Arctic Front: Higher Ground (H2H TESTING IN PROGRESS)

[Crossroads]

Telegrams of the Winter War, with emphasis on Vuoksi sector.

To advertise the **Enforcing the Line LWM scenario, the Allied intervention plans, as mentioned in telegrams, are included as well.

While skimming through the material, the similarity to Summer 1944 is almost eerie, regarding locations. It would indicate **Grim Days of Winter would need to be a 3x3 team scenario on full Viborg Bay map as well. As for Vuoksi, the *Across Vuoksi map would need to be extended to full size of the map present in OP above...

Lots of work ahead

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Anyway, as for telegrams (inside spoiler):

Spoiler Expand

Telegrams of the Winter War

Ibid., 30 Nov 1939:

Karelian Isthmus: the Soviet artillery opens fire at 6.50. Soviet troops cross the border at several places without declaring war.Crossing points include Rajajoki, Joutselkä and Lipola.

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Ibid., 1 March 1940:

The Western Allies announce they are ready to send 50,000 troops and aircraft to Finland if they receive an official request for help before the 5th of March.

Ibid., 2 March 1940:

The Allies ask the Norwegian and Swedish Governments to allow their troops to pass through Norway and Sweden en route to Finland. Norway and Sweden refuse permission.

A battalion of Hungarian volunteers arrives in Finland.

The office of the Canadian Prime Minister announces there are no legal obstacles to Canadian volunteers participating in the war in Finland. The first batch of volunteers board ship in Ottawa en route for Finland.

Ibid., 3 March 1940:

The Soviet troops on the Vuoksi throw almost three divisions into an offensive across a broad front in the Vuosalmi and Kaskiselkä sectors. The defending Finnish troops successfully halt the offensive with the support of artillery fire.

Ibid., 5 March 1940:

The counterattack to retake the church hill at Äyräpää is delayed by the late arrival of the Finnish detachment at the starting position. The launch of the operation is put back until daylight. The Finnish attack founders with heavy losses in the face of intense enemy fire.

Ibid., 6 - 7 March 1940

British volunteers swear their oath to Colonel Kermit Roosevelt in the Finnish Aid office in London.

Ibid., 8 March 1940

Mannerheim suggests Finland consider one more time the offer of assistance by the Western Allies.

In Vuosalmi the enemy is digging in on the northern bank of the Vuoksi.

The first session of [peace negotiations] talks begins in Moscow at 7 o'clock in the evening.

Ibid., 9 March 1940:

The Finnish Government convenes at 5 o'clock in the afternoon to consider the telegrams sent by the delegation at the Moscow peace talks. The assembled ministers are shocked by the proposed loss of access to Lake Ladoga and the cession of the district of Salla in Lapland.

The Government is able to draw on an assessment of the military situation prepared by General Heinrichs, commander of the Army of the Isthmus. Heinrichs' pessimistic assessment forces the Commander-in-Chief to conclude that there is no alternative but to accept the Soviet Union's peace terms.

Ibid., 10 March 1940:

Finland's former president, P.E. Svinhufvud is in Berlin to seek help for Finland, but is unable to gain access to members of the German leadership.

The Finnish and Soviet negotiators meet for a second round of talks in the Kremlin at 2 p.m. today. The meeting lasts two hours.

Finland is in an awkward negotiating position. Contact with the Government at home has to be conducted via Stockholm and telegrams can take up to 12 hours to reach their destination. The deadline of March 12 set by the Allies is also getting ominously close. The Finnish negotiators attempt to haggle over the Soviet terms, but without success.

In Vuosalmi the enemy is concentrating its efforts on the Liete meadows to the northeast of Vasikkasaari.

Ibid., 11 March 1940:

News of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee's readiness to accept the Soviet Union's terms leaks into the Swedish evening papers.

The fighting continues with the Soviet troops fiercely attacking the Finnish defences in Viipuri.

The enemy breaks through into the suburbs of Viipuri. By early evening the vanguard of five enemy tanks has reached Tammisuo station to the northeast of the city. Three of the tanks are subsequently destroyed.

At 2.45 p.m. the enemy achieve a 500 metre breakthrough to the northwest of Vasikkasaari, but the defending Finnish troops manage to contain it. During the night, the Finnish troops in Vuosalmi withdraw from Vitsaari after heavy fighting.

Ibid., 12 March 1940:

At 9 o'clock in the morning President Kyösti Kallio puts his signature to a paper giving full powers of negotiation to the Finnish delegation at the Moscow peace talks. Kallio says on signing: "This is the most awful document I have ever had to sign. May the hand wither which is forced to sign such a paper."

There is fierce fighting on the Isthmus to the northeast and south of Viipuri. The Red Army breaks through at Kollaa to a depth of approximately one kilometre. Combat Detachment Haini's daily losses total around 100 men. On the days of fiercest fighting, the enemy is losing over 2,000 men a day.

The Finns decide to abandon the defensive line along the River Kollaanjoki. Around 50 Soviet tanks drive across the Vuoksi to the mainland, suffering losses under the Finnish artillery fire.

Colonel Hersalo's 21st Division launches a counterattack in Vuosalmi.

Ibid., 13 March 1940:

The Treaty of Moscow ending the Winter War is signed in the Kremlin at 1 o'clock in the morning Finnish time. The peace treaty takes effect on all fronts at 11 o'clock in the morning.

In the Taipale and Vuosalmi sectors of the front the Finnish artillery, which has played a major role in the successful defence of these sectors, finally falls silent as the fierce fighting is broken off at 11 o'clock.

At 3.40 p.m. the Finnish flag is lowered from the flagpole on Viipuri Castle. The Winter War is over.

Despite the fact that the Red Army attacked Finland without so much as a formal declaration of war, the harsh terms of the peace treaty mean Finland is forced to cede to the Soviet Union the Karelian Isthmus and areas to the north of Lake Ladoga. The towns of Viipuri, Sortavala and Käkisalmi are incorporated into the Soviet Union. Most of Salla in Lapland is also lost, while the south coast port of Hanko is to be leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years.

The total surface area of the ceded territories amounts to some 35,000 square kilometres. This represents one tenth of Finland's total surface area. Almost 430,000 Karelians, or 12 per cent of the country's population, lose their homes.