PANSSARI  SALAMA

by Michael Bennighof

Historical Notes
The Second and Third Russo-Finnish Wars

	On August 23, 1939, Foreign Ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and V.M.Molotov signed the German-Soviet Treaty of Non-Aggression in Moscow on the behalf of their respective governments. Nine days later German forces invaded Poland, assured of Soviet neutrality.
	Soon after the attack on Poland, the Soviet Union began to expand into the areas assigned to the Soviet sphere of influence by the secret protocol of the treaty. First eastern Poland was overrun in co-operation with the Germans, and then Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were seized from Rumania during a Hungarian-Rumanian border dispute. Next, the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were presented with a list of demands which were tantamount to military occupation. The conditions of these demands were not resisted. In August, 1940 the governments of these three countries were informed that they had requested to join the Soviet Union, which had graciously granted their request.
	On October 14, 1939, similar demands were presented to Finland. The Soviet regime apparently sought to restore the borders of the Soviet Union to those of the Russian Empire of 1914, ironically echoing the White General Anton Denikin's Russian Civil War slogan of 'Russia, One and Indivisible.' 
	The demands presented to Finland were as follows:
	1 ) Finland was to cede her islands in the Gulf of Finland to the Soviet Union;
	2)  Finland was to withdraw her frontier on the Karelian Isthmus to a line to be determined by the Soviet Union; 
	3) a thirty year lease was to be granted on an air and naval base at Hango at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland;
	4)  Finland  was  to  cede  her portion of the  Rybachiy (Fisher) Peninsula in Lappland to the Soviet Union; and 
	5) Finland was to sign a mutual assistance treaty with the Soviet Union.
	In return for these concessions, Finland was offered the districts of Repola and Parajarvi in Soviet Karelia.
	The negotiations reached a deadlock on October 23rd. The Finnish Prime Minister, A.K. Cajander, and his ministers agreed to cede the Tyter skerries in the Gulf of Finland and to withdraw their frontier to the fortified line across the Karelian Isthmus in return for the territory in Soviet Karelia, but the other demands were rejected.
	On November 26th, the Soviet Union claimed that Finnish artillery had opened fire on Russian troops and demanded that all  Finnish  troops  withdraw  to  positions fifteen  miles from the frontier. The Finns agreed to withdraw on the condition that Russian troops would withdraw a similar distance. On November 28th, the Soviet Union broke diplomatic relations with Finland. On November 30th, the Red Army attacked without the formality of issuing a declaration of war.
	In the initial assault the Russians employed nineteen rifle divisions and five tank brigades. These forces were organized into the following armies:
	1) the Seventh Army on the Karelian Isthmus, with eight divisions, a tank corps, and two independent tank brigades, was to overrun the Finnish fortifications and take Viipuri on the third day of the assault;
	2) the Eighth Army, on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga with six divisions, was to draw off Finnish defenders opposing the main attack;
	3) the Ninth Army, on the central frontier with four divisions, was to launch two columns across Finland toward Oulu ani4 Kpmi nn the fiulf of Bothnia;
	4) the Fourteenth Army in Lappland, with one division (the 104th) was to occupy the port of Petsamo on the Arctic Ocean.
	Almost 30% of the Russian troops were conscripts with absolutely no military training, and another 30% were poorly trained reservists called up only days before the attack. All Soviet troops were given strict instructions to respect Swedish neutrality upon reaching the Swedish frontier on the opposite side of Finland. The Red Air Force attacked Finnish airfields unsuccessfully but caused many civilian casualties in attacks against Helsinki and Viipuri.
	To oppose the Soviet invasion, the Finnish Army, under their already famous commander Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, had mobilized nine divisions and some smaller units. The II Corps and III Corps were manning the so-called 'Mannerheim Line' on the Karelian Isthmus with five divisions between them, commanded by Lieutenant General Hugo Ostermann. The IV Corps, with two divisions, was on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga under Major General Hagglund. The V Corps in central Finland had nine independent frontier or Sissi battalions and was commanded by Major General Vilpo Tuompo. In Lappland there were four independent Sissi battalions commanded by Major General Kurt Wallenius. The I Corps of two understrength divisions and the cavalry brigade formed the strategic reserve, directly under Marshal Mannerheim.
