Chapter 788： The defeated Soviet Army

With the change of hands in Damascus, it also marked the temporary end of the smoke on the battlefield in the Middle East.

But although the big battle has ended, small-scale conflicts are still taking place. But these battles have no effect on the situation. The Romanian army, which has already occupied the French Greater Syrian area, is working overtime to transport personnel and materials ashore to provide sufficient troops in the Middle East.

The British and French rivals are no exception, and they are stepping up to collect troops from the colonies to reinforce the Middle East. Now facing Romania’s aggressive posture, Britain and France have put aside the last bit of reservations and are doing their best to deal with this disruptor, at least in the Middle East.

And more than half of the materials purchased by the two countries from the United States are now sent to Egypt. For a time, the Middle East has become an existence second only to the Western Front.

The situation of the two sides accumulating power in the Middle East has caused many people who are concerned about the war to ponder secretly. Their general view is that this war needs to be accumulated for at least a month, otherwise it will not be able to fight at all.

In fact, what they expected was correct. Hoffman explained in detail in the secret telegram sent back to China that the Middle East Army Group will need to accumulate strength for the next war in the next period of time. Of course, the goal of the next battle does not need to be described in detail. Everyone knows that it is the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal behind it.

And this telegram, His Majesty Edel, who is at the helm of Romania, naturally saw it. For the General Hoffman he discovered by himself, Edel still trusts his abilities very much.

And he is very satisfied with the current military operations in Romania. Within half a year, the Romanian army broke through the Mediterranean and landed in the Middle East to threaten the Suez Canal. Such a performance is not unsatisfactory.

In addition to Romania’s own performance, Edel is also very concerned about the performance of the Soviets. Yes, the Soviet-Finnish dispute provoked by the Soviet Union has developed into a war.

In January 1940, before Romania launched its landing operation in the Middle East, the Soviet Union declared war on Finland. Of course, the excuse is the same as in the previous life, claiming that the Finnish army shelled Manila Village and causing the death of Soviet soldiers, and then asked the Finnish government to apologize and retreat the army 20 to 25 kilometers, but the Finnish government refused.

The Soviet Union used this as an excuse to abolish the "Su-Fin Non-Aggression Pact". On January 15, 430,000 troops from 22 divisions broke into the Finnish border and quickly reached the Mannerheim Line.

On the Finnish side, in the face of huge military pressure from the Soviet Union, Finland ordered a national mobilization and evacuated residents from the Karelia Isthmus to clear the country. Its army also expanded to 157,000 at the time of the war, consisting of 5 armies, 11 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry brigade and some independent border guards (this is the result of assistance from Romania).

In addition, there are 300,000 reserve personnel, 100,000 reserve "Civil Guard" and 100,000 women's service teams.

As for the historical dilemma of Finland's lack of anti-tank firepower and ammunition, it has also been fully improved with the intervention of Edel. Among the materials sold in Romania, there are nearly 400 anti-tank vehicles of various types. The bullets can be used in Finland for three months, and the shells can be used for one and a half months, which is not unreasonable. For this reason, Finnish President Kallio specially gave Edel power generation, thanked Romania for its assistance to Finland, and said that the Finnish people will never forget this kind of grace.

Yes, this batch of military supplies is sold in Romania at half price, because there are many weapons that are not suitable for Romania, such as the 37mm anti-tank that did not perform well in the war. Romania is now gradually upgrading its anti-tank caliber from 37 mm to 57 mm or even 75 mm.

But these weapons that are not practical for Romania are too practical for Finland. Not to mention the fighter planes sold in Romania and the anti-aircraft guns, which are the main force being used by its troops.

So even though the time of the war has receded and the climate has become less severe, the Soviet Union has also hit its head in the face of the heavily armed Finnish army.

The 430,000 army's offensive against Finland was basically in a state of disastrous defeat. This is especially true of the Karelian Isthmus, which is the focus of both sides.

The 7th Army of the Soviet Army, under the leadership of Yakovlev, organized 8 infantry divisions, 1 tank corps and 2 tank brigades, forming a far-reaching battle layout and a deep echelon battle formation, in Karelia The isthmus carried out an offensive, the main assault was directed in the direction of Vyborg. The offensive first started from the eastern section of the isthmus in an attempt to attract the Finnish army reserves to the east, and then the main assault was carried out in the western section of the isthmus.

The Finnish army concentrated two military divisions of the 6th division to defend the area, and first used cover forces to defend each narrow approach in the support zone. During the day, the Finnish army used melee firepower to attack and wound the enemy’s viable forces under favorable conditions. It used various anti-tank firepower to destroy the Soviet Red Army tanks from nearby. At night, it sent a ski squad to harass the Soviet Red Army’s rear, assaulting fire in the snow. The street-sleeping Soviet Red Army exhausted the Soviet Red Army.

In the face of Finland's endless methods, the shortcomings of the rigid command of the Soviet Union were exposed, because too many commanders were promoted in the Great Purge. They had no military skills at all, and could only deal with Finland's harassment dumbly.

So it was natural to be educated by the Finnish army. The Soviet army wearing a dark army coat was constantly attacked by the hidden Finns in the snow. The bright fire at night also became a beacon to guide the enemy's artillery fire.

Even with such casualties, the Soviet army still slammed into the main position mechanically. However, this Finn’s painstakingly managed main position is not easy to gnaw at all. It has built 670 permanent launching fortifications and earth-wood firepower points, as well as nearly 800 underground bunkers, which are communicated with trenches and traffic trenches.

Such a line of defense cannot be captured by the Soviet army in a few weeks at all. This conflicts with the Soviet army's own plan. When the plan conflicts with reality, it is clear who wins and who loses. (I'm exaggerating, this line of defense is not so strong, but if you don't say that, it will make the Soviet army even more incompetent.)

This also led to the failure of Yakovlev’s 7th Army to take down and the unfavorable Soviet troops faced successive harassment and their morale plummeted. At the same time, many missing and injured soldiers also plagued the Soviet soldiers. Under such internal and external troubles, the 7th Army could only be forced to stop the offensive on the spot. The two sides formed a confrontation and turned to a harassment war.

The inability of the 7th Army to attack naturally also caused a chain reaction. The attack on the 8th Army in the northeastern region of Lake Ladoga also suffered heavy losses. Its southern troops were divided and outflanked by the Finnish army in the Kitele area, and they had fallen into extinction.

Faced with the disastrous defeat on the battlefield, the Soviet Union was furious. Comrade Iron and Steel, as the general secretary, personally ordered the removal of Marshal Voroshilov’s command and the commander Timoshenko was appointed.

Obviously, Comrade Steel definitely does not want the Soviet Union to be tripped over here in Little Finland. Although Comrade Iron and Steel was not convinced, the low combat effectiveness of the Soviet army had long been exposed in the eyes of the world.

For Finland, who fought bravely, Edel was naturally very happy to approve a new batch of reinforcement supplies. After all, it is a general rule to show enough combat power to get the respect it deserves.

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