In the Lehde area, the counterattack plans of the Northern Combat Group and the 5th Finnish Division also suffered setbacks. Facing the waiting Soviet reorganized divisions, even with the strong support of the 4th Grenadier Regiment, the strength of the Finnish army still seemed so weak. Being single and weak, with the numbers being equal, the terrain leaning toward the Soviet Union, and the morale of both sides being equal, the Finnish army obviously had no good way to regain lost ground from the Soviet Red Army.
Suma Village has withstood attacks several times its own strength, but this is not the main problem. The main problem is that Michel Gebermeier's troops have not rested for a long time. The Soviet Red Army can attack one division at a time. In rotating attacks, Michel Gebermeier could only change regiments one by one, but the defense line in Suma Village was not deep. Even if the grenadier regiments were rotated, as long as the Soviet Red Army did not stop attacking, the soldiers would still not get a rest. The Soviet Red Army did not have this problem. Michel Gabermeier also had a question mark in his mind as to how much combat effectiveness the soldiers who did not get adequate rest could exert.
The war is still stalemate, but the development of the war situation is indeed getting closer and closer to Finland's disadvantage. Finnish soldiers are still desperately resisting the Soviet Red Army's attacks, but more and more places are being broken through. The Soviet Red Army has begun to break through several breakthroughs. With a steady stream of people coming in, the Finns could only watch as more and more Soviets came in, but there was nothing they could do. The situation in Suma Village is also very bad now. In Suma Village, a duel between engineers and shovels and bayonets has almost begun again.
On February 24, Michel Gebermeier unexpectedly began to complain to General Mannerheim for the first time, and said that if the fight continued like this, the defense line of Suma Village would collapse sooner or later. The implication was that It’s just that I can’t stand it anymore. In the Lehde area, the 123rd Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army received special favor from Timoshenko, who specially transferred the 43rd Infantry Division from the 19th Army, the main force of Meretskov's Seventh Army. Division, garrisoned and consolidated the Lehed area.
Timoshinger regarded the Lekhd area as the key to breaking through the Mannerheim Line of Defense. After mobilizing the 43rd Infantry Division to support it, but it was not enough, he also mobilized the 90th Infantry Division to prepare In one fell swoop, they defeated the 5th Finnish Division and the 4th Grenadier Regiment of the Northern Combat Group that were still here.
After receiving Timoshenko's wish, the three Soviet Red Army divisions in the Lehde area began to prepare to expel the Finnish 5th Division here and prepare to break through the Mannerheim Line of Defense from here. After Timoshenko's instructions, the Soviet Red Army immediately formed a fist again except for the village of Suma, preparing to smash the Finnish defense line from the Lehde area in one fell swoop.
At this time, the Soviet Red Army's offensive was getting stronger and stronger, and the entire Mannerheim Line of Defense was on the verge of collapse. General Mannerheim quickly came for him. Lieutenant General Ostman, the commander of the Second Army, after discussions, , the two decided that they could not go on like this. Under the rapid attack of the Soviet Red Army, Finland could only retreat now, otherwise the entire defense line was in danger of collapse.
In view of the fact that the Lechde gap was irreversible, Marshal Mannerheim came to inspect the front line on February 25. After some research with Lieutenant General Ostmann, he decided to retreat to the second defense centered on the ancient city of Vyborg. zone. At 15:30 on the 26th, Marshal Mannerheim issued a retreat order and at the same time sent all Finnish troops in Lake Ladoga and Lapland, where the war situation was stable, to Karelia. On the 27th, the Northern Combat Group first began to retreat, and then the garrison troops in the Lehed area also began to slowly retreat. Then, all Finnish troops began to retreat from the main defensive positions in the western part of the isthmus. Soviet aircraft dropped heavy bombs behind their defense lines, cutting the road into several sections. However, the Finns relied on their strong will to quickly build a bridge over the large crater. The roads were filled, and sleds were even used to transport the wounded and heavy weapons. By the 18th, the deployment of the Finnish army's second defense zone was ready.
The news that the Finns could no longer stand it was immediately widely circulated within the Soviet Red Army under Timoshenko's instruction. All soldiers in the Soviet Red Army believed that the Finns were no longer able to survive. As long as they worked harder , the Finnish army will collapse immediately.
The Soviet Red Army in the Lehed area immediately launched a pursuit, and the Soviet Red Army in the Suma Village area temporarily rested due to heavy losses. The pursuit group, including the 123rd Infantry Division/43rd Infantry Division/90th Infantry Division, followed Timoshenko's orders and launched an attack while marching, striving to make the Finnish army panic and not choose the right path, and promote the Finnish army's self-control. collapse.