	After suffering disastrous initial failures at Tolvajarvi, Raate Road, and in the 'motti battles' in the trackless wastelands of Karelia as well as in still other engagements, the Red Army brought up massive numbers of reinforcements and replacements. Together with surviving units, these troops brought the total of Russian forces deployed against Finland to forty-five divisions, or half of those in European Russia. On the Karelian Isthmus, the new Thirteenth Army was inserted; Russian strength in that sector totaled 24 infantry divisions (with three more in reserve), 20 artillery regiments (with approximately 720 guns), and seven armored brigades (with 455 tanks), all under the command of Marshall Semyon Timoshenko.
	These new forces finally wore down the outnumbered Finns and achieved a breakthrough in the fortifications near Summa. The Finnish Army retreated in good order to its final positions in western Karelia, but its soldiers refused to acknowledge that they had been defeated.
	On March 8, 1940 the Finnish government sent the new Prime Minister Risto Ryti, Minister without Portfolio J.K. Paasikivi,  Minister of Defense General  Rudolf Walden, and Speaker of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Professor Voionmaa to Moscow to meet with the Soviet delegates, Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov, Leningrad Party Secretary A.A. Zhdanov, and Marshall A.M. Vasilevsky in order to attempt to arrange an armistice. The Russians demanded and received the following concessions from the Finns:
	1)  Finland was to cede the Viipuri district to the Soviet Union;
	2) Finland was to lease an air and naval base at Hango to the Soviet Union for a period of thirty years;
	3)  Finland wasto cede her portion of the Rybachiy (Fisher) Peninsula in Lappland to the Soviet Union;
	4) Finland was to cede the Salla district in central Finland to the Soviet Union; and
	5)  Finland was to build a railroad between Murmansk and Kemijarvi and allow the Soviet Union to use it for any offensive action against Sweden.
	The Finnish negotiators managed to avoid being forced into an alliance with the Soviet Union, or any form of Russian military occupation other than the tease at Hango.
	Finland had mobilized 600,000 of its citizens for military service, including 90,000 female auxiliaries known as 'Lottas.' (So-called after Svaerd Lotta, the wife of a young Finnish lieutenant serving in the Swedish Army during the 1809 RussoSwedish War. A 'Finnish Molly Pitcher,' she followed her husband into battle against the Russians and aided the wounded.) 24,934 Finnish soldiers were killed and 43,557 wounded.
	Many foreign nations sent military and financial aid, most notably Sweden which contributed 8000 volunteers (including many active-duty officers on temporary leave and a squadron of fighter planes with Swedish Air Force pilots also on leave), 85 anti-tank guns, 112 field artillery pieces, 104 anti-aircraft guns, 500 machine guns and 80,000 rifles along with ammunition for all of these weapons, although the desperate Finnish pleas for regular troops were rejected.
	Hungary formed a volunteer corps of 25,000 troops, only one battalion of which was dispatched to Finland for fear of Soviet reprisals. Other nations sent arms, ammunition, and volunteers, although Germany, under the terms of the GermanSoviet Treaty of Non-Aggression, made rather weak attempts to prevent them from doing so after German aid to Finland (in violation of the treaty) was publicized in the Swedish press. Several shipments of Italian arms and aircraft were stopped at the German border.
	A  Finnish-American  Legion of company strength was formed of American volunteers and entered the front lines during the last week of fighting. Plans were made to send 80,000 British and French troops to Finland, but the Norwegian government refused to allow them passage through their country as their instructions would surely have included the occupation of both Norway and Sweden.
	Captured Russian weapons were a valuable addition to the Finnish arsenal, although ammunition for them was often scarce. Some Soviet-made ammunition was purchased from Spain, where large stocks of Soviet munitions had been abandoned after the unsuccessful intervention in the Spanish Civil War.
	Russian losses were much heavier than those suffered by Finland. One major cause of Finland's willingness to negotiate was the spectre of plagues caused by the rotting bodies piled in front of the Mannerheim line positions. Five divisions were completely destroyed, and three others were decimated. V.M. Molotov at the time admitted to having sustained losses of 48,745 killed and 158,863 wounded, but actual losses were much higher. In 1970 Nikita Khrushchev published his memoirs, Khrushchev Remembers. In these he stated that one million Russian soldiers had died during the Winter War, which confirms Finnish claims. Marshal Timoshenko later remarked that Russia had conquered barely enough territory to bury her dead. In addition to the horrible toll of human lives, 1600 tanks and 872 aircraft were lost.
