Charge to Glory*
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Date: September 1, 1939*
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Battle Location: Krojanty, near Chojnice , Polish corridor*
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Battle Type: Poland advance vs Germany delay*
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Design: Blazej Ciepluch*
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On the first day of the war General Stanislaw Grzmot-Skotnicki of operation group "Czersk" from Army "Pomorze" gave the 18 Pulk (regiment) Ulanow a order to counterattack a German Panzer grenadier battalion threatening the important road between Chojnice and Czersk to help support the withdrawal of infantry from the city of Krojanty . The 18 Pulk consisting of two Szwadrons (battalion in cavalry) crossed 10 kilometres of forest  and got into position.*
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From the edge of the forest the Polish troopers saw a very tempting prospect. A German infantry Battalion from the second motorized infantry division was stopped in a clearing. Quickly the order was given and the two cavalry Szwadrons were organized in a line of platoons with ready sabres because pistols, rifles and grenades are not very useful, and next to impossible to aim at the enemy, on a charging horse. The Germans were taken totally by surprise by the charge that went thought them like a scythe. A great many soldiers were killed and the rest dispersed in panic. At that  moment three German armoured cars and a few APC entered the clearing and started firing. The Polish Command unit was dispersed by MG fire from vehicles and the commander of 18 Pulk Ulanow Plk. Mastalerz died. The Cavalry then retired back to the forest.  All told the charge took about 5 minutes and out of 200 cavalrymen only 20 were killed but as a result a German grenadier battalion was almost totally destroyed. The German 2 Motorized Division halted and did not advance again on that or the next day.*
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That charge gave time for the Army Pomorze to retreat from the Polish corridor and rescue most of the units from this trap and those units helped the Army Poznan in it's counteroffensive at Bzura river. That first charge in the war was a complete success and after that the Germans maintained a healthy respect the Polish Cavalry during the September 1939 campaign. This gave birth to the myth about mad Polish Cavalrymen that charged tanks armed only with sabres. On the Polish side, those cavalrymen created a legend as the bravest units in the Second Rzeczypospolita (Polish Republic). *
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Note: That scenario refer to the first mission in the first version of this game Steel Panthers I. But in that game map and units was distant to historical. Names with sign "star" were real. However the game simulates hand to hand fights but doesn't include arms like sabres so in this scenario the Polish cavalryman used normal weapons but that is because a game limitation and not quite historical.*
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Sources:  Jerzy Urbankiewicz, "Legenda Jazdy Polskiej", pp. 173-174. and Andrzej Wilczkowski, "Anatomia Boju" pp. 259-269.*
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