Editing Erich von Manstein (section)

===Invasion of Poland===
{{Main|Invasion of Poland}}
On 18 August 1939, in preparation for [[Fall Weiss (1939)|''Fall Weiss'']] (Case White){{snd}}the German [[invasion of Poland]]{{snd}}Manstein was appointed Chief of Staff to [[Gerd von Rundstedt]]'s [[Army Group South]]. Here he worked along with Rundstedt's Chief of Operations, Colonel [[Günther Blumentritt]], to develop the operational plan. Rundstedt accepted Manstein's plan calling for the concentration of the majority of the army group's armoured units into [[Walter von Reichenau]]'s [[10th Army (Wehrmacht)|10th Army]], with the objective of a decisive breakthrough which would lead to the encirclement of Polish forces west of the [[River Vistula]]. In Manstein's plan, two other armies comprising Army Group South, [[Wilhelm List]]'s [[14th Army (Wehrmacht)|14th Army]], and [[Johannes Blaskowitz]]'s [[8th Army (Wehrmacht)|8th Army]], would provide flank support for Reichenau's armoured thrust towards [[Warsaw]], the Polish capital. Privately, Manstein was lukewarm about the Polish campaign, thinking that it would be better to keep Poland as a buffer between Germany and the [[Soviet Union]]. He also worried about an Allied attack from the west once the Polish campaign was underway, which would draw Germany into a two-front war.{{sfn|Forczyk|2010|p=11}}

Manstein took part in a conference on 22 August 1939 where Hitler underlined to his commanders the need for the physical destruction of Poland as a nation.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|p=117}} After the war, he would state in his memoirs that he did not recognise at the time of this meeting that Hitler was going to pursue a policy of extermination against the Poles.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|p=117}} He did become aware of the policy later on, as he and other ''Wehrmacht'' generals received reports{{sfn|Longerich, Chapter 10|2003}}{{sfn|Lemay|2010|pp=81–88}} on the activities of the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'', the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' (SS) death squads tasked with following the army into Poland to murder intellectuals and other civilians.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=14–15}} These squads were also assigned to round up Jews and others for relocation to [[ghetto]]s and [[Nazi concentration camps]]. Manstein would later face three charges of war crimes relating to Jewish and civilian deaths in the sectors under his control, and the mistreatment and deaths of prisoners of war.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=469–470}}

Launched on 1 September 1939, the invasion began successfully. In Army Group South's area of responsibility under Rundstedt, the 8th, 10th and 14th Armies pursued the retreating Poles. The initial plan was for the 8th Army, the northernmost of the three, to advance towards [[Łódź]]. The 10th Army, with its motorised divisions, was to move quickly towards the Vistula, and the 14th Army was to advance and attempt to encircle the Polish troops in the [[Kraków]] area. These actions led to the encirclement and defeat of Polish forces in the [[Radom]] area on 8–14 September by six German corps. Meanwhile, the German Eighth Army was under attack from the north, so elements of the Fourth, Eighth and Tenth Armies were quickly redeployed with air support in an improvised attempt to cut off any Polish break-out back towards Warsaw. The flexibility and agility of the German forces led to the defeat of nine Polish infantry divisions and other units in the resulting [[Battle of the Bzura]] (8–19 September), the largest engagement of the war thus far.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=120–125}} The conquest of Poland was quickly over, with the last Polish military units surrendering on 6 October.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=7}}