XIX Panzer Corps

The XIX Army Corps ( German: ''XIX. Armeekorps'') was an armored corps of the German Wehrmacht between 1 July 1939 and 16 November 1940, when the unit was renamed Panzer Group 2 (German: ''Panzergruppe 2'') and later 2nd Panzer Army (German: ''2. Panzerarmee''). It took part in the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France.

It was formed in Vienna on 1 July 1939, the same day as the 2nd Panzer Division, but was not assigned to any single military district. Commanded by General der Panzertruppe Heinz Guderian, it was stationed in Pomerania prior to taking part in the invasion of Poland. It was officially tasked with constructing fortifications in preparation for an attack from Polish forces, though in fact German preparations for the invasion were already well advanced. Subordinated within Army Group North (responsible for Poland's north-western Danzig Corridor region) and supplemented by the 3rd Panzer, 2nd Infantry, and 20th Infantry Divisions, XIX Army Corps was tasked to strike southwards towards the Vistula river and thereby prevent any eastwards retreat of Polish troops to its west. Operations began on 1 September 1939, beginning World War II in Europe. During the initial days of the Polish campaign, the XIX Army Corps captured the city of Pruszcz and a bridgehead east of the Brda river, inflicted massive casualties on the Polish Pomorska Cavalry Brigade (described by William L. Shirer as "sickening evidence of the carnage" and "symbolic of the brief Polish campaign"), prevented attempts by the Polish 9th Infantry Division and the Czersk Operational Group to recapture the Brda's east bank, was visited at the front by Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Erwin Rommel, and suffered casualties of 150 fatalities and 700 wounded. Moved to operating east of the Vistula in support of the 3rd Army's left flank after the Battle of Różan, they were positioned to join in attacking Warsaw from the north but were hampered by the slow progress of Army Group South. Von Bock instructed Guderian to set his sights onto Brest-Litovsk, deep in the Polish rear. Miscommunications with the infantry-based XXI Army Corps caused casualties and risked them being encircled by Polish forces. The Battle of Brest-Litovsk followed soon after, with XIX Army Corps troops slowed but emerging victorious. After the Soviet invasion of Poland, XIX Army Corps yielded control of the city to the Red Army, in line with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which they had unknowingly violated. XIX Army Corps then represented Germany in the subsequent German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk. The unit received several commendations after the Polish campaign ended on 6 October, with Guderian himself awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 October.

The XIX Army Corps was reorganized into the Western Campaign in May 1940, containing three Panzer Divisions. The 1st Panzer Division under Friedrich Kirchner, the 2nd Panzer Division under Rudolf Veiel, the 10th Panzer Division under Ferdinand Schaal, and the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland joined the XIX Army Corps, now under the command of Panzer Group Kleist. The XIX Army Corps became part of the German effort to trap the Allied troops with an attack through the Ardennes forest, devised by Erich von Manstein known as the ''sickle cut''. The XIX Army Corps crossed into Luxembourg on 10 May, and progressed through southern Belgium supported by the German Third Air Fleet. Then Battle of Sedan was won by 15 May 1940 by the Germans, despite heavy losses to the French Char B1 bis tanks. The XIX Army Corps established a bridgehead on the Meuse, which allowed them to attack northward to the English Channel, and later southward to encircle Allied armies deployed in Belgium and the French forces along the Maginot Line. On 20 May, Amiens had been captured by 1st Panzer Division, to complete the XIX Army Corps' march to the English Channel. Germany won the Battle of Arras on the next day, which led the Allies to evacuate towards Calais and Dunkirk. XIX Army Corps continued northwards on 22 May then were reinforced by the XIV Army Corps, and began the Siege of Calais on 24 May. A victory on 26 May saw XIX Army Corps take 20,000 Allied soldiers as prisoners of war, and the onset of the Battle of Dunkirk. Two days later soldiers of ''Leibstandarte'' killed 80 men of British 144th Infantry Brigade in the Wormhout massacre. The ensuing victory at Dunkirk ended the northward campaign of the XIX Army Corps on 29 May. On 1 June, Guderian was assigned to command ''Panzergruppe Guderian'', taking most of the XIX Army Corps staff with him, and were joined by the XLI Corps and the XXXIX Corps, and became part of the 12th Army. Panzergruppe Guderian were redeployed southwards, commencing battle on 10 June. German tanks advanced quickly southward, and only met French resistance in forests and villages. Philippe Pétain became leader of France on 16 June, began negotiating for a ceasefire with the Germans. A day later, the 29th Infantry Division reached the border of Switzerland, effectively encircling Allied soldiers on the Maginot Line. The XIX Army Corps campaign ended on 22 June, with the establishment of Vichy France. During its campaigns, the XIX Army Corps and ''Panzergruppe Guderian'' captured 250,000 prisoners.

