Battle Of Finland Winter 1939-1940 Summary

BATTLE OF SUOMUSSALMI (FINLAND, WINTER 1939-1940):

A BATTLE ANALYSIS

CPT Daniel Burrow

AVCCC 17-004, Team 1

October 24, 2017

Reviewed By: Leah Burrow and Robert Barcelo

Introduction As the Second World War began to unfold, the Soviet Union's leader, Joseph Stalin, sought to position Russia to deter a war with Germany. One of the steps Stalin took to accomplish this was to secure Russia's western border due to its close proximity to Leningrad. On 30 November 1939, Soviet Russia invaded its western neighbor, Finland, with half a million troops. The Russians invaded Finland with 46 divisions, including 2,500 planes and 3,000 aircraft – half of its inventory. Finland defended with a paltry 12 divisions of infantry. Although

Further intelligence reports estimated the arrival of the Russian 44th on 23 December. A successful linkup would resupply the Russian 163rd and mass enough combat power to overwhelm the limited Finnish troops. On 24 December, Colonel Siilasvuo's Raate road roadblock stopped the Russian 44th Division cold. Further attacks on the roadblock over the 24th and 25th failed to dislodge the two companies. After Finnish forces raided the flanks of the Russian 44th to relieve pressure on the hard-pressed roadblock, the Russian 44th's commander assumed a defensive stance awaiting reinforcements, which would never come. A captured Soviet colonel would later tell the Finns it was like, “butting your head against a stone wall.... It was

By compacting the snow with horse drawn sleds, these roads enabled the rapid movement of ski troops, cannon, and supplies. The use of these roads extended the effective flanking distance of the Finnish 9th Division's infantry from three to fifteen miles. Colonel Siilasvuo and the Finnish 9th Division would need the advantages in mission command, maneuverability, and sustainment that these roads would provide against the Russian 44th Motorized Division. By the nights of 1-2 January, these roads began to facilitate the troop movement for the establishment of flanking positions against the Russian