July operation (1920)

The May operation of the Western Front ended unsuccessfully, and the Soviet troops retreated to their original positions, although they retained several bridgeheads. However, this operation gave the troops of the Southwestern Front the opportunity to go on the offensive in Ukraine. In turn, as a result of the successes of the Southwestern Front, favorable conditions were created for the Western Front to launch a general offensive, because in order to save the situation in Ukraine, the Polish command sent all reserves there and removed part of the troops stationed in Belarus ^{[2] [3 ] ]} .

In June 1920, the troops of the Western Front received replenishment, new formations were included in their composition, the 4th and 3rd armies were additionally created, the supply of troops with arms, ammunition, uniforms and food was improved. By early July, the 4th, 15th, 3rd, 16th, and 16th armies were in the composition of the troops of the Western Front (commander M.N. Tukhachevsky , members of the PBC - I.S. Unshlikht , I.T. Mozyr group . The number of troops of the Western Front was 81 thousand bayonets, 10.5 thousand sabers, 722 guns, 2913 machine guns ^{[1] [4]} .

The Polish Army of the North-Eastern Front (commander General S. Sheptytsky) opposed the Western Front of the Red Army, which included the 1st Army (7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Infantry divisions), 4th Army (2nd, 4th, 15th Infantry Divisions) and Polesia Group (9th, 14th, 16th Infantry Divisions). The number of Polish troops was 72 thousand bayonets and sabers, 464 guns ^{[2] [4]} .

The idea of ​​the Soviet command was to encircle and defeat the troops of the left flank of the Polish Northeast Front in the Germanovichi-Dokshitsy area and push the rest of the Polish forces into the wooded and swampy areas of Polesye. The main strike was to be delivered by a strike force, consisting of the 4th, 15th and 3rd armies, from the region west and south of Polotsk in the general direction to Smorgon, Lida. The strike force was deployed in a 90 km strip and totaled 60 thousand bayonets and sabers, which meant a double superiority in forces over the enemy ^{[1] [3]} .

The 4th Army (Commander E. N. Sergeev ) was to inflict a flank covering strike from the area north of Lake. Belaya Yelna in a southwestern direction to Sharkovshchizna, Luzhki, the 3rd cavalry corps of G. D. Gai was supposed to advance on Sventsyany. The 15th Army (commander A.I. Kork ) delivered a frontal attack on Glubokoe, Parfyanovo, and the 3rd Army (commander V.S. Lazarevich ) launched a flank attack on Dokshitsy, Parfyanovo, with the further aim of attacking Pleschenitsy, Minsk. The 16th Army (commander N.V. Sollogub ) received the task, forcing the Berezina River, to advance in the direction of Smolevichi-Minsk, fettling parts of the 4th Polish Army, and the Mozyr group (commander T.S. Khvesin ), which was already leading the offensive since June 19 and Mozyr was liberated on June 29, she was to continue the offensive along the right bank of the Berezina ^{[1] [3]} .

At dawn on July 4, 1920, the Western Front attack group went on the offensive. The offensive began successfully. The 4th Army (18th, 12th, 53rd Rifle Divisions, 164th Rifle Brigade) broke through the line of Polish fortifications, introduced into the breakthrough of the 3rd Corps of Guy (10th and 15th Cavalry Divisions) advance, covering the left flank of the 1st Polish Army. Parts of the 15th army (4th, 11th, 15th, 33rd and 54th rifle divisions) after stubborn battles defeated the Polish troops, dropping them to the Deep. When breaking through the Polish fortifications in the 33rd Infantry Division, the Red Army first used 3 captured Renault tanks . On July 5, Glubokoe was taken by the cavalry group of the 15th Army. The 3rd Army (5th, 6th, 21st, 56th Rifle Divisions) crossed the Berezina and took Dokshitsa on July 5, and occupied Parfyanovo on July 6 ^[1] .

As a result of the offensive, the troops of the Western Front inflicted heavy losses on the 1st Polish army. The Polish command could not stop the advance of the Soviet troops in Belarus, so on July 6 it was forced to order its troops to withdraw in the general direction to the city of Lida . The troops of the Red Army continued to pursue the enemy, but could not completely encircle the 1st Polish army. As a result of the defeat and the retreat of the 1st Polish Army that began, the situation of the 4th Polish Army worsened significantly and favorable conditions appeared for the advance of the units of the 16th Army and the Mozyr group of Soviet troops. The Mozyr group (57th Infantry Division and Consolidated Detachment) launched an offensive in the direction of Glusk , Slutsk . The 3rd cavalry corps advanced into the deep rear of the Polish troops and on July 9 occupied Sventsiany ^[2] .

On the night of July 7, the 16th Army (2nd, 8th, 10th, 17th and 27th Rifle Divisions) began the offensive, which, after crossing the Berezina, moved directly to Minsk . The main blow was delivered by the forces of three of the five divisions. Stubborn battles ensued, the Polish troops began to retreat. July 9, Soviet troops liberated the city of Igumen . Polish troops created around Minsk a half ring of trenches with wire fences, so the 27th division bypassed the city from the north and south. The attack of the Soviet troops began at dawn on July 11, the enemy showed fierce resistance, which was broken by the troops of the 27th and 17th rifle divisions. By noon, the city was completely occupied by the Red Army ^[2] .

On July 12, a new stage in the offensive operation of the Western Front began. The main forces, concentrated on the right wing, were to carry out the offensive, hiding behind the territory of Lithuania and East Prussia and hanging over the flank of the Polish army in order to prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold on a line convenient for defense. The command of the Polish troops tried to find forces and means to stop the advance of the Red Army. As early as July 9, Y. Pilsudsky ordered the troops to keep the front line along the Vilno - German trenches - Luninets - Styr river and Zbruch river. His plan was to gain a foothold in the north along the lines of the old German trenches, and then launch a counterattack from the Brest region on the Soviet troops of the Western Front. However, already in mid-July, the line of German trenches was broken by parts of the Western Front ^{[2] [4]} .

On July 14, the 3rd cavalry corps and the 164th rifle brigade attacked the Polish troops in Vilna and after a 6-hour battle occupied the city. After that, the Lithuanian army began military operations against the Poles, without coordinating them with the command of the Red Army. As a result of 4-day negotiations, it was possible to establish a conditional border between the Red Army and Lithuanian troops along the line New Troki-Orany-Merech-Augustov. On July 17, the troops of the 15th army occupied Lida, on July 19, the 3rd cavalry corps unexpectedly broke into Grodno, knocking out a small garrison of the enemy, and parts of the 16th army were taken by Baranavichy . On July 21-22, the 4th, 15th, and 3rd armies crossed the Neman River , and the 16th Army crossed the Shara River. On July 23, the Mozyr group occupied Pinsk , and the July operation ^{[1] [2] [4] [3]} ended on this.

As a result of the July operation, Soviet troops inflicted a heavy defeat on the main forces of the Polish Northeastern Front, which finally fixed the emerging turning point during the Soviet-Polish war. A significant part of Belarus was liberated and favorable conditions were created for a further offensive against Poland . However, during the operation, Soviet troops were unable to encircle and destroy the enemy troops, the reason for this was the lack of reserves and poor intelligence. At the same time, the rapid achievement of a major victory led to a reassessment by the Soviet command of the degree of defeat of the Polish army, which led to the continuation of the attack on Warsaw without a pause, without pulling up the rear. This subsequently caused the failure of the Warsaw operation ^[1] .

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