Gathered from Zdunska Wola Cavalry unit on 24JUL00 eight days after the destruction of the 256th Brigade.

A map of the general area (see your typical atlas or road map).
Other papers identifying the unit as a detachment from the Polish 11th Border Guard Brigade.

The commander of the detachment is identified as Kapitan Grochawalski and the unit strength is 125 men, all cavalry. The detachments mission is to seek out and capture the remnants of the 5th US Infantry Division, specifically the 256th Brigade that was overrun on the 16th of July.

An intelligence report that had been issued by 5thID on 12JUN00 at 0545 hrs. This details the locations of enemy units throughout Poland and neigbouring regions. Unfortunately, this information is woefully outdated in light of recent events. (This document can be found on the Yahoo site.)

G2, 51D(M)
120100
120545 Jun 2000

ANNEX A (Enemy Dispositions) to INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE NO 142

References: Per para 1, Intel Est 142

1. Three major groupings of Warsaw Pact forces have been identified in Poland. These are, from north to south, Baltic Front, 1st Western Front, and 2nd Western Front. Together with Central Front in Czechoslovakia, these three fronts comprise the Western Strategic Direction (Western T.V.D.) of the Warsaw Pact, the headquarters of which is believed to be located in Lublin.

2. The recent offensive of German 3rd Army has caused considerable losses in the Baltic Front grouping, and thus the strengths listed can no longer be considered accurate.

3. While the front has been quiet in the areas of 1st and 2nd West Front, it is likely that some reserve formations have been detached from these groupings and have been shifted north to deal with the German Third Army breakthrough. Fuel shortages are likely to prevent the rapid completion of this redeployment.

4.The following abbreviations are used in this annex:
TD: Tank Division
GTD: Guards Tank Division
MRD: Motorised Rifle Division
GMRD: Guards Motorised Rifle Division
MarDiv: Marine Division
BGB: Border Guard Brigade
Unit identifications followed by (C) indicate units, which are assessed as having been converted entirely to horsed cavalry.

NORTHERN POLAND: Baltic Front HQ: Malbork
1st Polish Army, HQ: Gdynia
Pol. 2nd MRD(C) (500 men): Wicko
Pol. 3rd MRD(C) (2,000 men): Lebork
Pol. 9th MRD (3,000 men, 10 tanks): Koscierzyna
Pol. 12th MRD(C) (2,000 men): Starogard
Pol. 19th MRD(C) (500 men): Malbork
Pol. 3 BGB (500 men): Gdynia
Pol. 12th BGB (500 men): Dabrowka
2nd Polish Army, HQ: Pita
Pol. 1st MRD (4,000 men, 20 tanks): Pita
Pol. 7th MarDiv (500 men): Czarnkow
Pol. 13th MRD(C) (1,000 men): Jastrowie
Pol. 4th BGB(C) (400 men): Chodziez
Pol. 5th BGB (500 men): Wronki

WEST CENTRAL POLAND: 1st Western Front, HQ: Poznan
1st Soviet Guards Tank Army, HQ: Gorzow Wielkop
Sov. 9th GTD (4,000 men, 25 tanks): Swiecko
Sov. 11th GTD (500 men, 5 tanks): Sulechow
Sov. 25th TD (1,000 men, 5 tanks): Swiebodzin
Sov. 1st TD (3,000 men, 10 tanks): Rzepin
1st Polish Tank Army, HQ: Poznan
Pol. 5th TD (4,000 men, 35 tanks): Lwowek
Pol. 10th TD (2,000 men, 25 tanks): Steszew
Pol. 17th MRD(C) (3,000 men): Smigiel
Pol. 8th BGB (500 men): Poznan
Pol. 7th BGB (1,000 men): Kornik
8th Soviet Guards Army HQ: Gorlitz, Germany
Sov. 131st MRD (2,000 men, 15 tanks): Skwierzyna
Sov. 20th GMRD(C) (1,000 men): Miedyrzecz
Sov. 39th GMRD (3,000 men, 25 tanks): Kostrzyn

SOUTHWEST POLAND: 2nd West Front HQ: Legnica
2nd Soviet Guards Army, HQ: Gorlitz, Germany
Sov. 94th GMRD(C) (500 men): Swiebodzin
Sov. 21st GMRD (1,000 men, 5 tanks): Bautzen, Germany
Sov. 103rd MRD (4,000 men, 30 tanks): Cottbus, Germany
Sov. 117th MRD(C) (100 men): Gorlitz, Germany
Sov. 157th MRD (1,000 men, 5 tanks): Hoverswerda, Germany
20th Soviet Guards Army HQ: Gubin
Sov. 132nd MRD(C) (3,000 men): Peitz, Germany
Sov. 12th GMRD (4,000 men, 30 tanks): Gubin
3rd Soviet Shock Army HQ: Legnica
Sov. 12th GTD (2,000 men, 20 tanks): Legnica
Sov. 129th MRD (3,000 men, 5 tanks): Jelenia Gora
Sov. 127th MRD(C) (2,000 men): Glogow
Interior Forces:
Pol. 6th BGB (500 men): Lodz
Pol. 11th BGB(C) (500 men): Lublin

OTHER ARMED COMBATANT FORCES:

Polish 14th MRD: Last reported strength 2,000 men and 5 operational tanks. Commanding officer (Col. Julian Filipowicz) is believed to have refused orders to join forces moving against the allied concentration on the Baltic coast, and to have set up a semi-independent region in the vicinity of Gliwice. Agents attempting to open relations with him have not returned, and he must be assumed to be hostile to all parties to the war.

