11th-14th September
On the 11th, units of the 14th Army reached and crossed the San River and began driving towards Brest-Litovsk. The battle for the Bzura pocket began to heat up, and the fog of war meant that German headquarters did not know if the bulk of the Polish forces had been trapped.

On the 12th tanks from the 10th Army were wheeled north to form another block along the Bzura, west of Warsaw. This battle was the most bitter of the campaign. However the forces were so unbalanced that the only possible outcome was defeat for the Poles. Even though they fought gallantly, they were fighting in reverse against a tactically superior enemy. The Poles were attacked on both north and south and only a small number of Poles manaaged to break through to join the garrison at Warsaw, where they found themselves cut off again.

On the 13th German troops crossed the Vistula south of Warsaw. The Luftwaffe again launched attacks on Warsaw. Increased guerilla activity meant that German High Command threatened annihilation to towns supporting guerillas.

On the 14th Poland's only port, Gydnia, was captured and German Panzers took Brest-Litovsk, which left only the capital Warsaw as the only bastion of Polish resistance.

15th-21st September
By now, Warsaw was surrounded and besieged and Army Group South troops had captured oil fields on the Rumanian border.

On the 16th, the Polish air force made its final attack on the invaders. The survivors of this attack then fled into Rumania. At the same time, German troops issued an ultimatum to Warsaw: surrender or be destroyed. The garrison which was supported by 100 000 civilians chose to fight on.

On the 17th, the outer ring of the double pincer was completed when Army Group North and Army Group South meet at Wlodawa. Only a small fraction of the Polish army could have hoped to escape from the German encirclement, but even this hope was dashed when the Soviets sent the Red Army in from the east to collect their spoils from the Russo-German Pact.

The Red Army advanced on two fronts north and south of the impassable Pripet marshes and met neglible opposition. At the same time, the Polish government, which had already switched location five times fleed from Kuty into Rumania.

On the 19th, the Polish army in the Bzura pocket was finally defeated with the loss of 100 000 men taken prisoner. Further south, the German army surrounded Lvov.

21st-28th September
On the 21st, the Germans launched a massive artillery bombardment of Warsaw.

On the 22nd, the Soviets captured Lvov. In Brest-Litovsk, the Germans and Soviets mounted a joint victory parade.

On the 25th, a final ultimatum was issued to the defenders of Warsaw, backed up by attacks by 400 bombers. Polish resistance began to crumble.

On the 26th, the Wehrmacht launched an infantry assault on the city after heavy artillery bombardment.

By the 27th, the outer parts of the city were under German control and the Polish commander, sensing a lost cause, finally surrendered.

On the 28th, the ceasefire came into effect and Poland ceased to exist.

29th September - 6th October
After the German and Soviets divided Poland, a new international boundary ran from East Prussia, past Bialystok, Brest-Litovsk and Lwow as far as the Carpathians. The SS and SD parties had moved behind the victorious German Army, rounding up Jews, intelligencia and political and military leaders.

On the 1st of October, German troops occupied Warsaw and began disarming the defenders. The final Polish troops in Warsaw surrendered on the 3rd of October, a fortnight after the siege began.

On the 5th of October, Hitler flew into Warsaw and took the salute at a victory parade. The final Polish troops surrendered on the 6th and the campaign was over, a little more than a month after the campaign was launched.

With the rapid defeat of the Poles, Hitler was able to concentrate on other campaigns, but at the moment, Germany and the Soviet Union were on the same side. But it remained to be seen how long such bitter enemies could remain side by side.

Go further
To learn more about the campaign, click the following links: