Finnish vs Soviet Squads Who was Superior? | Animated History

If you haven't heard already, the Armchair Historian team is working on a free historical strategy game, Fire & Maneuver. It's a PC game set between the years 1853 to 1871, meaning players can take command in conflicts like the Franco-Prussian War and even the Crimean War. You can follow development using our Discord link below, and you can play the game early by supporting us on Patreon. Learn more about Fire & Maneuver by checking out our Steam page below, and don't forget to wishlist. On a backwoods trail near the Kola River, a Soviet column trudges along. Dressed in bright reds and browns, the Russian soldiers stand out vividly against the endless dunes of white snow. Easy targets for the Finnish sharpshooters hidden in the pines. On the edge of the Mannerheim line, a Soviet conscript grips his rifle tightly, taking an increasingly ragged series of breaths to steady himself. He leaps from cover, scrambling to avoid a hail of bullets from his target, a Finnish machine gun nest. He and his comrades will take this position from the fascist lapdogs, or they will fall as heroes of the Soviet Union. In the ruins of what was once the city of Vipuri, a Finnish sergeant exhorts his men to press on. Orders and encouragement almost drowned out by the war of distant Katyusha rockets. Hand in hand with their German allies to the south, the Finns will liberate their country from tyranny of Soviet oppression. Hi, I'm Griffin Johnson, the Armchair Historian. When one thinks of the Eastern Front of the Second World War, images of conflict between the ideological juggernauts of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union spring to mind. While a critical component of the Second World War, there was another key conflict that took place in the background of the early war years, the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland. After breaking away from the Russian Empire in 1917, Finland experienced a civil war which saw anti-communists win control of the new nation. The Soviet Union, who had backed Finland's communist faction, looked hungrily on the former territory of their imperial forbearers, and planned an invasion. In this latest episode of our Versus series, we will compare the infantry of the Soviet Union and the nation of Finland, starting in the time of the Winter War and ending in the Continuation War, the Finnish campaign in support of Operation Barbarossa. When it comes to discussing topics like this, our researchers often find themselves having to sift through large amounts of data, ranging from after-action reports and technical manuals, to personal interviews and soldiers' memoirs. For a long time, the secrets to learning how to interpret all of this information lay in the care of academia. But with Brilliant, perfecting your analytical abilities is now an option no matter your background. Brilliant is a website and app that teaches you how to think like a professional, with a total of over 60 interactive courses. Brilliant visualizes concepts and lets you interact with them, and then it challenges you to apply those concepts and expand your understanding. Since officers in the Second World War needed a firm grasp of math to measure distances and coordinate fire at a distance, I recommend their Mathematics Fundamentals course, which has been updated with new interactive features, making learning more intuitive than ever. Start your journey now by visiting brilliant.org slash armchairhistorian to sign up for free. Furthermore, the first 200 people to use the link in the description below get 20% off of their annual premium subscription. For this matchup, we will inhabit two distinct time periods. Our first two matches will occur during the time of the Winter War, which was fought from November 1939 to March 1940. Our final battle will take place during the Continuation War, from June 1941 to September 1944. These battles are based on Soviet and Finnish squad tactics and equipment, however we will be discounting heavy equipment such as armored vehicles, and while the use of artillery may be woven into the narrative of the engagements, it will not be a deciding factor. As always, these combat encounters are fictional and represent our opinion based on our research and perspective. With that, it's time to button up and join the action in Finland, 1940. The Soviet infantry can't help but feel an odd sense of comfort as they march along a rough-hewn forest trail. The smooth white dunes. The familiar chill in the breeze. A rhythmic crunching beneath their boots. It almost feels like home, but their revere is interrupted by a thunderous crack. It's an ambush. The Soviets scramble as another shot clips the squad leader. The sergeant falls, grasping at his arm. He's winged but still in the fight. Hidden among the trees, a squad of Finnish infantry fire a ragged volley with their M27 rifles. A staccato chorus of reports echoing through the trees. The Soviets dive into the drainage ditches alongside the trail, clearing their rifles for action. One brave soul cautiously leans out of cover, Mosin-Nagant poised to fire on the first Fin he sees. But a Fin sees him first. Two Soviets down, nine to go. The sergeant orders covering fire while their DP-28 is set up. If they play their cards right, they can leapfrog away from the trail and into the other side of the trees. The Soviets fire wildly, sending an endless stream of shots towards the trees. Their shots splinter wood and churn slush, succeeding in stalling the Finns for a moment. And that's all the time they need. The assistant machine gunner slaps an ammunition tray onto the DP, giving his comrade a quick tap on the shoulder. And with a high-pitched chug, like a typewriter, the Soviet machine gun opens fire. As the DP sends a stream of bullets into the thick forest canopy, the Soviet infantry break cover to pull back toward the safety of the trees behind them. The Finns dig in, weathering the barrage. They've seen the Soviets' tactics before, and know that their moment will come. The sergeant calls to his men, and they take cover among the snow drips to lay down cover with their Mosins. As the DP gunner and his assistant rush to catch up with their comrades, a group of Finns sortie from the trees, skiing into position behind a low stone wall. One brings up his KP-31 submachine gun, racking it around from his impressive 71-round drum magazine before sending out a wide spray, firing his compact SMG like a squad support weapon. The wild fusillade sends the two-man Soviet LMG team scrambling, keeping their heads down as they desperately try to cover distance as their Finnish enemies and Soviet comrades exchange fire. Lucky shots down a pair of Finnish riflemen, and the Finnish squad leader signals his men to advance. The Finns have the initiative, and they intend on keeping it. As the haggard LMG team catches up with the Soviet riflemen, the sergeant orders his men to make a break for the forest. The Finns quickly strap on their skis, flying from the forest to keep pace with their retreating foes. The Soviets make it to the opposite side of the woods, and the Finnish squad leader suddenly signals a halt. He knows the area. As the Soviets rush through the forest, looking back to ensure the Finns aren't following, they come upon a frozen lake. In their panic, they don't think to check the ice. What the hot lead of the Finnish infantry couldn't accomplish, the icy waters of the Kola River soon will. The Finns take the first match through their superior usage of guerrilla tactics and knowledge of the terrain. Especially in the early years of the Winter War, the Soviets deployed without winter clothing and camouflage, the reds, greens, and browns of their uniforms making them easy targets in the endless white of the Finnish tundra. Overconfidence and inexperience among Soviet officers would often lead to disaster, such as here when the Soviet sergeant thought he was saving his squad by pulling back into the trees and instead sent his men into an icy grave. Of note is the Finns' use of skis at the conclusion of the match, reflecting their highly mobile disposition throughout the war. If the Soviets hadn't blundered upon a frozen river, it's likely the Finns would have overtaken them with their ski troops. With this match decided, let's see if the Soviets can eke out a win in a more conventional engagement. The commissar reminds the squad he's attached to of their dedication to the Soviet Union and their responsibility to their fellow workers. With the propaganda out of the way, the squad leader orders his men to charge. The Soviet conscripts fill the air with their famous war cry. A Finnish squad takes up positions in the trenches as the Soviets surge forward, opening fire with their rifles. They take cover behind rocks and fallen trees, stymied by a line of barbed wire strung among the debris of the forest. Their DP opens up on the Finnish trench, attempting to force the defender's heads down, but it's quickly answered by a Finnish Maxim gun stationed in the bunker. A lone Soviet manages to cut through the wire, clearing the way for his fellows, only to be strafed by the Finnish KP-31. The Maxim has the Soviet machine gun well and truly suppressed, isolating the Russians between the trench and its field of fire. The squad leader orders his men the only way they can go, forward. Grenades fly at the Finnish trench, causing the Finns to scatter for cover. Three fall in the shrapnel and explosions, the rest scrambling to retake their positions as the Soviets surge forward. The Finnish squad leader orders his men to pull back to the second trench line, and they withdraw under scattered fire from Mosin-Nagants. The Maxim team hurriedly tries to pull out of their positions, but they're taken out by the Soviets. As the last of the Finns withdraw, the Soviets level their rifles and are engulfed in flames. The rearmost Finns pelt the trench with Molotovs, turning the dugout into a fire pit. The Soviet squad leader orders his surviving men to halt, and is immediately set upon by the Commissar. As the Finns open fire with their rifles and SMG, the Commissar exhorts his charge forward for the glory and survival of the USSR. But the squad leader orders a withdrawal to a better position. The Commissar says this is unacceptable, they must attack, but the squad leader formally orders his men to reposition in the west in an attempt to flank the Finns. The Commissar draws his handgun. A frontal charge must be ordered to overwhelm the Finns while they're vulnerable, or else the Commissar will shoot the sergeant where he stands. Reasoning his odds are better in battle than in an execution, the Soviet squad leader reluctantly complies. The Soviet rifles surge forward, circling around the flames as the Ironically, one of the first to fall is our friend the Commissar, and with the