A shackle at the foot of a cross, anchors hanging on a rope
At every hour a heart beats lost time
The oars out of last straws, the boats' thwarts of tanner's beams
As we push-row in unison our boat of tree bark
The wind blows, blows from the northwest
Refrain:
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
With solace along it, longing sails over the sea
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
The morning dawns and we already wait for the night
The shore's left on the water, to act as our coxswain
Is there anyone and anyone who gets there in time
Those migrating birds in the sky, why do they return here
Flying themselves against the wind
Standing on emptiness like we are here
Refrain:
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
With solace along it, longing sails over the sea
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
The morning dawns and we already wait for the night
If we had real oars we could row
If we only had oarlocks to bring morn from the other shore
If we only had oars we could row
If we only had oarlocks, if just oarlocks
And someone who wants to bring the dawning morn
….
Viikate: Kuu kaakon yllä (2010)
XLIII. The Lights Over the Southeast, Part II
Fragment 173.
Logged 22.12.2011
HAN
[This fragment is an extract from the FNA collection of interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, deserters and domestic dissidents. The collection extends to 1995; only selected parts of the years 1984 and 1985 have been made available to Minne researchers. - JSH]
The convoys were on the move. I knew that all functional vehicles had been made ready for the push, and the road ahead was full of them, a motley collection of trucks, APC's, special vehicles, civilian cars and a smattering of tanks. Outside of the diffuse shafts of the headlights, it was pitch dark. The chilly night smelled of exhaust fumes and the men's breath steamed in the air. It was early June, and still some nights the temperatures got below freezing.
Only the sick and the infirm, and those vehicles they couldn't get moving even by curses or prayers would be left behind. It was a much bigger number than the Colonels liked. All the admittedly lean amounts of food, provisions and fuel we still had were taken along. A handful of the tanker trucks still held enough juice to keep the armored strength of the two seriously understrength divisions (officially called ”brigades” at the outset due to the embarrassment of their inadequate numbers) moving – the last surviving parts of the even at the beginning inferior Soviet army that attacked Finland just before the bombs fell.
But we could not move for long, not with what we had. And neither would we eat, unless something was done about it.
The Colonels had talked of the plan long and hard, with Kruzenshtern pushing for quick action and the old man playing the sceptic.
” - It is this, or then we just wait until the Finns come and finish us off”, said the hard-eyed man with an aquiline nose. Kruzenshtern still managed to keep himself clean, sharp and professional, after a fashion, even if most men here had allowed themselves slip into bohemian decay by now.
” - They want us dead, after what they think we did to their country. They have been just waiting until they have a little strength back – now they are closing in for the kill.”
It was said he hailed from an old Baltic German family, and had always been regarded as suspect due to his roots. And it was said because of this he worked very hard in all that he did, to show his worth as a soldier. I didn't doubt it. They said that with ordinary Russian ancestry and a few well-placed friends, that effort would have made him General in a Guards unit by 1983, not a mere Lieutenant Colonel of third-line troops.
He was a bitter man, no doubt about it.
” - And to go as far as order kamikaze attacks to get to us? Sweet ghost of Lenin”, he shook his head in disbelief.
” - They are baying for blood. You know their radio is playing only military music now, and hymns. To whip the survivors into a patriotic frenzy, no doubt.”
That was true about the Finnish radio, at least – I too had noticed the change in programming, recently.
The man stabbed his finger on the map.
” - Here.”
” - This is where we need to get to. When we hold this town – Krasin says it is still intact – and its industries, we will have some collateral to keep the Finns at bay. It is, in truth, our only hope for survival. You know how small our wares are getting. We will be down to eating our dead if things go on as they stand for even a few weeks more.”
The old man had hoped for a reconciliation with the Finns, a true peace to follow the shaky ceasefire that had mostly held since the Exchange. In general he had been against all actions that would seem hostile towards the organized power to our north, all through the winter. But now even he had to admit that things seemed bleak, and that there probably would not be reasoning with the Finns.
There was a shadow on his face now. I know he was not feeling well.
” - Very well, Jan Karlovich”, he had finally admitted.
” - Perhaps this is what we need to do. It might indeed be leverage that we require – what strength we still have is waning, while it seems the Finns will only get stronger. By the radio reports, they even are in cahoots with the Swedish now, and you know what the Swedish have been telling us.”
The younger man nodded.
” - LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND SURRENDER.”, he parroted the Swedish automated broadcast.
” - The Swedish will surely sit back to watch us killed in cold blood. Maybe they'll even lend a hand to the bloody Finns.”
So move we would. And at first, we would travel by night. The Finns had airplanes and helicopters to watch our moves, while our own air assets had been unusable for months. Maybe we could steal a march on them in the cover of darkness.
Maybe.
Excerpt VI:
Six days in, the rain was not so bad anymore.
And on both sides, the artillery strikes were becoming much less frequent. It was pretty much obvious. There were more something they would have liked to call ”precision strikes” instead, though often that would have been wishful thinking.
The company was taking shelter in a couple of partly-collapsed buildings for the night. The scouts had stumbled upon a couple of radiation hotspots ahead, and alternate attack routes had to be explored. Apparently just avoiding the Kouvola and Kotka areas would not be enough.
There was no food to be had. Apart from my private stores, I would have gone hungry like most of the others. Better spoiled and suspect food than nothing at all, I thought as I swallowed down the last of the food I had taken from the farmer outside Pukkila.