During the retreat, the Northern Combat Group did not intentionally be used as cannon fodder by General Mannerheim because it was a foreign army. On the contrary, General Mannerheim asked the Northern Combat Group to retreat first. Michel Gabermeier Naturally, she reciprocated the favor. After retreating to a zone she thought was safe, she immediately began to consider how to consume the effective strength of the Soviet Red Army.
The 9th Finnish Infantry Division and other Finnish troops, old friends of the Northern Combat Group, who came from Lake Ladoga and Lapland, have begun to purchase temporary defense lines in the second defense zone. The Soviet army developed attacks while marching and tried to promote the Finnish army. The attempt to self-collapse did not come true. In some places, when the Soviet troops rushed into the Finnish trenches after intensive artillery bombardment, they found that there was no one there. During the retreat, the Finnish army did not forget to leave behind many small units to harass and even severely injure the slowly advancing Soviets.
Even when the Finnish army is retreating, it never forgets to eliminate the soldiers of the Soviet Red Army. Every retreating Finnish army leaves behind a sniper force composed of veterans and hunters. They prepare their own uniforms and sleds disguised as white. , holding rifles that are regarded as life, this is all their equipment, each sniper unit is divided into several groups and dispersed to rear the retreating Finnish army. With their efforts, the progress of the advancing Soviet Red Army was greatly reduced. Slowly, the Soviet Red Army had to detach units one by one to specifically eliminate these hateful snipers.
In just two days, the Finnish 5th Division killed nearly 800 Soviet soldiers, captured 29 machine guns, and obtained 5 tanks. From February 27th to 29th, the Finnish 1st Division destroyed 18 Soviet tanks, seized 38 machine guns, and about 280 rifles. The average daily Soviet tank loss increased from 10 to 30 tanks.
This also slowed down the pursuit speed of the Soviet Red Army. There was even a half-day gap between the three Soviet divisions responsible for the pursuit. Generally speaking, this gap is not a big deal at all, and under normal circumstances, , and no Finnish army could annihilate an integrated division of the Soviet Red Army within half a day.
It was precisely with this kind of self-confidence that the 123rd Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army began to break away from the three divisions and began to pursue alone. From now on, we are already about half a day's journey away from the other two divisions.
This smiling gap is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity in the eyes of the now safe Northern Combat Group. Michel Gebermeier believes that everyone in the Soviet Red Army currently believes that the collapse of the Finnish army is imminent. No matter who they are, no one would have thought that the Finns would dare to fight back now, because the Soviet Red Army is currently pursuing them, so they would never have thought that the Finnish army was preparing to fight back.
Michel Gabermeier immediately called Randall Belliver for discussion, and there was no doubt that he got the approval of Randall Belliver. Officers from the SS have never lacked the spirit of adventure. Maybe they The combat quality of the Wehrmacht is much worse than that of the Wehrmacht, but the SS's fighting fanaticism exceeds that of the Wehrmacht. For a victory, the SS can pay a high price to win it, but the Wehrmacht will not do this. This is also the reason why the Northern Combat Group can continue to fight after more than 4,000 people have been killed so far.
The last two people decided to wait for the pursuing 123rd Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army at Mustalampi. The Northern Combat Group ambushed in a fan shape around Mustalampi. In a certain sense, this was an ambush rather than a battle of annihilation.
The Northern Combat Group did not wait too long. The arrogant 123rd Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army plunged into the pocket of the Northern Combat Group. At this time, Michel Gabermeier immediately ordered the assassination. For this battle, Michel Gabermeier devoted almost all his strength from the beginning. The 1st Grenadier Regiment conducted a frontal attack, the 2nd Grenadier Regiment attacked from the left wing, and the 3rd Grenadier Regiment attacked from the left. On the right wing, the 4th Grenadier Regiment, led by Chief of Staff Randall Bellev, which had been in reserve and was the best preserved, detoured back to block the return path of the 123rd Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army.
As expected by Colonel Michel Gebermeier, the 123rd Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army was indeed unprepared for this battle. It was blinded from the beginning and did not understand why the Finnish army was in this battle. Sometimes they dared to fight back, but their confidence in their own strength made them never think of contacting others and asking for support from friendly forces. In their eyes, they must give this army that dares to offend their majesty a lesson. For this reason, the 123rd Motorized Infantry Division did not contact their echelon troops, the 43rd Infantry Division and the 90th Infantry Division, but quickly began to fight the Finnish army that dared to offend them. .
The 123rd Motorized Infantry Division first set aside the 272nd Regiment as a reserve force, and then deployed two regiments. The 245th Regiment and the 255th Regiment engaged in a tit-for-tat attack with the 1st Grenadier Regiment. Under the cover of artillery from the 323rd Artillery Regiment, soldiers from both sides fought fiercely again.