1933/02/11
00 h 20 — Germany severs Diplomatic relations ; couriers depart under Swiss flag.
11 h 00 — Polish Mobilisation order No. 5 promulgated , calling Classes 1924 - 1928 ; approx. 311 000 men to colours inside 72 hrs.
1933/02/12
Rail chaos : West-bound Civilian traffic halted Nation-wide in CwPn&U ;
East-bound refugee trickle begins. Danube Express re-routed via czernowitz to avoid Silesian track.
1933/02/13
02 h 05 — Ober-kommando des heeres issues Operations-befehl " Valentine ", zero-hour 02/14 06 h 00.
Polish SIGINT catches fragments but not the hour.
1933/02/13
16 h 45 — Bomb ( 6 kg amatol , barometric trigger ) detonates in Warsaw Central telegraph.
17 dead , 61 wounded , traffic re-routed via Łódź.
Warsaw radio pins the attack on " Reich agents ". Berlin wordlessly points at LBSO.
1933/02/14
00 h 00
Both General staffs enter the day pretending diplomacy still has 24 hours left.
Berlin's Tele-printer network pushes Directive K.V.-98 to corps depots :
" no Additional leave to be granted until Further notice. ". The night-shift lieutenant in königsberg initials the receipt , goes back to His cigarette. Warsaw's Border Intelligence Section logs 4 Zeppelin echoes over the Baltic but files It under " Routine training ".
01 h 00
Polish Signals battalion 3/7 begins Over-night Line checks along the Kościuszko Wire belt.
At node K–5 C the Line-man notes a Suspicious Voltage drop ( German sappers already grounding the fence on Their side ). He chalks it up to frost , swears a little , and tightens the clamp.
02 h 00
Reich Rail ( DR–G ) confirms 72 Artillery trains have cleared Breslau Marshalling yard since Mid-night.
Paper-work is stamped " fertiliser " for Plausible deniability.
In Warsaw , Ministry of supply's Night analyst files memo Pi–52 : " Observed Nitrate deficit now 182 Thousand tonnes ; recommend Rationing talk. ". The reply line is blank — everyone Higher up is asleep or drinking.
03 h 00
Petrograd Western Military District Duty officer receives an encrypted " Situation normal " ping from Brest wire. He marks the Ticker tape , pours more Weak tea , and wonders why the Poles still think the line is secure.
04 h 00
A German Feldpolizei patrol from Post R–42 drags away — quietly — 3 boundary stones on the Cieszyn salient , nudging Them East-ward by 1.7 metres.
Photography for tomorrow's Oress kit , Head-line pre-written: " Polish Aggression Foiled. ".
05 h 00
Final orders go out via Flüsterton Phone net : Artillery synchronisation set for 06 h 00 ± 30 s.
Oberst von Haynau signs off the Fire-plan , mutters that He'd rather be buying roses , pockets the Cipher pad.
06 h 00
4 batteries of 15 cm sFH 13 ( ArtReg 46 ) loft the ranging salvo at Polish Blockhouse K–5.
Shells land 06 h 00 m 21 s.
Local Polish commander radios " 100 procent trafienia " with gallows humour.
2 minutes later Field hospital triage log already lists 9 dead , 17 wounded.
The war is now kinetic whether the chancellories like It or not.
07 h 00
Luftflotte Süd's Ju-95s cross the frontier in 3 waves.
At 07 h 12 the Polish Sejm , convened in emergency session , votes 482 : 0 to recognise a state of war.
1 abstention — Deputy Żuławski — is in the lavatory vomiting from shock , making His the Shortest political career of the decade.
08 h 00
CwPn&U Telegraph office issues " Notice to Correspondents No. 1 ":
all Out-bound cables subject to Military censor. Reuters' Warsaw desk shelves 1500 words of copy & books a car to vilnius. Berlin's Börsen-Zeitung clears a one-word headline for the afternoon edition : " KRIEG ".
09 h 00
Petrograd flips the Brest Protocol switch : Western Military District Mobilisation Order Alpha.
2 rifle corps ( approx. 36 000 troops , 144 field guns ) receive Rail Movement tables.
At the same minute in berlin , the cabinet decides to pretend this is still a " border chastisement ", not " war ", for insurance reasons.
10 h 00
Polish Armoured train " Sława " rolls out of Tarnowskie Góry with 1 × 100 mm Skoda gun ,
6 × Heavy Machine guns , 2 Flat-cars of Amour-plate improvised from Locomotive casings.
11 h 00
German XI Korps storms Twin villages Rogów-Mszana ; Polish 4th Frontier battalion falls back after 41 minutes. In berlin , Foreign office tries - & fails - to Tele-phone bern to hand swiss a declaration of hostilities wording.
12 h 00
Ju-95 flight " Valentin Zwei " finally finds It's primary : Bielsko-Biała Marshalling yard.
Bomb No. 3 bears the chalk scrawl " LOVE " and tweets out of the bay at 12 h 08.