I had to stand watch at night. It was a quiet night, though, comparatively speaking. There was some fighting to the southeast, it seemed and a few flares lit up the sky a couple of times. Otherwise it was just pale moonlight above the misty, muddy fields.
I must have dozed off for a moment when I suddenly woke to some movement ahead. Quickly bringing my rifle to bear, I was startled to see [REDACTED] standing before me in the dark, ragged and filthy.
” - So you're alive, then? How'd you find us, anyway? You should have made some sound at least. I could have well shot you.”
[REDACTED] mumbled something inaudible and swayed past me to the building. Passing me close by, I could smell how bad he smelled, or rather reeked.
I had been certain he was a goner. But I guess the Devil protects its own, after all.
...extremely difficult for an operation of this scale. The melting snow and the spring rains made both the fields and many of the roads muddy and hardly usable for heavy vehicles. Even the vehicles with better off-road capabilities were getting caught in the mud and had to be manhandled back into the roads, still slowing down the advance. This is not to say anything of the civilian vehicles and farming tractors the Finnish troops were forced to use for...
...were encountered much more west than the operation's planners had predicted, and so instead of an orderly drive directly down to the coast, the advance bogged down around Askola and Liljendal, when the advance elements ran afoul of mechanized Soviet units that had arrived in the area during the night. For several days, the main part of the fighting here took part between Lake Tilläänjärvi to the west and Lake Hopjärvi to the east, with...
...was sent southwest through the Pornainen municipal centre to turn the enemy's flank, but its advance was hindered by supply problems and roads blocked by abandoned motor vehicles left behind during the winter by capital area refugees. Also in many places, there were problems with radiation and fallout, more than had perhaps been...
...when unexpectedly a small armored Soviet force swept north on Highway 55, threatening for a while to cut communications between...
…, where a battalion-sized force of North Karelia infantry took over most of the town centre in four days. It transpired that the main bulk of the Soviet remnant had left the town hours before the Finnish recon elements arrived, and were now north of Loviisa and Porvoo, engaging the...
Fragment 44
Logged 09.09.2008
BER
[This fragment is a hand-written notebook found by a FNA recon and recov team. No further information is available.]
The municipal centre was a ruin. At least the local bridge was still standing: neither side had seen fit to destroy it yet.
Some of the company had sheltered at the partly collapsed municipal hall, some at the church across the road. As the morning dawned, some of the locals still living here among the ruins approached us for food and any other help, as was to be predicted. Personally I was always surprised that there still were people alive in these areas south of the Line.
They were pitiable people, the survivors. Swedish-speaking, here when we approached the coast. They offered us information about the location of the Red troops. I couldn't give them much in return, as we didn't even have any food to talk of. Finally, to the dismay of my squad leaders I gave the group some of our clean water. They seemed disappointed but decided not to push their luck.
One of the buildings in the centre was converted to a field hospital. Some of the screams from there could be heard across the road. Because of a dearth of vehicles, they couldn't get even the worst cases north at the moment. In the beginning of the operation Brigade even had a Mi-8 for medevac, but the enemy shot it down with AA on the second day. They should have sticked with using it for recon.
Speaking of which, a small group of men from Brigade recon had spent the night with us. They had working radios, too, so now after talking to them I got a better idea what was happening around than I had for days. One of the two guys I had talked with, Private Helminen, sat by the wall fiddling with their radio now. The older man, Sergeant Toivonen, snorted his prominent nose at his motorbike. I knew it wasn't performing as well as he would have liked. The man should know, I thought. He was a rally driver before the war, with already a World Rally Championship to his name from a couple of years back. These guys had received their military training at the Sports School in Lahti, and that unit trained almost exclusively reconnaissance personnel.
The other guy was a hockey player, I think, from Tampere. As he was reaching for his radio, it suddenly came alive in his hands. I could see he was startled.
” - BEAR to BOBCAT.”
Helminen pushed the dials.
” - BOBCAT.”
” - BOBCAT, there is armor approaching your location from the north. At least seven T-55 and three APCs. Can you see them?”
At that, the man scrambled to his feet, and so did I. Armor, where the hell did that come from? And north, of all directions? The enemy should have been south and south-west.
It looked like we were in big trouble.
Fragment 174.
Logged 22.12.2011
HAN
[This fragment is an extract from the FNA collection of interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, deserters and domestic dissidents. The collection extends to 1995; only selected parts of the years 1984 and 1985 have been made available to Minne researchers. - JSH]
It was Krasin again, striding in to the command post. The man's face looked like a storm front.
” - Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our dispositions are very favourable, at the moment”, he declared.
” - We still have some chances to win this, but only if we manage to contact the Finns and turn their heads towards a ceasefire right now. ”
Kruzenshtern looked at him like he was a madman.
” - A ceasefire, Captain? We managed to surprise them, we have stopped their advance everywhere, and it looks like we could break their front in half. You yourself said that we might even outnumber them. A ceasefire would only give them time to regroup, and that is the last thing we want.”
Some artillery fire could be heard pretty near now. The Lieutenant Colonel gestured towards the lines he had drawn on the map.
” - We are this close to securing our main objective,” he said, thumbing the map vigorously.
The old man was resting on the cot in the corner. He was very poorly off, but wouldn't leave the command post now that everything hung in the balance.
Krasin sighed heavily.
” - My Comrades Colonels,” he said, addressing the old man as well as Kruzenshtern.
