Dawn Patrol - Winter War

10 AUGUST 1941, MOUNT IENIKUVAARA, ALAKURTTI DEFENSE LINE The Finnish-German attack on Salla-Kandalaska axis slowly pushed the Russian defenders Eastwards. In mid-August, Axis pressure over Kajrala was so high, units of the 122nd Rifle Division received orders to fall back to the transitory defense line near Alakurtti. The 1st Battalion of the hard fighting 596th Rifle Regiment reached Ienikuvaara Mountain overseeing the Alakurtti positions. However battalion HQ lost communication with the regiment. Battalion commander Leitenant Pavel G. Danilo ordered his "Hunters" platoon to locate the regiment's command center by morning and clarify the battalion's further objectives. In 1941 Russian rifle battalion's had no organic recon units which became a disadvantage in the obscured terrain of Finland. Therefore, commanders formed "hunter" platoons consisting of lightly armed veteran soldiers. The "Hunters" platoon commanded by Serzhant Ivan Kobets managed to establish connection with the regimental HQ of the 596th after a couple of hours patrolling. They spent the night trying to return to their Battalion's sector, fully alerted by the presence of the German forward patrols probing into Russian lines. They spotted the Ienikuvaara Mountain with the first lights of the 10th August. Kobets' platoon was approaching the battalion's location. Only some hundreds of meters of wooded ground was left to cross. All of a sudden, bursts of a sub-machine gun roared ahead of them and Kobets saw one of the front scouts running towards him shouting: "Germans ahead!". Kobets realized that the German troops were blocking his way towards the friendly lines and his troops were in the lower ground. He immediately ordered a charge before Germans find time to establish firing positions.