	No foreign nations aided the Soviet Union other than a symbolic German blockade of the ice-bound Baltic Sea, and the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations for its aggression. The 'Democratic People's Government of the Finnish Republic' (formed under the exiled Finnish communist and Soviet Politburo member Otto Witii Kuusinen on December  1,  1939)  disappeared after the armistice, although a Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was formed in late 1940.
	A cease-fire was arranged to take effect on March 14, 1940, at noon. Assuming that the war had ended, many Finnish units left their positions that morning. At 11:45 a.m., with Finnish soldiers packed on the roads preparing to demobilize and return home. the Russian artillery batteries opened fire with an intensive fifteen minute rolling barrage which killed hundreds. The intense hatred resulting from this barbaric and inexcusable (even by Jack Radey) act was primarily responsible for  Finnish  willingness to  participate  in  the 'Barbarossa' offensive.
	Military consultations were held between German and Finnish staff officers at Salzburg in May, 1941, and as a result Finland declared war on the Soviet Union and launched an offensive against the Russians on June 26, 1941. The Finnish Army had been strengthened by the arrival of armaments in-
tended for the Winter War, and an improved conscription system enabled Finland to mobilize eighteen divisions for operations. The Finns reconquered the areas lost the previous year and also took most of East Karelia. The Russians resisted fiercely, and had ample troops with which to do so as the Fin nish offensive had come only days before a scheduled Soviet attack. More Finnish soldiers were lost in this phase of hostilities than  in the entire Winter War-32.303 dead and 82,282 wounded between June 16, 1941 and September 30, 1942.
	The Finnish Army took up defensive positions at the close of the offensive, in which they were to remain for the rest of the Continuation War. The Finns were second to none in fighting ability, but their resources were severely limited (sixteen per cent of the population were serving in the armed forces); thus Finland was in no position to carry out a protracted struggle with the Soviet Union. Sending Finnish troops
to attack Murmansk, Leningrad or Arkhangelsk would only jeopardize the defense of Finland. The German 20th Mountain Army sent to Lappland for an offensive against Murmansk was unable to advance further than the Litsa River, less than half of the short distance to Murmansk from the frontier.
	In 1941, a battalion of Finnish volunteers was raised by the German Waffen SS with the permission of the Finnish government. These troops served with Army Group Center and added to the fighting reputation which the Finns had acquired. In June 1943, their enlistments expired, and Marshal Mannerheim
forbade their re-enlistment. Originally they had all been underage for conscription into the Finnish Army, but they were now old enough. These experienced men were conscripted into their assigned units, which were based on the eighteen Finnish military districts.
	The Finnish front remained relatively quiet until June, 1944. A massive assault was then launched against the Finnish Karelian Army, which fell back slowly after much fierce fighting. On July 10, the troops withdrawing from the Karelian Isthmus and from East Karelia reached the Uuksu line of fortifications north of Viipuri, which had been built during 1942 and 1943. This position was stabilized with the aid of huge
shipments of German anti-tank weapons. Finnish reserves were exhausted, however, as all able-bodied men between the ages of 17 and 65 had been mobilized and Finland's prisons had been emptied of their convicts.
	On August 1, President Risto Ryti resigned his position in favor of Marshal Mannerheim, who resumed the position of leadership of Finland he had held as Regent during and after the Finnish War of Independence. An armistice was negotiated through the good offices of Sweden, and a cease-fire went into
effect on September 4. This armistice required that the Finns both demobilize their army and drive all Germans from Finland by September 15. This forced the Finnish Army to conduct an offensive with 17-year-old conscripts rather than with the veterans of the Continuation War. The German troops of the 20. Gebirgsarmee in Lappland (the 2., 6. and 7. Gebirgsdivisions, the 6. SS Gebirgsdivision 'Nord,' the 163. and 169. Infantry divisions and assorted support units) conducted a fighting retreat to Norway, destroying almost everything behind them. What little remained was carried off by the Rus sians, pursuing the Germans in violation of the armistice terms.
	The terms of this armistice were quite harsh. In addition to the areas lost to the Soviets under the 1940 treaty, the Petsamo district and the port of Porkkala near Helsinki were also lost, though Hango was retained. A crushing indemnity of 300 million dollars was also placed on Finland. Fortunately, the population of the lost territories had been evacuated, sparing them from the wrath of General Secretary Stalin. Many Finnish officials were placed on trial for war crimes, with questionable motives, by justive minister (and later longtime president) Urho Kekkonen, including Risto Ryti who received the harshest sentence, ten years of hard labor.

