 After a short spell of training, the unit went into ferocious combat in the Battle of Łódź; the barely-trained regiment suffered severe casualties both from its well-schooled German foe and from the foul weather.Concerning this period, Smirnov later remarked, "We were thrown in as mere gun fodder..." He also noted that his contingent of 90 soldiers was rapidly reduced to 19 by casualties.In late October, Ivan Smirnov carried out a series of hazardous ground reconnaissance patrols.