Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw (also called Miracle at the Vistula) was the decisive battle of the Polish-Soviet War that took place soon after World War I.
It was fought between 13 and 25 August 1920, when the Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevski approached Warsaw and Modlin. On August 16 Polish forces commanded by Józef Piłsudski made a counter-attack from the south, forcing the Soviet forces to withdraw to the Niemen River area, where the Battle at the Niemen River took place shortly afterwards. Soviet losses were about 20,000 dead, 65,000 captured and 35,000 interned in Germany.
Background
The 1st Cavalry Army under Semyon Budyonny broke through the Polish lines in mid-June. This lead to the collapse of all Polish fronts in the east. On July 4, 1920 the Western Front under Mikhail Tukhachevski started an all-out assault in Belarus (Berezina River area) forcing the Polish forces to retreat. On July 19 the Red Army seized Grodno, on July 28 reached Białystok and three days later captured the Brześć fortress. The withdrawal of the Polish North-Eastern Front was somewhat chaotic.
The plan
However, by the beginning of August it became more organized. On August 6 Józef Piłsudski accepted a plan of withdrawal behind the Vistula river prepared by the Polish Chief of Staff, Gen. Tadeusz Rozwadowski. The basic aims were to withdraw to the other side of the river, defend bridgeheads around Warsaw and near the Wieprz River estuary while at the same time concentrate approximately 25% of the available divisions in the South for a strategic counter-offensive.
At the same time Mikhail Tukhachevski planned to surround Warsaw by crossing the Vistula near Włocławek to the North and to the South of the city. With his 24 divisions he planned to repeat the classic manoeuvre of Ivan Fyodorovich Paskievich, who during the November Uprising crossed the Vistula in Toruń and reached Warsaw practically unopposed. This move would also cut the Polish forces from Gdańsk, the only port opened to arms and supplies shipments.
First phase, August 13
The first phase of the battle started on August 13 with the Red Army frontal assault on Praga bridgehead. Heavy fighting started and the suburban town of Radzymin changed hands several times. On August 14 the town fell to the Red Army and the lines of the Polish 5th Army were broken. The 5th Army of gen. Władysław Sikorski had to fight three Soviet armies at a time: 3rd, 4th and 15th. The Modlin area was strengthened with reserves of the C-i-C (Siberian Brigade and fresh 18 Infantry Division of Gen. Franciszek Krajowski, both units composed of elite, battle-proven troops) and the 5th Army held out until dawn.
Its situation was saved by the fact that by midnight the 203 Uhlans Regiment managed to break through Bolshevik lines and destroyed the radio station of the enemy 4th Army of Dimitriy Savelyevich Shuvayev. In effect, the latter lost contact with the Headquarters and continued its' march towards Toruń and Płock, unaware of Tukhachevski's order to turn southwards. The raid of 203 Regiment is sometimes referred to as The Miracle of Ciechanów.
At the same time the 1st Polish Army under Gen. Franciszek Latinik resisted Bolshevik direct assault on Warsaw carried over by 6 rifle divisions. The struggle for control over Radzymin forced Gen. Józef Haller de Hallenburg, commander of the Polish Northern Front, to ignore Pilsudski's orders and start the 5th Army counterattack earlier than planned.
Second phase, August 14
The 5th Polish Army started a counterattack on August 14, crossing the Wkra River. It faced the combined forces of Soviet 3rd and 15th Armies (both numerically and technically superior). The struggle in the area of Nasielsk lasted until August 15 and resulted in almost complete destruction of the town. However, the Soviet advance towards Warsaw and Modlin was halted as both sides became exhausted.
Third phase, August 16
On August 16, the Reserve Army (also known as Assault Group - Grupa Uderzeniowa; commanded personally by Józef Piłsudski) started its march from the area of Wieprz estuary northwards. It faced the Mozyr Group, a Soviet corps that defeated the Poles during the Kyiv operation several months earlier. However, during its pursuit after the retreating Polish armies, the Mozyr Group lost most of its forces and was reduced to a mere two divisions covering a roughly 150 km long frontline on the left flank of the Soviet 16th Army. On the first day of the counteroffensive only one out of five Polish divisions reported small opposition while the remaining four divisions supported by a cavalry brigade managed to push 45 kilometres northwards - unopposed. In the evening the town of Włodawa was liberated and the communication and supply lines of the 16th Army were cut off. The surprise was complete.
Mikhail Tukhachevski ordered his forces to regroup, but the orders either arrived too late or did not arrive at all. The 3rd Cavalry Corps of Gay Dmitriyevich Gay continued to advance towards Pomerania, while its lines were endangered by the Polish 5th Army that managed to finally push back the Bolshevik armies and started a pursuit. The Soviet armies in the centre of the front fell into chaos. Some divisions continued to fight their way towards the capital while others started a retreat. Russian C-i-C lost contact with most of his troops and all plans were made obsolete since the contact was broken. On August 18 Tukhachevski had no other choice as to order a full retreat towards the Bug river.
Aftermath
Although Poland managed to achieve a victory and pushed back the Russians, Piłsudski's plan to outmanoeuvre and surround the Red Army forces was not carried out entirely. Approximately 25.000 to 30.000 Bolshevik troops managed to reach the borders of Germany. After crossing into East Prussia, they were interned for a short time and then allowed to return home with arms and equipment. Also, Tukhachevski managed to re-organize the forces retreating eastwards and establish a new defensive line near Grodno in September. To break it, Polish army had to fight the Battle at the Niemen river.
Nevertheless, the southern arm of the Red Army forces was routed and did not pose a threat to the Poles anymore. The 1st Cavalry Army of Semyon Budyonny besieging Lwów was defeated in the Battle of Komarów and Battle of Hrubieszów. By mid-October the Polish Army reached the Tarnopol-Dubno-Minsk-Drisa line. The basic aims of the war were achieved and on October 12, under heavy pressure from France and Britain, a cease-fire agreement was signed. On October 18 the fighting was over and on March 18 the Riga peace treaty was signed.
Orders of battle
Polish
3 Fronts (Północny, Środkowy, Południowy)
7 Armies
32 divisions
Soviet
- 4 Armiya - Wasyl Siergiejew, later replaced by Shuvayev - Lower Vistula
- 3 Cavalry Corps - Gaj Bżyszkian aka Gay Dmitriyevich Gay
- 15 Armiya - August Kork - Along the Vistula, between Wyszogród and Płock
- 3 Armiya - Vladimir Lazarievich - opposite to Modlin
- 16 Armiya - Nikolay Sollohub - opposite to Warsaw, later southwards