Finnish Units

	Infantry. Infantry made up the bulk of the Finnish Army. Although the typical Finnish soldier was usually a reservist, he was highly motivated, well trained and well led. Finnish regular soldiers formed a cadre and were combined in the same units with reservists. All Finnish troops were equipped with skis and trained  in their use except for those manning the fortifications across the Karelian Isthmus. Some units were also equipped with bicycles for use during the summer, for increased mobility.
	The Finns as a nation were, and still are, proficient hunters and outdoorsmen and were guided by the philosophy of sisu. According to Paavo Nurmi, the 'Flying Finn,' sisu is the spirit
which drives one onward when his body can go no further. Special Sissi raider battalions were formed of hunters, reindeer herdsmen, and border guards to patrol the stretches of wilderness along the central frontier and to track down and destroy Russian guerrilla units which infiltrated across the border and harassed the local population.
	The troops were armed with domestically produced Suomi 9mm submachine guns and Lahti-Saloranta automatic rifles, as well as imported Mauser rifles. The Finnish-made weapons operated well in sub-zero temperatures, while the Russian weapons were useless in the extreme cold. As the war progressed large numbers of captured Russian automatic weapons were repaired and put to use.
	The engineer units were armed with special explosives and Molotov cocktails (the original Molotov cocktails, prepared by the Finnish State Liquor Board as an emergency measure) with which to attack Russian armor, in addition to the combat engineer units' usual assortment of unusual weapons. Finnish expertise in forest and winter warfare was imparted to German and Hungarian officers during special training sessions during 1942 and 1943, held at Kankaanpae in Finland and Grossborn in Germany. This training enabled the German and Hungarian troops to cope with the Russian weather and winter tactics more efficiently than during the disastrous winter of 1941/1942.
	Anti-tank Artillery.  Anti-tank guns were never widely available to the Finnish Army. 25mm, 37mm, and 47mm guns were received from the Western nations, and 37mm, 45mm,
and 76.2mm guns were captured from the Russians. The 25mm and 47mm weapons came from the French and Italians in smalt numbers both before and during the Winter War, and, as captured weapons, were supplied by the Germans during the Continuation War. The 37mm Bofors guns were received from Sweden before, during, and after the Winter War and were the most numerous of the Finnish anti-tank guns. German 37mm, 50mm, and 75mm weapons were also eventually supplied.
	Lahti-Saloranta domestically produced an effective 20mm anti-tank rifle. Its effect is included in the infantry units' firepower factors. Improvised anti-tank weapons, including
wooden poles to shove into the running gear of Russian tanks, pipe grenades, and Molotov cocktails were issued to special anti-tank  squads  (included  within the engineer platoons)
German panzerfausts and panzerschrecks arrived in an emergency airlift during the 1944 Russian offensive.
	Field Artillery. Heavy, artillery was often used in frontline situations by the Finns because of the critical shortage of anti-tank guns. The backbone of the Finnish artillery was the
French 75mm Model 1897. The Finns also used a number of heavier pieces of 105mm, 150mm, and 155mm bore but these were not widely deployed. Captured Soviet 122mm and
152mm howitzers were used extensively during the Continuation War. The Swedish Bofors 40mm flak gun was also used for infantry support because in many instances nothing else

Erratum: All references to the FT-7 should be to the FT-17.

	Armor. At the outbreak of the Winter War the only armored vehicles which the  Finnish Army possessed were thirteen Vickers light tanks, which formed the Fourth Detached Armor
Company. Later, enough Russian equipment was captured and reconditioned to form the First Armored Division, which was activated on July 24, 1941. The division was comprised of seven armor troops and a contingent of horse-drawn 37mm anti-tank guns. This division was committed to the Maaselka offensive in late 1941 and was then held in reserve until the 1944 Russian offensive threatened to overwhelm the Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus.
	The Germans provided the bulk of the Finnish armor, including various types of assault guns and surplus German vehicles. German instructors trained Finnish crews to operate these vehicles. Captured Czech and French armored vehicles were also provided. The captured Russian tanks in service with the division were mostly the medium T-28, light/medium tanks of the BT series, and the tight T-40, T-50, T-60 and T-26, as well as a very few modern KV and T-34 types. A Wehrmacht assault gun brigade also served with the Finnish Army during most of the Continuation War until its withdrawal in July 1944.
	As Finnish military doctrine called for, the tanks were used mainly for infantry support  and as a defensive deterrent to Russian armor, rather than as a blitzkrieg weapon. The forests of Karelia were not suited to large scale armored warfare as were the steooes of the Ukraine.
	Mortars. The Finnish Army used several different types of mortars. The new counter represents both 81mm mortars of Italian and French origin and captured Soviet 82mm mortars, which had similar capabilities. These mortars were favored by the Finnish Army since they were light and relatively easy tc
carry, in keeping with the emphasis on mobility. Light mortars are included in the firepower factors of the infantry units 120mm mortars captured from the Russians were also put to use, but these were not as common as the smaller weapons.
	Transport. During the winter months, the Finnish Army used sledges drawn by horses or reindeer for transport (the 'pulkka' of Crescendo of Doom). Many of these vehicles had been requisitioned from the public for military duty. Wagons and some trucks, including many captured Russian vehicles, were used during the summer months. Vehicles were primarily used for supply, medical evacuation, and artillery towing
duties, as the Finnish infantry was equipped with skis for use during the winter months and bicycles for use during the summer months.
	Aerosans, primarily of individual private designs, were also requisitioned by the Finnish Army and put to use against the Russians. These ski vehicles had been used before the war to supply isolated settlements in Lappland. There was no standard Finnish military aerosan design.
	Cavalry. Horsed cavalry was theoretically to be used in the Finnish Army to increase mobility during the summer, but in practice the cavalry remained mounted year-round. While this defeated the stated purpose of increased mobility, it helped to reduce training and logistics difficulties. In theory, a brigade of cavalry was to be attached to each division. Only one full brigade was mobilized for the Winter War, as part of the strategic reserve, but all divisions had some attached cavalry for scouting purposes. With the possible exceptions of the Cossacks and some Soviet units, cavalrymen were actually mounted infantry who fought on foot (dragoons). Glorious cavalry charges were not a predominant feature of World War Two.

