 After the death of Oskars Kalpaks on 6 March 1919 he was further promoted to the rank of Colonel and took control of the few Latvian soldiers in Courland.During the spring of 1919, after a string of victories over the Red Army, Balodis was given command over larger units and eventually over the Southern Group of the armed forces.In this role he was forced into an uneasy alliance with German troops.