Betrayal of General Winter - Winter War

02 MARCH 1940, TUPPURA ISLAND, GULF OF VIIPURI After the Russian breakthrough at Summa Finnish Army began a fighting retreat towards the historic city of Viipuri. The Soviet 7th Army conducted several flanking maneuvers to trap the retreating Finnish army. All of those attempts were repulsed with skillful Finnish resistance and with the help of the arctic conditions. However the arctic conditions, which Finns had utilized during the entire conflict, now posed a great danger. The Gulf of Viipuri, a key geographical feature for the defense of the city was covered with a thick layer of ice. Soviet high command quickly realized the opportunity and attempted to flank the Finnish main defense line at south of Viipuri by an attack towards the Gulf. Russian plan was using the ice to deploy large formations and capture the other shore of the Gulf, thus outflanking the main defense line. However the Gulf of Viipuri had been defended by a system of entrenched islands. Those islands were originally fortresses against Naval attack. Now they were castles on a flat white landscape. Tuppura was the strongest and the most important among them. It was standing like a rock in the Russian advance. The task of capturing Tuppura was given to the 169th Motorized Rifle Regiment. The regiment was supported by the 60th and 61st ski battalions. The Finnish defenders of the Tuppura Fortress under Lieutenant Birger Kytöpuro consisted of several separate companies and artillery batteries hastily collected from other sectors. The fortress had one battery of 152mm "Canet" coastal guns (two remained during the battle), two 57mm Nordenfeld guns, two 37mm AT-guns, two obsolete 87mm guns with rigid gun carriages and 22 machine guns. Finnish forces were also supported by the huge naval guns of the Ristiniemi Fortress. On 1 March 1940, the island was reinforced with the 3rd Company of Battalion Hällfors under Lieutenant Kalle Korhonen. All the Finnish forces in Tuppura Island were inexperienced in infantry warfare; for instance Battalion Hällfors' soldiers were volunteer sailors. On 2 March, elements of the 169th Rifle Regiment began the attack on the island from several directions. After several recon moves and deception attacks, Russian troops launched their main effort to capture Kuninkaansaari island, which was located on the Northern tip of the Tuppura Island. The attack on the Kuninkaansaari aimed to cut off the Tuppura Fort from North. At 9000 hours, Russian companies, packed up with armor started their advance.