Author	Schoenwulf (Poland)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	Poland
Participants	treadasaurusrex
Play Date	2024-02-27
Language	English
Scenario	DelP008

On the morning of September 1, 1939, bicycle units from the Polish Pomorska Brigade were ordered to hold a bridge across the Brda River in the Polish Corridor. The limited number of units forced the Poles to maximize their firepower by whatever means possible. They dug in on the east bank of the river adjacent to the bridge and waited. The wait was not very long as a combined arms force from the German 3rd Panzer Division approached in short order. The Germans used a two-pronged approach with a small force including both a 81 mm mortar platoon and an HMG unit approaching the bridge directly from the west, while the main Heer combined arms force crossed a hastily placed pontoon bridge well upstream north of the bridge. It took the better part of an hour for a Panzer I company and another Heer infantry group to cross and move south toward the village and bridge. Within another hour, Captain Wenzel’s platoon west of the river began to seal a double envelopment of the beleaguered Poles at the bridgehead, while Major Hoffer’s combined arms group closed from the East with the Panzer units. Kapitan Lenkoski was captured and, shortly thereafter Porucznik Drzal went down, leaving only the redoubtable Porucznik Skrabacz and his platoon to hold the bridge. The schwerpunkt at the bridge changed hands with the Germans displacing the Poles for 15-20 minutes until the Poles could regroup and send their remaining platoon and leader back into melee on the bridge. Elements from both sides struggled to take control of the bridge for almost an hour, but the Poles would not concede control of this important crossing to the Germans on this day.

This is a 16-turn scenario that involves using a German engineer unit to make a river crossing. The Germans led by T-Rex needed to control the bridge by game end for victory, which appears to be a reasonable chore since the Poles under S-Wulf only have 4 bicycle units and a 37 mm AT Gun. But on this day, fortune and the ivories favored the Poles, as their defending platoon survived reduction and disruption to remain standing on the bridge at last light. The scenario allows the Poles to hide their units, which is a distinct advantage, forcing the Germans to prepare their advance over a wide front with no knowledge of the enemy until they are onboard. T-Rex did a great job of dividing his force to both spot and envelop the Polish core, as the Poles lost 6 steps of the 9 that they began with. But those remaining units consisted of a full squad that recovered in the SE woods sans leader, so it could not re-enter the fray. This left the lone officer and his squad as sole defenders for the last 5 turns. The Germans ended up with 6 VP’s to 5 for the Poles, but the bridge, the sole victory condition, remained uncontrolled by either side resulting in a dramatic Polish win.

The scenario seems fairly well balanced considering the variable nature of river crossing for the Germans. In this case it took 4-5 turns for all the German units that were planned to cross to actually do so, allowing the Poles to reposition as needed. The concentrated Polish force held their ground with opp fire and had a fortunate hit on one of the Pz.I platoons. Eventually the steadfast Poles were temporarily pushed from the bridge but managed to beat the odds in a late assault to engage in melee and create a contested schwerpunkt. This one could have easily gone to the Germans, save for a courageous 11-1-2 porucznik, a half-strength platoon, and the luck of the dimpled cubes.