Train of Thought 2: Return to Kalisz Part 1 (Twilight: 2000 railroad notes)

This is the second post to cover likely rail routes from Central Poland to the relative safety of "the German Border" at Frankfurt, based on extrapolations from Wikimapia - like the first post, it contains potential *spoilers* for material in the T2k v1.0 module "Going Home". This section follows on from the "Lodz Hinterland" and details the area immediately to the west on either side of the main line that loops west-northwest to Poznan, mainly because that's a potential direction Wayne's group or any other train based group will be heading unless they decide to turn back north towards the main Warsaw-Poznan-Frankfurt line section which I'll likely deal with in a further post...

So the area near Kalisz is an interesting area by the time of October 2000 and quite different from that presented in the starting adventure Escape from Kalisz - most of the initial forces that encircled the US 5th Division have either withdrawn (the 89th Cavalry Division to the north, the 124th MRD south to Piotrkow), settled in rival cantonments maintaining an easy truce (21st MRD and Polish 10th Tank Division), deserted (the Lask and Zgierz Milicya's from the Polish BGBs, marauders from the 9th Tank Division) or been broken up and survivors dissolved into remaining units (12th Guard Tank Army, 4th Guard Tank Army). 

I've marked the default start for "Escape from Kalisz" (just southeast of Ostrow) and also my proposed "Amphibious / M113 Start" start option (near Dobra) in a teal blue to add some context and to help with later development. Wayne's group originally started from near Lask, now the base for the former 11th Polish BGB, now the Lask Miliciya.

Two of the Polish Border Guard Brigades have converted into Milicya or militia units (Zgierz and Lask), there are some marauders from previous Soviet divisions still in the area, and reading through the module notes, the 12th Guards Tank Division was completely shattered.

Hexmap detail of above Wikimpi excerpt area

I'm thinking there's going to be a lot of ruined tanks and other armoured vehicles (BMPs, BTRs and LAV-25s or similar) around Kalisz - the 21st MRD started the battle with 30 tanks and was reduced down to 8 rapidly. That's only the one unit. The 10th Polish Tanks Division lost about 20 tanks in the battle and the number of US tanks is difficult to estimate but is likely comparable, not to mention all the support vehicles destroyed or captured. Sure the tanks would be mostly stripped and salvaged, but they are heavy and difficult to move en bloc without the right equipment so I'd think that Kalisz and the area along the Kalisz-Sieradz Road, in particular, is likely littered with abandoned metal corpses. Maybe not all of them are beyond salvage, but that's several *dozen* tanks at least concentrated in a comparatively small area.

So my first thoughts on looking at the two maps in terms of a group travelling by train:

• The Warta River presents a significant obstacle at its rail bridge at Sieradz
• There's actually a large body of water here, Lake Jezorsko, that was a bit of a surprise
• Two small road bridges near the small town of Warta are now apparent 
• Ruins of an old medieval castle just east of the river near Sieradz
• The Ruins of Kalisz sit directly on the likely western rail route 
• The Prosna River flows northwest through Kalisz past Pleszew joining the Warta north of Jarocin
• The Ner River loops northwest from Lodz to skirt Uniejow and join the Warta
• The Soviet 21st MRD cantonment at Ostrow can easily interdict the line
• The remains of the Polish 10th Tank Division at Pleszew could be bypassed

Really not much in the way of military installations in this area by comparison:

• Zdunska Wola has a large node station and nearby locomotive depot at Karsznice 
• There are extensive railway yards in Ostrow for salvaging rolling stock and even locomotives
• There was a radio operator specialist training school in the northern outskirts of Sieradz
• There's a Polish air base just to the south of Lask 

It's worth considering where the main units were previously ie. at the time of the Battle of Kalisz.

• The 20th Tank Division originally controlled the area east of the Warta as far north as Unejow and east to Lodz, but have drawn now back to Lodz for the coming Winter although they still send small patrols from a base at Szadel up the eastern bank as far north as Uniejow.

