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• Soon after the outbreak of insurgent fighting in Poznań (...)
• Only two of the three groups managed (...)

Soon after the outbreak of insurgent fighting in Poznań, particular importance was gained by the Noteć River line, which separated Greater Poland from Western Pomerania and the strongly germanised Bydgoszcz which was a serious threat for the development of the uprising. As early as on 1 January 1919, Nakło was liberated - it was an important railway junction through which transports for the German Ober-Ost army, returning to the Reich by virtue of the Białostok agreement, were carried. Later on, Nakło was in fact given to Germany at the request of the Entente states, which saw a serious threat for the stabilisation of the situation in the region because of this ‘traffic jam”. However, victorious skirmishes near Mrocza, Ślesin and Wysoka were fought.

Given this situation, the fighting which took place along the Noteć River line gained particular importance and the Northern Front became the most important front of the Greater Poland uprising. Also here, in the vicinity of Szubin and Chodzież, simultaneous battles took place in the period between 2-8 January 1919. They will be discussed separately as the Szubin section will become a location for intensive fighting in the near future.

The first attempt at taking control of Szubin was made on 2 January 1919. During the night of 2 to 3 January, Grenschutz soldiers occupied the town again while the local insurgents joined the units stationed in surrounding localities. On 3 January 1919, the Germans concentrated the forces which were to be used along the Żnin-Kcynia section in Szubin. These were:

– the 3rd Grenzschutz Battalion (commander: Second Lieutenant Drost),

– a light field artillery platoon,

– a unit which consisted of local Germans and settlers (commander: Second Lieutenant Manthey).

Altogether, this made about 380 people with 2 heavy machine guns, 2 light machine guns and 2 cannons.

On 5 January, a clash between a German unit which was sent to recover Żnin, and the Żnin unit commanded by Marceli Cieślicki took place. It ended in the Germans’ defeat. In Szubin per se, the inhabitants of Polish nationality were interned and taken to Bydgoszcz, and then to camps founded in Szczęcin Dąbie and Goleniów.

These unfavourable developments along the Szubin section forced Central Command to prepare a plan for the seizure of this town and the elimination of the obnoxious German garrison. The entire action was to be managed by Second Lieutenant Kazimierz Grudzielski, the commander of the Northern Front. Four insurgent units were assigned the completion of this task:

– from Września              commander: Władysław Wiewiórowski

– from Kcynia                 commander: Jan Sławiński

– from Gniezno               commander: Stanisław Szaliński (staying in Nakło)

– from  Żnin                 commander: Marceli Cieślicki

The town was to be seized by a concentric, simultaneous attack from four directions: from the north and west, the insurgents from Gniezno and Kcynia, from the south – the insurgents from Żnin, from the east – the soldiers from Września. The beginning of the attack was planned for 8.00 a.m. on 8 January 1919.