Sabaton 40-1

The Battle of Wizna was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of Invasion of Poland. 720 Poles defended a fortified line for three days against more than 40,000 Germans.Their kill ratio was 40 to 1. Although defeat was inevitable, the Polish defence stalled the attacking forces for three days and postponed the encirclement of Independent Operational Group Narew fighting nearby.Eventually the tanks broke through the Polish line and eliminated all the bunkers one by one. The last bunker surrendered around midday on September 10.

Because the battle consisted of a small force holding a piece of fortified territory against a vastly larger invasion for three days at great cost before being annihilated, Wizna is sometimes referred to as Polish Thermopylae in Polish culture.One of the symbols of the battle is Captain Wladyslaw Raginis, the commanding officer of the Polish force, who swore to hold his position as long as he was alive. When the last two bunkers under his command ran out of ammunition, he ordered his men to surrender their arms and committed suicide.

Polish forces had:

6 pieces of artillery
24 heavy machine guns
18 machine guns
2 anti-tank guns

German forces had:

The XIX Panzer Corps
The 3rd Panzer Division
The 20th Motorised Division
The 10th Panzer Division
The “Lötzen” Fortress Brigade

42, 000 men
350 tanks
108 howitzers
58 pieces of artillery
195 anti-tank guns
108 mortars
188 grenade launchers
288 heavy machine guns
689 machine guns
Plus air force