ideologue dead, the Soviet squad leader orders his men to cover. It's time to do the sensible thing, cut their losses and pull back. The Mannerheim Line has held. It's 2-0 Finland after our first two engagements. The Mannerheim Line was a source of great embarrassment for the Soviets, as the creatively laid out defenses of simple earthworks and scattered reinforced bunkers combined with the naturally inhospitable terrain to create a killing zone that claimed many Soviet lives. Furthermore, the flexible defense used by the Finns enabled them to yield ground without fear of losing the overall integrity of their line. In this particular fight, the Soviets were hamstrung by their a tactic closely associated with the Soviets, though not as ubiquitous as popular media would have us believe. In reality, the Mannerheim Line held out so well that it forced Soviet planners to fundamentally alter their goals in the Winter War, and ultimately allowed Finland to end the war by ceding territory rather than being totally annexed by the USSR. But this was not the last time the Soviets would face the Finns in battle. They would meet again in the Continuation War, and it is here that we join our final battle, a door-to-door match-up in the streets of the Finnish city of Vipuri. Soviet and Finnish soldiers exchange fire from the windows of high-rises. The horizon dances with the flashes of artillery and columns of fire as they hit their marks. Rubble and bodies litter the streets. The Soviets have broken through to Vipuri, a key position along the Finnish defensive line, and are engaged in the brutal business of urban warfare. In the market square of Vipuri, Soviet troops have dug into the Round Tower, a historic fortification. Opposing them, a Finnish squad has taken up a position just across the street, trying to keep the Russians in place until reinforcements can arrive. Within the tower, a group of infantry prepare to sortie. These are not common conscripts, though. This is a new strategy of active defense. They will be the key to victory over the German-Fascist invaders and the Finns. These soldiers trust machine guns and grenades, allowing the communists to attack when they should retreat and stay in position. Unlike their fellow brothers, these Soviet troops are not obliged to pay attention to their commissar's orders or comply with any kind of The storm group pours from the side of the Round Tower, their DP opening up from the loopholes to cover them as they surge forward. The Soviets leapfrog from cover to cover, trading fire with the Finnish riflemen, but their PPSHs are good for little other than suppression at this range. The Finnish squad leader has been outfitted with an additional two KP-31 SMGs, but their three submachine gunners hold fire until the Soviets close distance. Experience has taught them that the KP is many things, but a substitute for an LMG is not one of them. The storm group presses forward, the DP covering their advance as the Finnish riflemen attempt to pick them off before they can close. If the Soviets get into SMG range, the Finns would be facing the belching ends of the infamous burp gun. A lucky shot finds its mark on the DP gunner, silencing the LMG, but the storm group leader orders his men to rush as he deploys a smoke grenade, and in response the Finnish squad leader orders his KP gunners to the front. The KPs pour bullets from their deep magazines, firing wildly into the smoke, and as a gentle breeze carries the acrid fumes away, the Finns stare down their sights at an empty street. The Finnish squad leader instinctively scratches his head. Where's the charge? The Finnish squad leader orders his men inside a building. Better to dig in one of the apartment blocks than face an enemy you can't see. The Finns pull into the nearest building, gathering in the lobby to strategize. The squad leader will take two men to secure the second floor and provide overwatch while the assistant squad leader and the rest of the squad maintain security downstairs. The three inch up the stairs, breaching the first apartment to find some very bewildered rats. As the three Finns fan out, the squad leader wonders if the storm group made a break for it. He hears them below. He signals the two riflemen with him, and they take cover behind overturned furniture, weapons leveled at the door. Someone's coming up. The door inches open. A stick grenade tumbles into the room. When his vision clears, the business end of a PPSH is leveled right between his eyes. The Soviets take our final match of our trio of battles, bringing the overall score to 2-1 Finland. Though they gave urban warfare little thought in their initial tactical manuals, the Soviets quickly became experts in the subject following their hard-won victories at Stalingrad and elsewhere, where the concept of the storm group was developed and tested. It is this experience that gave them the edge in the streets of Vipuri, leaving the Finns no hope to match Soviet tenacity and experience in this challenging battlefield. But while the Soviets proved dominant in an urban setting, overall it is the Finns who we believe fielded the superior squad. The Finns' highly maneuverable units enabled them to ski circles around the Russians, fighting equally well as guerrilla infantry or flexible defenders of the Mannerheim line. Do you agree with our assessment? Let us know in the comments along with any suggestions you might have for future matchups.