The Red Armys development of deep battle during the interwar years, and its refinement during World War II, is an exceptional example of operational art and a testament to the genius of the Soviet Unions military theorists. 4: The Vyborg-Petrozavodsk Offensive (June-August 1944) Yakov Ryumkin/Sputnik. Karelia, depicts the big Red Army offensive against Finland in June 1944 9. Their morale had not completely broken despite heavy losses and continual retreats. Like the Soviets, the Finns massed their artillery in the threatened sectors and this had a devastating effect on the attackers. The 18th, 4th, and 3rd Divisions were in line from Tali to Kaupasaari in that order from west to east. For example on July 2 the Finns intercepted a radio message that the 63rd Guards Rifle Division and 30th Armored Brigade were about to launch an attack on July 3 at 0400 hours. The decisive battle in this area was fought from July 8 through July 10. This resulted in The Lapland War from 1944-45, between Finland and Germany. That operation ended on August 10. The Germans already had their strongest army tied up in central and northern Finland, contributing virtually nothing to the war effort. The conflict stabilised with only minor skirmishes until the tide of the war turned against the Germans and the Soviet Union's strategic VyborgPetrozavodsk Offensive in June 1944. The unit had only received there IS-2s starting in March 1944 just prior to the offensive starting. These troops attacked on the morning of June 25 with the main effort along an axis from Tali to Ihantala. The stabilization of the front provided the prerequisite that Mannerheim had laid down for an approach to the Soviets for an armistice. Soviet Strategic victoryMoscow armistice Soviet political victory Finland forced to give concessions.TerritorialchangesSoviets recapture East Karelia Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Continuation War ended in September 1944 when an armistice was signed between Finland and the USSR. The Battle for Belorussia, 22 June-18 July 1944: 317: 28. The 2nd and 15th Divisions and the 19th Brigade of III Corps were deployed in that order from north to south along the Vuoksi River. First and foremost, Finland wanted to recover the territories lost in the 31/2- month Winter War against the Soviets, November 1939-March 1940. Since the surrender did not happen, this remained unused. However, the time was nearing when these Soviet troops would be needed in the great offensive against the Germans. The reserve consisted of the Armor Division, the 10th Division, the Cavalry Brigade, and the 17th Division minus one regiment. During the Soviet summer offensive of 1944 the Soviets were not willing to negotiate, they demanded that Finland would need to surrender first and only then hear the terms. Finnish intelligence intercepted a radio transmission which confirmed that a fleet of 896 bombers was on their way. The reversal of Finnish policy started with a repudiation of the agreement it had made with Germany six weeks earlier, followed by a petition to the Soviet Union for peace. The purpose of this volume is to investigate one aspect of the Soviet victory-how the war was won on the battlefield. Seven hundred thousand rounds of artillery ammunition, as well as antitank and assault guns, were either sent or ready in German ports for shipment. Large forces were stationed in East Karelia along the Svir River and in the Maaselkae sector north of Lake Ladoga. There is little doubt that Finland would have shared the fate of the Baltic States, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia if the VKT Line had not held. The battle raged on and Finnish army was forced to continue pulling back to a largely unprepared VKT-line. Mannerheimâs changed attitude may also have been influenced by Soviet demands on June 21 that amounted to unconditional surrender. The fourth blow of 1944 commenced on 10 June against Finland, and Viipuri fell within ten days. (e) Hold Allied forces in Italy. On 9 June 1944, the Soviet Leningrad Front launched an offensive against Finnish positions on the Karelian Isthmus and in the area of Lake Ladoga, timed to coincide with Operation Overlord in Normandy as agreed during the Tehran Conference. After Mannerheim protested, Hitler promised two more assault gun brigades, plus tanks and artillery. The Soviet Spring Offensive, 4 March-15 April 1944: 274: 25. In view of that agreement, it is important to understand why the Soviets launched a massive offensive in a secondary theater against Finland in June 1944. The commander of the Sovietâs Twenty-third Army, Lt. Gen. Tjerepanov, deployed his forces so that two divisions had the mission of seizing the west bank of the Vuoksi River at Ayrapaa. The offensive opened at 5 a.m. with a massive artillery bombardment. The fighting for the bridgehead on the west bank of Vuoksi River developed into a fierce battle, Tjerepanov was replaced by Lt. Gen. V. I. Sjvetsov, and the army was reinforced by another corps. So, the government decided to lure the bombers into dropping their devastating load on the uninhabited islands instead of the city itself. On June 1, 1944, the Finnish intelligence service warned the general staff that a Soviet offensive should be expected within 10 days. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and an array of archive photographs, this is the absorbing story of the parts played by Soviet and Finnish armour in the epic battles in Finland during June and July 1944. A June 1944 Soviet offensive aimed at Finland — which would later knock Finland out of the war — absorbed attention in Berlin. The Finnish army managed to man the secondary defense line, called the VT-line and the Russian offensive stalled. It appears that by the 1943 Tehran Conference Stalin had actually decided against the annexation of Finland. The lighter Finnish antitank weapons were ineffective against modern Soviet heavy tanks, and the heavier ones were difficult to move around on the battlefield. The hell-on-earth situation in which the Finnish soldiers found themselves had a paralyzing effect. The attack by the 30th Guards Corps tore open the Finnish front between the lakes of Leitimojaervi and Karstilaenjaervi. Red Storm, the third Soviet-themed DLC for Order of Battle, covers the battles of the Red Army between 1943 and 1945. Despite repeated Soviet tank and aerial assaults, the 6th Division fought a remarkable and tenacious defensive battle, and the Red Army was driven back. The defense of the Karelian Isthmus was based on three defensive lines. Any German troops remaining in the country after that date should be disarmed and handed over as prisoners to the Soviet Union. In late 1944, Soviet forces battled fiercely to capture Hungary in