Detonates 12 h 09 , cut-off rise of 20 m Debris plume , 37n wagons shredded.
Nitrates ignite to produce a Pink-orange cloud.
13 h 00
Polish 6th Artillery regiment opens Counter-battery with 12 × 105 mm Creusot pieces.
Locates German Flash positions in 7 min 30 s , overshoots by 180 metres.
Casualties : 2 cows , one farm-house attic.
14 h 00
Reich rail issues order Anlage D : Priority Track rights for Troop transports over Ore trains.
Upper Silesian Steel magnates scream about Furnace starvation ; War office shrugs , tells Them :
" Petition next Tuesday if You're still solvent. ".
15 h 00
Baltic union Coastal Defence squadron raises steam at tallinn " for Neutrality patrol ".
Stockholm Press office releases a Soporific communiqué affirming " Strict impartiality ",
then Quietly axes Shore leave for 3 000 sailors.
16 h 00
Lwów Nitrate silos ignite after a Stray Polish AA Burst dumps Hot shrapnel.
6 200 tonnes go up.
Insurance Under-writers in london decide It's " beer-o’clock " and add a Fresh 1.2 % War-risk Sur-charge.
17 h 00
Warsaw Central Tele-graph , running on By-pass cables from Łódź , pushes bulletin
" Enemy casualties heavy "; Nobody Out-side poland believes It , but It makes Decent Head-line filler in paris. Berlin radio counters with Studio-made footage of captured Polish P.O.W.s ;
the extras are actually Bavarian reservists scrubbed for camera.
18 h 00
Dusk. German Pioniere throw pontoon spans across the Brynica ; 8 boats drift off because Some-body mis-read current velocity tables cribbed from a 1916 atlas.
One pontoon beaches 60 metres Down-stream in front of a Polish Pill-box ; crew captured after a single burst of Maxim fire. They later claim They thought " The war games weren't live. ".
19 h 00
Kościuszko Line Sector K-7 Field Phone grid collapses under Shell-fire.
Polish Signal sergeant ducks , decides pigeons are quicker , releases 12 birds with Micro-scrolls.
20 h 00
City of Łódź dims Street-lights ; Black-out regulations finally published.
Citizens compliant except the Murnau Cinema which keeps the projector running through Air-raid siren.
Ticket sales triple — war is good for noir.
21 h 00
Petrograd Station-masters receive Amended Troop-train schedule :
T-4526 & T-4527 to detour via vitebsk because minsk yards are jammed with Frozen Cabbage shipments.
23 h 00
Movement operations from the German 1st Mountain Artillery battery are disrupted due to Mechanical failure. The unit , assigned to support the 3rd Gebirgsjäger Brigade's push into the Żywiec sector ( Southern flank of the Kościuszko Line ), experiences axle failure on 3 of It's 75 mm Skoda field pieces during Over-night redeployment. The affected convoy is halted approximately 9 km west of Korbielów , on the approach slope to the Żywiec Pass.
Initial Field reports attribute the failure to Sub-zero temperature conditions &
Pre-war wear on fittings not rated for Mountain Terrain transport.
A Recovery team is scheduled to attempt retrieval at First light , though Higher command has not confirmed if Air cover or Engineer support will be allocated. No Enemy contact is reported in the sector at This time , though Reconnaissance patrols to the South-east are operating at Reduced capacity due to Snow-pack & Limited visibility.
24 h 00
By Mid-night , Initial combat assessments from both the Polish & German High commands are collated and transmitted to political leadership for overnight review.
German Forces report :
Casualties ( confirmed ) : approx. 890 killed , 1 900 wounded , 56 unaccounted for or M.i.A..
Material losses include Minor logistical disruption due to delayed Rail supply to Forward positions near Rybnik & Racibórz.
Tactical status : Silesian sector advances proceeding according to Adjusted timeline ; Air Support integration rated " moderate ".
Polish Forces report :
Casualties ( confirmed ) : approx. 1 200 killed , 2 300 wounded , 210 unaccounted for or M.i.A..
Rail & Tele-graph infrastructure around Bielsko-Biała Heavily damaged ; Nitrate silos in Lwów & Kotomyja confirmed destroyed.
Civilian displacement in warsaw is reported but not yet quantified. Border Rail-way hubs experiencing Over-flow & delay.
Total Nitrate tonnage confirmed as destroyed or inaccessible due to Combat action exceeds 18 000 tonnes , primarily in the Kościuszko Line Hinter-land. Strategic reserves are being reevaluated in warsaw.
No formal declaration of war has yet been issued from Berlin ,
though Operational language in Internal German Army Group orders classifies the engagement as a " General Frontier stabilization ".
Warsaw has formally entered War-time Legal status as per Sejm resolution 482 : 0 , issued at 07 h 12.
International observers stationed in neutral capitals ( notably Bern & Stockholm ) begin compiling Preliminary dossiers for Humanitarian Relief coordination.
The war has been active for 18 hours. Command and logistics chains on both sides remain intact , though under strain.
