As a small country, Finland knows how to confront a big power alone. Its vision of future wars is: "If Finland is unfortunately involved in a war involving a big power, Finland can count on receiving assistance from the enemy of the big power attacking Finland."
". The Finnish military authorities planned to rely on the Mannerheim Line of Defense to contain and consume the Soviet troops, then counterattack after obtaining foreign aid, and strive to negotiate peace with the former Soviet Union under favorable conditions.
But even so, if it cannot resist the Soviet army for a period of time, foreign aid will not help at all. After rejecting the Soviet Union's reasonable request, Finland estimated that the Soviet Union might invade on a large scale, so it took precautions and started a nationwide mobilization in advance, and in Karelia
The residents of the Isthmus were evacuated, the walls were fortified and the fields were cleared, and preparations were made for a long-term war of resistance.
By the beginning of the war, the Finnish Army had expanded to more than 150,000 people, with 300,000 reserve personnel, 100,000 reserve "civilian guards" and 100,000 women's service corps. However, the Finnish army was seriously short of anti-tank guns and medicinal oil.
The entire army only has about 100 anti-tank guns, which are only enough for two months and three weeks of combat. The air force is also insufficient, with only 30 bombers, 56 fighter jets, and 59 reconnaissance aircraft, and the models are relatively small.
old.
However, the whole country of Finland was not united in resisting the enemy. Even most members of the Finnish Communist Party sided with their own government and took up arms to fight against the Soviet Union. It became the second red organization after China that national sentiment overcame ideology. However, this was also because
Before, some Finnish communists went to the Soviet Union, but instead they were seduced by the Soviet Union.
The intensifying suppression of the "Great Purge" increased the Finnish Communist Party's distrust of the Soviet Union; in addition, because Finland established a clean and efficient government after independence, not only did the domestic economy develop rapidly, but the differences between various social classes also narrowed significantly.
This alleviated social conflicts and won widespread support from the domestic people.
In addition, the Soviet-Finnish border is sparsely populated, densely forested, crisscrossed with lakes, and has inconvenient transportation. However, the road network in the deeper areas of the Finnish border is developed. There are several railways running parallel to the border, which facilitates material transportation and troop mobility. On the Soviet side, the Karelia region
It is an inhabited desert. There is only one railway parallel to the border from Leningrad to Murmansk and
There are two branch lines leading to the border. In addition, the Soviet army far exceeds the Finnish army in terms of numbers and heavy equipment, so the Finnish army has an obvious advantage in terms of logistical supplies. Therefore, although it is wary of the Soviet Union's powerful national power, the overall strength of the Finnish army
The commander-in-chief, the legendary Carl Gustav Mannerheim, was still confident of achieving final victory in the Great Patriotic War.[
After the war broke out, the combat operations of both sides were mainly concentrated in four areas on the border, namely the Karelian Isthmus, the northeast of Lake Ladoga, the central border and the Besamo (now known as Bechenga) area. Among them, the strategically important Karelian area
The Isthmus of Relia was the main target of the Soviet Union in launching this war. The transportation conditions here are relatively good, with 4 single-track railways and 10 stone roads leading to northwest Finland.
The isthmus is about 100 kilometers wide. The terrain is undulating and vehicles can pass through it. However, it lacks a commanding height for long-distance observation. The Vuoksa River runs through it, with abundant water and many deep-water lakes. Vyborg is the only small industry in the area.
The city is also the only place and the best passage to pass through the Soviet-Finnish border. Finland's Mannerheim Line of Defense is an artificial barrier on the Karelian Isthmus. It is the focus of the Soviet offensive and the hardest nut to crack.
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After 10 years of hard work by Finland, the Mannerheim Line of Defense has formed a complete defense system. It consists of three defense zones with a depth of about 90 kilometers. Each defense zone relies on natural obstacles such as swamps and lakes. There are 670 structures. There are permanent launch fortifications and civil firepower points, as well as nearly 800 underground bunkers, which are connected by trenches and communication trenches. There is a 20-60 km deep support zone in front of the main defense zone. There is a wide range of areas in front of the main defense zone and within the support zone. Anti-tank and anti-infantry mines, anti-tank piles, anti-tank trenches and anti-tank cliffs were set up.
Historically, the Soviet army suffered extremely heavy losses on this line of defense, but in this time and space, because they once sent people to observe the People's Liberation Army's battle to conquer the Japanese Kwantung Army's fortress group, the Soviet Union had already sent the B4 heavy howitzer with a caliber of 203 mm to the front line. , under the cover of the aviation force and the T34 tank group, they approached the target and carried out direct-aimed artillery fire, which achieved good results. Countless Finnish troops did not even kill a single enemy and died in the collapsed fortress. The Finns The defensive line that was thought to be impenetrable was almost easily broken through by the Soviet army.
The losses of the Soviet army were only more than a hundred aircraft (including those that were flown back injured but could not be repaired) and a slightly larger number of tanks. This was basically not enough for the Soviet Union, which now has tens of thousands of combat aircraft and tens of thousands of tanks. Severity. And it is not just this battlefield that is very different from the battle conditions in history.
In the northeastern region of Lake Ladoga, there is an approach road that goes around the north shore of Lake Ladoga to the southern part of the Karelian Isthmus, but the distance is relatively long. Moreover, there is a long and narrow narrow road between Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga, which is easily guarded. Square blockage and truncation. The Soviet 8th Army, which just became the second Soviet tank army in this time and space half a year ago, has 2 tank corps and 1 mechanized corps (mechanized infantry), with more than 800 tanks, armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery, to follow suit. Using the classic example of armored troops driving southward on the Korean Peninsula using narrow passages, the Chinese army quickly penetrated into the hinterland of Finland and threatened the flanks of the main Finnish army.
Facing the Soviet armored clusters, although the three Finnish infantry divisions continued to block the attack with the cooperation of the guerrillas, the war was historically fought in winter. Because it was located in the cold zone and the nights were extremely long, the Soviet air superiority was basically impossible. On the contrary, it was late spring with long days and short nights, which made the Soviet bombers a fish in water and dealt a huge blow to the Finnish army. The anti-tank trenches and other field fortifications dug by the Finnish army before the war were also affected by the Soviet Union's The 8th Army had tens of thousands of mechanized infantry but did not play a big role.
It is worth mentioning that although the combat effectiveness of the Soviet infantry dropped sharply due to the "Great Purge", the extensive equipment of new automatic weapons such as km automatic rifles increased their firepower by more than ten times. Therefore, in fact The combat power is no less than that of the Finnish army.
When the front line was torn open by the Soviet infantry and tanks, the power of the armored torrent immediately became apparent. Seven to eight hundred tanks and armored vehicles drove straight in, and with the cooperation of the Soviet Union's huge fleet of aircraft, they rushed the Finnish army behind them. Although the Finnish army fought bravely, they still suffered most of their casualties in just two or three days. Many troops could not even retreat, and suffered the most tragic defeat on all fronts (to be continued. If you like this work , you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote, monthly vote, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to read.)