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Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia
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In Finland’s northern forests, small units of Finnish
soldiers on skis were able to trap, immobilize and chop up large
Soviet armored columns into smaller and smaller pieces. These
so-called “motti” tactics were successful on these
narrow, snow and ice covered, densely wooded roads. |
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| Without heavy weapons to counter Soviet armor, Finns in the
northern forests attacked primarily with small arms fire. The
Finnish knife or “pukka” was a staple of hand to
hand combat. |
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The Soviets launched their first offensive on November 30th
1939 with 4 Armies, 21 Divisions, more than 400 thousand
soldiers, thousands of tanks, war planes, and heavy artillery. |
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| In February 1940, when the Soviets launched their second
offensive, they doubled their forces. |
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Red Army infantry follows at T-26 into combat against the
Mannerheim Line. In February 1940, this is where the Soviets
concentrated their offensive. |
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