I long have played with the idea to write a tl about this pod. And then LOTLOF came and used it. Since I guess we now can safely assume that his tl dead I decided to revive the idea. Especially in the beginning there will be some parallels, but only in some general ideas. One reason is simply that I disagree with some of his choices. The second is that of course I do not want to plagiarize his work. I did not reread it, so warn me if you think I do it. Related to that I am toying with the vague idea to publish it, should I ever finish it (a big IF).
Narration will somewhat show that dream. I decided to mostly focus on the German and to a smaller degree Polish view of things. And the recurring POV characters will be limited in number. Except those in high ranking position and some cameos I also decided to take mostly fictional POV characters, because that gives me more freedom in character design and development.
Said that feel free to critize and discuss everything about the tl, it can only result in a better final product. And now without further ado I give to you:
1920 - The Fall of Warsaw
August 25th 1920, Warsaw and surroundings
„We did it, comrade komfronta! Warsaw belongs to us.“
With tired eyes Tukhachevsky looked up from the map table. His chief of staff grinned widely from the other side of the table. Slowly he nodded. Technically it was not entirely correct yet, but now it was only a question of time.
„Looks like it. The worst should be over.“
The last days it had not been the case. After the continued advance he had not anticipated, that the Poles would start a counter offensive again. And they chose the perfect place for it. Had their advance been a little faster, had he moved his troops just a little bit slower, Piłsudski could have forced him into full retreat.
But a look at the map showed him, that the Polish marshal had lost his chance. The foray had been stopped and Schuvayev advanced north of Warsaw again. Yawning Tukhachevsky rubbed his face and smiled wearily.
„In that case I can go to bed. I´ll leave the mopping-up to you.“
Crouched Porucznik Andrysowicz peeked out of his cover. Except the men with carrying the roll with the fuze all his men were under cover. Led by Sierżant Skłodowski those two hasted over the bridge keeping their head down. From the other bank an MG opened fire and a few Polish rifles responded. Left and right of the sprinting men bullets hit the ground. One of the men carrying the roll stumbled from a hit. Immediately the Sierżant grabbed him and pulled him into cover.The other one unwinded the fuze alone and slided into cover next to Andrysowicz.
A few metres down Skłodowski handed the wounded man to a medic, who began working on him hecticly. Then he ran across to him, again pursued by machine gun fire.
“We attached all the charges, Panie Porucznik.”
“Not a moment too early.”
While the sergeant attached the fuse to the detonator, Andrysowicz risked a last look. The flow of refugees across the Vistula had already ceased a while ago. Who now was still was on the other side, probably was hiding in some basement. His own company – what there was elft of it – had retreated to this bank a while ago as well. Thus the crouched men running towards the bridge had to be Russians. Quickly he ducked again and nodded at the Sierżant.
“Drop the bridge again.”
“Yes, Panie Poruczniku.”
The series of explosions which followed was not all that spectacular. They hadn´t had that much explosives anyway. But they had used them well. This bridge the Russians would not use for quite some time. If the other bridges across the Vistula looked the same the Polish might even be able to disengage from the Red Army. Though the question remained what that would gain.
Narration will somewhat show that dream. I decided to mostly focus on the German and to a smaller degree Polish view of things. And the recurring POV characters will be limited in number. Except those in high ranking position and some cameos I also decided to take mostly fictional POV characters, because that gives me more freedom in character design and development.
Said that feel free to critize and discuss everything about the tl, it can only result in a better final product. And now without further ado I give to you:
1920 - The Fall of Warsaw
August 25th 1920, Warsaw and surroundings
„We did it, comrade komfronta! Warsaw belongs to us.“
With tired eyes Tukhachevsky looked up from the map table. His chief of staff grinned widely from the other side of the table. Slowly he nodded. Technically it was not entirely correct yet, but now it was only a question of time.
„Looks like it. The worst should be over.“
The last days it had not been the case. After the continued advance he had not anticipated, that the Poles would start a counter offensive again. And they chose the perfect place for it. Had their advance been a little faster, had he moved his troops just a little bit slower, Piłsudski could have forced him into full retreat.
But a look at the map showed him, that the Polish marshal had lost his chance. The foray had been stopped and Schuvayev advanced north of Warsaw again. Yawning Tukhachevsky rubbed his face and smiled wearily.
„In that case I can go to bed. I´ll leave the mopping-up to you.“
Crouched Porucznik Andrysowicz peeked out of his cover. Except the men with carrying the roll with the fuze all his men were under cover. Led by Sierżant Skłodowski those two hasted over the bridge keeping their head down. From the other bank an MG opened fire and a few Polish rifles responded. Left and right of the sprinting men bullets hit the ground. One of the men carrying the roll stumbled from a hit. Immediately the Sierżant grabbed him and pulled him into cover.The other one unwinded the fuze alone and slided into cover next to Andrysowicz.
A few metres down Skłodowski handed the wounded man to a medic, who began working on him hecticly. Then he ran across to him, again pursued by machine gun fire.
“We attached all the charges, Panie Porucznik.”
“Not a moment too early.”
While the sergeant attached the fuse to the detonator, Andrysowicz risked a last look. The flow of refugees across the Vistula had already ceased a while ago. Who now was still was on the other side, probably was hiding in some basement. His own company – what there was elft of it – had retreated to this bank a while ago as well. Thus the crouched men running towards the bridge had to be Russians. Quickly he ducked again and nodded at the Sierżant.
“Drop the bridge again.”
“Yes, Panie Poruczniku.”
The series of explosions which followed was not all that spectacular. They hadn´t had that much explosives anyway. But they had used them well. This bridge the Russians would not use for quite some time. If the other bridges across the Vistula looked the same the Polish might even be able to disengage from the Red Army. Though the question remained what that would gain.
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