The temporary commander of the Northern Combat Group is Colonel Michel Gebermeier. After arriving in Finland, he must be credited with the fact that the newly formed Northern Combat Group was able to complete the transformation from workers to soldiers so quickly. .
Unlike ordinary SS officers, Michel Gebermeier does not have the arrogance of ordinary SS officers. Knowing the shortcomings of his own troops, Colonel Michel Gebermeier began to learn from the neighboring Finnish army from the beginning of taking office, and he quickly made achievements that impressed the soldiers of the Finnish army.
Lin Wei and several staff officers were quickly led by soldiers to Michel Gabermeier's room. As soon as they entered the door, they saw Michel Gabermeier frowning at the situation map of the Soviet-Finnish war. .
Cough..., because Michelle Gabermeier was too serious, Lin Wei had to cough to express his presence.
Michel Gabermeier turned around with a displeased face, "Excuse me... uh... leader, why are you here!" As the supreme commander of this combat group, Michel Gabermeier I knew Lin Wei, but I didn't expect that Lin Wei would come all the way to Finland.
Standing at the door, Lin Wei couldn't help but have a trace of white air coming out of his mouth, and said with a smile, "Mr. Colonel, don't you invite me in to sit down?"
"Please, please take a seat..." Michel Gabermeier quickly asked someone to move some chairs for Lin Wei and others to sit down, and persuaded, "Leader, why did you come here from Berlin?"
"Some things, if you don't see them with your own eyes, you are always a little worried!" Lin Wei also stared at the map of the Soviet-Finnish war situation that Michel Gebermeier had just seen, "The national and military power of the Soviet Union and Finland are very different. , in order to ensure that my idea can be implemented smoothly, so I must come and take a look!"
"Yes, leader!" Michel Gabermeier also agreed, "Finland has no hope of victory at all! The strength gap is too far. Even if the Soviet Union will suffer some big losses at first, they will soon It’s been replenished.”
"You are right!" Lin Wei affirmed, "From the beginning, I never thought that Finland could win the war. What I thought about was how to make the Soviets pay a huge price. Michelle? Gebermeier, what do you think of the Finnish Army’s combat effectiveness?”
"Leader..." Michel Gabermeier thought, "Although the combat effectiveness and weapons and equipment of the Finnish Army are not as good as ours, among many countries in Europe, I think it should be ranked behind the Empire, France and the Soviet Union. Belongs to a second-rate strong army.”
"Are you qualified to become an alliance partner of the empire?" Lin Wei asked again.
"At least Finland is a more suitable ally for the empire than Italy," said Michel Gebermeier.
"Colonel, this is not an issue you should talk about!" Lin Wei waved his hand and said.
The Italian army's army is indeed not very good, but at least its navy is still up to par. Even if Germany's shipbuilding plan is completed, the naval strength will only be half of that of the United Kingdom. At this time, the Italian navy is even more needed.
Although Lin Wei looked down upon the combat effectiveness of the Italian army and was afraid that he would be held back by then, there was obviously no better way. Originally planning to contact Japan in the Far East to attack the Soviet Union, Lin Wei interfered. Lin Wei wants to stir up trouble in Italy at this time, Hit? Le will never forgive himself lightly.
Originally, Lin Wei had been thinking about Germany's future allies since he was a child, but when he grew up, he realized that his thinking was still too simple. Originally, when it came to allies, the worst option was to find one with equal strength. However, during the two world wars, Germany faced very few choices. From the history that followed, it can be found that Germany kept giving Lin Wei sometimes thinks about his own allies, if Germany goes it alone, would it be better than joining forces with those rubbish allies
"Yes, leader." Michel Gabermeier saluted with a military salute and immediately stepped into his role and said, "Leader, how can we cooperate with the Finnish army to achieve our goals?"
When this issue was mentioned, Lin Wei felt sad for a moment and said, "Colonel Michel Gebermeier, I'm sorry, but within a short period of time you must wear Finnish military uniforms and use Finnish weapons. In order not to make the Soviets suspicious, I cannot mobilize SS weapons and equipment from the country to arm you. Even after you are killed, the country will not recognize the existence of your unit for a short time. But don’t worry, I will clear your name at the appropriate time. ".
The atmosphere was a bit dull. In order to break the awkward atmosphere, Lin Wei smiled. "But no matter what, when your contributions are recognized by the empire, I believe that the people of the empire will always remember you."
"Leader, let's not talk about this issue! Let's talk about our plan!" Colonel Michel Gabermeier changed the topic.
When talking about serious matters, Lin Wei immediately changed his tone, "Although in the long run, Finland has no chance of winning, Finland still has certain favorable conditions in the early days. First, all the soldiers of the Soviet army came to the southern part of the Soviet Union to fight in the winter. We are not familiar with it, and secondly, Finland’s huge forest coverage makes it impossible for the Soviet mechanized troops to deploy. These conditions are favorable to Finland.”
"Then what is our mission?" Colonel Michel Gabermeier asked doubtfully.
"Let Finland turn into a tomb of the Soviet army at any cost," Lin Wei said neatly, "As long as you can kill the enemy, you can use any means."
