Whatever it was, the mood in Finland does not seem friendly to the Soviet government. His proposal – the removal of the border from Leningrad at the expense of Finland, in exchange for twice the size of the areas of East Karelia. Rent of the island of Hanko to create a Soviet military base. Disarmament and demolition of the «Mannerheim Line» on the Karelian Isthmus. Finland rejects these conditions.
Military operations begin after the delivery of an ultimatum, on November 30, 1939, from shelling (ships of the Baltic Fleet) and the bombing of Helsinki. The Soviet Union is excluded from the League of Nations. European countries supply Suomi with weapons, including free of charge (350 aircraft, 500 guns) and volunteers. For two months the columns of Soviet troops advancing along the forest roads are being cut by Finnish skiers, surrounded and destroyed. This is no longer the Halkin Gol. In February, having saturated the troops with heavy artillery and tanks, having increased the norms of food allowance, the USSR is making progress in the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line; On March 13, Soviet troops enter Vyborg. The world lies. Irrevocable, severe losses of the USSR – 130 000 people, 650 tanks, 640 aircraft; Finns – 26 000 people, with 450 000 refugees, 62 aircraft. From the Finnish captivity, 4,354 people return, and are being filtered by the NKGB GUGB. 450 of them are released, the rest receive from 5 to 8 years of camps.
This military operation could have a special meaning if the USSR kept Petsamo (Pechenga) with the reserves of nickel ore, much needed by Germany’s military industry. However, the international community, including, above all, the UK, is strongly opposed. The area Petsamo returns to the Finns, and they organize a large-scale supply of nickel to the Axis countries.
Pechenga will join the Russian Federation only in 1944.
Among the advantages in the combat training of troops, after such a harsh school, is the abolition of the institution of political commissars, the experience of breaking through long-term fortifications, the winter war as a whole, and the return to production of a submachine gun (PAP).
Cons, in addition to the hardest losses – the German government understands that, in principle, is able to achieve all-round success in the war against the «colossus on clay feet».
1. The Dot of the Mannerheim Line
2. Howitzer B-4
1. Dot line Mannerheim second generation, «millionaire» (name of the amount in the Finnish stamps expended for the erection). The thickness of reinforced concrete walls is 2 m, the length of the structure is 30 m. Conventional armament is two 76 mm. guns, antitank 37 mm. guns, machine guns. Addition – ditch, mines, barbed wire, concrete bungs. In total, the second generation of BTs is built 7.
2. Howitzer B-4, caliber of 203 millimeters. The main hero of the Finnish war. The nickname «Karelian Sculptor», for the fact that this instrument turns Finnish dots into a kind of avant-garde statues. The parameters of Finnish DOTs are «million»: the length is about 40 meters, the thickness of the walls of reinforced concrete is 2 meters. The result of action B-4 – if not the penetration of the walls, then the psychological impact on the defenders of the DOTs. Many of them, after a long bombardment of the B-4 went crazy.
The entry of the Baltic countries into the USSR
In October 1940, the Soviet Union invites Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, under a mutual assistance agreement, to deploy a military contingent of 25,000 troops on their territory to defend themselves against Hitlerite Germany. It is already clear that the Red Army is inclined to achieve its goals, regardless of any losses. Two weeks later, the governments of these countries are accused of collusion with Germany (which is partly true), repressions against foreigners (Poles, etc.) and are shifting. In the summer of 1940, following the results of nationwide voting, the republics are formed by communist governments and adopt declarations of entry into the Soviet Union; which are immediately approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.