall, Rundstead counted each red arrow representing the German army and concluded: "The two divisions that are the reserve of the army group have set out from the west to cooperate with the Eighth Army to threaten the northern flank of the Polish army cluster. Another light division was also withdrawn from the just-concluded Battle of Radom and moved to the front of the Polish cluster. The 16th Panzer Corps and the 11th Army of the 10th Army had already cut off the frontal of the Polish army cluster. ”

Nodding with a satisfied smile, Rundstead turned to Manstein and smiled: "In this way, the Polish army cluster is really attacked everywhere, and it is impossible to escape from it." ”

"Not bad!" Manstein took a step forward, picked up a telescopic pole placed against the wall, pointed to the map, and said: "Because the Polish army has transferred many troops from the north to participate in this counterattack, I have also borrowed the 15th Motorized Army from Army Group North, which has surplus troops, through the Führer, to further strengthen the defensive strength of the encirclement in the east. ”

After all, Rundstead was also an experienced and excellent commander, and it immediately occurred to Manstein that this was an additional manpower in the direction of the most likely major breakthrough of the Polish army in the future. Because once the Polish army found out that they were surrounded and wanted to break out, their only way out was to the fortress of Maudlin to the east. And the arrival of a German motorized army will completely cut off the possibility of a successful breakthrough of this Polish army cluster!