• The 21st MRD which was spread out south of the Kalisz-Sieradz road from Ostrow in the west to the Warta in the east and further south of the above map section is now consolidated at Ostrow and controls the southern area of the western third including Kalisz and can readily access the middle third of the map via the rail bridge, including the strategic town of Sieradz.

• The Polish 10th Tank Division based at Pleszew are relative newcomers to the area, driving into the area northwest of Kalisz only in the last days of the battle and are now occupying the northern part of the western third of the map in contest for Kalisz with the 21st MRD but hemmed in to the east by the Prosna.

• Finally, there are the forces involved in the battle but no longer present - the Soviet 89th Cavalry Division at its southernmost extent only occupied Turek and the shattered Soviet 124th MRD held the area off the map from Zloclew to its current winter camp at Piotrkow near the Belchatow coal mine (to be detailed in another post).

Rivers and Bridges

Effectively the two significant rivers running south to north, the Prosna (west, hexes 6515 and 6616-18) and the Warta (east, as marked), divide the map above into thirds, each third with its own dominant group of residual Polish or Soviet troops. There are only a few minor rivers in the area unlike the Bzura catchment to the east I've already discussed - the Bzura itself does loop just off the east of the above map and the Ner flows in the northeast corner (hexes 7115, 7015).

Although many of the Soviet APCs and IFVs (eg the BDRM, BTR and BMP series of vehicles) are amphibious, the majority of the troops, horses and common "soft-skinned" vehicles and trailers (except for the MAV jeep, PTS-M carrier and MT-LB tracked prime mover) are not so capable, making the two rivers a significant obstacle to any large troop movement and the small number of bridges critical strategic points.

In Escape from Kalisz, the road bridge at Uniejow is noted to be destroyed and originally guarded by troops from the 20th Tank Division now wintering in Lodz. It's unlikely to have been rebuilt and although there are a footbridge and a couple of minor road bridges in the nearby area these are unsuitable for troop movement let alone heavy vehicles. The small town of Warta has a bridge for the two-lane provincial road as it crosses to the south of Lake Jezorko, but this is only suitable for light traffic and I'd suggest it has been destroyed during the July fighting or by the 124th MRD's troops as they withdrew from the area around Sieradz. 

It's really Sieradz therefore that is the main crossing point (see below) - there is another set of secondary crossings near Wielun to the south, one of which to the northeast likely at Osjakow on the Wielun-Piotrkow road the engineers of the 21st MRD are noted to trying to repair. To me this suggests that all the other minor bridges in the area have been destroyed, although none of them look more than 2-lanes or capable of supporting more than light vehicles.

Sieradz Town Detail 
(Wikimapia excerpt) 

Sieradz, the Key to the Warta

As the town has not only the rail bridge over the Warta to the north but also the provincial road bridge from Zdunska Wola to the east, with another bridge for the broad S8 motorway from Lodz to Wroclaw that bypasses to the south, it's easily the most important point for controlling passage across the Warta and a key strategic location up for contest.

This town was the main rallying point of the 124th MRD following their crushing defeat by the 1st Brigade of the US 5th Division along the Kalisz-Sieradz Road in July. The 124th has since moved on to Piotrkow, leaving the two immobilised T-80 tanks and some very disgruntled townsfolk, including a militia of about 100 men who refused to join Major Bologov's exodus to their southern winter encampment at Piotrkow off the map to the southeast. As the 124th MRD moved out, it's likely that the 21st MRD will have moved a detachment in to control such an important strategic crossing even though their relationship with the locals will be tense as when the unit originally passed through they seized most of the town's food.

Although the two immobilised T-80s from the 124th will have had their ammo and machine-guns removed by the departing troops, for the 21st the western placement of the tanks makes little sense by this time of the year. The engineers have therefore removed the turrets using a "Beglianka" BREM-L (BMP-3 based recovery vehicle with a 5-ton capacity crane) and emplaced them to the east as TOTs in the loop of the Warta at Staromiejski Park near the footbridge, to cover the road to Lodz that runs along the Adam Mickiewicz park.  The northern emplacement can cover the rail bridge with some difficulty (less than 1km with their 450m base range 125mm guns ie medium range) but the sentries will not be expecting anything other than light civilian rail cars even though the 21st likely has access to various "hi-rail" road-rail vehicles such as converted BTR-80s and trucks to control access to the line and trade with or demand tribute from nearby communities (see below).

