No Surrender

The invading Soviet armies marched into Polish territory with ease, as most Polish units were facing the Germans. The Soviets, however, suffered both from a lack of supplies and tactical planning. The Soviet officer cadre was very young and inexperienced, …

1939-09-20

PoH12

The invading Soviet armies marched into Polish territory with ease, as most Polish units were facing the Germans. The Soviets, however, suffered both from a lack of supplies and tactical planning. The Soviet officer cadre was very young and inexperienced, due to Stalin’s extensive purges of senior officers in 1936 - 1937. The main objective of the Soviet 11th Army was Grodno, a city located in northern Poland, an important communication and transportation hub, due to its bridges crossing the Niemen river. The fastest Soviet units entered the city outskirts from the east on September 19th, but were thrown back by Polish soldiers of the 102nd Cavalry Regiment. The Soviet commanders decided to attack the city from the South using the 27th Tank Brigade, belonging to Ivan Boldin`s Cavalry Mechanized Group. The Soviets assessed the Polish defense as weak and thus decided to enter the city without infantry support or extensive reconnaissance. The hastily improvised Polish defense was composed of rear echelon military units, city police and citizen volunteers, including young boy scouts. The Poles had not expected a southern attack, but they still managed to organize anti-tank squads which could close with the Soviet tanks due to their lack of infantry support.

Grodno, Poland

The Battle of Grodno took place between 20 September and 22 September 1939, during the Soviet invasion of Poland. It was fought between improvised Polish units under Gen. Wacław Przeździecki and Soviet Red Army troops of Komkor Ivan Boldin's Dzerzhinsky Cavalry Mechanized Group, at the time in a non-aggression agreement with Nazi Germany under the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.

Wikipedia: Battle of Grodno (1939)

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