35204 FINNISH SOLDIER WWII

The Second World War began for Finland with the so-called The Winter War (1939-1940), i.e. the country's struggle with Soviet aggression. At the beginning of this conflict (November 1939), the Finnish land forces consisted of 9 regular infantry divisions, 4 infantry brigades and many smaller units, usually battalion-sized. All these forces were organized into three corps, the 2nd and 3rd of which defended the Karelian Isthmus based on the so-called The Mannerheim Line, i.e. a series of permanent fortifications and fortifications erected shortly before the beginning of the war. In the course of this Winter War, despite the multiple numerical superiority of the Red Army, the Finnish troops were able to use the terrain, weather conditions and their own mobility in a sensational way, causing the Soviet side to suffer great losses in people and equipment. Finnish infantry used the so-called the motti tactic, which consisted in separating and isolating larger Soviet troops, and then eliminating them with the fire of sharpshooters and starvation. The most perfect example of a motti tactic was the battle fought at Suomussalmi (December 1939 - January 1940), when three regiments and several independent battalions of Finnish infantry (approx. 11,000 men) defeated two Soviet infantry divisions and an armored brigade (approx. 45,000 men and over 50 tanks). )!