The Enemy in the Winter War

Equipment

Soviet forces were overwhelmingly better-armed and -equipped than Finnish troops. A Soviet infantry division was slightly larger than it's Finnish counterpart and had more machine guns. It also had more motorized vehicles and had a tank company of 40 tanks. Artillery had more and heavier guns than Finnish forces. Also there was unlimited ammo available. The motorization of Soviet forces was not an asset in the Finnish terrain. It tied troops to the roads and they were easily encircled. Soviet close combat weapons were inadequate since they had no submachine guns available. Training was inadequate: for instance the Soviets had't taken the grease out of their automatic rifles, so they froze and jammed. In the late part of the war Soviets began to use some ski troops but these were inferior compared to Finns. Soviets made poor use of tanks, usually having them follow infantry. Tanks were taken out of action by few Finnish AT-guns or they drove independently to the rear and were taken out with Molotov Cocktails or AT-Grenades, since they had no protecting infantry. Later Soviets tried keep infantry with the tanks by using armored sleighs. Soviet tanks of this time were of poor quality, mostly T-26, BT-7 or T-28. The Red Army lost about 3500 tanks in the Winter War. Nearly half of them were breakdowns, and some could be repaired later. The Soviet Airforce had the I-16, I-15 and I-153 fighters, SB-2 and the DB-3 bombers. Their pilots were inferior in quality compared to Finnish ones. The Soviet Airforce lost about 700 planes, most of them were shot down by AA-fire.

Strategy

The Soviet plan for invasion in the Winter War is illustrated below. In the first phase the 7th Army was to attack the Mannerheim Line (the blue line in the Isthmus), as the 8th Army fights its way around Lake Ladoga and strikes to the rear of the defenders of the Mannerheim Line. The 9th Army cuts the Finland in two halves, and advances to the Swedish border. The main limitation of strenght in the operational areas of 8th, 9th and 14th Armies was defined by the poor transport facilities in the Soviet Karelia. Finns were however surprised by the number of forces deployed. The most recent Russian research points out that the Murmansk railroad and the poor roads were stressed to their maximum capacibility. The 14th Army secures the coast of the Arctic Sea against Allied invasion and advances to the south.

In the second phase the forces in south advance to Helsinki, as the northern 9th Army sweeps to south. It was believed that by the time Helsinki has been taken, the Finnish resistance will collapse and the war will end.

The honour of taking Helsinki was reserved to the 1st Finnish Corps of the so-called "Democratic Government of Finland", which was a puppet government set up by Stalin after the first Finnish town was taken on 1st December. Only very few Finnish soldiers joined the "people's army", it never made even one division, though Finnish-speaking citizens of Soviet Union were drafted to fill up ranks. But so many people of Finnish origin were sent to the labor camps during the Great Terror that there simply were not enough recruits.

Early phase (1939)
In the beginning of the Winter War, Soviets forces under the Leningrad Military District were made up of:
The 7th Army of at least 9 divisions and at least 5 tank brigades in the Carelian Isthmus, totalling over 200000 men, 1500 armored vehicles and 900 artillery pieces.
The 8th Army in the area north of Lake Ladoga with 6 divisions and 1 tank brigade. It had 120000 men, 400 armored vehicles and 600 artillery pieces
The 9th Army in Northern Carelia, which had 3 divisions with minor tanks forces.
The 14th Army was in the Arctic with 3 divisions. From Reboly to the Arctic Sea (9th & 14th Armies) were 140000 men, 150 armored vehicles and 550 artillery pieces.

The Baltic Fleet was also supporting land forces with the battleships Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, the cruiser Kirov, two squadron leader vessels, 15 destroyers, 52 submarines and 650 planes.
The Northern Fleet was in the Arctic Sea with 6 destroyers, 17 submarines and 150 planes.

The Soviet Airforce deployed some 800-1000 planes against Finland in the beginning.

Late phase (1940)
After defeats in December, the Soviets massed up two new armies, the 13th to the Carelian Isthmus, and the 15th to north of Lake Ladoga. In the end Soviets had on the Carelian Isthmus 600000 men, 1200-1400 armored vehicles and nearly 4000 artillery pieces. At least 25 divisions were then in action.
The Soviets reinforced forces north of Ladoga with 7 divisions. After reinforcements had arrived, their strength stood at 250000 men, 300 armored vehicles and 1300 artillery pieces.
The Northern front received no reinforcements.

