Battle of the Niemen River


The Battle of the Niemen River was the second-greatest battle of the Polish–Soviet War. It took place near the middle Neman River between the cities of Suwałki, Grodno and Białystok. After having suffered almost complete defeat in the Battle of Warsaw, Mikhail Tukhachevski's Red Army forces tried to establish a defensive line, against Józef Piłsudski's counter-attacking Polish Army, running northward from the Polish-Lithuanian border to Polesie, and centering on Grodno. Between September 15 and September 25, 1920, the Poles outflanked the Soviets, once again defeating them. After the mid-October Battle of the Szczara River, the Polish Army had reached the Tarnopol-Dubno-Minsk-Drissa line.
Although this part of the conflict is usually referred to as a battle both in Polish and Russian historiography, some historians argue that it was more of a military operation with a series of battles fought often several hundred kilometres apart.

Prelude

Following the Battle of Warsaw in mid-August, the armies in the centre of the Russian front fell into chaos. Mikhail Tukhachevsky ordered a general retreat toward the Bug River, but by then he had lost contact with most of his forces near Warsaw, and all the Bolshevik plans had been thrown into disarray by communication failures. Russian armies retreated in a disorganised fashion, with entire divisions panicking and disintegrating. The Red Army's defeat was so great and unexpected that, at the instigation of Piłsudski's detractors, the Battle of Warsaw is often referred to in Poland as the "Miracle at the Vistula". Previously unknown documents from Polish Central Military Archive found in 2004 proved that the successful breaking of Red Army radio communications ciphers by Polish cryptographers played a great role in the victory.
Although successful, the Polish counter-attack in the battle of Warsaw created an awkward situation for Polish commander in chief Józef Piłsudski. Most of his forces were facing north while Russian heartland was located east of the front rather than north. Because of that, the Polish Army needed some time to reorganise and regroup before a new offensive could be mounted. The Russian commanding officer Mikhail Tukhachevsky took this as an opportunity to establish a new defensive line along the Niemen River, initially safe from Polish forces. The new Soviet line ran from the Russian-Lithuanian demarcation line in the north, to the dense forests and swamps of Polesie, with the city of Grodno as a pivot.

Opposing forces

Both the Polish Army and the opposing Red Army suffered heavy casualties in the course of war, and especially during the Russian summer offensive of 1920. Moreover, both opposing armies were still in the phase of organisation. By August, the Poles mobilised almost 1 million men, which allowed them to reinforce most front-line units to approximately 50-60% of their nominal strength. Out of that number almost 350 000 were in active service on the eastern front, while the rest served in other units or were still training. The Polish brigades and divisions were usually ill-equipped, but were commanded by experienced officers, veterans of the Great War and the subsequent Polish-Ukrainian War. Moreover, with fresh forces arriving to the front almost every week the reserves of the Polish C-i-C were sufficient for waging an offensive war.
The Red Army suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Warsaw in August and lacked organisation. Although the reserves of fresh, untrained recruits were almost unlimited, the Russian units lacked experienced officers. Also, in the course of the war the Soviet forces lost large parts of their artillery, which was usually used on the battlefield as a last stand against the assaulting enemy. This tactic allowed the Poles to outgun their enemies. Also, the Russian air forces were almost non-existent while the Polish Army could use its few aeroplanes to successfully disrupt enemy moves and conduct intelligence operations.
The Red Army was organised in several fronts. The Western Front facing the Poles had more than 700,000 soldiers in August. However, a large part of its forces were either taken prisoner of war by the Poles, interned in East Prussia or routed. After the arrival of 68,000 reinforcements in August and additional 20,500 in September, the forces of Tukhachevsky reached approximately 20 to 40% of their nominal strength. However, both the morale and the reinforcement abilities of the Russian troops were seriously harassed.