From a defense perspective, given the nearby encampments across the Warta of the remnant 20th Tank Division in Lodz and the 124th MRD in Piotrkow to the southeast, I'd expect the main road bridge to be guarded and rigged with explosives on the western end as it crosses the Warta, perhaps with lighter emplacements and mobile "Fahrpanzer-style" portable guns using either lighter "tank" turrets armed with autocannons and heavy machineguns salvaged from BMPs, BTRs or similar.

In accordance with standard military doctrine, the easy route across the raised 4-lane S8 motorway bridge will be lightly guarded at an advance post at the turnpike to the provincial road on the eastern side but heavily mined and rigged to explode to prevent passage of significant armor into the 21st zone of influence. 

Proposal: the Dominance of the 21st Motorized Rifle Division

Note: Wayne and I have had a discussion over on the MeWe "Twilight 2000" group about the likely dominant force in the Kalisz area and he prefers the Polish 10th Tank to be dominant for specific campaign reasons related to his group. I'd argue however that the setup around Sieradz still makes sense for a detachment of the 21st MRD to be in control as it's such a critical crossing point on the border of the major cantonments in the area. Even if a group decides to bypass the Kalisz area and turn north from near Zdunska Wola, an encounter at Sieradz seems inevitable. 

To me the lay of the land and recent positions and strengths makes Major General Rubachenko's 21st MRD likely to be the dominant force west of the Warta, being not only the largest troop collection (twice the size of the 20th Tank Division remnant based in Lodz, larger than the mostly tank less Polish 10th Tank Division) but also more familiar with the whole area, roads and the local communities despite being non-Polish. By utilising the existing rail network, they could create an efficient transport backbone to range far and wide for food, supplies and other trade goods from the communities across the local area while minimising fuel expenditure.

It's noted in the original Escape from Kalisz adventure that the 21st MRD had hospitals, supply dumps and even a battalion of engineers in the relatively calmer southern areas of the battlefield which to me suggests they have maintained a greater level of organisation and support structure than the other units.

In particular, the engineers (65 men) were noted to be attempting to restore the bridge between Wielun and Piotrkow and have access to heavy equipment suggesting that the unit has ready access to recovery vehicles such as BREM recovery vehicle variant BTR and BMP based vehicles with cranes. They may even have access to a heavier T-64, T-72 or T-80 based BREM-64, BREM-1 or BREM-80U vehicle to allow salvaging actual Soviet main battle tanks or have captured a still operational and invaluable M88A2 Hercules from the 5th Division rear echelon making them capable of recovering US M1 series tanks.

It's this specifically mentioned group of engineers and their equipment that to me would be the key for providing the 21st with the tools and weapons needed to dominate the area through salvaging not only their own vehicles and converting them to run on rails as "hi-rail" variants but also the ability to access all the US equipment ruined and/or abandoned in the defeat of the 5th Division.

Even without access to the depot southeast of Zdunska Wola, the 21st would have plenty of access to rolling stock, cranes and conversion equipment from it's base at Ostrow given the town's extensive rail depot (see Wikimapia detail). Combined with it's engineering capabilities, it should be able to use the railway from Ostrow through to Sieradz for efficient transport and capitalize on the abandoned military equipment in the ruins and along the Kalisz-Sieradz Road which runs close to the track for much of it's length.

If anyone other than the player's group is likely to have a functional "train" (even if it's just a convoy of rail cars with converted BTR-80 "hi-rail" vehicles at either end and flat car mounted older tanks such as T-64s) it's likely to be the 21st MRD given their support capabilities and relatively intact organisational structure - imagine the group's surprise at facing off against another armoured and armed train heading in the opposite direction to them...

This is the first post about the Kalisz area - looking into this has produced some really interesting ideas I'd like to explore properly in greater detail but I wanted to get something out there for enjoyment and feedback as it's been a while since my last significant post.