New Russian Units

	Ski Units. The Red Army formed several small units of ski troops for use in the Winter War. Although the soldiers were conscripted from Soviet Karelia (a region bordering Finland, inhabited by Finnish-speaking people), they were inadequately trained and equipped with the wrong type of ski, which they could not remove quickly enough in a firefight. The Finnish ski  was  held  on  by  straps which  could  be jerked  loose immediately, while the Russians had to remove their boots first.  The  Soviet troops were  issued  no winter camouflage: thus they were easy to spot against the snow. The Finns slaughtered these troops at will during the Winter War. The lessons learned here, however, contributed to the formation of elite ski units in the Siberian Army which first appeared during the defense of Moscow. As the original ski troops were from Karelia, they were even less enthusiastic about fighting against the Finns than the average Soviet soldier. Many of them had relatives in Finland, and they spoke Karelian (a Finnish dialect) as their native language. When opportunities arose to surrender they were not ignored. Elite ski units formed during the winter of 1941 should be considered as eoual or suoerior to Soviet Guards infantry companies.
	Transport. Sledges were used by the Russians as well as the Finns. They were not as widely used, motor transport being preferred where available. Several attempts were made at using armored sledges pushed or pulled by tanks. At first the armor plating was too thin, and the riders were cut down by machine
gun and rifle fire. When thicker armor was used, the sledges became too heavy and sank through the snow.
	The Russian half-track in use at this time was the ZIS-33, which was basically a light truck with tracks replacing the rear axles. It was neither armored nor armed. The U.S.-made M3 was not in use until much later, after Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union began.
	Aerosans. The Russians developed around the turn of the century a unique series of powered ski vehicles known as aerosans. These vehicles were at first powered by a motorcycle engine, pushed by an airplane propeller, and travelled on a ski-equipped chassis. The Soviet government formed a special Aerosan Construction Committee in 1919 to further develop these promising vehicles. Larger and more powerful aerosans were built, until in 1933 an aerosan built by the Aero san and Sled Building Organization set a world land speed record of 70 miles per hour.
	During the Winter War several battalions of aerosans were deployed, equipped primarily with the NKL-6 model aerosan, This vehicle was used in support of ski units for scouting, raiding, and medical evacuation. A special armored version aremed with one 7.62mm machine gun was also common.
	Production of aerosans was greatly expanded following the Winter War due to their great success. A new transport aerosan, the NKL-16, was brought into service. A new armored assault version, the NKL-26, was also deployed. Aerosan battalions were used on all fronts during the winter months of 1941-1942 and 1942-1943. A small two-man scout aerosan, the RF-8, was introduced in 1942; later in 1942 a large transport aerosan, the ASD-400, also came into production. This vehicle could carry 20 to 25 troops, whereas the earlier aerosan could only ca"ry five or six. Only a few dozen of this model were built.
	By 1944, the Red Army was continuously on the offensive, and most of the aerosan battalions were removed from their combat rote. These units continued in transport duties until the end of the war. Aerosans are still used today by the Soviet Army and Russian civilians in the Far North.
	The Finnish Army "sed aerosans of their own design and captured Russian vehicles in a combat role during both the Winter War and the Continuation War. The Wehrmacht also developed several models of aerosan based on captured Russian examples.
	Artillery. The 37mm gun was the standard infantry anti-tank gun in the Red Army until the introduction of the 45mm gun began on a large scale. This gun was a direct copy of the German Rheinmetall-Borsig weapon issued to theWehrmacht. This weapon was still in service with some Russian units at the time of the Winter War.
	Soviet heavy artillery was removed from divisional control during the reorganization following the Barbarossa offensive. These guns were formed into artillery divisions by Stavka to create a firepower reserve to aid in offensives or to strengthen a defensive position. At the time of the Winter War the field
artillery was still an intergral part of the Soviet division.
	The 203mm howitzer was an eight-inch naval weapon mounted on a strange tracked chassis, giving it a limited degree of mobility. These guns were used to bombard the Mannerheim Line and the forts on Koivisto. The slow speed of these 'self-propelled' guns kept them out of most major battles.
	The 152mm gun/howitzer was the standard Russian heavy artillery piece. These guns formed the bulk of the weapons in the artillery divisions, and many of them were used unofficially by the divisional artillery batteries. This gun was also used to arm the KV-II and the SU-152 'Conquering Beast'
assault guns.
	Armor. The Winter War provided a testing ground for the Red Army. Here it was discovered how completely unsuitable their mechanized forces were for modern warfare. The Red Army possessed the world's largest tank force in 1939, with well over 22,000 vehicles.
