The Battle of Summa was fought between the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, in two phases, first in December 1939 and then in February 1940. It was part of the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

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

Background

The village of Summa was a gateway to the city of Viipuri. The Finns had built 41

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

bunkers in the Summa area, and the defence line was stronger than elsewhere in the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately 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 a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

. However, the Finns had made mistakes in planning and nearby Munasuo swamp, east of Summa, had a kilometer wide gap in the line. Furthermore, the Mannerheim Line at Summa bent inward, potentially exposing the rear of rest of the line once penetrated. This bend in the line was done over the objections of General Harald Öhquist. Finnish planners expected Summa to be hit early on in the war and a false alarm on the first day of fighting reported a Soviet armor breakthrough at Summa. Early on, Soviet general Meretskov attempted draw Finnish forces away from Summa with a feint attack on Taipale sector. However, Mannerheim and the Finns did not take the bait, keeping the Summa area heavily defended.

First battle in December

By December 1939, the Summa sector was defended by the untested Finnish 5h Division. The Soviets began their push on Summa on 17 December, utilizing 200 strike aircraft and a five-hour artillery barrage. They concentrated their efforts on two key areas, Summa itself, and Lähde, a critical road junction. Near Lähde, Soviet armor was preceded by sappers who blew holes in the Finnish lines. Finnish defenses, which included wire and anti-tank rocks, remained relatively intact around Summa. At least 20 tanks drove through the line on 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 defence line on 19 December, as they did not have proper

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

weapons. After that the Finns repelled the Soviet main troops. Soviet tanks cut-off behind the line aimlessly attacked Finnish strongpoints, but once these were eliminated the threat was over. The Finns won the battle on 22 December.

Second battle in February

According to Chew, "Commander Timoshenko had ordered Meretskov and Grendal' to conduct frequent attacks during the first ten days of February to mislead the enemy about the direction of the main blow, improve the Russian positions, probe the Finnish defenses even more thoroughly, and wear out the troops in the Mannerheim Line. Following the heaviest artillery preparation to date, the Russians launched an offensive along the whole front of the Finnish Second Corps on 1 February." Attacks were strongest in the Summa and Taipale sectors. On 6 February, the Finnish Third Division along the Suokanta-Summa-Lähde-Merkki front, was attacked four times by three divisions and a tank brigade. The Finnish Regiment JR 7 defended Summa village and the direct road to Viipuri so successfully, that the Soviets moved their attack further east to Lähde. The Soviets could afford high casualties during these assaults, losing up to 500 men in a day, so that after ten days their losses amounted to 86 tanks and thousands of men. On 11 February, the main Soviet assault was directed towards Viipuri, with associated drives toward Antrea and Käkisalmi. While 18 other divisions and 5 tank brigades attacked along the Isthmus, Alyabushev's 123rd Division attacked the "Million" and "Poppius" concrete bunkers. At 12:28, the Soviets captured the "Poppius" bunker, which according to Chew, was "the key to this sector and - as events developed - to the entire Line west of Lake Muolaanjärvi." The greatest Soviet successes were at Lähde, despite Mannerheim releasing the Fifth Division to help Second Corps in an attempt to counterattack. On 12 February, the "Million" bunker was eliminated in the early morning. Yet the Soviets did not penetrate further, content to consolidate their gains. As Chew states, "Although the Isthmus Army held its front positions tenaciously, its own casualties on that day reached an alarming total of some 1,200 men." On 13 February, a Finnish counterattack by the JR 14 and JR 13 were halted by Soviet artillery, tanks and continued Soviet attacks. Yet the Soviets stopped a mile short of Lähde, fearing additional Finnish counterattacks, and their breakthrough was not exploited. On 14 February, the Soviet Seventh Army widened its breakthru base at Lähde, while Harald Öhquist conferred with Mannerheim,

Aksel Airo Aksel Fredrik Airo (14 February 1898 – 9 May 1985) was a Finnish lieutenant general and main strategic planner during the Winter War and the Continuation War. He was the virtual second-in-command of the Finnish army under Field Marshal C.G.E ...

, Österman, and Tapola, formulating plans for an orderly Finnish withdrawal to the intermediate "V-Line". On 15 February, the Soviets captured Summa after the Finnish withdrawal. Yet the Soviets stopped once again, a mile north of Lähde, allowing an orderly Finnish retreat on 16 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summa, Battle of Battles and operations of the Winter War 1940 in Finland December 1939 in Europe February 1940 in Europe

Background

First battle in December

Second battle in February

See also

References