Situation No. 1, 05.00 hrs, 20/4 (Outline 3)

At 03.00 hrs, 20/4, the "Western" forces carried out a massive nuclear strike against the territories of the Warsaw Treaty states by using missiles, aircraft, and submarines. Following the nuclear strikes, the enemy launched offensive operations by airborne and naval forces in the western theater of operations. The airborne troops of the enemy achieved the greatest success in the operational area of Army Group "Center." The forces of Army Group "North," attacking in the operational area of the Maritime Army Group of the "Eastern," forces, on whose left flank Polish divisions waged stubborn resistance, did not achieve a notable success.

In response to the aggression, at 03.00 hrs, 20/4, the "Eastern" forces carried out a massive retaliatory strike in accordance with the general plan of the Supreme Command of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty. During the strike, directed against the European NATO countries located in the western theater of operations as well as against the territory of the United States, 276 nuclear missiles of over 188 megatons magnitude were launched, of which 190 of 8,290 kilotons magnitute were directed against the FRG, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, and 86 of 180 megatons magnitude against the United States.

At the same time, the "Eastern" side introduced additional forces into the zone of combat. The second echelon of Soviet forces was moved into the territory of Poland. By 05.00 hrs, 20/2, the first echelon of Soviet forces had been regrouped to the western bank of the Oder river.

The overall situation in the country was as follows.

During the massive nuclear strike, despite intensive air defense which made the enemy lose 90 aircraft and about 40 missiles, the enemy succeeded in carrying out 55 nuclear strikes of 2,150 kiloton magnitude on the territory of Poland. As a result of the strikes, the air defense forces lost three batallions of missile artillery, 9 batteries of anti-aircraft barrel artillery, and 3 radio location posts. In addition, 42 aircraft were destroyed and many airfields were damaged in the course of the air war. Despite these losses, the country's system of air defense remained operational.

The enemy nuclear strikes took place mainly around Szczecin, Gdansk and Warsaw and in three main areas: the Polish-Soviet border, where 8 ground explosions of 500 kiloton magnitude were directed against transhipment points, and along the Vistula and Oder rivers, where 47 midair explosions of 1,650 kiloton magnitude were directed against communications, industrial, and military targets.

The ground and low midair explosions released by the enemy caused radioactive contamination of about 70 per cent of the nation's territory, mainly northwetsren and eastern parts of Poland. The damage exceeded the acceptable norms on about 50 per cent of the territory . . . .

At the same time, the "Western" side landed 28 commandos, totalling more than 270 persons, for special operations.

The massive nuclear strike caused considerable losses in the country, both among the population and in the economy. About half a million civilians were killed, and more than a million were wounded or incapacitated. Losses of medical equipment and personnel amounted to 3 per cent of the total medical and paramedical personnel, 6 per cent of emergency squads, and about 15 per cent of the supply of medicines and 15 per cent of hospital beds.

As far as means of communication were concerned, destroyed were over 7,000 railroad cars, 130 locomotives, 10 railroad bridges and 15 highway bridges; 11 railroad and 5 highway bridges were damaged. Along the transit routes crossing the Vistula, 7 out of the 11 existing bridges were totally or partially destroyed; for the Oder, the figures were 5 out of 9. These losses resulted in about 50 per cent reduction in the raiload transportation capacity and about 30 per cent reduction of the automotive transporation.

Among industrial objects, 4 power stations were totally destroyed and 18 were seriously damaged, causing the loss of about 30 per cent of power supply. Such major industrial centers as Warsaw, Poznan, Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin, Stalowa Wola, and others were deprived of electricity.

Totally or partially destroyed were 80 heavy industry plants and 24 chemical plants, which, in view of the transportation bottlenecks and shortages of raw materials and power supply, caused a considerable production slowdown, estimated at 40-50 per cent of the national plan requirements.

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In the given situation, the main tasks of territorial defense consisted in the stabilization of the losses, resumption of the normal functioning of the administration and economy, protection of the population and material goods, restoration of the communication system, especially along the border transit routes across the Vistula and the Oder.