Creation

The XIX Army Corps was formed on 1 July 1939 in Vienna to group together the 2nd Panzer Division and the 4th Light Division, the latter of which became 9th Panzer Division on 3 January 1940. At its inception, the unit was not part of any particular Wehrkreis. The initial commander of XIX Army Corps was General der Panzertruppe (then equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general in the English-speaking world) Heinz Guderian. Guderian had previously made a name for himself as a supporter of a motorized style of warfare using armored vehicles and air support, a style that is often dubbed ''Blitzkrieg'' ('lightning warfare') in the English-speaking world, although German military officers like Guderian did not themselves use that term. He also had previous experience as a panzer leader in the context of bloodless invasion, as he was involved in guiding German panzer forces, specifically 2nd Panzer Division, through the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938. This was in spite of the fact that he had already officially been replaced as commander of that unit by Rudolf Veiel and was only ordered back to that post by Ludwig Beck for the purpose of the Anschluss. During that action, Guderian reported that more than 30% (70% according to Alfred Jodl) of German panzer forces malfunctioned.

Operational history

Poland campaign

Preparations

''For the overall makeup of German forces in preparation for the Invasion of Poland, see also German order of battle for the invasion of Poland.''

Guderian was informed of Hitler's decision to invade Poland through his superior, Günther von Kluge, commander of 4th Army, on 22 August 1939. He was ordered to Pomerania, where 4th Army and with it XIX Army Corps were stationed, to join the ''Befestigungsstab Pommern'' ('fortification staff Pomerania') and to officially construct military fortifications against a supposed Polish attack. Walther Nehring was assigned to be XIX Army Corps' chief of staff.

Germany's immediate preparations for the attack against its eastern neighbor had been ongoing since the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht issued the ''Directive for the Uniform Preparations of the Armed Forces for the War for 1939-40'' between 3 April and 10 May 1939. The political background for the conflict goes quite a bit further. The signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union on 23 August 1939 created the immediate political prerequisites for Germany to launch its invasion.

''See also Causes of World War II and Events preceding World War II in Europe.''

During the Invasion of Poland, XIX Army Corps was part of 4th Army, which was itself subordinate to Fedor von Bock's Army Group North. 4th Army's task was to take Poland's north-western Danzig Corridor from Pomerania and to then unite with 3rd Army in East Prussia, commanded by Georg von Küchler. Inside 4th Army's overall military strategy, XIX Army Corps was to strike southwards towards the Vistula river and deny Polish troops to the west of it the retreat eastwards. XIX Army Corps had by then been expanded since its inception in July and now consisted of 3rd Panzer Division, 2nd Infantry Division and 20th Infantry Division.

3rd Panzer Division was also supported by ''Panzerlehrabteilung'', a detachment that consisted of Panzer III and Panzer IV, which were at that point rarer in German tank divisions than their lighter Panzer I and Panzer II counterparts. Both the 2nd and the 20th Divisions were motorized, which was not at all standard amongst German infantry divisions. 3rd Panzer Division was the strongest of all German panzer divisions in the invasion, numbering 391 tanks out of the German overall of 3195.

Initially, the attack was planned to be launched on 26 August 1939, but in the night before the assault was to commence, the operation was abruptly cancelled due to diplomatic developments, causing a brief uncertainty whether the military campaign would take place at all.

However, on 31 August 1939, the troops were once more called to action for the following day, 1 September 1939, and this time the order went through as planned, and World War II began in Europe. This decision was given out the day before in a document signed personally by Adolf Hitler, titled ''Weisung Nr. 1 für die Kriegsführung'' ('Directive No. 1 for the Conduct of the War'), justifying the war as the result of the exhaustion of political means and setting the day and time of attack to 04:45 on 1 September 1939.

Action at Tuchola Forest (1–5 September 1939)

XIX Army Corps saw initial action on the first day of the invasion, 1 September 1939. Although the Polish military had been aware of the German troop concentrations, the Germans were nevertheless able to seize the initiative with a surprise attack. Polish mobilization was not yet completed. While the Germans had a considerable manpower advantage as well (~1.5 million versus ~1 million), the main German military advantage were the numerical superiority in terms of equipment, including armored vehicles, field guns and military aircraft. Precise numbers are difficult to come by for the only partially mobilized and bureaucratically ill-prepared Polish defenders.

Guderian personally accompanied 3rd Panzer Brigade into action in heavy fog, including an incident where he fell under friendly fire by the artillery of 3rd Panzer Division. By 09:45, the XIX Army Corps was advancing along the railway line from then-German Sępólno Krajeńskie (Zempelburg) to Chojnice. The Army Corps saw its first notable engagement with the enemy north of Sępólno Krajeńskie when the German panzers were surprised by the sudden dissipation of the fog and subsequently found themselves opposite Polish anti-tank units. Ten German soldiers were killed. By the evening of 1 September 1939, XIX Army Corps had with its 3rd Panzer Division advanced through the city of Pruszcz and captured a bridgehead east of the river Brda.