	Light Tanks. In keeping with the cavalry traditions of the Imperial Russian Army, light tanks were the most numerous among the Red Army's armored vehicles at this time. The T-26 was the standard tight tank, of which there were three basic models and several variations. The T-26A mounted two machine guns in twin turrets, while the T-26B and T-26C were armed with a 45mm gun and a co-axial machine gun in a single turret. Armor protection was poor, and the top speed was only eighteen miles per hour.
	The T-40 was the final product of a series of small amphibious tanks. Armor protection was only sometimes sufficient against small-arms fire, while armament was reduced to one 12.7mm and one 7.62mm machine gun in order to save weight. The small propeller could drive the T-40 at a speed of four knots in calm water.
	The T-50 and T-60 were intended as replacements for the T-26. The T-60 was armed with a 20mm cannon, while the T-50 had a 45mm gun. The T-50 was a slightly faster and better protected vehicle. The armor on both of these vehicles was well-sloped but much too thin. These vehicles provided design experience which was valuable in developing the T-34. The T-50 and T-60, as well as the T-70 and T-80, greatly resembled a scaled-down T-34. However, both the T-50 and T-60 were disappointments.
	The T-70 was a development of the T-60. It was armed with a better 45mm gun than the earlier tanks, but it still was limited to a two-man crew, impairing  its fighting ability. One squadron of these vehicles was attached to each tank brigade as a reconnaissance unit during the Great Patriotic War. The T-70 chassis was also used to produce the first successful Russian assault gun, the SU-76.
	The T-80 was a further development of the T-70, because of the need for better armament among reconnaissance units. By the time this tank had reached the production stage, the T-34 had taken over the scouting role with the Red Army's tank brigades.
	Medium Tanks. The first modern Russian medium tank to enter production was the T-28. This vehicle was armed with a short 76.2mm howitzer and a co-axial machine gun in the main turret and two bow machine guns in seperate turrets in front of the main turret. The T-28 remained the standard Russian
medium tank through the 1930's until it was finally replaced in frontline service by the T-34/76A. Like the Russian heavy tanks, the T-28 was intended as an infantry support vehicle.
	Most numerous among Soviet armored fighting vehicles of the pre-war period were the fast tanks of the BT series, which were comparable in their intended battlefield role to the British cruiser tanks. There were several models in this series, of which the BT-5 and BT-7 were still in service at the time of the Winter War. While these tanks were very fast, they were clad with almost no armor and had to depend on their speed for survival. The different models carried various weapons as their main armament, with the BT-7-2 carrying the same 76.2m gun used to arm the T-34/76A at this series' highest stage of development. The BT series tanks could also shed their tracks to achieve even greater road speeds.
	Heavy Tanks. Like the British, the Red Army was hampered in  its  development  of  an  effective  armored  force  by  the British-influenced theories of the Red Army staff, which called for heavy assault tanks to assist the infantry in achieving breakthroughs. Plans were even made to produce a true land battle-
ship' weighing over 1000 tons.
	The standard heavy tank of the Red Army during the 1930's was the giant T-35. One turret held a short 76.2mm howitzer, while two turrets carried 45mm guns and two additional turrets held machine guns. One of the secondary 45mm turrets was often removed during refitting to reduce the vehicle's weight. This land battleship' required a ten-man crew. The 45mm guns were necessary to combat enemy tanks, because
the 76.2mm howitzer could not fire armor-piercing shot. The T-35's cross-country performance was poor, while armor protection was inadequate for its intended breakthrough role. The great size of the vehicle made it a superb target for Finnish gunners. The suspension was also incapable of carrying the machine's great weight over such a vast area. After the Winter War, the T-35 was removed from front-line service with the Red Army; the Wehrmacht reported very few encounters with the gigantic, but vulnerable, weapon.
	The T-46 was a short-lived experimental model intended to replace the T-35, although both machines were inadequate in  all  respects for their tasks. The T-46 was armed with a 45mm gun, was extremely slow and offered almost no protection against enemy anti-tank fire to its crew. In Finland, the
T-46 was battle-tested and failed to meet its specifications by a wide margin.
	The T-100 was a 56-ton experimental model sent to the Karelian Isthmus which was also shown to be inadequate for the Red Army's requirements. It was armed with a 45mm gun in one turret at deck level and a 76.2mm gun mounted in a second super-firing turret perched high above the deck. The T-100 is notable because it was the forerunner of the subsequent series of Soviet heavy tanks. The same chassis and
suspension developed for the T-100 was used to build the KV series of tanks.
	The first tank of the KV (named for Marshall Klimenti Voroshilov, Soviet Defense Minister during the late 1930's and one of Josef Stalin's few personal friends) series to be produced was the KV-I. This vehicle was armed with a 76.2mm gun in a heavy turret but otherwise is almost identical with the KV-85 of Panzerblitz. Later models carried the heavier armament and were better protected. The assault version of
this tank was the KV-II, which carried a 152mm howitzer in a huge slab-sided turret.

