• The 2nd Company, 5th Festung-Pionier-Ausbildungs-Bataillon
• The 500th SS-Jäger-Battalion
• The 5 II, 1 VI, 2 VI and 4 II Flak-Festungs-Companies
• The 23rd Festungs-MG-Battalion
• The 73rd Infanterie-Division (except the 73rd Machinegun Battalion and parts of the 1886th Infantry Regiment) along with the subordinate 745th Panzer-Jäger-Abteilung, 2./475 Panzer-Jäger-Artillerie-Abteilung
• The 1st The Royal Hungarian Cavalry Division and the unit subordinated to them, schwere Artillerie-Abteilung 154
• The 3rd SS-Panzer-Division “Totenkopf” and
• The 5th SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” along with its subordinated units: the 1145th Grenadier-Regiment, the 560th Infanterie-Abteilung z.b.V as well as the 1405th Infanterie-Festungs-Bataillon.
Their opposition included: the 47th Army, the 70th Army, the 8th Guards Tank Corps (the 58th Guards Tank Brigade, the 59th Guards Tank Brigade, the 60th Guards Tank Brigade, the 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade). The complement and operational positioning of the 47th Army was as follows: the remnants of the 105th Reserve Brigade, as well as the 175th Rifle Division, the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko-Infantry Division, the 76th Rifle Division, a Rifle Regiment from the 60th Rifle Division (from the 125th Rifle Corps) in the area of Międzylesie-Stara Miłosna. As a reserve for the 125th Rifle Corps, in the vicinity of Michalin stood the remnants of the 60th Rifle Division and the 143rd Rifle Division. The 234th Rifle Division and the 185th Rifle Division were located between Stara Miłosna and Ossów
The Wołomin region was manned by the 129th Rifle Corps which encompassed the 260th, the 132nd and the 328th Rifle Divisions. In the area from Słupno to the Narew we find the 70th Army, with combat forces from the 114th Rifle Corps in the area of Radzymin (160th, 165th and 413th Rifle Divisions) and the 96th Rifle Corps (the 1st Rifle Division, the 38th Guards Rifle Division & the 76th Rifle Corps).
The above summary shows the concentration of Soviet forces in the two most important compass points from which to launch attacks. The first is the southern location around Anin where the following forces were assembled: five infantry divisions, a tank corps, a reserve brigade, and a reinforced artillery. The other was between Wólka Radzymińska and Słupno. Concentrated there, within very small bounds, was the 70th Army’s 114th Rifle Corps. The Soviet command also planned during the course of following days to send the 1st Polish Volunteer Army to fight in the southern sector.
At that time the Polish forces were attached to General Kuzmin’s 125th Rifle Corps. On September 9, 1944, the 1st Tadeusz Kościszko-Infantry Division counted a total of 8,893 soldiers and had at its disposal 102 8.2 to 12 cm, mortars, 37 4.5 cm. anti-tank guns, 36 7.62 cm. guns, 12 12.2 cm. howitzers and 13 assault-guns, model SU-76M, plus 244 vehicles and 1,193 horses. Direct support was provided by the Soviet 13th Light Artillery Brigade, the 23rd Rocket Artillery Brigade, the 30th Heavy Artillery Brigade, the 100th Howitzer Brigade, the 139th Engineer Battalion, the 58th Guards Tank Brigade’s 2nd Battalion (support provided by the Soviet units). Initially, the division only sent selected infantry battalions into combat. As it happened, the Poles opposition in the Anin-area was an infantry battalion from the 73rd Infantry Division’s Infantry-Regiment 70 supported by a battery of 12 cm mortars (incidentally, it can be noted that the German 12 cm mortars, model sGrWr 42, were an identical copy of the mortars used by the Red Army). Longer out on 1st Infantry Division’s attacking shoulder, Artillery-Regiment 173 from the 73rd Infantry-Division was also deployed on the front.