” - You have not seen how the men fare out there,” he said, waving towards the north.
” - They have been fighting all of ten days now, with scarcely any rest. Normally, I mean before... Well, you know, that would have been something to expect. But now, they are too weak, hungry, wary and sick for this.”
Another explosion outside seemed to rock the small building.
” - But that is not all. We're running out of everything. Food is only the least of the problems. Do you know why we are not advancing anymore?”
It seemed as the old man was nodding on his cot.
” - We're not advancing because we're out of fuel. And pretty much any moment now the men will start running out of ammo, too. Even for their rifles.”
He paused for effect.
” - But the Finns must have reinforcements and they must have more stores. They might seem weak now, and they do have less tanks and other vehicles. But I assure you: when they get stronger, we can only get weaker.”
The old man grunted in agreement, though he seemed to be passing out from pain.
Krasin knew better than any among us how the situation really was. I had learned that by now. I know Kruzenshtern loathed him for his easy confidence, his sway among the men, and his well-applied skill. He could not stand competition, not from the likes of Krasin.
He made this plain to the man in his mud-spattered uniform.
” - Thank you for the report, Krasin. Say what you will, the men will do as I say, and we are not asking for a ceasefire, understand that. Not while we are winning.”
Excerpt VI, continued.
The tanks rumbled down the road in an orderly column, the mud sticking to their sides everywhere mostly hiding the fact that they were still in off-white winter camouflage colors under the grime. The men on both sides of the road just stood and stared at the display of arms.
” - Bloody hell”, said Private Vartiainen, dangling his rifle in his hand.
” - It's the dead on the march.”
It sure looked like that. The tank commanders sticking their heads from the cupolas of the T-55s and the BTRs and the men sitting on top of the hulls looked positively skeletal. They must be thinner and sicker as our guys were, and then some, I thought with a chill.
The lead vehicle flew the Finnish state flag – and the black colors of the Armored Brigade, with the grey helm of a medieval knight in its center.
Only when half of the column had passed the men standing next to the road seemed to understand what this all meant and raised a ragged cheer.
...altogether ten days when the tide turned.
The surviving elements of the Armored Brigade had some weeks after the Exchange withdrawn north to the area of the Anjalankoski industrial municipality between Hamina and Kouvola, bringing along with them a couple of semi-intact infantry units still surviving in the area. This force, seemingly abandoned after the military's command structure unraveled, had wintered here and carved around itself a semi-orderly civilian-military enclave south of the Kouvola blast area and south-east of rebellious Lahti, in some ways a mirror image of the Soviet Army holdout south of it. While contacts with this struggling military domain and Mikkeli had been rekindled already during the winter, only in the weeks before the Lahti operations these units had been back within the official chain of command, as it stood under the reorganized military leadership in Mikkeli.
The condition of the troops and the supply situation in Anjalankoski had been deemed too poor to take part in the main attack south, and so only an auxiliary role had been assigned to these units, to act as an operational reserve and to guard the northern flank for enemy breakthroughts, which had been thought very unlikely. In retrospect, it is easy to see that despite the poor physical condition of these men, their armament and vehicles would have been very valuable to the operation, and if committed to the advance towards south from day one could have easily turned the whole operation into a relatively clear Finnish victory.
As it transpired, in the event this force would only...
Excerpt VI, continued.
We were advancing fast now, with the tanks making a path for us. To top it off, even the sun was shining for the first time in days. I had the feeling my clothes might get warm enough to dry up for the first time during the operation.
That morning, with a couple of other guys I had even conquered an enemy tank intact, and taken its crew captive. The Ruskies were a sorry-looking bunch, even sorrier when I shot their leader who, um, tried to resist capture. You know how it is. There was nothing wrong with the tank, as far as I could see, only that it had no fuel or ammunition left. The Second Lieutenant gave me a pat on the back and ventured to say that there would a commendation on the way for me. Much as that would help me.
[REDACTED] on the other hand was slipping more and more. He trudged along as he could, but was liable to get left behind, mumbling to himself. I saw the officer giving him a good earful for his behaviour. He didn't seem so strong now, dragging himself forward in his soiled trousers. The officer, however... He had proved himself as a leader, that was clear.
Still, a couple of hours later as the whole unit hung back a bit to eat some food we finally received from Battalion, [REDACTED] cozied up to me with a piece of crisp bread in hand, looking at me with what he must have thought was sly look on his face. He nodded towards the Air Force officer, off to the left talking with a messenger from Battalion.
” - That jumped-up boy really gets on my throat,” he said.
” - He treats me like shit, like he had the right.”
The filthy man was seething. There was something beyond sanity in his eyes. He seemed to be putting everything that had happened to him during the last months up as the officer's fault.
” - I would be very happy if some accident should happen to him, our little blue boy”, he said meaningfully.
” - Some bloody, grisly accident. It is war, after all.”
I said nothing, only nodded. It was war.
...started folding fast. The armored attack south on Highway 6 had cleaved the Soviet force in two, and it was followed by infantry with close artillery support. All along the line, the exhausted Soviet soldiers started to surrender, first in ones and twos, then as whole squads. They were often running out of ammunition, with their vehicles immobilized by the mud or by inadequate fuel supplies. The advancing Finns easily captured intact vehicles and equipment that...