Frontline command posts report stable morale , with Notable fatigue in Second-line Transport regiments.
Defensive artillery exchanges persist through the night , though reduced in frequency after 23 h 30.
Air sorties will resume at First light.
---------------
MAJOR EVENTS :
Day 1.
First-day operations across Silesia:
German XI Korps seizes Rogów–Mszana;
Polish 6th Artillery Regt counter-batteries Bielszowice;
Bielsko–Biała Marshalling Yard destroyed by JU-95 “Valentin Zwei”;
Lvov nitrate silos ignite after stray AA shrapnel (16 h 00);
Kościuszko Line sector K-7 field-telephone grid collapses under shell-fire (19 h 00).
Day 2.
German XI Korps overruns Rogów–Mszana sector;
Bielsko–Biała Marshalling Yard bombed (12 h 08) destroying 37 nitrate wagons.
Polish 6th Artillery Regiment replies with counter-battery fire (13 h 00).
Reich Rail grants priority track rights to troop trains;
Upper Silesian steel magnates warned of furnace starvation.
Date : 19330228
German 1st Mountain Artillery convoy stalls west of Korbielów (axle failures in sub-zero pass).
Date : 19330301
German Army Group “Silesia” launches Operation “Riegel”—infantry-led attempt to prise open Katowice salient. Gains 7 km; stalls under Polish 8th & 9th Reserve Div. fire.
SCU Admiralty issues “Northern Patrol Notice A/17”: armed trawlers begin sweep for German minelayers between Dogger Bank and Helgoland Bight.
Bucharest Cabinet debates “National Union with Moldova” but postpones action pending German outcome in Silesia.
MAJOR EVENTS :
Date : 19330313
Paris approves 50 000 t of ammonium nitrate sale to Warsaw via Russia; goods disguised as “agricultural fertiliser.”
Date : 19330314
Polish counter-strike at Tarnowskie Góry retakes lost Brynica crossings;
first sustained armoured-train duel recorded (trains Sława vs. Deutschland).
Date : 19330320
Russian Western Front HQ completes rail concentration of XII & XIII Rifle Corps at Lutsk;
ready to relieve Polish sectors no later than 01 Apr.
Date : 19330326
German Luft-flotte Süd conducts 48-sortie interdiction raid against Lublin–Brody rail corridor;
destroys 22 locomotives but loses 11 Ju-95s to Polish 75 mm AA.
Date : 19330331
First evidence of shell shortage reported by German 14th Reserve Corps
(21 rounds/barrel/day vs. authorised 40).
Date : 19330402
Russian 3rd Cavalry Corps conducts probing raid across White russia flank, capturing Elk.
German command officially recognises Russia as co-belligerent.
Foreign Exchange Board in Berlin institutes compulsory gold capture for export invoices to fund munitions import.
Romanian 4th Army fires across Galati ; Romanian–Moldovan Unification War officially begins. Moldovan forces (~ 22 000) withdraw to Iași line.
Date : 19330407
Moldovian 3ʳᵈ Reg. captures Vilkovo.
Date : 19330408
Combined Polish–Russian artillery group pounds German bridgeheads at Myslowitz;
64 German guns silenced.
Budapest declares nationwide state of siege; opposition deputies form “Slovak Defence Council” in Košice.
Date : 19330414
Baltic Union minelayers lay defensive field at Gulf of Danzig mouth to deter
German light cruisers. Swedish Government lodges protest but declines military action.
Date : 19330416
Two German torpedo-boats sunk attempting sweep.
Date : 19330420
Romanian offensive for moldovia starts.
Date : 19330421
German Sturmpanzer battalion debuts heavy SP-gun “Bär” at Ruda Śląska;
penetrates Polish bunker line but abandoned in 04/24 for lack of fuel.
Date : 19330426
Tyrrhenian Federation issues 48-h ultimatum to Venice to withdraw forces from
Gulf of Trieste “neutral waters.”
Date : 19330428
Varna (Danube Principality) grants Germany emergency transit rights for oil rail-tanks via
Vidin–Timisoara corridor in exchange for artillery pieces.
Date : 19330430
Polish General Staff deems Kościuszko Line “tactically secure” for first time since February;
authorises limited thrust toward Gliwice in May.
Date : 19330501
Reich Air Ministry shifts 40 % of Ju-95 production to tactical reconnaissance frames
to compensate for artillery ammunition rationing.
Date : 19330502
Venice rejects Tyrrhenian ultimatum.
Date : 19330506
Polish 3rd Army opens Gliwice Offensive.
Date : 19330507
Polish 3rd Army captures Toszek rail knot forcing
German 21st Division back across Kłodnica.
Date : 19330512
Tyrrhenian cruiser squadron shells Chioggia fuel depot, inaugurating Adriatic Front.
Date : 19330513
Brussels Clearing Union authorises partial unfreezing of nitrate futures only for
Reich-guaranteed deliveries from Danube oil zone.