Battle of the Úterský Stream (WFAC)

The Battle of Křelovice, otherwise known as the Defence of the Čerňovice-Štipoklasy positionor the Battle of the Úterský stream, took place near the village of Křelovice in western Bohemia, Czechoslovakia between 30 September and 3 October 1938. It was one of the opening battles of the Invasion of Czechoslovakia and World War II in general. It was fought between the forces of the Czechoslovak I Corps under General Jan Šípek and the German XVI Motorized Corps under General Heinz Guderian.

The battle
In western Bohemia, the Tenth Army attacked west of Plzeň with two infantry divisions to the south, the 1st Panzer Division and the 1st Light Division in the center and three motorized infantry divisions to the north. Here the Czechs had decided to construct the fortified line 30 to 40 kilometres beyond the Czechoslovak-German border, thus shortening the line the Czechoslovak forces had to defend. As a result, the Germans could advance relatively unopposed, facing only scattered border guard units of the State Defense Guard. The 1st Panzer Division ran into the positions of a covering force of a battalion's strength equipped quipped with anti-tank cannons along the line Toužim–Hlaváčkův Mlýn while the 13th and 20th Motorized Infantry Divisions ran into a covering force between Toužim and Boč, but these were quickly dealt with. By noon the units of Guderian's XVI Corps had reached the fortifications; the 1st Light Division near Stříbro and the 1st Panzer Division near Pláň. Following a German artillery barrage and aerial bombardment the Germans became entangled in the Czech fortifications, as the fortifications held out against repeated assaults. Guderian himself came up forward to assess the situation, and subsequently ordered up the 88 mm guns from the Flak detachment as well as 150 mm howitzers to soften up the bunkers. The following morning the German units started heavy artillery bombardment of the Ostrov u Bezdružic–Krsov–Pláň–Štipoklasy sector. After six hours of constant artillery fire, the assault was started and, in the result of close combat, the Czech defenders started to waver. By 15:00 the German engineers finally managed to cut through Czech antitank barriers, which allowed them to finally capture several bunkers on the left flank of Pláň, and by 20:00 Pláň had been taken. The counterattack of the 85th Infantry Regiment was unsuccessful and at the same time the 68th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division, until then held in reserve near Plzeň, was ordered to prepare a counterattack.

By early morning one battalion of Schützen-Regiment 1 had penetrated 6 kilometres into the Czechoslovak defence, reaching the village of Úněšov. The 85th Regiment had also arrived in the area in the early hours, and was ordered to counterattack towards Úněšov. However, conflicting orders and the arrival of the 1st Panzer Regiment disrupted the attack and led to chaos in the Czech ranks. In the evening the regiment was mostly destroyed and only the 1st Battalion managed to withdraw from the fights towards Plzeň. General Jan Šípek, facing the risk of his forces being outflanked and surrounded, ordered the 2nd Division to withdraw towards the secondary defence line.