The Enemy in the Continuation War

Germans in Finland during the Continuation War
The Soviet Army was undergoing changes in organization and equipment when the Continuation War broke out. Divisions were made smaller and supplied with more rapid-fire weapons, like PPSh-1941, which was a copy of Suomi M/31. Also, the number of mortars was increased. The size of a Soviet division diminished during 1941, and it was smaller than it's Finnish counterpart by the end of the year and remained so for the duration of the war.
During the static phase Soviet forces were mostly badly-equipped at the Finnish front since all the good equipment went to the south. Lots of Lend-Lease equipment was used by these troops since Murmansk was close. Finnish forces shot down numerous P-40's, P-39's and A-20's. Soviet-made planes were of older stock, such as the I-16 and MiG-1.
In the strategic attack of 1944 enemy had lots of rapid-fire infantry weapons with massive numbers of conventional and rocket artillery. Their tanks were good, like the T-34/85 and JS-2. Lots of assault guns, like JSU-152, were deployed. The Soviet Airforce had modern planes like Yak-9, La-5 and Il-2, against which only Messerschmitt 109 was effective. This was the weaponry that was brought along with Guards units to break Finland in June 1944.
1941

In the end of June 1941 Soviet Union had about 16 divisions under the command of the Northern Front against Finland.
The 23rd Army was in Carelian Isthmus with the 21st (Mech.), 43rd, 115th (Mot.), 123rd, 142nd Divisions and the 35th Tank Brigade.
The 7th Army was in the area north of Lake Ladoga with the 71st, 168th and 237th Divisions. This army also had the 54th Division in the Northern Carelia.
The 14th Army was in the Arctic with the 52nd, 122nd and 1st Tank Divisions in Salla. In Murmansk this Army had the 14th and 104th Divisions. The 88th Division was in reserve.
The 8th Independent Brigade was in Hango.

The Baltic Fleet had 2 battleships, 2 cruisers, 28 destroyers, 48 motor torpedo boats and 65 submarines.

The Soviet Airforce had deployed 400-500 planes against Finland.

Soviets received few reinforcement formations during the attack phase, but these hardly replaced their destroyed and worn-out units.
1942-1944

During the trenches phase of the Continuation War Soviet forces were deployed as follows:
The 23rd Army was in the Carelian Isthmus under the command of the Leningrad Front with 3 divisions
The 7th Army was on River Svir under the command of the STAVKA with 5 (1942)-3 (1944) divisions and some naval infantry brigades.
The 32nd Army was in the Maaselkä Isthmus under the command of the Carelian Front with 6 (1942)-4 (1944) divisions.
Armies in the German sector of the front:
The 26th Army was in Uhtua and Kestenga sectors under the command of the Carelian Front with 5 divisions and some naval infantry brigades.
The 19th Army was in the Vermajoki with 2 divisions.
The 14th Army was in the Murmansk sector with 3 divisions and some naval infantry brigades.

1944

For the attack of summer 1944, the Soviets had deployed their forces in four armies under two fronts.
The 21st Army was in the Carelian Isthmus under the command of the Leningrad Front with 15 divisions (many of them Guards) and lots of additional armor and artillery units, which was to break through Finnish lines and advance to Viborg.
The 23rd Army was in the Carelian Isthmus under the command of the Leningrad Front with 6 divisions, which had the secondary role in the attack on Carelian Isthmus.
Supporting these two armies were nearly 1000 planes, 628 tanks and assault guns.
The 7th Army was on the River Svir under the command of the Carelian Front with 12 divisions. Army's task was to take Petrozavodsk and to liberate Soviet Carelia. It was supported by independent armor brigades, assault gun regiments and 350 planes.
The 32nd Army was in the Maaselkä Isthmus under the command of the Carelian Front with 4 divisions. This army's task was to liberate the northern part of the Soviet Carelia.

Map of Carelia for finding the locations of the armies

Three armies were keeping an eye on Germans in the Arctic and didn't take part in the attack:
The 26th Army was in the Rukajärvi and Uhtua sectors.
The 19th Army was defending Kandalakhsha.
The 14th Army was defending Murmansk along the River Litsa.

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