[ . . . ]

The main enemy commando groups were liquidated by regular forces in the areas where they had landed, and scattered groups in the neighboring areas were liquidated by forces of territorial defense. In addition, the forces of territorial defense were active in liquidating the effects of the nuclear strikes.

Situation no. 2 (Outline 4), 22.00 hrs, 21/4

On 20/4, the "Western" forces continued offensive operations, as a result of which by 22.00 hrs, 20/4, they broke deep into the territory of the GDR in the area of Wismar. At the same time, forces of Army Group Center broke through in the direction of Northausen and Erfurt in the depth of 60 km and in the direction of Pilsen and Prague in the depth of 90 km.

In support of their ground operations, the "Western" forces on 20/4 carried out 12 nuclear strikes of 280 kiloton magnitude against the ground forces of the "Eastern" side.

On 21/4 the advance by Army Group North, whose first echelons had suffered 30 per cent casualties, was stopped, and in some sectors the units of this group were forced to retreat to the territory of the FRG.

The forces of Army Group Center continued to meet with success, deepening their thrust into the territory of Czechoslovakia as far as 200 km. Because of the losses they had suffered, however, the rate of their advance began to diminish.

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In order to achieve its goals, the "Western" side accelerated the regrouping of troops from the European NATO countries in the direction of the front and landed fresh troops in the remaining ports as well as on the coasts of the FRG and northern France. At the same time, in the area of operations of Army Group North the enemy was able to intensify air operations from the North Sea against the forces of the Maritime Army Group and the Baltic Fleet of the "Eastern" side. In the area of operations of Army Group Center, at 19.30 hrs, 21/4, the "Western" side landed by air forces in the size of about a division in the area of Zawiercie and Wadowice with the goal of isolating Silesia from the east.

At the same time, the mobilization of reserves was proceeding in the [western] European NATO countries while Greece and Turkey declared general mobilization.

In the course of 20/4, "Eastern" forces conducted active defensive operations with the goal of stopping "Western" advance and launch a counter-offensive. For this purpose, second echelons of the Army Groups were dispatched to the battlefield.

After fresh forces arrived, the Maritime and Central Army Groups early on 21/4 went into offensive, as a result of which a breakthrough of 40 km into the depth of the FRG was achieved in the direction of Schwerin and Hamburg. The tactical aircraft of these army groups were moved to reserve airfields on the territory of the GDR.

The forces of the Northern Army Group continued intense combat with the attacking enemy forces. The arrival of the second echelon was delayed because of additional nuclear strikes by the "Western" side against mountain passages and passes.

"Eastern" submarine groups, operating in the Atlantic and North Sea, sank many transport vessels both in convoys coming from the United States and along the British coast.

On 20 and 21/4, the "Eastern" side carried out 61 nuclear missile strikes of 2,640 kiloton magnitude against the countries located in the western theater of operations and the United States. They were mainly directed against troops, missile, air, and naval bases, and communications centers. These strikes significantly reduced the "Western" capacity to influence developments on the ["Eastern"] domestic front.

The situation in the country was as follows. The "Western" side carried out additional 36 nuclear strikes of 1,030 kiloton magnitude against Polish territory. They were mainly directed against communications and the air defense system.

These strikes resulted in the radiocative contamination of further portions of the country, during which a different direction of the wind than the one prevailing at the time of the enemy's first massive nuclear strike resulted in a different impact of the radiocative substances. This brought about an increase of radioactivity in some of the areas of previous contamination and contamination of new areas. By the evening of 21/4, about 80 per cent of Poland was contaminated, of which about 32 per cent within the acceptable limits and 48 per cent 100 to 1000 times above the acceptable limits . . . . Contamination affected an area inhabited by about 20 million people.

The enemy landed additional 21 commandos to conduct special operations.

The enemy operations inflicted additional losses on the country, including an estimated 470,000 persons killed and over a million wounded and incapacitated. Considerable losses were suffered by the medical personnel and health services; another 100,000 hospital beds were destroyed.