...were not in any better condition than their opponents, but with the tide turning in their favor they received new enthusiasm to continue with the attack. On June 9th, the eleventh day of the operation, only the central part of Porvoo and parts of the refinery area towards the southwest were still held by the Soviet remnant. Apart from a main part of divisional conventional and rocket artillery, they had lost the bigger part of...
Excerpt VI, continued.
It was to be the last push, the officer told us. Along with the most successful advance elements, the company was chosen to take the fight down to the enemy and to grasp the prize itself, the main objective. With a force of tanks and APCs, we mounted trucks to dash down Highway 7 towards Sköldvik to take the refinery area intact, going around the Soviets still holding the wooden centre of the town of Porvoo.
The night was falling as we were getting ready to go. There was still the sound of fighting around as, though it was mostly small arms fire and light mortars now. Tracer bullets drew lines on the darkening sky. There was captured and abandoned Soviet materiel everywhere, and so were dead bodies, ours and theirs, though of course more of theirs. Various vehicles were filled with the wounded to take them back towards the north. I found their moans and pleading amusing, in a wry way. Now why did you step in front of that bullet, pray tell me? You don't have to be so stupid, look at me: just do what I had done...
It was a quick ride, and when we dismounted, the tanks had already managed to give the remaining Ruskies a good punch. ”Nesteentie – Nestevägen”, said the sign as we jogged towards the left-turning road behind the tanks to clear out the last nests of Reds, around a bunch of their vehicles.
Fragment 175.
Logged 22.12.2011
HAN
[This fragment is an extract from the FNA collection of interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, deserters and domestic dissidents. The collection extends to 1995; only selected parts of the years 1984 and 1985 have been made available to Minne researchers. - JSH]
The old man drew his last breath on that cot in the corner of the command post, standing his ground to his last moment. I closed his eyes with my own hand. He looked peaceful, handsome even in the dim light. He wasn't that old, 54 that year. But he was my father.
The command post itself was full of cacophony and disorder, as Kruzenshtern and what staff officers remained to control the area under the Soviet Military Government in Finland, diminishing by the minute, still attempted to run the show. Messengers brought even more desperate news and the Signals people kept reporting with contact lost with this and that unit or outpost.
” - Comrade Lieutenant Colonel,” said a young Signals Efreitor, turning from his radio set.
” - Yes, what is it,” snapped the hawk-nosed man, with his eyes burning furiously.
” - It is Smirnov from Artillery. He reports Finns coming down from the highway with armor support.”
Kruzenshtern froze.
” - Smirnov? But that means that they are south of...”
He fumbled for a map. A staff Lieutenant handed it to him.
There was something odd in his eyes, then. I suddenly had that sinking feeling, the one you get sometimes. It was not in his habit of staring wordlessly into thin air.
” - New general orders for all units”, he said quietly.
Several men turned towards him.
” - Lieutenant Colonel?”, asked the staff Lieutenant.
Kruzenshtern cleared his throat and spoke again, loudly.
” - New general orders for all units. Send a message to all that can still receive it.”
” - At once. And what is that message, Comrade Colonel?”
The sole commander of the Soviet military remnant turned his blue eyes to the young Lieutenant.
” - Order them to execute Case Suvorov, and be sure they have the coordinates.”
After a brief silence, the orders were sent on radio and by messenger, to anyone who would receive them. I wasn't sure who would, but in the end all that mattered did anyway.
After that, as the small arms fire was coming ever closer to the building, Kruzenstern suddenly ordered us all out of the room. He said he needed a moment alone with the old man.
We obliged him.
As I stepped out with a throng of men, I could already see the Finnish infantry closing in across a couple of blocks. It was a matter of minutes, now.
Behind me, a single gunshot rang out.
And what must have been just seconds after that, the southern sky lit up with brilliant colors.
Excerpt VI, continued.
A few squads of enemies were still holding their own in the refinery area. They were hiding behind concrete and steel structures, and we had to be very careful not to use heavier weapons with the oil and fuel tanks rising behind them in the gloom.
The officer led us towards one nest of the enemy. For a while he was a few meters in front of us, facing away from us, peering from behind a concrete ledge for the exact location of the Red.
[REDACTED stepped up beside me. I looked at him in the pale light from the full moon. He had a lusty little grin on his face.
He pointed his rifle towards the officer.
As the officer slowly turned his head to say something to us, I raised my weapon and shot [REDACTED] at point blank range. The left side of his head exploded into red spatter against concrete.
The officer opened his mouth.
” - Incoming!”, several men were shouting around us. There was a sound in the air.
And suddenly everything went red and white. And warm, oh so warm.
….could be seen for tens of kilometers. The refinery burned for days. The fire spread to the surrounding forests and finally to the mostly wooden centre of the town of Porvoo itself.
In a futile effort, the military commanders in place attempted to use their men to put out the fire in the refinery area. This only led to further losses of both men and vehicles, as suitable equipment was not available and the men lacked both the training and organization for this kind of work. Still so important was the refinery area that wave after wave of men was sent to put out the flames for the next three days, until finally the fire consuming the refinery and harbour buildings and the town itself were allowed to burn out as the victors of the Battle of Porvoo and some surviving prisoners of war withdrew east and north from the wrecked town and port.
The Soviet enclave in the southeastern coast of Finland had been snuffed out, but at a huge cost of men and material. As to the town and port of Porvoo itself, there was no hope of salvaging anything of value from the destruction. For the Emergency Cabinet in Mikkeli, the final result of the...