20th Infantry Division, commanded by Mauritz von Wiktorin, was involved in two notable battles on that day: at the Charge at Krojanty, the Polish 18th Pomeranian Uhlans charged units of the 76th Infantry Regiment on horseback and were then dispersed by German armored cars, birthing the Nazi propaganda myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks. The leader of the Polish unit, Kazimierz Mastalerz, was killed in action during that engagement.

On the same day, Wiktorin's 20th Infantry Division also fought the Battle of Chojnice and, bypassing Chojnice, captured Nowa Cerkiew. In the report by Army Group North command at 23:45, it was reported that most of the army group did not meet significant enemy resistance for most of the day, but that Polish presence strengthened in the sector of 4th Army against XIX Army Corps along the Osa river.

On 2 September, the German forces gained a river crossing northeast of Chojnice, threatening to encircle the city and prompting Polish counter-attacks ''(see also Battle of Tuchola Forest)''.

On the following day, September 3, 20 Infantry Division and 3rd Panzer Division had the support of 23rd Infantry Division to successfully encircle Polish infantry units in the forested battlefields. The Polish Pomorska Cavalry Brigade suffered massive casualties in the fight against 3rd Panzer Division. American writer and journalist William L. Shirer visited the site of the skirmishes between the Pomorska Brigade and XIX Army Corps a few days later, describing it as "sickening evidence of the carnage" and "symbolic of the brief Polish campaign".

By 5 September, XIX Army Corps had broken the enemy resistance and thwarted the attempts of the Polish 9th Infantry Division and the Czersk Operational Group to recapture the Brda's east bank and force the Germans back across the river. The Polish 9th Division was almost completely destroyed as only 35th Infantry Regiment remained a cohesive unit. The Germans captured 100 heavy guns and took 16,000 prisoners. On 5 September, the corps was visited by Adolf Hitler and his entourage, including Heinrich Himmler and Erwin Rommel, at the front. Hitler inquired about the casualties suffered at that point in the campaign, to which Guderian reported 150 fatalities and 700 wounded.

Wizna and Brest-Litovsk (6–16 September 1939)

With the victory at Tuchola Forest, the Danzig Corridor was broken through and the 3rd and 4th Armies could connect. XIX Army Corps now moved some 70 kilometers east, towards Kwidzyn, whereas 218th Infantry Division was called up from Army Group North's reserves to continue to fight the remaining Polish resistance in the Tuchola Forest. With that redeployment, XIX Army Corps, now operating east of the Vistula, was to cover the left flank of Von Küchler's 3rd Army.'''' Küchler's forces had their main strength concentrated in the Nidzica- Wielbark area and had been met with fierce resistance by well-entrenched Polish defenders of the Modlin Army who benefitted from the swamps and forests north of Mława and Przasnysz. The Polish defensive line was taken on 6 September, crossing the Narew river at Różan ''(See also Battle of Różan).'' The 3rd and 4th Armies were now to line up along the Vistula river to strike at Warsaw from the north.''''

The advances made by the two German armies now threatened to encircle the Polish Modlin Army from both sides, but the Modlin Army was forced to hold the line to stop the Germans from reaching Warsaw too quickly and in order to keep the retreat routes for Polish units further east open – Army Poznan especially, which had been positioned the furthest west out of any Polish army and which, although not under any major German attack, now had to scramble to fall back in line and close ranks with the retreating Pomorze Army and Lodz Army.

From southern East Prussia, XIX Army Corps prepared to advance on Brest-Litovsk (Polish: ''Brześć Litewski'') with the support of 10th Panzer Division from Army Group North's reserves. They met the bitter resistance of some 700 to 1,000 Polish soldiers under leadership of Władysław Raginis, who managed to slow some 40,000 Germans down for three days at the Battle of Wizna. Multiple lines of bunkers were valiantly defended by the Polish soldiers, and it took the Germans careful maneuvering and a slow advance to eliminate the threat. Guderian refers to this battle as the ''Bunkerkampf bei Wizna'', 'bunker combat near Wizna'. Raginis, the Polish commander, was killed in action on 10 September 1939 when he committed suicide with a hand grenade after giving his subordinates the order to surrender to the Germans.

On 8 September, orders from OKH reached Guderian that XIX Army Corps was to continue its operation more conservatively, to stay close by 3rd Army's left flank and to not wander off too far to the east – incursions east of the line between Ostrów Mazowiecka and Warsaw were outright forbidden. Guderian and his superior, Army Group North's commander Fedor von Bock, protested against this restriction on the mobile forces. It turned out that Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South was not progressing nearly as swiftly as Army Group North had anticipated; the southern forces, far stronger than their northern counterpart, had failed to cross the Vistula on any meaningful scale and had not yet conquered Warsaw. The southern armored divisions had met rougher hardships than Guderian's own units. 4th Panzer Division of XVI Corps within 10th Army had for example lost 57 out of 120 tanks, almost meeting a 50% casualty rate.

With the threat of a Polish counter-offensive along the river Bzura

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