"Thank you for the generosity of the Finnish government!" Michel Gabermeier did not make any false excuses, but happily accepted the kindness of the Finnish government. In fact, Michel Gabermeier has always believed that hypocritical politeness is not enough. It should belong to the military. Since the Finnish government has good intentions, then they should accept the goodwill of the Finnish government. Although they are interested in the soldiers of the entire Northern Combat Group and hope that the Germans will help them tide over the difficulties, this idea does not coincide with the ideas of their leader. And cooperation, since the goals of both parties are so consistent, why not do it.
Thinking of this, Michel Gebermeier smiled happily and said, "Our purpose is the same, General Mannerheim, I think the Karelian Isthmus will definitely become the grave of the Soviet army."
"I hope so!" General Mannerheim also said with a smile.
Michel Gabermeier returned to his headquarters. Seeing him coming back, his chief of staff Randall Belive came over and said, "Colonel, the leader knows that the next war will be very tragic, so Three thousand Panzerfaust anti-tank rockets were shipped from Germany specifically for our use."
Michel Gabermeier said noncommittally, "Can't we just transport more? Do you want us to use 3,000 anti-tank rockets to deal with more than 2,000 tanks on the opposite side? Does the leader think that our soldiers are all Sniper?"
"Uh! Colonel!" Randall Bellev said in embarrassment, "Now is not the time we just came over. The Soviet Navy inspects ships heading to Finland very strictly. If these weapons can be transported secretly, it's all Very difficult."
"If we had known earlier, we should have prepared earlier!" Michelle Gabbermeier said fiercely, but in an instant, Michelle Gabbermeier changed the topic, "Stop talking about those boring things. Opposite us now, there are hundreds of thousands of Soviet Red Army! Oh my god! I estimate that when the Soviet Red Army starts to attack, we will face at least three to six divisions of the Soviet Red Army at the same time! Besides, this is not the kind of battle we had before. At that time We have taken the initiative, but what about now? We are the defenders, and the initiative lies entirely in the hands of the Soviet army. In other words, any attack plan must be in line with the mood of the Soviets, so we can only passively accept it. To be honest, I hate this feeling,” said Michelle Gabermeier, grumbling.
"Colonel, there is nothing we can do about this!" Randall Bellev did not have any good solution for this, so he could only persuade him, "There are still nearly two million people on the western front of the empire under the British and French allied forces. At this time Going to war with the Soviets is inherently risky. To be honest, I don’t understand why the leader wants to bring us to this place. Aren’t the relations between the Empire and the Soviets always very good?”
"Okay, just complain, this is not an issue we should care about!" Now in turn, Michelle Gabermeier began to persuade others. After discussing for a long time, Michelle Gabermeier asked, "Randall Belive, what is the current situation of our troops?"
"Colonel, you are asking about the status of the soldiers!" Seeing Michel Gebermeier nodding, Randall Belive replied, "It's not too bad so far. We have about two thousand people killed now. There are still 3,000 to 4,000 people injured, but for our establishment, the current situation is far from the time to start taking a rest."
"Two thousand people have been killed!" Michel Gabermeier said naa; "Maybe more soldiers will leave us in the future."
"Yeah, but it's all worth it for the empire, isn't it?" Randall Belive asked.
Michel Gabermeier did not answer Randall Belliver's words, because there was no need to answer them at all. They had already identified their goals when they decided to join the SS, and now, they are just Just in the process of achieving the goal.
Finally, the four grenadier regiments of the Northern Combat Group and the artillery troops entered the village of Suma, the core of the Manneheim Line of Defense in Finland.
The weather has always been on Finland's side. Ever since the Soviet Red Army first invaded Finland, weather factors have been helping the Finnish army all the time. But now, the weather can no longer stop the Soviet Red Army. The spooky weather that the Soviet Red Army had cursed from the bottom of their hearts for countless times finally showed an advantage to the Soviet Red Army. That is, the coldest weather in more than a hundred years destroyed Lake Hatyalakhti, a natural barrier outside Suma. Thick ice formed with Lake Muola, allowing the lake that had begun to thaw in previous years to continue to freeze. It can be said that objectively it helped the Soviet Red Army a big favor.
In mid-February 1940, after a long period of preparation, the Soviet army launched another attack on Finland's Karelian Isthmus defense line. This attack was even larger than when the Soviet-Finnish war had just begun. It is reported that Stalin Troops are being mobilized in a steady stream and heading towards Finland. This attack still started around the attack and defense of Suma Village, the core of Finland's Manneheim Line of Defense. The battle around this small village will eventually open the curtain of the entire Karelia defense war. He also determined the final direction of the Soviet-Finnish war, because as long as the Mannerheim Line of Defense on the Karelian Isthmus was breached, Finland would no longer have a good location to defend.
