After two days of heavy fighting against the numerically superior Soviets, on 20 September Grodno was lost and three days later gen. bryg. Wacław Przeździecki, the commander of the defense of the Grodno area, ordered all his troops to escape to neutral Lithuania. The 110th Regiment was the only unit to disobey this order. The unit joined with the remnants of several routed regiments and fought its way towards the capital Warsaw. The unit got surrounded by the Red Army in the Biebrza river area and suffered serious casualties, but managed to break through the enemy defenses. After that, Lieutenant Colonel Jerzy Dąbrowski, the commander of the regiment, decided his unit should disband. A group of approximately 180 men wanted to continue, and Dobrzański took command of them and led them towards Warsaw, which was under siege.