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Battle of the Niemen River was the second largest battle of the Polish-Bolshevik War. It took place near the middle Niemen River, between the cities of Suwałki, Grodno and Białystok. After suffering almost complete defeat in the Battle of Warsaw, the Red Army forces of Mikhail Tukhachevski tried to establish a defensive line against the counter-attacking Polish Army led by Józef Piłsudski running from the Polish-Lithuanian border to the north to the area of Polesie, with the central point in the city of Grodno. Between September 15 and September 21, 1920, the Polish forces outflanked the Bolshevist forces, once again defeating them. After the mid-October Battle of the Szczara River, the Polish Army had reached the Tarnopol-Dubno-Minsk-Drisa line.

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 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 Bolshevist forces lost large part of their artillery, which was usually used on the battlefield as a last stand against the assaulting enemy. This tactics 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, 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 Tukhachevski reached approximately 20 to 40% of their nominal strength. However, both the morale and the reinforcement abilities of the Russian troops were seriously harrassed.

Polish Army

The order of battle of the Polish Army as of September 15th, 1920. The armies and divisions are listed north to south.

Before the battle