บท 55: 55
war (1)
December 7, 1939
Karelia, Southern Finland
Corporal Jonah Rusto took a deep breath to shake off the tension. He had once heard that deep breathing was the best way to relieve tension.
There was no effect.
Damn it.
Still, he had a bit of luck.
While most of the company members were issued old and old Mosin-Nagant, Carcano, and Arisaka rifles that were questionable as to whether they would function properly, he was issued a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun that had just been produced at the factory.
Suomi boasted excellent performance, but production was low due to its high price.
Rusto was happy when he first received Suomi, but now he didn't think anything of it.
Regardless of whether the gun they were holding was an expensive one or an old antique pulled out of a warehouse, all the soldiers were scared in front of the Soviet army that was coming at them like a pack of dogs.
My legs were as if they had turned to stone and I could not move them.
"Distance 250!"
The company commander strongly advised his soldiers not to shoot until ordered to do so.
No one has fired a shot yet. Although they did not receive much training, military discipline and discipline were maintained fairly well.
"Distance 200!"
"Are you still?!"
Someone who couldn't hold back the tension shouted. He was the soldier right next to Rusto.
Rusto turned his eyes to the side and glanced at the soldier's profile. He was a child soldier who volunteered to join the army to defend his country against Russian invaders.
Did you say you were 16?
In peacetime, I would have been immediately rejected for enlistment, but since they didn't know when war would break out, the recruiter just let me enlist. Around 16 is old enough to run around with a gun.
"Distance 150!"
"Start shooting!"
It was the long-awaited order to fire.
As soon as the company commander finished speaking, the company members pulled the trigger in unison and fired their guns.
A crack appeared in the ranks of the Soviet army, which had been rolling in like a wave.
A soldier who fell after being hit by a bullet was trampled by the boots of his comrades who were following him, and a soldier who was advancing on the corpse of a comrade was hit again by a bullet and fell.
Rusto pulled Suomi's trigger briefly. His ammunition was so low that even his bullets had to be used sparingly.
It seemed to Rusto that the enemy outnumbered all the bullets the company had.
"Fuck, why are there so many? "There are too many, but there are too many!"
"You fucking communist bastards, are you here to show off how big you are?"
The soldiers fired hard and tried desperately to reduce the number of enemies, but there were so many enemies that it didn't seem to make much difference.
Even though I kept killing and killing, the enemy appeared endlessly. It was a human-caused tactic that you wouldn't believe even if you saw it with your own eyes.
"It's a tank!"
The infantry alone was difficult enough, but to make matters worse, tanks appeared.
It was a Soviet T-26.
When the tank appeared, the anti-tank gun, which was disguised with white camouflage and tree branches, went into action.
It was a PaK 36 imported from Germany just before the war with the Soviet Union.
"launch!"
The 37mm armor-piercing bullet easily penetrated the T-26's frontal armor like a tofu.
The tank exploded and a bloody tanker crawled out of the hatch.
The Maxim machine gun, which was used in the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, and the Finnish Civil War, opened fire on the Soviet troops.
What was used by the Russian army during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I was now spewing fire at the Russian army.
It was a small tragedy born of the irony of history.
Despite desperate fire, the distance between the Soviet and Finnish troops gradually narrowed and was now only 60 meters.
As the distance closed, the Soviets hid behind the bodies of their fallen comrades and threw grenades into the Finnish trenches.
"Wow!"
The grenade that had fallen into the trench exploded, and the soldier who had pulled back the bolt of the Mosin-Nagant to remove the shell casing jumped into the air.
The soldier, who was pinned to the ground in a strange position, vomited blood from his mouth and lowered his head to the side.
"Fuck you guys."
Rusto, who witnessed the death of his comrade, cursed involuntarily.
He didn't want to die.
I wanted to survive and return safely to my family.
Thinking about his family waiting for him to return from their small apartment in Helsinki, he couldn't die here.
To avenge his comrade, Rusto put down Suomi for a moment and took out a grenade.
A German-made M24 bar grenade flew in a parabolic arc and exploded in the middle of the Soviet army.
"Aaaah!!!"
The soldier whose left arm was blown off in the explosion a moment ago screamed. However, his charging comrades trampled the screaming soldier and advanced.
"Ura-!"
I felt like I was going into neurosis because I heard so much noise.
Aren't those guys even sick of it? Even though the current situation does not seem to be a situation to shout hurray, the Soviet army always shouted hurray.
A middle-aged sergeant threw a Molotov cocktail at the T-26 that was approaching the trench menacingly.
The Finnish military called Molotov cocktails as a tribute to Molotov of the Soviet Union.
The manufacturing method of the Molotov cocktail is so simple that even a child can easily make it, but its power is by no means weak.
As soon as the Molotov cocktail exploded on the engine, the T-26 came to a halt.
As the inside of the tank filled with smoke, the tank crews could not stand it and ran outside.
