Stalingrad was not the first time the Red Army suffered catastrophic losses at the hands of the Germans. That title belongs to what happened in the forests near the small Finnish town of Suomussalmi during the Winter War of 1939. The Soviet commander, General Vasily Chuikov, was given an almost impossible task.
He was ordered by Josef Stalin himself to slice through Finland and remove it from the Soviet Union once and for all. Although Finland was small, Chuikov and the Soviet High Command believed that Finland would offer little to no resistance.
Chuikov’s first mistake was the choice of route. The only major route through Finland was a long, winding, two-lane road through endless, and often unmarked, forests. Chuikov’s plan was to march the entire 45,000 man army in a long single file column down the only major road that Finand had.
Although the Finns outnumbered, Chuikov had the superior firepower. However, The Finnish Colonel, Erik Siilasvuo had other plans. Rather than engaging the Soviets head on, Siilasvuo had his men fell trees and block the road. As Chuikov’s men became trapped in the endless forests of Finland and begun to run out of food and ammo, Siilasvuo’s men kept up their blockade and harassed Soviet positions with sniper fire.
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The Soviets, used to fighting in more temperate climates were not prepared to deal with the sub zero temperatures and the challenges that would bring. The crude oil used to lubricate the engine of the Soviet tanks and vehicles would harden and freeze, thus trapping the vehicles. Thousands more died after campfires gave away their locations to Finnish snipers.
Chuikov ultimately decided to abandon the campaign and ordered a full withdrawal. After the defeat, planning and the lack of thereof was determined to be a greater loss to the Soviet army than the Finns.
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