Page "Battle of the Niemen River" Paragraph 6

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 them 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.