At every hour a heart beats lost time
The oars out of last straws, the boats' thwarts of tanner's beams
As we push-row in unison our boat of tree bark
The wind blows, blows from the northwest
Refrain:
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
With solace along it, longing sails over the sea
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
The morning dawns and we already wait for the night
The shore's left on the water, to act as our coxswain
Is there anyone and anyone who gets there in time
Those migrating birds in the sky, why do they return here
Flying themselves against the wind
Standing on emptiness like we are here
Refrain:
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
With solace along it, longing sails over the sea
Sure our dreams are watched over
By that moon over the southeast
The morning dawns and we already wait for the night
If we had real oars we could row
If we only had oarlocks to bring morn from the other shore
If we only had oars we could row
If we only had oarlocks, if just oarlocks
And someone who wants to bring the dawning morn
….
Viikate: Kuu kaakon yllä (2010)
XLIII. The Lights Over the Southeast, Part II
Fragment 173.
Logged 22.12.2011
HAN
[This fragment is an extract from the FNA collection of interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, deserters and domestic dissidents. The collection extends to 1995; only selected parts of the years 1984 and 1985 have been made available to Minne researchers. - JSH]
The convoys were on the move. I knew that all functional vehicles had been made ready for the push, and the road ahead was full of them, a motley collection of trucks, APC's, special vehicles, civilian cars and a smattering of tanks. Outside of the diffuse shafts of the headlights, it was pitch dark. The chilly night smelled of exhaust fumes and the men's breath steamed in the air. It was early June, and still some nights the temperatures got below freezing.
Only the sick and the infirm, and those vehicles they couldn't get moving even by curses or prayers would be left behind. It was a much bigger number than the Colonels liked. All the admittedly lean amounts of food, provisions and fuel we still had were taken along. A handful of the tanker trucks still held enough juice to keep the armored strength of the two seriously understrength divisions (officially called ”brigades” at the outset due to the embarrassment of their inadequate numbers) moving – the last surviving parts of the even at the beginning inferior Soviet army that attacked Finland just before the bombs fell.
But we could not move for long, not with what we had. And neither would we eat, unless something was done about it.
The Colonels had talked of the plan long and hard, with Kruzenshtern pushing for quick action and the old man playing the sceptic.
” - It is this, or then we just wait until the Finns come and finish us off”, said the hard-eyed man with an aquiline nose. Kruzenshtern still managed to keep himself clean, sharp and professional, after a fashion, even if most men here had allowed themselves slip into bohemian decay by now.
” - They want us dead, after what they think we did to their country. They have been just waiting until they have a little strength back – now they are closing in for the kill.”
It was said he hailed from an old Baltic German family, and had always been regarded as suspect due to his roots. And it was said because of this he worked very hard in all that he did, to show his worth as a soldier. I didn't doubt it. They said that with ordinary Russian ancestry and a few well-placed friends, that effort would have made him General in a Guards unit by 1983, not a mere Lieutenant Colonel of third-line troops.
He was a bitter man, no doubt about it.
” - And to go as far as order kamikaze attacks to get to us? Sweet ghost of Lenin”, he shook his head in disbelief.
” - They are baying for blood. You know their radio is playing only military music now, and hymns. To whip the survivors into a patriotic frenzy, no doubt.”
That was true about the Finnish radio, at least – I too had noticed the change in programming, recently.
The man stabbed his finger on the map.
” - Here.”
” - This is where we need to get to. When we hold this town – Krasin says it is still intact – and its industries, we will have some collateral to keep the Finns at bay. It is, in truth, our only hope for survival. You know how small our wares are getting. We will be down to eating our dead if things go on as they stand for even a few weeks more.”
The old man had hoped for a reconciliation with the Finns, a true peace to follow the shaky ceasefire that had mostly held since the Exchange. In general he had been against all actions that would seem hostile towards the organized power to our north, all through the winter. But now even he had to admit that things seemed bleak, and that there probably would not be reasoning with the Finns.
There was a shadow on his face now. I know he was not feeling well.
” - Very well, Jan Karlovich”, he had finally admitted.
” - Perhaps this is what we need to do. It might indeed be leverage that we require – what strength we still have is waning, while it seems the Finns will only get stronger. By the radio reports, they even are in cahoots with the Swedish now, and you know what the Swedish have been telling us.”
The younger man nodded.
” - LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND SURRENDER.”, he parroted the Swedish automated broadcast.
” - The Swedish will surely sit back to watch us killed in cold blood. Maybe they'll even lend a hand to the bloody Finns.”
So move we would. And at first, we would travel by night. The Finns had airplanes and helicopters to watch our moves, while our own air assets had been unusable for months. Maybe we could steal a march on them in the cover of darkness.
Maybe.
Excerpt VI:
Six days in, the rain was not so bad anymore.
And on both sides, the artillery strikes were becoming much less frequent. It was pretty much obvious. There were more something they would have liked to call ”precision strikes” instead, though often that would have been wishful thinking.
The company was taking shelter in a couple of partly-collapsed buildings for the night. The scouts had stumbled upon a couple of radiation hotspots ahead, and alternate attack routes had to be explored. Apparently just avoiding the Kouvola and Kotka areas would not be enough.
There was no food to be had. Apart from my private stores, I would have gone hungry like most of the others. Better spoiled and suspect food than nothing at all, I thought as I swallowed down the last of the food I had taken from the farmer outside Pukkila.
