Chapter 155 The Battle of Poland (18)

Thirty hours into the attack on Poland, a British envoy arrived, delivering the ultimatum of the British Empire.

"The British Empire demands that Germany provides a guarantee of ceasefire within 2 hours, otherwise, Britain and Germany will be in a state of war!" The envoy read out this concise "ultimatum", nodded politely to the audience, and left.

Wilhelm sneered disdainfully. "These self-righteous guys think the world still revolves around them. Acting so sluggish – is this the efficiency of a teapot-like country? If I were the King of England, I would have declared war immediately at the onset of the attack."

At that moment, a senior staff hurriedly approached. "Your Highness, the 141 Special Forces have captured General Władysław Bortnowski, commander of the Pomorze Army Group, and successfully persuaded him to surrender. His two infantry divisions, one cavalry brigade, and some local garrison forces have also surrendered."

"What?!" General von Rundstedt was astonished. He quickly checked the map to locate the headquarters of General Władysław Bortnowski and realized that with this surrender, the entire Danzig region was back in the embrace of Germany. "Which unit does this 141 Special Forces belong to?"

A triumphant smile appeared on Wilhelm's face. "General von Rundstedt, this 141 Special Forces does not belong to the regular army. They are part of the KSK special forces, specifically tasked with 'decapitation operations'."

"Decapitation operation?" Seeing General von Rundstedt's somewhat puzzled expression, Wilhelm explained the concept to him with enthusiasm. "General, you know that in warfare, the enemy as a large system usually consists of five components: the 'command and control ring', or the command system; the 'organic necessities ring', such as electricity and related industries, as well as ammunition, food, etc.; the 'basic infrastructure ring', including transportation routes and other infrastructure; the 'individual population ring', meaning the people; and the 'field forces ring', consisting of units protecting internal links and attacking enemy system components.

Treating the human brain as the first ring, the strategic center of humans is the brain, which is irreplaceable. Without the brain, eyes, ears, and nervous system, even with a complete body, one can only be a vegetable. Such a vegetable will no longer be able to act strategically, as the brain is responsible for integrating and directing the human body's organs and nervous network. It is equivalent to the enemy's command structure, and by destroying it, the entire enemy system will cease to function."

In fact, the origin of "decapitation operations" dates back to ancient China, with related military strategies such as "shoot the horse first, then shoot the enemy" and "directly attack the Yellow Dragon", among others. The famous Jing Ke's assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang can also be considered a typical decapitation operation, although unsuccessful.

The modern "decapitation operations patent" is credited to Russia. During the Second Chechen War, Russia adopted "decapitation tactics" by cutting off the head of the Chechen leadership, Dudayev, quickly achieving victory in the war and quelling the long-standing Chechen rebellion. The Russian military used a data link to connect military satellites, early warning aircrafts, fighter jets, ground information control centers, and ground command posts organically, achieving information sharing. From target discovery to target killing, it took only a few minutes, creating a perfect and beautiful informationized "decapitation war".

General von Rundstedt nodded in realization. "Your Highness is wise."

However, Wilhelm did not expect their luck to be so good, capturing a general.

Two hours earlier.

"The Brześć River bridge has been occupied? Oh, dear God!" Colonel Anders, the retreating elite cavalry brigade commander, brought the news of the fall of the Brześć River bridge to General Władysław Bortnowski, commander of the Pomorze Army Group.

Upon hearing this dreadful news, General Bortnowski nearly fainted.

Poland was on the brink of downfall again? (Why "again"? Because Poland had experienced three partitions in its history.)

An ominous premonition arose in everyone's hearts.

"Let's retreat to the Vistula River line.", the general's adjutant suggested in despair. "There, we might hold out for a few more days."

"No, it's impossible!" Colonel Anders shook his head in despair, pointing to the sky. "The German planes won't let us escape!" He had a deep understanding of this, having experienced it firsthand. "And not just planes, their tanks and armored vehicles won't let us escape either!"

Given the current situation, unless a miracle happened, they were doomed. Then it would be the Pomorze Group, followed by the Poznań Army Group and the Modlin Army Group...

Finally, it would be the entire Poland!

Just when this group of people was about to fall into despair due to Colonel Anders, the "walking negative energy", General Bortnowski received a call from Marshal Śmigły, the highest commander of the Polish forces. The marshal first berated him for the negligence that led to the loss of the Brześć River bridge, then issued a stern order for him to recapture the bridge at all costs, or face a military tribunal.

"..." When General Bortnowski conveyed the marshal's order to others, the headquarters erupted in chaos.

"He formulated the 'Western Plan', and now that it's on the verge of failure, he's blaming us?!"

"This is shameless!"

"General, this is basically sending us to our deaths! The German armored units have undoubtedly crossed the Brześć River bridge by now. How can we possibly retake that bridge?" Colonel Anders' reaction was the most intense. He simply didn't want to face the terrifying Germans again. If possible, he would strip off his military uniform and run all the way back home, shivering under a blanket on his bed!

"Nephew, didn't you have conflicts with this Śmigły before? He clearly wants to get rid of you with this opportunity!" In his desperation, he spilled the beans about the relationship between him and General Bortnowski. However, in the headquarters, most were the general's trusted aides, and no one cared.

Just like his performance on the battlefield, this guy was not cut out for being a soldier. With his abilities, he probably couldn't even handle the role of a platoon leader! The fact that he became the commander of an elite cavalry brigade was all thanks to his mother being General Bortnowski's real sister.

However, this esteemed general knew the kind of person his nephew was, so he personally assigned a deputy brigade commander and chief of staff to him. Normally, for important affairs in the brigade, it was these two who made decisions, and Colonel Anders rarely had the chance to speak up.

It was impossible for the airstrikes to kill everyone. If the deputy brigade commander or the chief of staff survived, they would surely organize the remaining soldiers, even if they couldn't counterattack the German forces on the spot, they could at least fight a delaying action and defend the Brześć River bridge. Unfortunately, the deputy brigade commander and the chief of staff were extremely unlucky and died in the German's intense bombing. As for this brigade commander, he managed to escape, leaving the leaderless Polish army to surrender obediently.

Just when the headquarters was filled with complaints, a guard rushed in hurriedly, reporting loudly, "Commander, a German envoy has arrived outside, requesting to see you."

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