the Budapest Offensive, but could not take it, which became a topic so sensitive to Stalin that he refused to allow his commanders to speak of it. There, the Red Army’s airborne operations have become the focus of many recent studies by military theorists. Lieutenant Colonel David M. Glantz has done much to remedy this gap in our historical literature. This defeat led the Stavka to direct its main forces towards the village of Tali. This work compares German, Finnish, and Soviet tactics, equipment, and organization and discusses the unique terrain features"--Publisher's website. At the same time the Finnish soldiers received dire warnings from their German colleagues that the way the Red Army fought had evolved into a massed use of armor and artillery that was nearly an unstoppable force of nature. The Finns now found themselves in the last defensive line before the Soviets reached the open country north of Viipuriââterrain well suited for mechanized forces. The German Withdrawal from Finland, 6 September 1944-30 January 945: facing 297: 23. This book explains and illustrates, for the first time in English, the organization, uniforms, equipment and tactics of Finland's defenders. 8. Since the VKT Line bent south along the Vuoksi River to Taipale, the III Corps did not have as far to withdraw as IV Corps. Stavka's hopes of assaulting Finland from Estonia and forcing it into capitulation were diminished. Mannerheim and his staff realized the magnitude of the Soviet offensive on June 11. The Finnish request stated that the VKT Line could be held only if these requests were approved and delivery expedited. The Soviet aircraft encountered a well-coordinated air defense combined with a competent fighter plane force which downed nine bombers. On February 6, Soviet bombers were given the green light to start bombing the capital, Helsinki, and a series of night raids followed. Such an event could be decisive since it would prevent the occupation of the western part of the VKT Line. These attacks were repelled, primarily by excellent use of artillery and mortar fire. Edwin Linkomies formed a new cabinet with peace as the top priority. Viipuri, the Karelian capital, fell quickly to the Soviets on June 20 after a short fight within the scheduled time frame laid down in Soviet plans. The 17th Division was split: its 13th Regiment was assigned to the IV Corps and two battalions of that regiment took part in the fighting in the 4th Division sector. The combat piece is a fascinating read, with the outnumbered and outgunned Finns relying on terrain and skill to slow a massive Soviet offensive. With Finland out of the war, the 109th made its final transfer, to the 8th Army in Estonia, near Narva. To achieve this, Stalin demanded that the attack be exceptionally violent and quick. The armored division was one of the first units moved to stall the Soviet advance. The Finnish High Command was convinced by June 15 that they could not hold the VT Line because reinforcements from East Karelia had not yet arrived. Helsinki – the city dubbed the Daughter of the Baltic – lies surrounded by numerous little islands that are mostly uninhabited. The Crimean offensive (8 April – 12 May 1944), known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea.The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army of Army Group A, which consisted of Wehrmacht and Romanian formations. Help from the German 20th Mountain Army was out of the question, though. The losses were heavy and rising. In only ten days, the Red Army pushed the Finns back to the strongpoint of Vyborg, which fell on June 20th after hardly a fight. The debris and smoke from thousands of exploding shells reduced visibility to only a few meters. On September 19, 1944, the Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side. Some thought was given to occupying the old Mannerheim Line from the 1941 Winter War rather than withdrawing directly to the VKT Line, but General Oesch recommended making a stiff fighting withdrawal directly to the VKT Line since he did not think there was sufficient time to occupy the Mannerheim Line, and because it was in poor condition. Marshal Govorov decided that trying to cross the Bay of Viipuri would be too costly and time consuming. It is ironic that the Soviets were stopped in the same general area as they had been stopped in 1940. The anomalous coalition between a democracy and a dictatorship presented numerous problems, but the most serious resulted from the failure of the two countries to orchestrate their war aims and to develop plans for its prosecution beyond the opening phase. Later that night, German bombers flew along the gulf to Leningrad, mining the harbour and the river Neva, making a refueling stop at Utti, Finland, on the return leg. The Soviet divisions established hedgehog positions near Talinmylly and the Finnish attempt at encirclement failed. In their desperate situation, the Finns were prepared to use German aid for purposes that were against the interests of their brothers-in-arms. However, the Finns, largely because of pressure from the United States (which still maintained diplomatic relations with the Finns), declined to assist the Germans in this venture. Answer (1 of 4): The annexation Finland by the Soviet Union would have meant that the terms of the Moscow armistice of 16 September 1944 (that were later copied to Paris Peace Treaty of 1947) would have ceased to apply. However, tough defensive fighting by the Finnish soldiers bought the time required for reinforcements to arrive from East Karelia and for assistance from Germany to help stabilize the situation. The attack drove the Finns from most of the territories they had gained during the war, but the Finnish Army halted the offensive in August 1944. Relations with the USSR were tense and Finland fought the Soviet Union twice: in the Winter War of 1939–1940 after the Soviet Union had attacked Finland; and in the Continuation War of 1941–1944, when Finland attacked the Soviet Union … The second line, referred to as the VT (Vammelsuu-Taipale) Line was 14 to 30 kilometers behind the front. The Soviet attack never managed to leave its staging area. The Finnish losses were also great. The Soviet offensive of June-July 1944 had forced the Finnish army to retreat, and Eastern Karelia and Viipuri were taken by the Red Army. Patrols raiding the convoys and forward outposts in the largest wilderness left in Europe did very little to prepare the Finnish soldiers for the modern war that unfolded in the plains of Ukraine and Russia. For example, a substantial wedge had been driven into the Finnish defensive line north of Repola and the Finns had not been able to eliminate it by counterattacks.
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