Under the Darkness - Winter War

03 JANUARY 1940, BUNKER NO:45, SUMMA FORTIFIED AREA The fortified area at Hotinen and Summa villages was one of the vital sectors of Mannerheim Line. Along with the defenses at Lahde, Summa trench system defeated the strong but unimaginative Russian assaults during December. After his appointment Timoshenko prepared careful plans for the systematic reduction of the Mannerheim Line. His conception relied on the blend of well designed raids and attrition warfare where material quantity has the last word. The Soviet 100th Division arrived the area on the last days of the year. They immediately started preparations for raiding parties that were supposed to conduct short but effective raids against the strong bunker system of the Finnish forces. Most of those raids had quite limited objectives leading the way for the main assault. This didn't mean those tasks were walks in the park. After 2 months of intense fighting and endless artillery barrages, Summa was more of a place from Moon than Earth. The carefully designed Finnish trench system with intersected machine gun placements; barbed wires and antitank barriers which were leading the enemy into killing zones; and perfect coordination with the artillery made the Summa area a fatal landscape for the Russian soldat. This campaign depicts the actions of an assault group from the 90th Sapper Battalion (100th Rifle Division) which fought its way into the Finnish defenses to open the way to the armor. Comrade Korovin. After long preparations our division was ordered to launch preliminary attacks against the Summa Line. Those attacks will be recons in force and raids aiming to soften the trench system so our rifle regiments and tanks will have easier time during the main assault. Your first mission is to launch a night raid to the Bunker no:45 near the "Axe Hill". Reports indicate that Bunker no:45 is a modernized "millionaire bunker" with heavy firepower. Your task is infiltrating the Finnish barbed wire and destroying the antitank barriers guarding the entrance of the bunker. We must open a corridor for the tanks if we will have any chance of a successful assault against the bunker tomorrow. Utilize the darkness and hit hard the Finns before they have time to react. It is probably impossible to capture the bunker tonight so I suggest concentrating on the antitank barriers for this mission. Good Luck.