Of the total of 407 industrial plants, 130 were destroyed, 32 completely. 7 power stations were destroyed and 1,650 km of high-voltage power lines, as well as 59 transformers and sub-stations, were damaged. Many areas of the country were deprived of electricity; the losses resulted in a 50 per cent decrease of power supply. As a result of these losses, disruption of the transport system and electric supply, as well as economic chaos, industrial production became severely restricted, by the end of 21/4 to an estimated 70 per cent.

Because of the radioactive contamination of most of the country and destruction of a considerable portion of its stockpiled food, very difficult situation developed in providing the population with food and water.

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Air defense forces continued to fight "Western" aviation. Engineer units were sent to build pontoon bridges across the Vistula and the Oder; by the end of 21/4, four Visula bridges had been built. Civil defense units, security forces and other militarized units were used to liquidate the consequences of the nuclear strikes in the most affected areas.

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Situation no. 3 (Outline 5), 20.00 hrs, 22/4

On 22/4, paralyzed by the impact of the nuclear weapons used against them by the "Eastern" side, the "Western" forces were compelled to retreat. During the day, they carried out additional 18 nuclear strikes of 600 kiloton magnitude against Polish territory, including 10 strikes against the Silesian industrial region with the goal of reducing the economic potential of the "Eastern" side.

In the central and northern areas, the "Western" offensive was crushed. Following the unsuccessful attempt at taking control of Silesia by airborne troops and unsuccessful operations of the ground forces in the area of the Moravian Gate, the forces of Army Group Center tried to organize defensive positions to resist "Eastern" offensive.

On 22/4, the "Eastern" side carried out additional nuclear strikes against the forces and territories of NATO states. Besides retaliatory strikes, 389 strikes of about 22 megaton magnitude were carried out against NRF, France, Great Britain, and the United States from 20 to 22 April. As a result of these strikes, the "Western" side was seriously weakened and lost strategic initiative. The main naval bases and ports, air and missile bases, as well as the most important industrial regions of the Europan NATO countries, particularly the FRG, France, and Great Britain, had been destroyed, as a result of which the industrial production capacity fell to a minimum and the transportation and telecommunication systems had been disrupted. Panic gripped the civilian population, especially in the areas that had been hit by nuclear strikes. Ever more often the opinion was being expressed that the continuation of hostilities was pointless.

The "Eastern" nuclear missile strikes created chaos in the economy and daily life of the United States. The United States became isolated from the European theater of war and was denied the possibility of providing economic and military support to the NATO bloc in Europe.

The nuclear strikes by the "Eastern" side tilted the correlation of forces in its favor, thus creating conditions for the total defeat of the enemy in the western theater of operations and the elimination of the main European NATO countries from the war.

As a result of the enemy nuclear strikes, additional losses occurred in Poland, including population losses of 380,000 killed and 890,000 wounded and incapacitated. Total population losses during the entire period of the war amounted to 1.3 million killed and 3 million wounded and incapacitated. By comparison, the United States suffered an estimated 33 million population losses.

During the liquidation of the effects of nuclear strikes, by 20.00 hrs, 22/4, 60 per cent of the affected population were transported and evacuated from Warsaw, and about 30 per cent from Olsztyn, Gdansk, Kielce, and the Koszalin area. About 10 per cent of the damaged telecommunication system was restored, on transit routes detours of destroyed communication centers were laid out, and some of the least damaged railroad bridges were repaired, so that train traffic could be resumed.

In this situation, the Committee of National Defense, provincial defense committees, and military districts were directing the liquidation of the aftereffects of the strikes by weapons of mass destruction, particularly in Silesia. paing particular attention to assistance to the affected population, restoration of the telecommunications system, maintenance of the necessary production capacity in the key branches of industry, and the mopping up the airborne groups landed by the enemy.

Following reports to the Committee of National Defense by the heads of the sections, military districts, and provincial defense committees, the exercise was concluded at 20.00 hrs, 22/4.
 

["Doswiadczenia i wnioski z cwiczenia `Mazowsze'," pp. 22-35, KC PZPR 5008, Modern Records Archives, Warsaw; translated by Vojtech Mastny]