• Comment: I am questioning the reliability of the website [1], as it seems to be an alternative website to Wikipedia, which means it is a user-generated source. If the machine translation is incorrect, please notify me on my talk page. ABG (Talk/Report any mistakes here) 04:38, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

Battle of Inčukalns
Part of Latvian War of Independence
Date 31 December 1918 - 1 January 1919 (1 day) Location Inčukalns and it's surroundings Result Soviet victory Latvians retreat Territorial changes The Red Army occupies Riga
Belligerents
Latvia Landeswehr	Soviet Latvia  Soviet Russia
Commanders and leaders
Major Šeiberts	Roberts Apinis Jānis Fabriciuss
Strength
Less than Latvian Riflemen[1]	2,000 - 3,000 sdoldiers[1]
Casualties and losses
35 killed 100 wounded[2][3]	70 killed 150 wounded[2][3]

The Battle of Inčukalns was the first battle of the Latvian War of Independence located in Inčukalns, the battle was as an attempt by the Landeswehr to delay the Bolsheviks approach to Riga.^[4]

On the morning of 31 December, the 4th Rifle Regiment started shelling Landeswehr positions, concentrating all artillery fire on the Inčukalns Manor, while the 1st Regiment gradually advanced to the Inčukalns railway station. The whole day passed in mutual shelling. The Landeswehr held their positions, but the situation worsened significantly in the positions of the left wing of the 3 km long front line near the Inčukalns Manor. It went from hand to hand until the Landeswehr Russian Company defending it were driven from their positions.

The battle reached its peak on the night of January 1, when the enemy launched a final assault, breaking through the thinned ranks of the Landeswehr. The 1st Regiment, which had been tasked with encircling the Landeswehr, approached the Inčukalns railway station from the south unnoticed. In an unexpected attack, the attack surprised the station's defenders, but then the Latvian Riflemen, unexpectedly ran into barbed wire left over from World War I, and their attack stopped. This gave the guards officers the opportunity to regroup their defense, but the counterattack of the assault company platoon forced the Latvian Riflemen to retreat 2 km from Inčukalns. The 4th Rifle Regiment from the Inčukalns Manor was also repulsed and the battle ceased, but the guards' losses were heavy, including the battery commander and some of the gunners who had been killed.

In the morning, as light broke, the fighting resumed. The 4th Rifle Regiment continued its advance towards the station from the manor. Despite the superiority, the positions were held until noon, but in the afternoon as new enemy machine guns began to fire on the left wing of the Landeswehr, indicating that their positions had been bypassed. At this moment, a train headed towards Riga, leaving behind the wounded at the station, causing panic among the left wing of the Landeswehr.

In order to avoid an encirclement, the Shock Company, which had held back the entire attack by the 1st Regiment, began to retreat on the right wing. Active enemy artillery fire and machine guns prevented the guns that had fallen into the crossfire being removed from their positions, the weapons had to be abandoned. When the enemy reached the railway embankment, machine gun fire from the Landeswehr held them off from crossing and cutting off the retreat route. It was clear that the battle was lost.^[5]

On 2 January, at noon, the Latvian Provisional Government led by Kārlis Ulmanis left Riga, along with the Student Company. Later, on the morning of 3 January, Oskars Kalpaks, with a total of about 400 soldiers, also left Riga.

On the afternoon of 3 January the first groups of rifle scouts entered Riga, followed by the 6th Latvian Rifle Regiment in the evening. On the night of 4 January Pēteris Stučka arrived in Riga by an armored train. At around 3 a.m., representatives of the Soviet government took part in a meeting of the Riga War Revolutionary Committee, starting the Bolshevik rule in Riga.^[6]