Polish 1st Free Legion (formerly 1st Border Guard Brigade): Last reported strength 600 men. Actively supports the Polish Government in exile, and has on occasion cooperated with DIA intelligence operations. Commanded by a former sergeant (S. I. Mastelarz). Radio contact recently lost with this unit. Believed to be operating in the area between Poznan and Glogow.

Polish 2nd Free Legion (formerly 10th Border Guard Brigade): Last reported strength 200 men. Commanded by Major M. K. Sikorski. Actively supports the Polish Government in exile and has engaged in extensive guerrilla attacks against Soviet troop convoys. Believed now to be operating in the area between Chojnice and Malbork.

Polish 8th Motorised Division: Last reported strength 2,000 men. Previously served as garrison of the city of Krakow. When Krakow declared itself a free city, the division apparently did not leave the city and is presumed to form the cadre of the city's defensive force, which the former division commander, Major General Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko, may now be commanding.

Soviet 10th Guards Tank division: Last reported strength 1,000 men and six operational tanks. Unit has nominally defected, but current attitude of unit and exact nature of command structure not known. There have been reports of contacts between senior officers of the unit and the CIA. Believed to be in the vicinity of Warsaw.

Soviet 6th Guards Motorised Rifle Division: Last reported strength 2,000 men and 10 operational tanks. Commanding officer Colonel Ya. N. Chekanov. An outstanding combat unit, three months ago the unit withdrew from the lines in the area between Frankfurt and Gorlitz, apparently without orders, and has not answered numerous radio communications from Warsaw Pact command. Current location and disposition unknown.

Soviet 9th Tank Division: Last reported strength 2,000 men. Unit mutinied in September of 1999 and later disintegrated into smaller bands of armed marauders, now believed to infest the area between Lodz and Czestochowa.

Soviet 207th Motorised Rifle Division: Last reported strength 600 men. Attached to Polish 1st Army but sustained serious losses in the attacks by German 3rd Army. Believed to have disintegrated, and bands of deserters may now infest the area between Pila and Bydgoszcz, the last reported position of the division.

Sov 22nd Cavalry Army at Torun last in Byelorussia – Location believed to be in the Torun Area
Sov 89th Cavalry Division last been identified as being deep in Byelorussia – location unknown
Sov 96th Cavalry Division – last encountered at Krosniewice
Sov 43rd Cavalry Division – Location unknown
Pol 8th Border Guard Brigade location unknown

Sov 4th Guards Tank Army
Sov 21st Motorised Rifle Division - Kalisz
Sov 20th Tank Division last reported in Ukraine – last encountered by 1st brigade in the Ozorkow / Uniejow area.
Sov 124th Motorised Rifle Division – on the road between Kalisz and Sieradz
Pol 10th Tank Division - Kalisz
Pol 6th Border Guard Brigade – Zgierz
Pol 11th Border Guard Brigade formerly at Lublin – now Zdunska Wola / Lask

Sov 3rd Shock Army
Sov 12th Guards Tank Division had been in reserve near Legnica – location unknown
Sov 127th Cavalry Division – location unknown
Sov 129th Motorised Rifle Division – location unknown

The town has been badly damaged by the recent fighting and many of the townspeople have fled. Many Soviet and Polish soldiers passed through the town heading west after the 256th Brigade (which most of you were a part of) was destroyed and it is presently home to Polish cavalry troops. Further questions lead you to believe that the headquarters of the Polish 11th Border Guard Brigade are located in the town.
Emplaced in the town square are several big guns, most probably artillery in the 105 to 125mm range. All the soldiers are armed with AK's and they have some machinguns and RPG's. No armoured vehicles have been observed to be with the Polish unit. In fact, it appears that they are totally horse mobile with all their stores carried by pack animals and on wagons.
Relations between the soldiers and townspeople are very bad (one of the reasons these people are in the woods and not the relative comfort and safety of their homes). The soldiers see the townsfolk as traitors as some assistance was given to the US troops when they were there.
It is a little doubtful as to how useful this information is as nobody in the group of refugees has been back to town in a week or so.
The polish refugees clearly stated that they saw no vehicles with the Polish troops although many vehicles went through town heading west after the 256th was crushed.
Everything from motorcycles to T-90's rolled through and the smell of burning diesel and gasoline filled the air.

From a prewar population of roughly half a million, Krakow is a shadow of it's former self with just eighty thousand remaining. Even so, it's likely that it's the largest concentration of people within hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres.

The city is garrisoned by the remnants of the 8th Polish Motorised Rifle Division, which has expanded it's numbers by the incorporation of milita forces. It is estimated that active forces number at least several thousand with at least that number again available as part time reserves.

Outside the central city walls, lawlessness is common. However, outside the city defensive perimeter are crowds of desperate, starving refugees, willing to attack even armoured vehicles with little more than rocks, sticks and their bare hands in an effort to find food. A number of these refugees were crushed with more shot as the BTR-80 approached the outermost defensive belt.

Between the outer wire, minefields, machineguns, tanks, and pre-registered artillery (aka killing fields), and the innner walls around the old city known as Srodmiescie the area is regularly patrolled by the military but ruled it seems by gangs. Life in this zone is dangerous, and often short unless exhorbitant bribes are paid into the various protection rackets. Homes usually resemble small fortressses unless within the protection of a gang or part of a defense cooperative.

Anyone in this area is left by the city government to fend for themselves. No food, services, or even rights are provided to residents.

Srodmiescie by comparision is close to heaven. Those lucky enough to live within the walls enjoy all the trappings of civilisation - basic food and clothing supplied by the government through a voucher system, a working (although arguably corrupt) police system, rationed electricity, garbage collection, running water and sewerage (at least twice a week), and relatively safe streets (even at night) with only three or four murders per day.