At the moment of establishing of 5th Division of Polish Riflemen Colonel Rumsza was nominated as a commander who was subordinated to - promoted twice in short time by general Haller - lieutenant colonel Czuma, commander of Polish army in Siberia. In the first months of 1919, personnel for the division reached 770 officers and more than 10,000 soldiers. The first half of 1919 was the period of relative peace. Yet the failures of Admiral Aleksander Kołczak (he called himself "all Russian governor" on 1st December 1918, after overthrowing the existing counter-revolutionary authorities,) on wide front of civil fights, started to engage Polish troops in fights with Bolsheviks. Despite making an agreement on military cooperation with countries of the Coalition, between counter-revolutionary Russian units, expedition army of Entente and national troops being created in Russia (which commander has become general Pierre Janin), the Bolshevik army still achieved success. The activities of the 1st, 2ndand 3rd riflemen regiments of polish division on thenorth from Nowoniko3ejewsk could not improve the situation. Facing a continuously worsening situation, General Janin commanded a general evacuation to the east and designated the 5th Division of Polish Riflemen to be rear guard which had to follow the Czechoslovakian Corps. After the Japanese and Czechoslovakian units, the 5th Division of Polish Riflemen was the most numerous allied military formation in East Russia and Siberia.
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