Suomussalmi

The Soviet Army crossed the border into Finland in the last days of November, 1939. On December 8th, they reached the lightly defended village of Suomussalmi. The next day, Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo, a veteran of WWI, brought in reinforcements and …

1939-12-16

1409

The Soviet Army crossed the border into Finland in the last days of November, 1939. On December 8th, they reached the lightly defended village of Suomussalmi. The next day, Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo, a veteran of WWI, brought in reinforcements and took command of the Finnish defenses. His mission was to destroy the Russian forces and force them out of the village - a tall order, as the enemy was well supplied and numerically superior. One of Siilasvuo's first orders was for Captain J. A. Makinen to set up a roadblock to slow the continuing advance of the Russian 44th Division. While the roadblock operation was being developed, Siilasvuo launched an attack against the Russian positions in and around Suomussalmi. The Soviets, however were too well entrenched and little headway was made in the first few days of the battle. In time, the Finnish ski troops, fighting on home ground, were able to slowly tighten the ring around the villages and by the first week of January had defeated the larger Soviet force.

Suomussalmi, Finland

The Battle of Suomussalmi was a battle fought between Finnish and Soviet forces in the Winter War. The action took place from around December 7, 1939, to January 8, 1940. The outcome was a Finnish victory against superior forces. Suomussalmi is considered the clearest, most important, and most significant Finnish victory in the northern half of Finland. In Finland, the battle is still seen today as a symbol of the entirety of Winter War itself.

Wikipedia: Battle of Suomussalmi

Finnish

Russian

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Winter

Website Access: Available