How efficiently did the Red Army conduct itself during the invasion of Poland in 1939?
score:4
There were worrying signs of trouble
Although Poles offered only sporadic resistance, and Soviet leadership characterized operation as "military walk" and not a real war, number of deficiencies were noted. Stalin himself acknowledged that in his speech to Soviet leadership in spring of 1940. In his own words, Polish campaign spoiled Red Army and strengthened spirit of complacency, but following major flaws were revealed :
Slow and inefficient mobilization of both the reservists and material means like trucks and other mechanization, horses etc .. Mobilization centers were too far from frontline units, civilian authorities did not cooperate with military authorities and sometimes did not understand their role in military effort. As a result, both reservists and material were critically delayed and usually arrived in their units with 7-8 days of delay, sometimes when the operation was already over.
Rear area services (logistic) of the Red Army failed completely. They were not prepared for the operation, were often immobile, could not supply frontline units with fuel, food, forage and ammo, sometimes didn't even have enough uniforms to issue to the soldiers. It was estimated (a bit prophetically) that in case of a clash with stronger opponent than Poles (with strong air force and armored-mechanized forces) rear will suffer significant losses.
Communications inside Red Army were also deemed insufficient. Lack of radio, poor quality of mobile radio sets that did exist, and immobility of larger and more powerful radio stations. Insufficient communication with air force, especially concerning cooperation with ground troops, insufficient command and control of tank corps which proved to be too cumbersome as an organization (thus decision to disband them on the eve of Barbarossa) . It was also noted that armies and fronts (army groups) often did not have an idea where their units were, and this painful flaw would latter reveal itself in full light during German invasion.
Finally it must be noted that losses in the campaign were not small. Especially worrying was loss of around 20 aircraft and around 150 (120 by some accounts) armored vehicles (tanks or armored cars). According to some accounts most of these were not lost in action, but due to various mechanical breakdowns or crew incompetency. It was noted by Soviet authorities that in many units there was simply not enough trained personnel to handle modern and more complex equipment .
Overall, Red Army was enormous system with impressive number of soldiers, tanks, guns and aircraft. On paper it was strongest army in the world at that time. But internal organization of this complex organism was severely lacking. Communist were obsessed with huge numbers, but seriously lacked knowledge about maintenance, logistic and command & control. Although Polish campaign was short it did show many potential flaws that latter materialized in Winter War and even more so when Germans invaded in 1941.
Upvote:8
It wasn't much of a war, so analyzing the performance is difficult
When the Red Army had attacked Poland from the east on the 17th September 1939, it had used 465,000 troops and 485 tanks. Against them, there were 12,000 border defense troops and, a bit more to the west 200,000 mostly poorly armed conscripts, that were planned to be used to patch the loses in the west.
In the evening of the 17th, Marshall Rydz-Smigły, the Commander-in-chief of the Polish forces made an unclear proclamation:
„Sowiety wkroczyły. Nakazuję ogólne wycofanie na Rumunię i Węgry najkrótszymi drogami. Z bolszewikami nie walczyć, chyba w razie natarcia z ich strony albo próby rozbrojenia oddziałów. Zadanie Warszawy i miast, które miały się bronić przed Niemcami – bez zmian. Miasta, do których podejdą bolszewicy, powinny z nimi pertraktować w sprawie wyjścia garnizonów do Węgier lub Rumunii”.
The Soviets have invaded. I order general retreat towards Romania and Hungary. Do not fight with the Bolsheviks, unless they attack you first or they try to disarm your troops. Warsaw and other cities defending from the Germans - no change to orders. Cities approached by the Bolsheviks should negotiate to allow the retreat of troops towards Romania and Hungary 1
(note, by "Bolsheviks" he meant of course the Red Army).
As you can see, the order was to "if possible, retreat without fighting", so most forces were doing exactly that: either avoiding fighting or surrendering quickly. Still, some commanders decided to ignore the order and fight, even managing to achieve a few small victories routing and destroying the Red Army forces in Szack, or Parczew.
So in summary, whenever the Red Army met resistance, the results were close to a draw, as both sides were ending up with heavy loses. If not for the fatal order, eastern Poland could stand and fight for quite a while, but in the end the Russian victory was inevitable.
1 https://przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/teksty/29173,Z-bolszewikami-nie-walczyc.html
More post
- 📝 What factors contributed to the popularity of Eastern cultures in the USA in late 20th century?