Special Rules

	Field Guns: The Finnish 75mm, 105mm and 122mm field guns and Soviet 203mm and 152mm howitzers should be allowed to use the indirect fire rule. Allow the CP units to spot for them.
	Winter movement: In scenarios set in winter months, movement factors for armored vehicles and halftracks are reduced to 2/3 of their printed value. Trucks are reduced to 1/2 of their printed movement factor. Cavalry and wagon units have their movement factors reduced to 2.
	Ski movement: Ski units (Russian 'ski' infantry, Finnish jagers) may cross green hex sides. Entering any hex costs them 1 movement factor, leaving a gully or streambed costs 2. Slope hexes entered from a hilltop hex cost 1 movement factor; slope hexes entered from other terrain cost 2 movement factors. Ski units may be transported like any other infantry unit.
	Pond: The pond hex may be crossed by infantry units and aerosans in the Winter War scenarios. If they are attacked while in the pond hex, the attacker's die roll is modified by (-1). In warm weather scenarios, the T-40 tank units may cross the pond or any body of water players may create on home-
made boards at a speed of one hex per turn.
	Finnish stacking: Finnish non-armored units represent platoons, therefore they may stack three units per hex. Except for the Vickers light tank units, Finnish tank units represent companies and may only stack two units per hex. The Vickers light tank units, and any German pieces used, represent platoons and may be stacked at three units per hex.
	Sledge movement: Sledges move as regular vehicles, but are not subject to any winter movement modifications.
	Halftrack wrecks: The Russian ZIS-33 halftrack is not an armored vehicle, and when destroyed it is not replaced by a wreck counter.
	Aerosans: Aerosans are not subject to any winter movement modifications. It costs an aerosan two movement factors to enter a woods hex and five to enter a slope hex from a non-hilltop hex. These units may not cross green hex-sides and are not considered armored vehicles. Transport aerosans may carry infantry units, 81mm or 82mm mortars, light anti-tank and flak guns (50mm or less) and CP units.

Optional Rule

	Naval gunfi're: The warships of the Soviet Red Navy were also used against Finland, in addition to air and ground forces. The battleships Marat and Oktobriaskaya Revolutia bombarded Finnish positions on the Karelian Isthmus quite often during the Winter War. The Oktobriaskaya Revolutia was heavily damaged by hits from the Finnish 305mm batteries on the fortress island of Koivisto during one of these missions. The massive Soviet submarine fleet (largest in the world in 1939) operated unsuccessfully in the Gulf of Finland in an attempt to cut off aid in Finland, in contrast to the five submarines of the Finnish navy which caused much damage to the Soviet merchant fleet.
	During the Continuation War, the Finnish Navy and the Kriegsmarine were able to string an anti-submarine net across the mouth of the Gulf of Finland. It kept Russian ships and submarines out of the Baltic Sea until the Estonian side was

overrun by Soviet troops. The Russian surface ships conducted very few missions until the June 1944 offensive agains Finland.
	Naval gunfire support, an important feature of the Panzer Leader invasion scenarios, is available only in Situation F-10 Viipuri.  240  H  class  attack  factors,  representing  the  11 twelve-inch guns of the Oktobriaskaya Revolutia (the Mara\ was lost to a Stuka attack some time before) and the nine 7.1-inch guns of the heavy cruiser Maksim Gorkiy, are available to the Russian player on turn one. They fire in multiples of twenty factors, thus a maximum of twelve targets may be attacked. The Russian player secretly records which hexes art to be fired on before the Finnish player sets up his forces. All 240 factors may be allocated to one target hex, or a combination or multiples of twenty not totaling more than 240 factors.
	This rule forces the Finns off of some of the better defensive positions. The 240 factors are not enough to alter the balance of the situation, but they do make it more interesting.
	
