Chapter 346 The Winter War (13)

Soon, the news of Marshal Mannerheim's passing spread throughout Finland.

Both the Finnish military and civilians were in mourning. The news of Marshal Mannerheim's death due to overexertion in resisting the Soviet aggression only solidified their determination to resist the Soviet invasion.

On this day, the Soviet forces did not launch an attack; instead, they gathered artillery of various calibers and launched a fierce bombardment on the Finnish positions.

The Soviets had always favored artillery, often deploying thousands of heavy guns.

Artillery shells rained down on the Finnish positions, creating a continuous explosion that shook the entire land, as if the heavens and earth were collapsing. Finnish soldiers had no choice but to take cover in their bunkers, seeking refuge from the Soviet artillery barrage.

"Hey, these damn Bolsheviks. It reminds me of the artillery fire during the last war." A middle-aged man, lounging in a bunker, leisurely smoking a cigarette, cursed. He spoke in authentic French, and the young Finnish soldier across from him, looking pale, obviously couldn't understand what he was saying, staring at him with a puzzled expression.

The middle-aged man smiled at him and pulled out a cigarette, offering it to the young soldier. Though he didn't comprehend the words, the Finnish soldier guessed his intention, shook his head, and the middle-aged man continued to smoke on his own.

The Soviet attack on Finland, despite being justified as "ensuring the safety of Leningrad," faced unanimous condemnation from the international community. Even U.S. President Roosevelt criticized it as "blatantly ignoring international law." Volunteers from around the world came to support Finland against the Soviet aggression, and this Frenchman was one of them.

The intense artillery barrage lasted a full day and night until it finally ceased in the early morning of the next day. The entire defensive line looked like a pear, with several areas of forests in front and behind the defensive positions already stripped bare by the bombardment. Only charred wooden stakes continued to burn, and the ground was pockmarked with shell craters.

Especially in front of the anti-tank minefield, it seemed impossible to find a "surviving" anti-tank mine.

Before the Finnish forces could count their casualties, the Soviets launched another attack.

This time, the Soviets deployed thousands of fighter planes and bombers. Even though Finland scrambled its outdated Fokker D.XXI fighters to intercept, and the performance-superior Bf 109F, despite shooting down several times more enemy planes, was outnumbered and eventually all shot down.

Fortunately, they were shot down within Finnish territory, and as long as the pilots parachuted, they could mostly survive.

After clearing Finland's air power, Soviet bombers operated in the airspace with impunity, arrogantly bombing most of the airports near the border. Some batches of bombers even reached the Finnish capital, Helsinki, causing chaos with their indiscriminate bombings.

Subsequently, the Soviet ground forces launched a full-scale attack. The vanguard attacking the Mannerheim Line was still the 35th Light Tank Brigade, led by Colonel Ogurtsov, who swore to wash away past shame in blood.

However, less than two kilometers from the Finnish positions, a massive explosion occurred, and a T-26 tank instantly turned into a ball of fire.

"Damn, it's another anti-tank mine!"

Colonel Ogurtsov was hesitating whether to send engineers to clear the mines when the rest of the tanks advanced without encountering any mine explosions.

Ogurtsov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Full speed ahead, break through the enemy's defenses!"

Behind the Finnish defensive line, soldiers pushed 5cm Pak 38 anti-tank guns into firing positions. This anti-tank gun was supplied by Germany and had performance characteristics similar to the main gun of the current Jackal tank. At a distance of 500 meters, it could easily penetrate 72mm vertical homogeneous steel armor. Meanwhile, the front armor thickness of the oncoming T-26 tanks was only 25mm.

"Load!"

Operating a 5cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun required three to six people. Following the squad leader's command, two loaders quickly opened an ammunition box, lifted a yellow-orange shell, and stuffed it into the breech.

"Directly ahead, one thousand meters, T-26 tank, prepare to fire!" The squad leader observed the Soviet forces with binoculars, measuring the distance while giving orders. "950 meters... 900 meters... 850 meters... 800 meters, fire!" Although this anti-tank gun had an effective range of over two thousand meters, for accuracy, it was generally fired within a range of one thousand meters.

"Boom!" The gunner forcefully pulled the firing lanyard, and the entire gun recoiled involuntarily. At the front of the barrel, flames surged as an armor-piercing shell invisibly sped toward the T-26 tank. It harshly struck the frontal armor, effortlessly slicing through the 25mm thick armor plate, then proceeded to crush the personnel and equipment inside.

However, the distance of 800 meters was still a bit far, and thirty anti-tank guns only destroyed a dozen or so Soviet tanks.

Ogurtsov estimated that with this level of losses, charging to the defensive line would result in the loss of about half of the tanks.

But just as they charged forward for only about 50 meters, another round of artillery fire struck, destroying more than ten Soviet tanks again. Listening to the explosions around him, Ogurtsov's expression turned grim. Was the firing rate of the enemy's anti-tank guns too fast?

However, at this stage, it was impossible to turn back and retreat; they could only charge forward with determination.

Even as a battalion commander, Ogurtsov found it challenging, and the soldiers below were on the verge of collapse. Continuous explosions echoed in the surroundings, and Soviet soldiers watched in horror as their comrades ahead were turned into burning wreckage during the assault.

Finally, some couldn't bear it anymore. At a distance of over 700 meters, they wildly fired at the anti-tank gun positions in the distance. However, the T-26's fire control capability was not good, and its precision shooting ability was insufficient. It could achieve a relatively high hit rate only within 300 meters.

At this distance of 700 meters, without stable on-the-move shooting capability, firing wildly while charging, it was uncertain whether they could hit anything. Even if they managed to get close, how powerful could a 45mm shell be?

The anti-tank gunners on the Finnish defensive positions completely ignored the shells flying around without knowing where they landed. They continued madly loading, firing, reloading, and firing again at the Soviet tanks, pouring shells at a rate of one every five seconds.

The Soviets paved a charge route with blood and wreckage, extending towards the Finnish defensive positions. They finally reached a distance of 400 meters, but it was already their last gasp.

It took the Soviet tanks one minute to charge from 800 meters to 400 meters. During this minute, the anti-tank guns on the Finnish defensive line fired a total of 12 rounds, 360 shells in total. Even with a 50% hit rate, it was enough to annihilate all the enemy tanks.

Over a hundred tanks from the 35th Light Tank Brigade were completely wiped out, and Colonel Ogurtsov also perished on the road of the assault. Not only did he fail to fulfill his desire for vengeance, but he also died in a particularly gruesome manner, as two armor-piercing shells almost simultaneously penetrated his tank.

The Soviet infantry units charging behind the tanks suffered a disaster. The dense rain of bullets knocked down, scattered, and crushed the Soviet assault formation like a tidal wave hitting the rocks, bursting into spray and leaving nothing behind.

If there was anything left, it was the bodies lying on the ground.