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2.6: Day Two - Operation Central Run
2.7: Day Two & Three - Invasion of PolandMuch to the disappointment of the US Navy and United States Marine Corps the landing at Bandar Abbas was canceled on orders direct from Washington. The US suffered several major casualties, including severe damage to the Destroyer Coontz after it struck a mine near Bandar Abbas. Further casualties occur when a C-130 heading to Shiraz to pick up the 82nd is shot down by the Iranian Air Force. An attempt to conduct an attack on the 82nd, however, is torn up by Carrier aircraft, and fails to reach its target in time. By the end of the day the 82nd and the prisoners had been freed. Further, under the cover of the fighting 42 Rangers had been rescued by Marine Helicopters. Speaking before the nation Carter proclaimed that, despite the 47 US dead, and the Iranian dead, "We have achieved a great victory for America."
Fig. 3. Operation Central Run
Life wasn't good for the men of the 7th Guards Tank Army on the road between Warsaw and Gdansk. Though the Polish Air Force had made a good show of it, ruthless Soviet attacks had, by the second day, destroyed 75% of their aircraft and Soviet airborne and airmobile troops had taken back every major air installation. Every major Polish fixed air defense site had been destroyed, or at least put out of action.
The SAF now had complete air dominance. Despite this, the remnants of the Polish National Army (what the new government had named their elite and most loyal forces) held out in pockets, most notably around Gdansk, the birthplace of the revolution. Because there were no major cities or obstacle between Gdansk and Warsaw the hub of the advance on Gdansk was at Warsaw. This was a critical mistake on the part of the Soviet High Command (though there were few other possible choices), as the PNA had left 'Stay Behind' groups everywhere in the Capital who sabotaged Soviet logistics with daring attacks using secret supply caches. In addition, they were in contact with the government now based in Gdansk, and were passing along reports of Soviet troop movements. Thus, the 2 intact divisions of the PNA were in ideal position to defend Gdansk against Soviet attack for a while.
2.8: Day Three & Four - Operation Central RunThroughout the second and third days the Soviets threw the 7th Guards into a headlong attack, which made slow progress, not the spectacular advance expected. The Polish Government used that time wisely, they requisitioned what shipping they could to make an escape with their leadership, and stole what industrial equipment they could. What they couldn't take, they blew up.
Given their actions over Iran, and their private agreement, the United States government was officially silent on the Polish issue. The White House sought to gain as much good press as could be gained from their success in Iran. However, things didn't work out the way it was expected. The Administration came under fire from the left and the right. Led by Ted Kennedy, those on the left charged that the attack on Iran was illegal (the White House didn't seek Congressional approval for the attack), with some even calling for impeachment.
The attacks from the right were equally charged, accusing the Carter Administration of neglecting American defenses (many deficiencies in American equipment and Doctrine were exposed during the operation, most notably the lack of proper inter-service cooperation), and arguing that earlier action could have saved lives, time and money. Many pointed out that most of the American dead came from botched inter-service cooperation, with Senator Barry Goldwater and Senator Robert Dole, putting forward a bill that would rationalize Joint Command and refine the Chain of Command as a whole. The Goldwater-Dole Defense Reform Act found wide support in both parties.
On the morning of February 4th Carter announced his support for the Goldwater-Dole Act in his weekly radio address. He went on to (bowing to domestic pressure) criticize recent Soviet actions, in particular the overnight bombings of 'refugee' ships (the Polish contended that these were refugee ships, the Soviets contended that they contained Polish troops, given what we know today both assertions are probably true). Many, however, criticized Carter for calling the Polish government the Polish 'insurgents' or 'rebels.'