What awaited the Soviet tankers who came out was the bullets of the angry Finnish army.
"Oops!"
The tank commander, who had been hit in the neck by a bullet, fell into the street tank.
The driver who came out through the driver's hatch at the front was hit by a bullet in the top of his head and fell limp.
The Finnish army was also the Finnish army, but the Soviet army was also the Soviet army.
If they retreated without permission, they could be executed by firing squad, regardless of their command.
If you advance, you will be hit by the Finnish army's bullets, and if you retreat, you will be hit by our own bullets.
The only way for them to survive was to fight desperately and achieve victory.
If you fight and win, you will live, but if you run away, you will definitely die. Like the Finnish army, the Soviet army fought to survive.
"retreat! "Everyone retreat!"
The company commander had no choice but to retreat due to the Soviet army's massive offensive, saying there was no business in front of the village.
"Retreat! "Everyone retreat!"
Rusto picked up his fallen comrade's rifle, put it on his shoulder, and came out of the trench.
The Mosin-Nagant's bullet hissed past my ear.
Every time the sound of bullets flying through the wind reached his ears, he trembled convulsively.
The anti-tank artillerymen who were firing shells to cover the retreat of our troops also ran out of luck.
When they hit the third tank, their position was discovered.
The Soviet troops threw grenades and fired bullets at the anti-tank gun.
The anti-tank artillery fell in a hive and the PaK 36 was trampled and flattened by the T-26's tracks.
Behind the trench was an empty plain, so there was no place to hide.
The retreating Finnish soldiers were hit by bullets from behind and fell one or two at a time.
Rusto fell to the floor and fired with Suomi.
A political officer who had been encouraging the soldiers by firing a pistol into the air tumbled into a trench. However, the Soviet army did not care at all.
Sweet.
"Damn it already!"
This was the last magazine.
There was one Swedish-made Mauser rifle left, but there were not many bullets left. If all this was used up, Rusto would be empty-handed.
My hands were shaking as I thought that today could be the last day of my life.
I replaced the magazine and was about to pull the trigger with the mindset that everything would happen, but the old soldier on my left turned around and cheered.
"Reinforcements!"
Reinforcements.
Is there anything more wonderful and powerful to say in a situation like this? When they heard that reinforcements had appeared, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked back.
Our troops were indeed rushing to support them.
After the German army captured it from the Polish army, the TKS, which was equipped with a domestically produced 20mm cannon and sold to Finland, ran and fired the cannon.
The T-26, hit by a 20mm cannon, stopped, emitting smoke.
"Hurray, we are allies!"
"I'm alive now!"
The TKS, which destroyed the enemy tank in an instant, changed its target and attacked the Soviet infantry.
The body of a Soviet soldier hit by a 20mm machine cannon was cut into pieces, with flesh and internal organs flying out in all directions. Finnish troops who appeared with TKS also poured concentrated fire on the Soviet troops.
When the T-26 hiding behind the destroyed wreckage fired a shell and turned the TKS into a ball of fire, the Vickers tank rushed at the T-26.
Like the TKS, this one was modified by the German military and sold to Finland. It was equipped with a German-made 37mm tank gun, and its appearance was so similar to the 7TP that it was difficult to distinguish it.
"Shoot!"
The T-26 simply burst into flames.
When the Finnish reinforcements joined, the Soviet troops lost their will to fight and retreated, leaving behind the bodies of their dead comrades and wounded soldiers in the trenches.
The Finnish army, which had regained its trenches, shouted hurray.
The fierce battle ended without changing anything.
The Soviet army could not advance even one step from its current position despite suffering over 100 casualties.
Across all fronts, the Soviet army launched fierce attacks day after day, but the Finnish army's fortress-like defense kept them at a standstill.
***
The Soviet army, which was confident that it could fully subdue Finland within ten days, was shocked when the Finnish army resisted unexpectedly fiercely.
The Finnish army, which they thought was a scarecrow army, fought bravely like a lion and embarrassed the Soviet army. Not only the Finnish army was a problem, but also the damn cold.
The Soviet Union was also a country known for being cold, but it was nothing compared to Finland.
In particular, many of the troops deployed in the war against Finland were conscripted from Ukraine and the Caucasus, and for them, General Dong of Finland was the coldest they had ever experienced.
Soldiers born and raised in what was one of the warmer regions of the Soviet Union could not endure the cold of Finland.
Even in units that had not yet been deployed in combat, patients with frostbite continued to appear, and as supply was paralyzed due to heavy snow, even those suffering from frostbite began to appear.
The wintering equipment prepared by the Soviet military could not protect the soldiers.
Soviet troops went into battle shivering from the cold and suffering from frostbite.
This was against the Finnish army, who were not only accustomed to the cold, but also had a clear understanding of the surrounding terrain.
To make matters worse, the incompetence of the commanders also hindered the Soviet army.