I had to stand watch at night. It was a quiet night, though, comparatively speaking. There was some fighting to the southeast, it seemed and a few flares lit up the sky a couple of times. Otherwise it was just pale moonlight above the misty, muddy fields.
I must have dozed off for a moment when I suddenly woke to some movement ahead. Quickly bringing my rifle to bear, I was startled to see [REDACTED] standing before me in the dark, ragged and filthy.
” - So you're alive, then? How'd you find us, anyway? You should have made some sound at least. I could have well shot you.”
[REDACTED] mumbled something inaudible and swayed past me to the building. Passing me close by, I could smell how bad he smelled, or rather reeked.
I had been certain he was a goner. But I guess the Devil protects its own, after all.
...extremely difficult for an operation of this scale. The melting snow and the spring rains made both the fields and many of the roads muddy and hardly usable for heavy vehicles. Even the vehicles with better off-road capabilities were getting caught in the mud and had to be manhandled back into the roads, still slowing down the advance. This is not to say anything of the civilian vehicles and farming tractors the Finnish troops were forced to use for...
...were encountered much more west than the operation's planners had predicted, and so instead of an orderly drive directly down to the coast, the advance bogged down around Askola and Liljendal, when the advance elements ran afoul of mechanized Soviet units that had arrived in the area during the night. For several days, the main part of the fighting here took part between Lake Tilläänjärvi to the west and Lake Hopjärvi to the east, with...
...was sent southwest through the Pornainen municipal centre to turn the enemy's flank, but its advance was hindered by supply problems and roads blocked by abandoned motor vehicles left behind during the winter by capital area refugees. Also in many places, there were problems with radiation and fallout, more than had perhaps been...
...when unexpectedly a small armored Soviet force swept north on Highway 55, threatening for a while to cut communications between...
…, where a battalion-sized force of North Karelia infantry took over most of the town centre in four days. It transpired that the main bulk of the Soviet remnant had left the town hours before the Finnish recon elements arrived, and were now north of Loviisa and Porvoo, engaging the...
Fragment 44
Logged 09.09.2008
BER
[This fragment is a hand-written notebook found by a FNA recon and recov team. No further information is available.]
The municipal centre was a ruin. At least the local bridge was still standing: neither side had seen fit to destroy it yet.
Some of the company had sheltered at the partly collapsed municipal hall, some at the church across the road. As the morning dawned, some of the locals still living here among the ruins approached us for food and any other help, as was to be predicted. Personally I was always surprised that there still were people alive in these areas south of the Line.
They were pitiable people, the survivors. Swedish-speaking, here when we approached the coast. They offered us information about the location of the Red troops. I couldn't give them much in return, as we didn't even have any food to talk of. Finally, to the dismay of my squad leaders I gave the group some of our clean water. They seemed disappointed but decided not to push their luck.
One of the buildings in the centre was converted to a field hospital. Some of the screams from there could be heard across the road. Because of a dearth of vehicles, they couldn't get even the worst cases north at the moment. In the beginning of the operation Brigade even had a Mi-8 for medevac, but the enemy shot it down with AA on the second day. They should have sticked with using it for recon.
Speaking of which, a small group of men from Brigade recon had spent the night with us. They had working radios, too, so now after talking to them I got a better idea what was happening around than I had for days. One of the two guys I had talked with, Private Helminen, sat by the wall fiddling with their radio now. The older man, Sergeant Toivonen, snorted his prominent nose at his motorbike. I knew it wasn't performing as well as he would have liked. The man should know, I thought. He was a rally driver before the war, with already a World Rally Championship to his name from a couple of years back. These guys had received their military training at the Sports School in Lahti, and that unit trained almost exclusively reconnaissance personnel.
The other guy was a hockey player, I think, from Tampere. As he was reaching for his radio, it suddenly came alive in his hands. I could see he was startled.
” - BEAR to BOBCAT.”
Helminen pushed the dials.
” - BOBCAT.”
” - BOBCAT, there is armor approaching your location from the north. At least seven T-55 and three APCs. Can you see them?”
At that, the man scrambled to his feet, and so did I. Armor, where the hell did that come from? And north, of all directions? The enemy should have been south and south-west.
It looked like we were in big trouble.
Fragment 174.
Logged 22.12.2011
HAN
[This fragment is an extract from the FNA collection of interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, deserters and domestic dissidents. The collection extends to 1995; only selected parts of the years 1984 and 1985 have been made available to Minne researchers. - JSH]
It was Krasin again, striding in to the command post. The man's face looked like a storm front.
” - Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our dispositions are very favourable, at the moment”, he declared.
” - We still have some chances to win this, but only if we manage to contact the Finns and turn their heads towards a ceasefire right now. ”
Kruzenshtern looked at him like he was a madman.
” - A ceasefire, Captain? We managed to surprise them, we have stopped their advance everywhere, and it looks like we could break their front in half. You yourself said that we might even outnumber them. A ceasefire would only give them time to regroup, and that is the last thing we want.”
Some artillery fire could be heard pretty near now. The Lieutenant Colonel gestured towards the lines he had drawn on the map.
” - We are this close to securing our main objective,” he said, thumbing the map vigorously.
The old man was resting on the cot in the corner. He was very poorly off, but wouldn't leave the command post now that everything hung in the balance.
Krasin sighed heavily.
” - My Comrades Colonels,” he said, addressing the old man as well as Kruzenshtern.