The Situations

The scenarios shown here are taken from the battles of the 1939-1940 Winter War and the 1941-1944 Continuation War. Since they are based on historical actions, players may find the Finns particularly difficult to win within certain situations and unbeatable in others. Should the Finnish units appear to be too strong individually, it should be remembered that these troops were the most highly trained and motivated soldiers of World War Two.
	Situation F-1. Suomussalmi: Here the Soviet 163rd Division, composed of Mongolian conscripts and only partially trained, was cut off from the rest of the Ninth Army on December 11, 1939. It was totally destroyed by a force of Finnish frontier units reinforced by the 27th Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Hjalmar Siilusvao. The Mongols were confused by the alien environment and panicked when they discovered that they had been encircled by the Finns. This division had been given strict orders to
observe Swedish neutrality when they reached the opposite side of Finland.
	Situation F-2. Tolvajarvi: On December 12, 1939, the Soviet 139th and 75th Divisions, composed of Byelorussian troops, were advancing along the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga and had, as yet, met tittle resistance. They were attacked and defeated by seven Finnish battalions under Colonel Talveda
before they reached the  line of Finnish fortifications at Kollaa.
	Situation F-3. Saija: The Russians also attempted to make use of ski troops. Their only moderate success was in the encirclement of Petsamo. The key to taking Petsamo was the village of Saija, near the Cairn of Three Nations at the Norwegian and Swedish borders, which was held by light frontier units. The Finns were driven back and Petsamo was occupied after a short seige.
	Situation F-4. Summa: The 'Mannerheim Line' fortifications were subjected to another massive Russian assault on February 1, 1940. Previous assaults had failed miserably, and Finnish authorities were concerned by the possibilities of the outbreak of epidemics in the spring caused by the thaw of the hundreds of thousands of frozen bodies piled before the Finnish Army's positions.
	The Russians again employed hordes of infantry supported by armor and, on February 11, achieved a breakthrough in the Summa sector, but the Finns were able to retreat in good order to a new defensive line.
	Situation F-5. Naykkijarvi: In the Winter War the only armored vehicles the Finns possessed, other than captured Soviet equipment, were the thirteen Vickers light tanks of the Fourth Detached Armor Company. On February 26, 1940 they were used to support a counterattack by the Third Infantry Battalion. The operation was a complete failure, as the tanks were quickly put out of action and the infantry was forced to withdraw.
	Situation F-6. Tali: The Russians continued to press their attacks on the Karelian Isthmus toward Viipuri, and on March 8, 1940 they shattered the weakly held Finnish positions with new divisions of fresh troops. This defeat forced Finland to sue for peace.
	Situation F-7. Karhumaki: Throughout October 1941, the Finnish Army attempted to drive the Russians off of the Maaselka Isthmus during the initial Continuation War offensive. This was a key position in East Karelia immediately to the north of Petrozavodsk (capital of the Karelo-Finnish SSR) and Lake Onega. The Russians put up stiff resistance and were not overcome until late December by the 1st Jager Brigade and the 1st Armored Division at Karhumaki. This was the first extensive combat action for the Finnish tank crews.
	Situation F-8. Osinovets: During the Continuation War, the Finns refused to launch a frontal assault against Leningrad, although an attempt was made to flood the city with the water of Lake Ladoga. While the Finns wished to reduce the Leningrad position in order to shorten their front and free the Karelian Army for operations further to the east, they were not prepared to sustain the losses which would inevitably
result from a direct frontal assault.
	This scenario hypothesizes a Finnish attack on the supply center of Osinovets, the port on Lake Ladoga, in the summer of 1942. Had such an operation been successful, Leningrad would have been isolated from the rest of the Soviet Union and would surely have fallen. Stalin was in no great hurry to
rescue  the  Leningraders, whom he considered to be  too Westernized. The birthplace of Soviet Russia was seen as one of the greatest dangers to the Stalin regime.
	Situation F-9. Kuuterselka: This scenario is taken from the latter part of the Continuation War. In June 1944, an overwhelming Russian assault was launched against the Finns in an attempt to force Finland out of the war. On June 16, the Finnish 1st Armored Division, armed primarily with captured  Russian equipment and some German assault guns, counter-attacked in order to allow Finnish troops enough time to withdraw from East Karelia and form new defensive positions. Major General Lagus's division held the Soviet onslaught long enough for the evacuations of troops and the civilian population to be carried out.
	Situation F-10. Viipuri: As the fighting in 1944 continued, the Russians again closed in on Viipuri as they had in 1940. To defend the city, a single Finnish infantry regiment was positioned near the coast. Against it the Russians hurled three Guards divisions, and the Finnish troops fought to the last man. This valiant action bought enough time for the evacuation nf Viipuri.