Win the war. All in order. Rem Wоrd

have passed out of holes, began to enter our sector of shelling. The gun fired a shot. The projectile hit the turret of one of the tanks was clearly visible. The tank turned left and stopped. Charge, sight, fire! Hit in the second tank, he stopped. A second after it hit, the tower hatch on the tank opened, arms and head in a leather helmet appeared from there. At that very moment, the tank engulfed the flames, the ammunition detonated, and the tank burned down. The flamethrower tanks continued to fight. One of them walked along the course of the message and drove up to Harkkil’s dugout, the second one had already stormed the Kelly stronghold. Sometimes the combustible mixture that the metal tank did not catch fire, and the target of the tank remained simply filled with fuel oil. After a moment, this tank headed through our trenches to the dugouts. At the same time, our anti-tank gun destroyed two more tanks in front of the Kelly team. The machine guns of the «Millionaire» were firing continuously, we also fired from our trenches with intense fire. Enemy infantry tried to move forward, not paying attention to the loss. Before us on the earth there were already many motionless black bumps and heaps of bodies. The enemy tried to support the advancing guns put forward to direct fire. They were shelling our firing points. Here and there shells exploded on the parapet. As soon as the flash of the shot was visible, the projectile was already breaking off at the target. With such a projectile, Yakkola and Sisto covered messengers. I think they did not even have time to understand what happened. At about noon I received a report that Harkkila was seriously wounded and his commander-in-chief was killed. The Messenger also reported that there were already many wounded and dead. The wounded were not evacuated, since the enemy tanks were among our positions, one tank was on the roof of the Harkkil dugout, and many more tanks were crawling back and forth near the road and in the rear. Part of our positions was captured by the enemy.

      Military operations begin after the delivery of an ultimatum to Finnish diplomats on November 30, 1939, with shelling by the ships of the Baltic Fleet and the bombing of Helsinki. The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations. European countries supply Suomi with weapons, including free of charge (350 aircraft, 500 guns) and volunteer troops. Two months advancing on forest roads columns of Soviet troops dissected by Finnish skiers, surrounded and destroyed. Photography – Soviet armored column defeated in Karelian forests. Finnish soldiers inspect frozen tanks T-26. December 1939

      In February, having filled the troops with heavy artillery, tanks, and increased food allowances, the USSR achieved success in breaking the Mannerheim line. Almost a day before the vote in the British parliament on the war with the USSR, on March 13, Soviet troops enter Vyborg. Peace is made. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army – 130,000 people, 650 tanks, 640 aircraft. The Finns lose 26,000 people, with 450,000 refugees, as well as 62 aircraft. From the Finnish captivity returned, 4,354 people are being filtered by the GUGB NKVD. Only 450 of them are released. The rest receive from 5 to 8 years camps. The photo shows a Soviet armored column dissected by Finnish skiers into several parts and destroyed. In the foreground – a truck with anti-aircraft installation. December 1939

      A large-scale military operation could have a special meaning if the USSR had kept Petsamo (Pechenga) with reserves of nickel ore, much-needed in the German military industry. However, the international community, including primarily the UK, is strongly opposed. Petsamo area is returned to the Finns. Those organize large-scale supply of nickel to the Axis countries. Pechenga will be part of the Russian Federation only in 1944. The photo shows a Soviet howitzer B-4. Caliber 203 mm. This is almost the main character of the Finnish War. The nickname «Stalin sledgehammer», or «Karelian sculptor», for the fact that a large-caliber gun turns Finnish pillboxes into a kind of avant-garde sculptures. The result of the action of the B-4 – if not breaking through the walls, then the psychological impact on the defenders of the DOTs. Many of them, after prolonged shelling of the B-4 go crazy. Karelian Isthmus, February 1940 … Corporal of the Finnish army Toivo Aholla: «… The shelling of our positions was moved to the depths (exactly according to the rules!) And the full strength of the armed forces of the Soviet Union fell on our positions. Games are over, everything was in earnest. About fifty tanks were at the front half a kilometer, the largest of which were eight meters long, three wide, and three high. They moved fairly quickly along a level field and fired continuous cannon and machine gun fire, despite the fact that their fire was inaccurate on the move. For tanks in several trains went a huge amount of infantry. Although the ground was already covered with snow, the Russians did not yet have white camouflage. For us it was a clear advantage, it was very clearly visible where to shoot. Our artillery made several volleys on the mass advancing on us, but in order to achieve at least some effect, it was necessary to launch ten times more projectiles!Our anti-tankists managed to “put down” several tanks in the neutral zone, some tank hit a mine, but there were enough of them after the losses. The bravest tankers crossed the trenches and headed towards our rear. Other tanks began to deliberately level the barbed wire fences with the ground, while others stopped and began to make passes in the teeth. The tanks that went to our rear were at a disadvantage, and our tank hunters immediately attacked them. The tank is bad enough for a close view, and a brave soldier hiding in a funnel or cell with an anti-tank grenade or incendiary bottle is a dangerous enemy for the tank. Towards evening, the shouting and moans of the wounded were heard from the neutral strip, among which “Comrade Medical Officer!” Was clearly heard … A couple of tanks that had broken through to the rear managed to return to their positions …

      Among the advantages in 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 the production of a submachine gun (PPD). Cons, in addition to the most severe losses – the loss of at least some prestige on the world stage. The German government understands that it is fully capable of achieving comprehensive success in the war against the «colossus on clay feet.» The sight of a surviving Soviet soldier in a camera. On the ruins of the Finnish DotA, spring 1940

      Soviet officers pose against the backdrop of «Karelian sculpture.» April 1940

      …Denmark and Norway are threatened to capture two centers of power at once: England and Germany. Denmark is leaning towards the protectorate of Germany. The leaders of the country (ethnic Germans, as a rule) give the order not to resist the invasion. It will take place in March 1940, and costs the lives of thirteen Danish and two German soldiers. Reich acquires a reliable supplier of agricultural products, a half dozen warships and a six-thousandth volunteer corps. Photography – German T-2 tanks on the streets of Copenhagen

      In April 1940, the German warships attacked Norway, which had received help from the British, and by June 16 of the same year, with the support of airborne assault forces, captured it. The irretrievable human losses of opponents are approximately equal. The Norwegians – 1,400 people, as well as 60,000 prisoners, the British 1,800, the French and Poles 500. Wehrmacht loses about 4,000 soldiers and officers. Allied forces lose a total of 15 warships, including the aircraft carrier. Germany – 34 large and 10 small. These losses make the landing operation to the UK quite doubtful. As a result of the submarine war, England loses 485 ships, which is one third of the entire merchant fleet. Germany exchanges them for their 9 submarines.Photography – German paratroopers on the rocks of Norway

      Harbor of the Norwegian city of Narvik, after the battle of the British with the German fleet

      The