The chief of staff opened his mouth but said nothing. After receiving Lin Wei's order, Colonel Michel Gebermeier began to break up the Northern Combat Group into small groups, and withdrew from the Mannerheim line of defense in batches. In order to achieve a realistic effect, Colonel Michel Gebermeier also fought a counterattack with the 122nd Infantry Division of the Red Army of the Ninth Army. The realistic battle made the 122nd Infantry Division feel like it was facing a powerful enemy and knew the troops on the opposite side. After having annihilated several Red Army divisions, the "Finnish 10th Infantry Division" immediately asked for help from the surrounding Soviet Red Army.
The 104th Mountain Division of the 14th Army of the Soviet Union immediately came to the rescue and turned to the 122nd Infantry Division to deal with the Northern Combat Group.
, Since then, the pressure on the Northern Fighting Group has increased sharply. Colonel Michel Gabermeier knew the time had come to retreat. Immediately began to order each regiment to withdraw from the battlefield in batches. Before the retreat, the soldiers who had been very economical because they were worried about ammunition during the battle in Finland were ordered to shoot out all the artillery shells. The soldiers only had the ammunition they carried with them.
Following Colonel Michel Gebermeier's order, the Northern Combat Group immediately began to retreat. The 104th Mountain Division and the 122nd Infantry Division, which were still waiting for a decisive battle with the Northern Combat Group, were stunned. It took him a long time to realize it, and he immediately started chasing.
Along the way, the Northern Combat Group began to continuously discard some useless things, including some military supplies. This makes the pursuing Soviet Red Army feel more reassured. However, although they are reassured, necessary caution is still needed. After studying the Northern Combat Group, the Soviet Red Army now knows that there is a unit in Finland that loves to fight ambushes during retreats. But this time they were really wrong. Colonel Michel Gebermeier was actually retreating this time. So after the Northern Combat Group ran further and further away, the two divisions of the Soviet Red Army understood and began to speed up the pursuit. But it was too late, the Northern Combat Group had already left the battlefield.
Under the overwhelming numbers of the Soviet Red Army, the Finnish army's defense line was like a basket full of water, full of dangers. Once the Finnish army loses some areas, it will never be able to regain them. Timoshenko was already dissatisfied with such a slow attack, so he set his sights in another direction.
In order to cope with the Soviet 13th Army's frontal breakthrough, Timoshenko ordered Meretskov's 7th Army to cross the Vyborg Bay and land at the same time that the 13th Army began to attack. Although the winter had passed by that time, it was still It was so cold that the sea in Vyborg Bay froze, making it an approach route for tanks and infantry. The Soviet tank soldiers trying to cross the icy sea soon discovered that their enemies had laid rows of mines underwater in advance, with cables attached to the top of each row. Some of these waterproof mines were filled with explosives. There is also enough air left to cling to the bottom of the ice when the sea freezes firmly. Where the Finnish army deliberately cut through the ice, Soviet tanks also fell into anti-tank obstacles set up by the Finnish army in the ice.
But in the end, the Soviet 7th Army, which paid a heavy price, established a firm foothold in Helenpe and Villaniemi behind the Finnish army, entered the defensive zone behind the Finnish army, surrounded the Finnish Vyborg Group from the northeast, and cut off The road from Viborg to the capital Helsinki was blocked, which undoubtedly announced that the defeat of the Finnish army was certain.
The extremely unfavorable situation forced General Mannerheim to face the gap between himself and the Soviet Red Army. Under President Kallio's constant requests, General Mannerheim finally agreed to negotiate with the Soviet Union. This situation is extremely needed for all European countries. The two countries, Britain and France, originally wanted to send an expeditionary force into Finland, but were blocked by Germany, so they could only do the next best thing, hoping that the war there would end soon. Germany also hoped that the Soviet Union and Finland would cease the war as soon as possible so that Britain and France would not have an excuse to enter Sweden and Norway. The Soviets are riding a tiger and are unable to dismount, so this war has reached a point where no one can fight it.
Sweden rejected the Allied troops' request to enter the country, and also rejected Finland's request for Swedish regular troops to participate in the battle. At the same time, it was made clear that it could not provide further assistance to Finland. Now Finland is in a dilemma. Britain, France and the French themselves still hope that the war will continue to drag on, while Sweden hopes to end the war as soon as possible, fearing that it will cause disaster. At that time, all countries were urging Finland. Britain and France promised to send 20,000 troops. Germany and Sweden hoped to agree to peace conditions. General Mannerheim also knew that if the war continued, the Finnish army would never be a match for the Soviet Red Army.
Hit? Le's high-profile meeting with the Soviet purchasing delegation was spread to the world at an alarming speed through the professionalism of journalists. At this time, in order to fight on the Western Front, it was obviously more important to repair the relationship with the Soviet Union. In view of this, on March 15, Hit? Le sent a statement to Finnish President Kallio calling on Finland and the Soviet Union to cease the war.
