This is absolutely unacceptable! Polish resistance can not so cross our plans. You have to be ruthless - otherwise Your position in the army will suffer!

Before the war the area of the village of Wizna was prepared as a fortified line of defence. It was to shield the Polish positions further to the south and guard the crossing of Narew and Biebrza rivers.The spot was chosen carefully: most of the concrete bunkers were built on hills overlooking a swampy Narew River valley.On September 8 Guderian was ordered to advance through Wizna towards Brest.Early the next morning his units reached the Wizna area and were joined with 10th Panzer Division already present in the area. His forces numbered some 1200 officers and 41000 soldiers and NCOs, equipped with over 350 tanks,108 howitzers,58 artillery pieces,195 anti-tank guns,108 mortars,188 grenade launchers,288 heavy machine guns and 689 machine guns. Altogether, his forces were some 60 times stronger than the Polish defenders, initially the losses among German infantry were high,several assaults were repelled during the night and in the early morning of September 10.German engineers with the help of tanks and artillery finally managed to destroy all but two Polish bunkers which continued to resist.It is alleged Guderian, in an attempt to end the Polish resistance, threatened the Polish commander that he would shoot the POWs if the remaining forces did not surrender and for this the Poles wanted him tried for War Crimes in 1945, however it was concluded this was a bluff and no prisoners were shot.
