Battle of Summa
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Summa was fought between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, in two phases, first in December 1939 and then in February 1940. It was part of the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

 and was fought near the village of Summa (now Soldatskoye) along the main road leading from Leningrad to Viipuri.

First battle in December

The village of Summa was a gateway to the city of Viipuri. The Finns had built 41 reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...

 bunkers in the Summa area, and the defense line was stronger than elsewhere in the Karelian Isthmus
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus is the approximately 45–110 km wide stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva . Its northwestern boundary is the relatively narrow area between the Bay of Vyborg and Lake Ladoga...

. However, the Finns had made mistakes in planning and nearby Munasuo swamp, east of Summa, had a kilometer wide gap in the line. At least 20 tanks drove through the line in the first day of battle, but the Soviets did not have proper co-operation between branches of service; tanks, artillery and troops fought their own battles. The Finns stood still in trenches and allowed the Soviet tanks to move behind the defense line on 19 December, as they did not have proper anti-tank weapons. After that the Finns repelled the Soviet main troops. Deserted tanks behind the line attacked randomly against strongpoints, but after over twenty tanks were eliminated their threat was over. The Finns won the battle on 22 December.

Second battle in February

As the Soviets found it too difficult to breach the line at the Summa sector, they attacked 10 km to the east in a sector known as Lähde. If they broke through there then they could encircle the Finns holding the Summa position. Timoschenko knew he could beat the Finns in a battle of attrition. His plan was to wear them down and go for an intense final attack.

First large probing actions were launched against the Finnish lines. For over ten days the line held every position. On 11 February, the Soviets began their major assault.

On 12 February, a minor breach in the Finnish lines in the Lähde sector led to disaster. By that time, so many breaches had occurred in the Mannerheim Line
Mannerheim Line
The Mannerheim Line was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. During the Winter War it became known as the Mannerheim Line, after Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and...

that the reports concerning them were virtually disregarded. The following morning, a Finnish counter-attack was supposed to be launched by the entire 5th Division, the only reserve in easy reach of the front-line, but only one of the three regiments was available as the other two regiments had to be parceled out elsewhere.

Only two Finnish battalions launched a counter-attack against two well supplied Soviet regiments that were equipped with armor and artillery. The attack was thrown back with heavy Finnish casualties. The Russians made efforts to exploit this salient. One tank regiment proceeded as far as the Lähde road junction but then halted. Although complete victory was in their grasp, the Russians stopped their armoured spearhead.

Many Finnish companies were reduced to half their original strength. One company had lost 86 out 110 men. Over-night from the 14th to the 15th, the Finns began withdrawing from the Summa position. On the morning of the 15th the Russians attacked an empty position at Summa with more than 100 tanks and two divisions. That afternoon, Mannerheim ordered a general retreat to the Intermediate Line.

Citations

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