The natural barriers outside Suma, Lake Hatyalakhti and Lake Muola, had frozen. After a long period of shelling and bombing, on February 19, the Soviet army dispatched six divisions to launch an attack. Under the cover of smoke screens and more than 150 T-26, BT-7, and T-28 tanks, the Soviet infantry launched an attack on the front of the defense line (only 8 kilometers wide) responsible for the Northern Combat Group, testing the " Mannerheim Line's resistance.
Not only that, the entire Mannerheim Line of Defense was also under tremendous pressure. Meretskov also received Stalin's death order and must break through the Mannerheim Line of Defense. By now, Stalin was already riding a tiger, and if he remained silent, If the Soviet Union retreats, the international prestige of the entire Soviet Union will suffer a huge blow. The spitting stars of Britain and France alone will bury Stalin. Maybe the domestic situation can be suppressed, but in the eyes of other countries in the world, Stalin will become A huge joke.
Because of this, Meretskov invested 13 infantry divisions in the first attack echelon, six of which came specifically to the core of the Mannerheim Line of Defense, the village of Suma.
Before the attack, hundreds of Soviet bombers first visited the positions of the Northern Combat Group. The soldiers of the Northern Combat Group could only curse the Soviets while hiding in underground bunkers. The troops that had been bombing other people for a long time had to face the bombing of the Soviets today.
After the bombing, under the cover of more than 150 -26, BT-7, and T-28 vehicles, the Soviet infantry shouted "Ula" and began to charge. The T-26 light tank is generally used to support infantry. It participated in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the battle on the Suzhihalaha River on the Sino-Mongolian border in 1939. Its main disadvantage is that its armor protection is poor. This is also remembered. In the hearts of the soldiers of the Northern Combat Group.
At this time, Lieutenant General Ostman, commander of the Finnish 2nd Army, was most worried about the pressure brought by the tank, which the soldiers called the "Death Box". How to deal with the Soviet infantry-tank coordination has become one of the keys to the survival of the entire defense line.
However, the Soviet offensive tactics were inappropriate and gave the Finnish army an opportunity. Their tanks often advanced in pairs, with medium and heavy tanks leading the light tanks forward, and later developed into attacking in groups of 3 to 10 tanks, with the first tank clearing the way and the second tank suppressing the Finnish defense forces with firepower. The tanks moved very slowly under the influence of snow, only advancing about 8 kilometers per hour. They were often out of touch with the offensive speed of the subsequent infantry, and they rarely managed to get close to the Finnish defensive positions. When the Soviet infantry staggered to the ground The tanks that lost their cover when they rushed up had already been almost wiped out by the Finnish army. Feedback from the combat troops showed that the Soviet army was stuck in a rut in command and could not adapt to the new changes in battlefield conditions.
The tank troops and infantry of the Soviet Red Army had no tacit understanding at all, and there was no coordination at all. When the tanks rushed in front, the infantry behind them did not keep up at all, which gave the anti-tank fighters an opportunity to carry out their mission. The anti-tank fighters continued to rush out of the hidden trenches within the range of the Iron Fist tank rockets, quickly aimed at the weak units of the Soviet tanks, pulled the triggers, and then quickly hid in the trenches and transferred.
Soldiers of the Northern Combat Group use Sumi submachine guns designed by the talented Finnish designer Aimo Johannes Leidy.
The automatic mode of the Somi submachine gun is the traditional free-action mechanism, which is open and ready to fire. The special feature is the bolt. The bolt of a traditional submachine gun moves back and forth with the bolt, but the bolt of Somi is fixed after being pulled up, sealing the chamber and preventing debris from entering the chamber and causing malfunctions. Another invention of Lahdi is a drum magazine with a capacity of 71 rounds. It is very reliable and durable, and soldiers have no worries about jamming. Later, the German MP38 and the Soviet Union's Bobosha 41 submachine gun both drew on Somi's design. The 70-round drum magazine of Somi was later copied by the Soviet Union to the Bobosha submachine gun.
The soldiers of the Northern Combat Group used the standard equipment of the Finnish army. The Sumi submachine guns continued to mow down the Soviet infantry who had no cooperation with the tank troops on the position one by one. The scene at this time was like a battle. A massacre was organized, and the target of the massacre was the Soviet Red Army. At this time, the lives of the Soviet Red Army soldiers were not much harder than the lives of ordinary residents.
The Soviet army repeatedly launched human sea charges, leaving thousands of corpses in front of the positions. In some places, the corpses were piled three or four layers thick, and the follow-up troops rushed over these cold corpses.
After a long period of fierce fighting, the Soviet Red Army, which had a numerical advantage, continued to approach Suma Village. This time the Soviets were also ruthless and did not care about the casualties. If one fell, the other would catch up. It's basically walking on corpses.