- 📝 Origin of San Francisco's water lots off Candlestick Point
- 📝 What language did Gaius Julius Caesar speak with Cleopatra?
- 📝 Have any spies ever managed to keep their identity secret from their handlers?
- 📝 Did the medieval Europe have an active "lowbrow" culture?
- 📝 Who was the US town Hayden in Arizona named after?
- 📝 What restrictions were in place after WWII on the German aircraft industry?
- 📝 Elevated walkway in background at 1980s Potsdamer Platz seen in Wim Wenders' film “Der Himmel über Berlin”
- 📝 When has the Tory party split over trade issues?
- 📝 What is this strange symbol painted on bas*m*nt floor?
- 📝 Pre-WW2 location of Skalat
- 📝 Tolstoy's view of history
- 📝 Why did the Chagatai Khanate cease invasions of India?
- 📝 What was the timetable for the arrival of the 100,000 man Japanese garrison at Rabaul?
- 📝 Discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland pre-1968
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
- 📝 What's the difference between Potur and Şalvar?
- 📝 ‘Avoid sleeping on your back’ & ‘breathe in toilet smells’ were seen as precautions against the Black Death. Why did doctors think these would work?
- 📝 How did Azerbaijan come to be allied with Turkey and Israel?
- 📝 Buddhists in ancient Alexandria and Rome
- 📝 How common was marriage between nobles and peasants in the Middle Ages?
- 📝 Why have North and South Korea stopped marching together at the Olympics?
- 📝 Who left Fort Ross to defect to Mexico?
- 📝 Why did the Republic of China retract its simplified Chinese characters?
- 📝 How do historians decide who to refer to as 'the allies?'
- 📝 What's the earliest example of a permanent embassy?
- 📝 Historically, why did the US station their nuclear weapons in Germany for delivery through German pilots?
- 📝 Why was Nixon never tried for treason for allegedly sabotaging the 1968 Peace Talks?
- 📝 What was the Seven Years War called at first?
- 📝 What did Nathan Forrest do on September 19 1863?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How efficiently did the Red Army conduct itself during the invasion of Poland in 1939?
- 📝 Did the Red Army and German Army clash in Poland in 1939?
- 📝 Did the Gallic army besieged in Alesia conduct itself well when expecting relief?
- 📝 During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
- 📝 How long did men have to serve in the US army until they were promoted to sergeants during WW2?
- 📝 How did Nazi Germany finance itself during WW2?
- 📝 How did the authorities not find the speakeasy clubs during the prohibition?
- 📝 How did the Nazis plan to defeat America during World War II?
- 📝 How did people deal with ice on the roads during the horse-and-buggy era?
- 📝 During the Great Depression, did the US Army do a study involving paying people to dig a hole and fill it back up?
- 📝 Why did Stalin push for the Great Purge against the Red Army in 1936?
- 📝 Did the poor performance of the Red Army in the Winter War significantly contribute to German underestimation of the USSR's military capacity?
- 📝 How did the Allies communicate during World War II?
- 📝 Why did the French Army melt film during WWI?
- 📝 How did Allies secure southern flank during "Race to the Rhine"?
- 📝 Why did the Union army favor a "western" route to approaching Richmond during the American Civil War
- 📝 Did Arabs actually raise a red flag on the dome of their commander's marquee during the Haraam months?
- 📝 How did Bligh navigate during his open boat voyage after losing The Bounty?
- 📝 Did more Jews live in Poland than any other country, prior to the Holocaust, because of how Polish laws and people regarded Jews?
- 📝 How did the Roman army go from constantly losing battles in the middle of the 3rd century to winning almost everything?
- 📝 How did the way commanders ask their troops to deal with the immediate death of their comrades vary by country/culture during WWII?
- 📝 During the U.S. Prohibition, how did they get away with drinking alcohol?
- 📝 How did the central government of the United States finance itself under the Articles of Confederation?
- 📝 How could black men serve as officers in the US army during segregation?
- 📝 How did the Swedish army deal with prisoners of war in the Thirty Years War?
- 📝 How did Poland avoid partition in the 17th century, but not the 18th century?
- 📝 Did it matter that the Red Army clung on to Stalingrad's West bank in 1942?
- 📝 How did the British Army unit size and structure in WWI change from 1915 to 1918?
- 📝 How much time did people have to take shelter during the Blitz in 1940-41?
- 📝 How was the Roman army in fact organized during Caesar's campaigns in Gaul?