” - You have not seen how the men fare out there,” he said, waving towards the north.
” - They have been fighting all of ten days now, with scarcely any rest. Normally, I mean before... Well, you know, that would have been something to expect. But now, they are too weak, hungry, wary and sick for this.”
Another explosion outside seemed to rock the small building.
” - But that is not all. We're running out of everything. Food is only the least of the problems. Do you know why we are not advancing anymore?”
It seemed as the old man was nodding on his cot.
” - We're not advancing because we're out of fuel. And pretty much any moment now the men will start running out of ammo, too. Even for their rifles.”
He paused for effect.
” - But the Finns must have reinforcements and they must have more stores. They might seem weak now, and they do have less tanks and other vehicles. But I assure you: when they get stronger, we can only get weaker.”
The old man grunted in agreement, though he seemed to be passing out from pain.
Krasin knew better than any among us how the situation really was. I had learned that by now. I know Kruzenshtern loathed him for his easy confidence, his sway among the men, and his well-applied skill. He could not stand competition, not from the likes of Krasin.
He made this plain to the man in his mud-spattered uniform.
” - Thank you for the report, Krasin. Say what you will, the men will do as I say, and we are not asking for a ceasefire, understand that. Not while we are winning.”
Excerpt VI, continued.
The tanks rumbled down the road in an orderly column, the mud sticking to their sides everywhere mostly hiding the fact that they were still in off-white winter camouflage colors under the grime. The men on both sides of the road just stood and stared at the display of arms.
” - Bloody hell”, said Private Vartiainen, dangling his rifle in his hand.
” - It's the dead on the march.”
It sure looked like that. The tank commanders sticking their heads from the cupolas of the T-55s and the BTRs and the men sitting on top of the hulls looked positively skeletal. They must be thinner and sicker as our guys were, and then some, I thought with a chill.
The lead vehicle flew the Finnish state flag – and the black colors of the Armored Brigade, with the grey helm of a medieval knight in its center.
Only when half of the column had passed the men standing next to the road seemed to understand what this all meant and raised a ragged cheer.
...altogether ten days when the tide turned.
The surviving elements of the Armored Brigade had some weeks after the Exchange withdrawn north to the area of the Anjalankoski industrial municipality between Hamina and Kouvola, bringing along with them a couple of semi-intact infantry units still surviving in the area. This force, seemingly abandoned after the military's command structure unraveled, had wintered here and carved around itself a semi-orderly civilian-military enclave south of the Kouvola blast area and south-east of rebellious Lahti, in some ways a mirror image of the Soviet Army holdout south of it. While contacts with this struggling military domain and Mikkeli had been rekindled already during the winter, only in the weeks before the Lahti operations these units had been back within the official chain of command, as it stood under the reorganized military leadership in Mikkeli.
The condition of the troops and the supply situation in Anjalankoski had been deemed too poor to take part in the main attack south, and so only an auxiliary role had been assigned to these units, to act as an operational reserve and to guard the northern flank for enemy breakthroughts, which had been thought very unlikely. In retrospect, it is easy to see that despite the poor physical condition of these men, their armament and vehicles would have been very valuable to the operation, and if committed to the advance towards south from day one could have easily turned the whole operation into a relatively clear Finnish victory.
As it transpired, in the event this force would only...
Excerpt VI, continued.
We were advancing fast now, with the tanks making a path for us. To top it off, even the sun was shining for the first time in days. I had the feeling my clothes might get warm enough to dry up for the first time during the operation.
That morning, with a couple of other guys I had even conquered an enemy tank intact, and taken its crew captive. The Ruskies were a sorry-looking bunch, even sorrier when I shot their leader who, um, tried to resist capture. You know how it is. There was nothing wrong with the tank, as far as I could see, only that it had no fuel or ammunition left. The Second Lieutenant gave me a pat on the back and ventured to say that there would a commendation on the way for me. Much as that would help me.
[REDACTED] on the other hand was slipping more and more. He trudged along as he could, but was liable to get left behind, mumbling to himself. I saw the officer giving him a good earful for his behaviour. He didn't seem so strong now, dragging himself forward in his soiled trousers. The officer, however... He had proved himself as a leader, that was clear.
Still, a couple of hours later as the whole unit hung back a bit to eat some food we finally received from Battalion, [REDACTED] cozied up to me with a piece of crisp bread in hand, looking at me with what he must have thought was sly look on his face. He nodded towards the Air Force officer, off to the left talking with a messenger from Battalion.
” - That jumped-up boy really gets on my throat,” he said.
” - He treats me like shit, like he had the right.”
The filthy man was seething. There was something beyond sanity in his eyes. He seemed to be putting everything that had happened to him during the last months up as the officer's fault.
” - I would be very happy if some accident should happen to him, our little blue boy”, he said meaningfully.
” - Some bloody, grisly accident. It is war, after all.”
I said nothing, only nodded. It was war.
...started folding fast. The armored attack south on Highway 6 had cleaved the Soviet force in two, and it was followed by infantry with close artillery support. All along the line, the exhausted Soviet soldiers started to surrender, first in ones and twos, then as whole squads. They were often running out of ammunition, with their vehicles immobilized by the mud or by inadequate fuel supplies. The advancing Finns easily captured intact vehicles and equipment that...