At 10:00 AM, September 10, after a one-and-a-half hour artillery barrage, the 114th Rifle Corps had the honour of being the first unit to open the attack. Once again, intensive fighting broke out at Słupno and at the entry points to the Nieporet-Forest. Troops from the 3rd SS-Panzer-Division “Totenkopf” and the 5th SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” threw back all enemy infantry attacks, inflicting heavy losses in the process. The vicinity of height no. 104 marked the first incident that took place with consequences that would have dramatic repercussions on both sides: One of the 160th Rifle Division’s regiments, supported by a tank company, fought through the deadly fields of fire and passed the German lines and, when they reached the forest’s main road, set off towards nearby Stanisławów. But when the next wave of Soviet infantry and tanks began to attack the defending force from the direction of Słupno, StuG 40 assault-guns from the 3rd SS-Panzer-Division “Totenkopf” suddenly cropped up near height no.104 and forced the enemy to retreat under massive bombardment. In this way, the lead regiment, which toward evening had been decimated to 150 soldiers and 6 tanks, were separated by the 3rd SS-Panzer-Division “Totenkopf’s” detached rearguard. They fought relentlessly outside Stanisławów — but before dark, the SS- troops had brought them to their knees. At the same time, the main infantry forces from the 114th Rifle Corps had become bogged down in the ruins of the villages of Sieraków and Słupnos.
Events worked out much better for the main forces of the 47th Army. Their attack commenced at 1300 hours along the Wisła, opening with only the 175th Rifle Division. The German, 73rd Infantry-Division met this first attack with violent counterattacks. Soon, however, the entire 125th Rifle Corps joined in the fighting. Thanks to their numerical superiority, which also applied to artillery an anti-aircraft gun support, they eventually were able to crush the enemy’s resistance. The German infantry began to withdraw towards the north. The commander of the 73rd Infantry-Division, Colonel Kurt Hählig, was wounded and lost command of his unit. And though individual battalions attempted to carry out counterattacks — for example, the 76th Rifle Division had, in fact, been beaten back from Stara Miłosna - nevertheless, before the clock reached 1600 hours, the Germans were forced to retire from Anin (godsen Zastów and Sadul). Towards evening, Polish and Soviet infantry began to approach the buildings of Praga’s suburb, Wawer, by fighting their way through on the right-hand side of the railway tracks.
The knowledge that the attack on Praga had now begun forced the commands of the 9th and 2nd Armies to alter their operational plans. The decision to begin attacking the bridgehead at Pułtusk was now conditioned on how the attack outside Warsaw went. General von Vormann halted the march of the 19th Panzer-Division towards Modlin and turned it, instead, directly towards Praga. Panzergrenadier-Regiment 73 and SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 “Wiking”, which were also part of the panzer division’s complement and had thus far been fighting outside Pułtusk, were also commandeered in preparation for battle against Warsaw.
On September 11, tanks from the 19th Panzer-Division rolled into Praga. General Källner, who commanded the division, had been assigned the split 73rd Infantry-Division and gave them the order to halt the enemy attacks. The Germans organised a series of counterattacks. Since the panzer divisions had begun to participate in the fighting successively, the commander had only succeeded in stopping the 125th Rifle Corps’ advance, which as of September 11 had been supported by tanks from the 8th Guards Tank Corps’ tank brigades. That same day, the Soviet formation occupied the city sectors of Wawer, Rembertów and the village of Zielonka. Only during the attack against Grochów, a typical built-up urban area, were they driven back. In addition, the 77th Rifle Division’s infantry was activated and applied hard pressure against the 1st Calvary’s Hungarian positions in the woods north of Rembertów.
In the 3rd SS. Panzer-Division “Totenkopf’s” area, the 114th Rifle Corps — with support from the 129th Rifle Corps’ 328th Rifle Division — continued fighting. On September 11, the infantry, supported by tanks, again sped towards the Nięporet-Forest. The Soviet units fought their way into the woods taking significant losses under close-combat conditions. The panzer-grenadiers and the Soviet infantry continued to fight on with determination but at the end of the day neither side had succeeded in forcing the other from the wooded area.