However, when they heard that Finland had begun negotiations, Britain and France promised to send 50,000 troops, but in fact only 6,000 troops were ready to assist Finland, and the rest were ready to seize Norwegian iron mines and ports. This information reached the Soviet decision-making department. Stalin thought about it for a long time and felt that he could not continue like this, otherwise he would only be able to benefit the British in vain. He immediately informed Timoshenko to stop the action so that a peace agreement could be reached quickly.
In the Moscow Peace Agreement on March 22, Finland lost Karelia, including Finland's second largest city Vyborg, 10% of Finland's arable land, and 1/5 of its industrial output. 222,000 residents, accounting for 12% of Finland's total population, lost their homes and were deported. Only a very small number of people chose to stay and become Soviet citizens.
Finland also ceded the Ribach Peninsula in the Barents Sea, four islands in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Sala area, and leased the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years.
On March 24, diagonally across from the Helsinki City Hall, Lin Wei, Commander of the Northern Combat Group Michel Gebermeier, and Chief of Staff Randall Belive were drinking warm coffee. Talking about the situation on the battlefield in Finland.
"Michelle Gabermeier, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army?" Lin Wei asked with a smile as he took a sip of coffee.
Michel Gabermeier had a rare expression of thinking on his face, because this question is difficult to answer. If it were before the tragic offensive and defensive battle of Mannerheim, Michel Gabermeier would definitely be patting his chest. Calling the Soviet Red Army nothing more than that, but now Michel Gabermeier no longer dares to say that. After thinking for a long time, Michel Gabermeier said cautiously, "Leader, this question is not easy to answer!"
"It doesn't matter. Go on, tell me about the Soviet Red Army you have seen!" Lin Wei urged.
"Okay, leader!" Michel Gabermeier said slowly, "The combat effectiveness of most of the Soviet Red Army is very low. The reason is that the Soviet Red Army is not good at winter operations. Before they came, we We have been in Finland for a few months, so we didn’t encounter any big trouble at the beginning!” Looking at Lin Wei’s listening expression, Michelle Gabermeier slowly calmed down and said, "But after fighting against the 18th Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Red Army at Lake Ladoga, I realized that the Soviet Red Army also has capable troops!"
Michel Gabermeier closed his eyes, as if recalling the battle situation at that time, and his shocked expression when he heard the news that the commander of the 18th Division ordered to surrender and then committed suicide.
Lin Wei looked at the already somewhat depressed Michelle Gabbermeier, shrugged and said, "Michelle Gabbermeier, every country has people worthy of our admiration. As an army member, you have met An opponent deserves your respect, and the best respect for him is to do your best to defeat him. Now tell me, what do you think of the Soviet Red Army?"
"Yes, leader!" Michel Gabermeier adjusted his mood and said, "If the weapons and equipment in the Soviet Union are the same as the Soviet Red Army we encountered this time, then I must say, from this point on Judging from the above, even if the Empire and the Soviet Union engage in a full-scale war, we may not be able to gain the upper hand!" At this point, Michel Gabermeier glanced at Lin Wei cautiously and saw that Lin Wei had no expression before continuing. ,: "And the Soviet Red Army is not afraid of death. On the contrary, the Soviet Red Army has fanatical beliefs. In fact, in the second half of the war, we can often see the Soviet Red Army almost ignoring death and carrying out collective charges. ! It's just that they haven't received enough training. What if..., it's too scary!..." Michelle Gabermeier seemed to be frightened by her own imagination, lowering her head and not daring to say any more.
Dong Dong Dong... Lin Wei's fingers tapped the table rhythmically. I don't know how long it took, but the coffee on the table had gone cold. Lin Wei seemed to have just woken up from his own thoughts and said leisurely,; "Some things, you still have to fight for yourself! Maybe even if you fight for it, you may not be able to achieve your goal, but if you don't fight for it, then you will definitely not achieve your goal!"
"Okay, let's talk about the purpose of the next stage!" Lin Wei clapped his hands and said, "The head of state has decided that in order for the Imperial Navy not to be locked in the Baltic Sea like the last war! Therefore, Norway in the north must be controlled and Denmark! The Imperial High Command has formulated a battle plan! We are waiting for the time to come and we will start taking action immediately!"
"What do you mean, leader?" Chief of Staff Randall Belive asked.
"In addition to frontal combat this time, there is also a very important task, which is not to let the kings of Denmark and Norway escape!" Lin Wei looked at the commanders of the two northern combat groups and said seriously, "Denmark also It's easy to say, according to analysis, Denmark should succumb to the pressure of the empire, but it's hard to say about Norway! If he persists like Finland? We can only crush their resistance!"