But for a “stab in the back”, two things are necessary: a “back” —that is, a defensive front line, a country that holds back the onslaught of the enemy; and the “strike” itself — the offensive operation of the Red Army.
F. Adamik "Soviet knife in the back"
The question of the presence of "back"
On September 10, the commander-in-chief of the Polish armed forces issued an order for the remaining forces to the Romanian border, after which, shifting more and more quickly to the border with Romania, he soon found himself there. The Polish government already 9-11 September led negotiations with France on the granting of asylum, 16-th negotiations began with Romania on the transit through its territory of the Polish leadership, 17-th Polish leaders fled to Romania. That is, on the 17 number, the Polish statehood ceased to exist - its political and military leadership escaped from the bleeding country, although the remnants of the army still desperately resisted, the capital, Warsaw, fought.
Militarily, September also suffered a complete defeat for 17: its armies were defeated, dismembered, surrounded, there was the destruction of individual centers of resistance, there was no longer any organized and coordinated resistance across the country. By September 16, the Wehrmacht entered the line: Osovets - Bialystok - Belsk - Kamenets-Litovsk - Brest-Litovsk - Wlodawa - Vladimir-Volynsky - Zamosc - Lviv - Sambir - Lublin. They also fought in Warsaw being wiped off the ground (probably, the remaining airborne unit and air defense units, which Marshal Rydz-Smigly, 5-th, transferred to Brest, would strengthen its defense); under Bzura a desperate group of General Tadeusz Kushteba fought; in the forests and marshes of the Vistula tributary of the Vepsh River, the remnants of the Polesye group tried to break through to Warsaw; on the Hel Spit the fighters of Rear Admiral Unrug and so on fought the Germans
But there was no holistic resistance, the battles in individual foci of the outcome of the war could not change - it was a complete defeat. That is, there was no “back”; Poland was defeated, as the state ceased to exist.
Therefore, the words read to the Polish ambassador to the USSR V. Grzybowski in 3: 00 17 September 1939 were absolutely accurate: “The Polish-German war revealed the internal failure of the Polish state. Within ten days of military operations, Poland lost all its industrial areas and cultural centers. Warsaw, as the capital of Poland, does not exist anymore. The Polish government fell apart and shows no signs of life. This means that the Polish state and its government virtually ceased to exist. Thus, the agreements concluded between the USSR and Poland ceased to exist. ... "
Was there a blow?
On the Polish border, Moscow concentrated significant forces, apparently to warn itself against "surprises" from the Wehrmacht. By September 17, on the border were ready: 21 rifle division, 13 cavalry divisions, 16 tank and 2 motorized brigades. They were supported by: Dnieper military flotilla and almost 3300 aircraft in three aviation armies of border districts. There was something to hit on Poland.
But by September 17, in the east, Poland had about 340-370 thousand people in various units: remnants of army units that had retreated to the east of the country, training, rear units of the 25-t battalions and seven squadrons of the Border Guard Corps (CPC), approximately 160 aircraft, Pinsk military flotilla. The greatest resistance was put by frontier guards, gendarmerie, members of paramilitary organizations.
When the Red Army crossed the border, it was joyfully greeted by Belarusians and Ukrainians, they were in Poland in the position of “non-citizens”. The Poles practically did not resist, and the Red Army men themselves did not seek to fight, they tried not to shoot, but to persuade the Poles to fold weapon, treated them with sympathy, pitied, as affected by the aggression of Germany.
The Polish leadership gave the order not to fight, but to go to the Romanian border, however, who received it is unknown. The Poles, in fact, had nothing to repel the troops of the Red Army that entered the territory of Western Belorussia and Western Ukraine.
Therefore, to talk about the "hit" is not necessary. The Red Army marched through the territory, almost meeting no resistance from the Poles. Her losses also speak of this: Molotov voiced the figure - 737 killed and 1862 injured, currently talking about 1475 people irretrievable loss and 3858 people injured. Moreover, a significant part of them are the losses due to the guilt and mistakes of the commanders and the Red Army themselves due to lack of discipline and lack of organization. So, nine aircraft were lost, largely due to accidents, armored vehicles - 42 units, some simply broke down. 457, thousands of Polish servicemen, surrendered to the Red Army, less Wehrmacht, 420, thousands, the Poles preferred to surrender to our army.
The Warsaw garrison even hoped that the Red Army would act with the consent of the government and go to their aid. Here are some examples of “battles”: gymnasium students put up resistance in Vilna — our losses: 13 people killed and 24 wounded, 10 thousands of Poles surrendered to captivity; September 20-21 took Grodno (6 Cavalry Corps), our losses: 57 killed and 159 wounded, Poles killed 644, captivated by 1543 man; after the collision near the city of Chelm - our losses: 31 killed and 101 injured, etc. These are not fighting battles, but armed skirmishes. The forces of the Red Army were powerful, but this time it was not necessary to make war.
Sources of:
Bezymensky L. A. Hitler and Stalin before the fight. M., 2000.
Meltyukhov MI Soviet-Polish wars. Military-political confrontation 1918 — 1939 M., 2001.
Russia and the USSR in the wars of the XX century. Loss of the armed forces Statistical research. M., 2001.
Shearer W. The rise and fall of the Third Reich. In 2 books. M., 2010.