**Author:** Oski_Polski --- In 2044 Poland was slowly rebuilding itself from the ashes. Army was restructured after the Polish Crisis and the war with Russia, aid from ERF (European Recovery Foundation) improved the lives of millions of people in the country, everything was coming along nicely. It was in December when suspicious activity was detected in Former Belarus, more specifically Grodno, an old city not too far from the Polish border. City was being taken over by a Latvian Militia, a newly formed organisation working with Russia and trying to take control over the neutral zone and become a part of the Russian Federation. On 7th January 2045 a gunfire was exchanged between Latvian Militia and Polish Border Guard at Kuźnica - Bruzgi border checkpoint. Civilians were caught in the crossfire, which in turn led to the death of 27 civilians and many more wounded. It was quickly recognized as a terrorist act on the Polish side and the government was soon to take action against the militia. ![[grodno-10.jpg]] *Aerial drone footage taken above Grodno before the attack, January 28th, 2045*. --- On January 28th, polish drones conducted aerial recon over militia occupied territory, including Grodno and its surrounding areas. High presence of Latvians was noticed with a high amount of military equipment, which included tanks, artillery pieces, light armored vehicles, aircraft and AA weapons of Russian origin. Many of them were old vehicles and weapons, some of them dating back to the 30s. The Polish army was only waiting for the order to cross the border and begin their march on Grodno, which now became the HQ of the militia. Taking it down meant destroying the militia. The plan was to encircle Grodno and trap the Latvians inside and slowly destroy their resistance. Before the initial attack, TV in the city was intercepted and broadcasted a message for the civilians to leave the city before the army arrives or else they will be considered as enemy combatants. ![[grodno-2.png]] *Russian backed Latvian Militias convoy outside of Grodno, March 2nd, 2045.* --- ![[grodno-4.png]] *Polish Air Force jets performing bombing run on enemy defensive line on the outskirts of Grodno, March 7th, 2045.* --- At the end of February, the Polish army moved into the neutral zone and began its attacks on the militia outside the city. At the beginning of March the Polish army was moving into the outskirts of Grodno, aerial bombardments carried out on 5th-7th March were supposed to weaken the defenses and let the army move in without too much trouble. It quickly turned out that the defenses were still active, though heavily damaged from the bombings. The Polish army moved into the city on March 8th without completing it's encirclement maneuver around the city. Throughout the battle, Latvians were receiving reinforcements until the city was cut off late into the battle. Initially the Polish army met little resistance, but the deeper the army got, the more costly their progress was. Fighting quickly turned into brutal house-to-house fighting, with at least 100 people dying every day. In the middle of the march the poles made little progress, underestimating the military potential of the militia that turned the city into a real fortress. The militia wasn't doing so well in the sky however, as the AA defences weren't too effective against advanced jets and stealth helicopters used by the Polish side and Russian aircraft supplied to the militia was being quickly destroyed on the ground from drone attacks or gunned down in the sky. Air dominance was in the Polish hands. ![[grodno-3.png]] *RAK-45 vehicles in combat in city hall supported by CAS, April 3rd, 2045.* --- By the end of the march, Grodno was halfway encircled and polish forces were moving into the city from multiple directions, allowing them to begin another offensive, with their objective to reach and capture the city center. At that point the Polish side was finally supplied with new combat vehicles, including RAK-45s and M1A5PLs, which proved to be very effective against what the Latvians had to offer. On April 3rd the city center became an active combat zone, as polish forces managed to finally break through the defenses and quickly overran militias positions with combined arms combat of ground and air units. On the next day the militia counterattacked and managed to drive parts of the Polish forces from the city center. From then, the city center was actively changing hands, before it was finally captured by the Poles on May 28th. ![[grodno-1.png]] *The Battle of Grodno, April 14th, 2045.* --- Artillery was actively shooting all over the city, destroying famous Sovetskaya Street and opening a path for the polish forces to capture this area without much of a resistance. Due to reports of no civilian activity, the artillery and jets were carrying out the attacks on Grodno throughout the battle, destroying many famous monuments. Latvian Militia also had it's own artillery which stalled the advance from the north, before it was destroyed in aerial bombardment mid-April. ![[grodno-5.png]] *Aftermath of a bombing of Sovetskaya Street, no reported survivors, April 15th, 2045.* --- By April 23rd more than 60% of the city was taken by the polish forces and they weren't slowing down. Latvians were slowly being forced to retreat into the eastern side of the city, while the city center was still an active combat zone. The Polish command ordered the army to encircle the Latvian resistance in the city center and take it once and for all. This wouldn't become a reality by the end of May. ![[grodno-6.png]] *M1A5PL tank passing through abandoned Titova Street, May 1st, 2045.* --- Meanwhile Polish forces in the north and south-east were slowly making more progress. By May 1st more than 70% of the city was captured and the Latvian resistance was slowly pulling back to the eastern part of the city. Reinforcements were slowly being intercepted by the Polish special forces behind enemy lines, causing the Latvians to slowly start running out of ammunition. On May 8th, the Latvians launched a concentrated assault in the northern part of the city to regain control over the Grodno Regional Library, the attack was stopped, militia wasn't able to break through heavy hardware of the polish side. ![[grodno-7.png]] *Latvian concentrated assault on Grodno Regional Library, May 8th, 2045.* --- By May 26th it became clear that the Latvians won't be able to capture the city center and hold it for long enough and that they are in danger of being encircled. Militia started pulling out of the city center on May 27th to avoid full encirclement, only 20% of the force was able to retreat successfully, as artillery bombardment destroyed important roads and by June 1st the remains of the Latvian forces in the center were now fully encircled and were forced to surrender after 3 days of trying to break out of the pocket. By June 6th more than 86% of the city was captured and on June 8th Grodno was fully encircled from each direction and the remaining Latvian forces were now trapped in the ruins of the city. Militia tried to unsuccessfully break out of the encirclement and finally, on June 13th were forced to surrender to the Polish army. ![[grodno-8.png]] *Latvian Militias tanks leaving the city center to avoid encirclement, May 27th, 2045.* --- Small pockets of resistance were still scattered across the city and trying to deal as much damage as possible. One important attack was carried out on June 14th where an ammo depot was destroyed and caused a fire not too far from the still standing cathedral. ![[grodno-9.png]] *Grodno after the fighting, June 14th, 2045.* --- Resistance was finally put down on June 22nd, finally ending the battle of Grodno with Polish victory. More than 73% of the buildings in the city were destroyed, including many famous monuments and streets. The battle took around 3000 casualties and 10 000 wounded or missing on both sides, only around 200 civilians were killed or wounded during the battle. Many controversies followed during and after the battle, mainly the death of civilians caused by the Polish army and the treatment of POWs on both sides. Russia dismissed any claim of Latvian Militia being supplied by the Federation, claiming that it was stolen from Russian forces stationed nearby the neutral zone or bought from the Dark Market or even given by the United States to destabilize the region and start another world war.