...were not in any better condition than their opponents, but with the tide turning in their favor they received new enthusiasm to continue with the attack. On June 9th, the eleventh day of the operation, only the central part of Porvoo and parts of the refinery area towards the southwest were still held by the Soviet remnant. Apart from a main part of divisional conventional and rocket artillery, they had lost the bigger part of...
Excerpt VI, continued.
It was to be the last push, the officer told us. Along with the most successful advance elements, the company was chosen to take the fight down to the enemy and to grasp the prize itself, the main objective. With a force of tanks and APCs, we mounted trucks to dash down Highway 7 towards Sköldvik to take the refinery area intact, going around the Soviets still holding the wooden centre of the town of Porvoo.
The night was falling as we were getting ready to go. There was still the sound of fighting around as, though it was mostly small arms fire and light mortars now. Tracer bullets drew lines on the darkening sky. There was captured and abandoned Soviet materiel everywhere, and so were dead bodies, ours and theirs, though of course more of theirs. Various vehicles were filled with the wounded to take them back towards the north. I found their moans and pleading amusing, in a wry way. Now why did you step in front of that bullet, pray tell me? You don't have to be so stupid, look at me: just do what I had done...
It was a quick ride, and when we dismounted, the tanks had already managed to give the remaining Ruskies a good punch. ”Nesteentie – Nestevägen”, said the sign as we jogged towards the left-turning road behind the tanks to clear out the last nests of Reds, around a bunch of their vehicles.
Fragment 175.
Logged 22.12.2011
HAN
[This fragment is an extract from the FNA collection of interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, deserters and domestic dissidents. The collection extends to 1995; only selected parts of the years 1984 and 1985 have been made available to Minne researchers. - JSH]
The old man drew his last breath on that cot in the corner of the command post, standing his ground to his last moment. I closed his eyes with my own hand. He looked peaceful, handsome even in the dim light. He wasn't that old, 54 that year. But he was my father.
The command post itself was full of cacophony and disorder, as Kruzenshtern and what staff officers remained to control the area under the Soviet Military Government in Finland, diminishing by the minute, still attempted to run the show. Messengers brought even more desperate news and the Signals people kept reporting with contact lost with this and that unit or outpost.
” - Comrade Lieutenant Colonel,” said a young Signals Efreitor, turning from his radio set.
” - Yes, what is it,” snapped the hawk-nosed man, with his eyes burning furiously.
” - It is Smirnov from Artillery. He reports Finns coming down from the highway with armor support.”
Kruzenshtern froze.
” - Smirnov? But that means that they are south of...”
He fumbled for a map. A staff Lieutenant handed it to him.
There was something odd in his eyes, then. I suddenly had that sinking feeling, the one you get sometimes. It was not in his habit of staring wordlessly into thin air.
” - New general orders for all units”, he said quietly.
Several men turned towards him.
” - Lieutenant Colonel?”, asked the staff Lieutenant.
Kruzenshtern cleared his throat and spoke again, loudly.
” - New general orders for all units. Send a message to all that can still receive it.”
” - At once. And what is that message, Comrade Colonel?”
The sole commander of the Soviet military remnant turned his blue eyes to the young Lieutenant.
” - Order them to execute Case Suvorov, and be sure they have the coordinates.”
After a brief silence, the orders were sent on radio and by messenger, to anyone who would receive them. I wasn't sure who would, but in the end all that mattered did anyway.
After that, as the small arms fire was coming ever closer to the building, Kruzenstern suddenly ordered us all out of the room. He said he needed a moment alone with the old man.
We obliged him.
As I stepped out with a throng of men, I could already see the Finnish infantry closing in across a couple of blocks. It was a matter of minutes, now.
Behind me, a single gunshot rang out.
And what must have been just seconds after that, the southern sky lit up with brilliant colors.
Excerpt VI, continued.
A few squads of enemies were still holding their own in the refinery area. They were hiding behind concrete and steel structures, and we had to be very careful not to use heavier weapons with the oil and fuel tanks rising behind them in the gloom.
The officer led us towards one nest of the enemy. For a while he was a few meters in front of us, facing away from us, peering from behind a concrete ledge for the exact location of the Red.
[REDACTED stepped up beside me. I looked at him in the pale light from the full moon. He had a lusty little grin on his face.
He pointed his rifle towards the officer.
As the officer slowly turned his head to say something to us, I raised my weapon and shot [REDACTED] at point blank range. The left side of his head exploded into red spatter against concrete.
The officer opened his mouth.
” - Incoming!”, several men were shouting around us. There was a sound in the air.
And suddenly everything went red and white. And warm, oh so warm.
….could be seen for tens of kilometers. The refinery burned for days. The fire spread to the surrounding forests and finally to the mostly wooden centre of the town of Porvoo itself.
In a futile effort, the military commanders in place attempted to use their men to put out the fire in the refinery area. This only led to further losses of both men and vehicles, as suitable equipment was not available and the men lacked both the training and organization for this kind of work. Still so important was the refinery area that wave after wave of men was sent to put out the flames for the next three days, until finally the fire consuming the refinery and harbour buildings and the town itself were allowed to burn out as the victors of the Battle of Porvoo and some surviving prisoners of war withdrew east and north from the wrecked town and port.
The Soviet enclave in the southeastern coast of Finland had been snuffed out, but at a huge cost of men and material. As to the town and port of Porvoo itself, there was no hope of salvaging anything of value from the destruction. For the Emergency Cabinet in Mikkeli, the final result of the...
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