Colonel Michel Gabermeier thought about it and said viciously, "Leader, I need all my soldiers to be equipped with dum bombs!"
Hiss... Even Lin Wei's hard-hearted heart was shocked by Colonel Michel Gabermeier's words. After calming down, Lin Wei solemnly asked, "Colonel Michel Gabbermeier, you You must know that using dum bombs is against international law!”
The DUM bomb appeared in 1897 and was designed by Captain Clay, the military director of the DUM DUM Arsenal. The tip of the bullet is not covered and the lead core is exposed. After the bullet is injected into the human body, the lead core expands or breaks, thereby expanding the wound surface and causing serious injuries to personnel. Because the bullets used in muskets at that time were lead bullets, and because lead was relatively soft, all the kinetic energy was often released after hitting the human body. Specifically, the bullets were severely deformed or even ruptured, resulting in trumpet-shaped cavities in human tissues. The wound area is hundreds of times the cross-sectional area of the projectile, and it creates huge pressure on the human blood circulation system in an instant. But the pain of the injured is not limited to this. If all the fragments of the projectile are not removed from the wound, lead poisoning will occur. Even if the fragments are lucky enough to be removed through surgery, the projectile will leave some pieces of clothing after being injected into the human body. into the wound, causing infection. If a person is directly hit by a dum bomb at a distance of 100 meters, 90% of people will die in the head, -20% in the limbs, and all the rest will be amputated. The left chest (near the heart) -100% will die, and the right chest -70% Death, abdominal -70% death. So dum bombs are now banned internationally!
It can be said that the dum bomb is a veritable killer bomb. Therefore, the third statement of the 1899 Hague Convention, "Declaration on the Prohibition of Body-Deforming Bullets," explicitly prohibits "warheads that are prone to expansion or flattening after entering the human body."
"For victory, everything is worth it, isn't it? Leader" Colonel Michel Gabermeier said without giving in at all.
"Huh..." Lin Wei exhaled heavily, "All equipped, the target is too big to hide, so I can only promise you that the snipers of the Northern Combat Group can be equipped with dum bombs."
Colonel Michel Gabermeier did not expect that Lin Wei really agreed. To be honest, the use of DUM bullets just now was just a dissatisfaction with the empire, because they came all the way for the empire. Fight with an order. If the empire doesn't recognize the existence of their troops. What's the point of it all? But I really didn't expect that Lin Wei would really dare to agree to this condition. For a moment, Colonel Michel Gabermeier regretted his previous proposal.
"Okay, what is our mission, leader?" Colonel Michel Gabermeier asked.
"Your current designation is Finland's new 10th Division, and President Kallio has approved it! Finland began long-term combat readiness training in the early 1930s. Between 1935 and 1939 alone, Finland trained 22 infantrymen Corps (87 infantry battalions), 9 artillery regiments (26 artillery battalions) and 4 independent armored train artillery batteries, totaling more than 180,000 people, enough to form 9 infantry divisions at any time." Lin Wei replied,; "The enemies you are facing are the 163rd and 44th Divisions of the 9th Group Army. They are strong, with 335 artillery pieces, more than 100 tanks, and 50 armored vehicles. However, the 163rd Division is mostly Tatars and lacks Training to fight in severe cold weather of ice and snow; The 44th Division was originally part of the Kipo Military District, and most of them are Ukrainians. Like the Mongols, they cannot adapt to the climate and northern forests near the Arctic Circle. The daylight hours in this area in December are only It lasted 5 hours, the snow was about 1 meter deep, and the temperature was below minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius. This harsh environment is undoubtedly extremely unfavorable to motorized or armored units. Only light infantry units with special training and special equipment can perform Good effect.”
"In other words, according to your discussion with the Finnish High Command, we are facing the Soviet Center Army?" Colonel Michel Gebermeier asked, looking at the map.
"That's true!" said the staff officer brought by Lin Wei next to him, "Now that the Soviet army is greedy for credit and is advancing rashly, the various armies cannot cooperate effectively at all. At this time, it is easiest to annihilate them. Moreover, the Soviet middle route army is marching The land is covered with forests and swamps, which can weaken their mechanized army to a minimum."
"Are there any troops that cooperate with us? I believe the Finns don't trust us so much?" Colonel Michel Gebermeier asked.
"Of course!" the staff officer replied, "The Finnish army facing the Soviet army in the center with you is the newly formed Ninth Division. The Finnish army will be organized into 9 infantry divisions, 3 infantry brigades and a large number of independent infantry in a short period of time. Battalions and other small-scale guerrilla forces. The Finnish Defense Council divides the army into three main armies. The 2nd Army and 3rd Army stationed on the Karelian Isthmus form the Isthmian Group Army. The ones stationed on the Lake Ladoga-Karelia line are The 4th Army, cooperating with you in fighting is the Ninth Division."
“According to the information we received, on December 7, that is, before we arrived, the 163rd Infantry Division of the Soviet 9th Army arrived at the village of Suaumusalmi in Finland. Here, a Finnish brigade of about 5,000 people attacked It carried out a tenacious blockade and waited for the arrival of reinforcements. As expected, you and Finland's new 9th Division will be sent there immediately," another staff officer added.
