April 1920.
Poland was one of the nations that used the turmoil of the Russian revolution of 1917 to win their independence from Russia. The Poles stayed well clear of the Russian Civil War, and instead concentrated on building up their own forces and expanded their border into the East. But when the Whites had been defeated, war between Moscows new rulers and the reborn Polish Nation seemed almost inevitable, not the least because Poland lay as a barrier between the Soviet Union and the rest of Europe, blocking the spread of the Communist revolution in a westerly direction.
While negotiating, both sides prepared for a fight. The Polish Leader, Pilsudski, decided that it was better to strike than to be struck. The target for the Polish attack was the Ukraine. Pilsudski had allied himself with the Ukraine nationalists under Petljura and hoped both to have som areas ceded to Poland, and to gain independence for the Ukraine, thus creating a buffer zone between Poland and the Soviet Union.
The Polish attack started on April 25 1920. Their timing was god. Mutinies had at that time erupted among some of the Red Army units, and the Polish Cavalry managed to advance 160 kilometers in only 39 hours, the Reds over-extended XIIth Army was soon overwhelmed, losing some 8.500 prisoners, 28 guns and 180 Machine guns in their headlong retreat towards the east.
After some hesitation, the poles turned the bulk of their forces against Kiev. To their surprise, the demoralized Red Army gav up the capital of the Ukraine almost without a fight. The victory seemed to be total.
At that time bad news arrived from the North, where the Red Army had started their long awaited offensive. Polish troops had to withdrawn from the Ukraine, and sent north to help meet this new threat. And after a couple of weeks the Bolsheviks started counterattacking in the Ukraine as well.
Soon the Poles there realised that they were facing the Red Armys most famous and well-equipped unit, the Cavalry Army of Budjonny. In an epic march it had moved som 1.100 kilometers in a number of weeks, from the shores of the Black Sea, and on the 29th of May it struck with its full force, south of Kiev, at the junction of the Polish 6th and 3rd Armies. The very mobile cavalry units of Budjonnyj, supported by HMG:s mounted on horse-drawn wagons, armoured trains and with plenty of motor vehicles, penetrated the polish lines, penetrating their rear areas.
Budjonnyj got excited and continued towards the west, ignoring his orders to go north and encircle the polish defenders around Kiev, who then managed to perform a fighting reatreat. The Poles staged a two pronged counterattack, hoping to cut off Budjonnys roving cavalry units, but failed, due to lack of efficient cooperation.
The Poles were pushed back, several times barely avoiding being trapped in Soviet pincers, but at the same time losing all the ground they had gained in april and may. Ukraine was lost to the Soviet Union. In July the front stabilized, and all attention was shifted towards northern Poland, where the Red Army was approaching Warszaw...