Polish Army

The order of battle of the Polish Army as after the reorganisation of September 11. The position of units as of September 15, 1920. The armies and divisions are listed north to south.
Polish ArmyArmyOperational GroupUnitRemarks
Józef Piłsudski
HQ in Białystok		2nd Army
Edward Rydz		Shielding group
Left flank, facing Lithuania		Siberian Brigade
Rumsza
17th Greater Polish Division
Osiński		---
Wing Group / Assault Group
west of Grodno and in Suwałki area		1st Polish Legions Infantry Division
Dąb-Biernacki		--
1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division
Rządkowski		---
II Cavalry Brigade
---
IV Cavalry Brigade
Nieniewski		---
Front Group
west of Grodno, ordered to hold out the enemy		22nd Volunteer Infantry Division
Koc		--
21st Mountain Infantry Division
Galica		---
Right Flank
Niemen river crossing in Mosty Zaniemeńskie		3rd Polish Legions Infantry Division
Berbecki		--
4th Army
Leonard Skierski		Main Forces15th Greater Polish Division
Jung		Upper Rosia river-
14th Greater Polish Division
Konarzewski		to the NE of Prużana---
11th Infantry Division
Małachowski		to the NE of Kobryń---
16th Pomeranian Division
Ładoś		Kobryń-Pińsk railroad and highway---
Garrison of Brześć Fortress"Brześć" Fortified Area
?		ca. 1200 men--
3rd Army
Władysław Sikorski		Left wing
Wołyń area		Bułak-Bałachowicz's Group
Bułak-Bałachowicz		ca. 1500 men, formed of deserters from the Red Army and other Russian and Belarusian volunteers-
18th Infantry Division
Krajowski		---
Main forces
between Wołyń and Lwów		2nd Polish Legions Division
Żymierski		--
7th Infantry Division
Szubert		---
9th Infantry Division
Narbut-Łuczyński		---
10th Infantry Division
Żeligowski		---
Dreszer's Cavalry group
Dreszer		3rd and 9th cavalry brigades, later renamed to 2nd Cavalry Division---
Haller's Operational Group
Haller von Hallenburg		1st Cavalry Division
Rómmel		temporarily attached--
13th Infantry Division
Haller de Hallenburg		temporarily attached---
Allied troops
Don Cossacks' Brigade
col. Salnikov		Only 251 soldiers and officers--
Kuban Cossacks' Brigade
mjr. Yakovlev		Only 614 soldiers and officers---
Garrison of Zamość
6th Ukrainian Division
Bezruchko		token forces left in the city after the Battle of Komarów--
6th Army
Wacław Iwaszkiewicz		Januszajtis' Group
towards Płoskirów		12th Infantry Division
Żegota-Januszajtis		-
Latinik's Group
around Lwów		5th Infantry Division
Szymański?		--
8th Infantry Division
Burhardt-Bukacki		---
I Cavalry BrigadeNarajówka river, Złota Lipa - east of Lwów---
Jędrzejowski's Group
around Lwów		7th Infantry Division
K. Szubert?		--
13th Infantry Division
Pawlik		---
Organic cavalry
---
Ukrainian Army
Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko		1st to 5th Infantry Divisions and 1st Cavalry
Only nominally, en cadre and had 8189 officers and 8202 soldiers. Reserve of the 6th Army south of Lwów.-

Plans of both sides

Russian headquarters seriously overestimated its own forces. Sergey Kamenev ordered Tukhachevsky to mount an all-out counter-offensive as soon as the reorganisation of Russian forces was complete. By August 26 the Russians manned the Neman-Shchara-Svislach line with rump forces to escape the disaster at Warsaw. However, fresh reinforcements from mainland Russia were arriving on a daily basis and by mid-September Tukhachevski managed to recreate most divisions lost in mid-August. His forces quickly rose to over 73.000 soldiers and 220 pieces of artillery.
Following Kamenev's orders, Tukhachevsky planned an offensive of three armies: the 3rd, 15th and 16th. The Russian forces were to sweep southwards, retaking the Brest Fortress and Białystok, with the final objective being the city of Lublin. There the Russians could expect reinforcements from other Russian units operating south of the Pinsk Marshes in the Ukraine, as well as experienced troops that could be pulled back from other fronts of the Russian Civil War.
At the same time Józef Piłsudski's main objective was to reorganise his forces and break through the enemy lines along the Neman before Russian defences stiffen, thus disrupting any attempts at enemy counter-attack. On September 10, during a staff meeting with his generals, Piłsudski proposed a plan of a major operation near Neman and Shchara rivers. Two Polish armies were to tie down main Russian forces by a frontal attack aimed at Grodno and Wołkowysk. Simultaneously, a strong force detached from the 2nd Army was to outflank the Russians from the north, through a strip of land between Sejny and Druskienniki controlled by Lithuanian forces and attack the Russian army from behind, in the vicinity of Lida. In the south, the 4th Army was to assault Wołkowysk and prepare to close the encirclement.
The first action took place on 20 Sept., with the 21st Division attacking Grodno, supported by the Volunteer Division and the 3rd Legionary Division on either flank. Between 23-25 Sept., the battle was evenly balanced. However, the flanking attack by Gen. Osinski's Suwalki Group, the 1st Legionary Division, and the 1st Lithuanian-Byelorussian Division from Sejny, took Druskienniki on 23 Sept. and cut the Soviet 3rd Army's supply line at the Grodno-Wilno railway. The Polish cavalry reached Radun and then Lida. On 26 Sept., Gen. Krajowski's cavalry took Pinsk, cutting the Soviet 4th Army's supply line. Tukhachevsky ordered a retreat.