Although the Northern Combat Group led by Colonel Michel Gebermeier does not have access to heavy weapons such as German tanks and armored vehicles, they also have their own advantages compared to the Finnish army. They use radio to command operations. Good results have been achieved in the Polish campaign. Compared with the Finnish army, the Northern Combat Group has been more thorough in decentralizing radio stations and is more conducive to command.
Although the soldiers of the Northern Combat Group were quite critical of giving up tanks and armored vehicles. But they also know that when fighting in Finland, sometimes sleds are far more suitable than tanks.
On December 15, 1939, 18,000 soldiers of the Northern Combat Group, together with the Finnish 9th Division, which was marching with Finland, rushed to the village of Suaumusalmi in Finland, where a Finnish brigade was struggling Hold on and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
The Soviet 163rd Division divided into two groups through the narrow forest trails and attacked the town of Suaomusalmi. Thick snow hindered the advance of the Soviet army, and the freezing temperature of minus 40 degrees attacked the recruits from Ukraine who lacked polar clothing.
After the Northern Combat Group arrived at the town of Suaumusalmi, it took over the exhausted Finnish brigade. The Soviet 163rd Division still attacked the town of Suaumusalmi as usual. However, they lacked communications and were no longer able to People who know that the town of Suao Musalmi has already changed its defense.
The Finnish Ninth Division paddled sleds continuously through the dense forest. Now that the defense of the town of Suaumusalmi has been taken over by the new Tenth Division, they have nothing to worry about at all, although they don't know about the new Tenth Division. When was it established? However, out of trust in the friendly forces, the officers and soldiers of the Ninth Division did not think much about it. Instead, when the Soviet army was still ignorant, they kept shuttling through the dense forest, preparing to eat this Soviet army. .
The Soviet 163rd Division was still continuously attacking the town of Suaumusalmi, but what puzzled them was that they had clearly felt a few days ago that the Finnish troops in the town were dying. They didn't know how. The thing is, starting from three days ago, when they attacked, they could obviously feel that their offense had become very difficult.
A few days ago, soldiers of the 163rd Division once attacked the interior of the town of Suomusalmi. They had to withdraw only due to a small mistake. That was because these Ukrainian farmers were hostile to the Finns. The items left behind were so curious that they were hit by rail mine arrays laid by the Finnish army, and were blown up. Then the Finnish army took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and they rushed back.
At that time, there were not many Finnish troops participating in the counterattack. It was just that when the Soviet troops were knocked upside down by the bombing, they could not figure out the situation, so they rushed out in confusion. Afterwards, the Soviets also discovered their mistakes, but everything was over. It's too late.
But now, the Soviets have begun to miss the day they invaded the town, because starting a few days ago, the Soviets suddenly discovered that no matter how they intensified their attack, they could no longer get into the town. In this kind of battle, tanks have achieved very little success and can only be used as artillery, because there is no front line to tear you apart on the opposite side. There is only one road leading to the town, and it is surrounded by big trees that only a few people can hug. Besides, The defenders in the town could keep warm in their houses, but the Soviet troops could only camp in the wild. The soldiers had to dig out the snow and live in snow pits. The commander of the 163rd Division receives reports almost every day that a certain soldier froze to death in a snow pit.
While the Northern Combat Group was locked in a deadly fight with the Soviet 163rd Division, the Ninth Division had already passed through the cordon of the Soviet 163rd Division through the dense forest, preparing to divide and encircle the Soviet 163rd Division.
At this time, the 44th Motorized Infantry Division was crossing the border near Latai and advancing along the highway from the southeast direction to Suao Musalmi. The preparation meeting will join forces with the Soviet 163rd Division to capture the small town of Suaumusalmi. If this division joins the 163rd Infantry Division, the defense of central Finland will be seriously threatened.
To this end, Colonel Silas Vuau, commander of the 9th Finnish Infantry Division, ordered two infantry companies to be set up on the ridgeline between Lake Kuivas and Lake Kuomas, about 9.7 kilometers southeast of Suaumusalmi. A line of defense was formed to block the Soviet army. Because the Soviet army did not understand the strength and deployment of the Finnish army, and was unfamiliar with the terrain, they just moved along the only narrow dirt road.
After Colonel Silas and Colonel Wuao made arrangements, they contacted the Northern Combat Group still defending the town of Suao Musalmi via radio, saying that they should work together internally and externally to capture the Soviet 163rd Division.
After receiving the report, Colonel Michel Gabermeier immediately approved the proposal. He only raised certain doubts about the anti-tank capabilities of the 9th Infantry Division. However, it turned out that Michel Gabermeyer's doubts were Worry is unfounded.
As early as mid-December, the Finnish army's company, battalion and regiment-level units all formed a "close anti-tank team" with a strength of approximately one squad. They are not equipped with anti-tank guns or guns, but mainly those "special anti-tank weapons" - Molotov cocktails (Molotov cocktails), explosive packs, anti-tank grenades, anti-tank mines, etc. They are usually called "demolition groups" Or "Close Defense Team." The number of close-range anti-tank groups deployed depends on the number of Soviet tank units in front of the defense line.