Only a year had passed since the end of the Great Purge, and the Soviet Army still lacked experienced and capable officers.
Many Red Army officers were idiots who were promoted rapidly to fill the vacancies left by the Great Purge, so the quality of the soldiers trained by them could not have been outstanding.
The quality of the officers was already poor, and political officers, who had nothing in their minds other than communist theory and infinite loyalty to Stalin, frequently used their authority to intervene and sabotage operations.
"Why haven't you attacked yet, comrade?"
"Comrade Political Advisor, I just told you. "We don't have enough ammunition, so an offensive is impossible."
"The lack of ammunition is a minor problem that can be easily resolved through loyalty to the country and Comrade Secretary General. "We must attack immediately."
"No, does that make sense? And it's not just ammunition that's lacking. Due to lack of supplies, the soldiers have not had a single meal for two days. We are unable to treat injured soldiers because we do not have medicine. "But how can you attack me?"
"Didn't I tell you? There is no problem as long as you are loyal to your country. Lack of supplies is no reason not to go on the offensive. Attack now. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to report you to the party, Comrade Battalion Commander."
"······."
No matter how high-ranking an officer was, he could not dare to touch political officers who had the authority to report directly to the party.
Because of the interference and threats of these political officers, the Soviet commanders had to carry out the attack even though they knew it would fail.
If the attack was successful, it was fortunate, but if it failed, the on-site commander, not the political officer, was responsible.
The Soviet army executed hundreds of officers with their own hands.
The vacant positions of the executed officers had to be filled by rookie officers with no field command experience.
"Shit! "You mean we still haven't been able to break through the Finns' defense lines?"
"So, I apologize, Comrade Marshal..."
"What a bastard is the Red Army of the world! uh? "If you have any mouths, please at least speak up!"
"······."
Contrary to later perceptions, Kliment Voroshilov, who served as commander-in-chief of the Finnish invasion force, was not a completely incompetent officer.
During the Red-White Civil War, he made a contribution to the defense of Tsaritsyn, a city on the Volga River, against the White army, which was armed with various new weapons, including tanks and aircraft, supported by Britain and France. He also contributed greatly to the development of the Soviet military by actively promoting mechanization.
However, Voroshilov's military capabilities were still at the level of the 1920s.
Naturally, his old-fashioned strategy could not have worked on the battlefield of 1939.
Incompetent officers, anachronistic commanders, insufficient supplies, cold beyond imagination, and enemy troops fighting desperately.
When problems that would have been disastrous on their own came together, a catastrophe occurred.
Voroshilov gritted his teeth in nervousness. He clenched his teeth so hard that his gums tingled.
Damn it. This is not it...
Voroshilov, who thought he could easily trample on a small country like Finland, lost his composure when the war progressed in the opposite direction to his expectations.
The previously prepared supplies had long since run out, and the soldiers' morale was at a low level. Despite the release of political officers to thoroughly monitor the soldiers, deserters were continuing to appear.
A shocking situation even occurred on December 12, when two Soviet divisions were defeated by a Finnish regiment in the Battle of Tolbayervi, north of Lake Ladoga.
The Soviet army, now desperate, launched an offensive again on December 14, but this time too, it had no choice but to retreat to its pre-offensive position, with only the bitter taste of defeat.
The Finnish army did not simply defend, but counterattacked and defeated the exhausted Soviet troops individually.
"Comrade Marshal!"
The staff member who rushed into Voroshilov's command post had his face turned white.
"This is a call from Moscow!"
"Moscow? "If it's Moscow…!"
The staff member nodded with a stern expression.
"yes. "You are Comrade Secretary General."
Voroshilov's face contorted as he realized why the Secretary was calling him.
What is coming has come.
He answered the phone, holding back the sigh that was about to burst out. As soon as I answered the phone, Stalin's irritated voice reached my ears.
-Comrade Voroshilov?
"Yes, Comrade Secretary."
-You still haven't reached Helsinki?
"I apologize, comrade. The Finnish army's resistance is unexpectedly strong. so···."
-so?
Stalin's voice, heard through the receiver, was as cold as ice.
The old man swallowed his saliva without realizing it.
Even though I was wearing a thick coat made of bear skin, I felt a chill down my spine. It felt like she had been thrown naked into the middle of Siberia.
"We ask for additional support. "Advance is impossible in the current situation."
Stalin was silent for a long time.
For a moment, Voroshilov suspected that communication had been lost.
-······I understand. I'll send support soon.
Stalin's tone, which he spoke only after a while, was extremely businesslike. Still, he was promised additional support, so he put out the urgent fire.
"Thank you, comrade! This time, I must-"
-I hope you don't disappoint me this time. please.
Stalin cut off Voroshilov's words and unilaterally hung up the phone after leaving a final warning.
Outside the command center, a sharp wind mixed with sleet blew.
White steam leaked from the mouths and noses of the soldiers standing guard.
It was a very cold winter
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