What if the Polish Campaign lasted longer that OTL?

Well IOTL the Poles managed to inflict heavy losses on the Germans, including downing one full quarter of the Luftwaffe, if they manage to hold out for long enough to get materiel aid from Britain and France, Poland could become something of a Quagmire. In 1939 Germany was not very well stocked for ammunition and fuel, and if materiel aid arrives in Poland and the Poles continue to fight, we could see the German forces dedicated to Poland running low enough on ammunition for reversals to happen. If Poland lasts long enough for the French A Divisions to be made ready, a two front war might develop. . .at least until the Germans can go into full on war production, which IOTL they did not until 1942. . .
 
I doubt the response of the French in particular would have been any different. With the German Army more tied up in Poland, and higher losses in men and equipment and supplies, a French (and British) attack in the west would have been even more of a success than it could have been OTL. The reality is the French were NEVER going to do that, Their plan was basically to let the Germans bleed themselves on the Maginot Line until the Germans had had enough and quit. Maybe they'd attack once the Germans were considered to have bled out enough, but not until then. The BEF forces in France in the fall of 1939 did not amount to a lot and Britain could not have staged any sort of attack if the French were not all in.

Maybe the British and French don't see the Germans as ten feet tall, and maybe they get some lessons learned if the Poles figure out ways to beat up on the Germans better. The Poles are screwed, because eventually the Germans will break through and then Stalin jumps in - you know he won't act until Poland is obviously going under.
No, the French plan never was that.
The Maginot Line was a manpower saving tool designed to use formations that couldn't have been used elsewhere to tie up German forces and allow France to concentrate its forces on the real battlefield - the West Belgian plains. Considering the French population was only a bit more than half the Germans and was older too, this was a shrewd investment, especially since the Ardennes and Vosges make terrible terrain for tanks.
The strategic interest of having Belgium was just too good for Germany - you start off a short front and you can end up anywhere on a long front. Therefore it was obvious to Ally planners Belgium would be attacked if the Germans came to war.
The big mistake of French planners was considering the Ardennes unpenetrable to mechanised war. The sector of the Maginot Line the Germans attacked was low security, had less casemates and artillery sites. To be fair, they expected Eben Emael to last longer.
However, had things gone according to plan, France and Britain would've defeated Germany quite handily. Indeed, the German armor was quite inferior to the French, but it benefited from the greater maniability given by well-implemented individual radios in every tank that made them great for breakthrough.
However, the B1-bis were the bane of German armor. It took artillery strikes or stukas to get rid of them, and the German anti-tank weapons were incapable of penetrating the 60mm of the B1-bis - they were designed to pierce at best 40mm, which was more than the 30mm available to their heavier tanks, the PzKw IV ausf. C .
 
Well IOTL the Poles managed to inflict heavy losses on the Germans, including downing one full quarter of the Luftwaffe, if they manage to hold out for long enough to get materiel aid from Britain and France, Poland could become something of a Quagmire. In 1939 Germany was not very well stocked for ammunition and fuel, and if materiel aid arrives in Poland and the Poles continue to fight, we could see the German forces dedicated to Poland running low enough on ammunition for reversals to happen. If Poland lasts long enough for the French A Divisions to be made ready, a two front war might develop. . .at least until the Germans can go into full on war production, which IOTL they did not until 1942. . .
How are you going to get British and French materiel TO Poland? Admittedly, Germany hasn't taken Denmark and Norway, yet, but sending convoys covered by the RN into the Baltic would be really risky. Would the British dare?

Aid can't come from any other direction, I believe, because the USSR has signed the M-R pact with Germany (east), and Germany's taken Czechoslovakia (south), while of course Germany itself blocks the west.
 
How are you going to get British and French materiel TO Poland? Admittedly, Germany hasn't taken Denmark and Norway, yet, but sending convoys covered by the RN into the Baltic would be really risky. Would the British dare?

Aid can't come from any other direction, I believe, because the USSR has signed the M-R pact with Germany (east), and Germany's taken Czechoslovakia (south), while of course Germany itself blocks the west.

The Romanian Bridgehead is presumably still open in this scenario. . .
 
Hunh. OK. Given that there were apparently plans to supply out of Romania, I suppose there must be infrastructure (roads/rail) that would let them do it. I hadn't thought there was.
Thanks for the info.

There was at least one rail line. If I am remembering right it was sufficient to supply the Poles through.

The Maginot Line was a manpower saving tool designed to use formations that couldn't have been used elsewhere to tie up German forces and allow France to concentrate its forces on the real battlefield - the West Belgian plains. Considering the French population was only a bit more than half the Germans and was older too, this was a shrewd investment, especially since the Ardennes and Vosges make terrible terrain for tanks.

Right, even in OTL, the Maginot Line slowed the Germans down significantly and funneled their forces in a way that was advantageous to the French. Just with everything else going so wrong, the Maginot Line doing its job was kinda lost in the noise.

The blitz into France would have been easier if the French had (in the late 20s and early 30s) invested in tanks instead of concrete. (Which is the WI I usually see about the French being "smart".)

fasquardon
 
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