Battle of Tali-Ihantala
| date | June 25 to July 9, 1944 |
|---|---|
| place | Karelian Isthmus , Finland |
| output | Finnish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 50,000 | 150,000 |
| losses | |
|
8,561 dead |
18,000–22,000 dead, |
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The Battle of Tali-Ihantala from June 25 to July 9, 1944 was part of the Continuation War between the German Reich- supported Finland and the Soviet Union , a secondary theater of the Second World War . The battle ended in a Finnish victory that halted the major attack by Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus ( Vyborg-Petrozavodsk Operation ) and provided Finland with more acceptable terms in the Moscow armistice negotiations in September 1944. The battle forms the historical background for the Finnish war film Battle of Finland, shot in 2007 .
Starting position
On the side of the Wehrmacht, Finland entered the war against the Soviet Union in June 1941. a. occupied the Karelian Isthmus. In June 1944 the Red Army launched a massive offensive to force Finland out of the war. After a few days, the city of Vyborg was taken; Finland was threatened by full occupation. With German support, an advance into the Finnish heartland was to be prevented.
troops
Finland :
- 4th Corps ( Lieutenant General Taavetti Laatikainen)
- Armored Division ( Major General Ruben Lagus)
- 3rd Air Regiment ( Oberleutnant E. Magnusson) (33 Messerschmitt Bf 109s , 18 Brewster Buffalo 239s , and one Fokker CX )
- 4th Air Regiment ( Colonel O. Sarko) (33 Bristol Blenheim , 12 Junkers Ju 88 , 8 Dornier Do 17 Z)
German Empire :
- Combat group Kuhlmey (Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Kuhlmey ) came to Finland on June 16 with 23 to 43 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 , 24 to 30 Junkers Ju 87 and 1 to 8 Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 .
- Assault Gun Brigade 303 ( Captain Hans-Wilhelm Cardeneo) arrived in Finland on June 22nd with 22 StuG III Ausf. G and 9 Sturmhaubitzers 42 .
Soviet Union :
- 21st Army (Colonel General Dmitry N. Gusew )
- 30 .; 108 .; 109th and 117th Corps (15 divisions)
The battlefield
The battle of Tali-Ihantala took place in a narrow area of 100 km² between Vyborg Bay and the Vuoksi River . The Soviet advance was concentrated in the area east of Vyborg, from the southern village of Tali to the area around the northern settlement of Ihantala. This was the only area suitable for armored vehicles across the Karelian Isthmus - 10 kilometers wide and constricted by lakes and to the east by the Vuoksi River.
course
Tali: June 25th to 30th
The fighting in the Tali area began on June 25, 1944 and ended on June 30 of the same year with the withdrawal of Finnish troops from Tali. This was followed by the toughest fighting on July 1 and 2, in which the Finns lost around 800 men a day.
Ihantala July 1st to 9th
The subsequent concentrated artillery fire by the Finns was the heaviest in the country's military history. It was based on a new fire control method developed by the Finnish artillery general Vilho Petter Nenonen. This technique made target correction easier for the Finns and made it possible to switch targets quickly. In the critical Ihantala sector, the Finnish defenders were able to concentrate their defensive fire on the advancing Soviet attacking leaders and destroy them.
At that time, the Finnish armed forces had concentrated half of their artillery in the area, along with their only armored division, mainly equipped with StuG III . She was supported by the German 303 assault gun brigade. The defenders now also received new German anti-tank weapons that had previously been in storage.
On July 2, the Finns were able to intercept a radio message that the 63rd Division and the 30th Panzer Brigade of the Soviet Army were to attack on July 3 at 4:00 a.m. The next morning, forty Finnish and forty German bombers each bombed the Soviet army two minutes before the presumed start of the attack. In addition, 250 guns fired a total of 4,000 artillery shells on the territory of the Soviet attackers. At 6:00 a.m., the Soviet troops launched an attack against the Finnish units with 200 aircraft and infantry. By 7:00 p.m. the Finns had cleared their lines again.
On July 6th, the Soviet troops achieved some success despite the deployment of 18 artillery battalions and a heavy battery in support of the Finnish 6th Division. The next day, however, the Soviet troops were pushed back and their counterattacks at 1:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. were also unsuccessful. On July 7, the focus of Soviet attacks shifted to the area around the Vuoksi River. The Soviet side now began to move their best troops to Estonia to use against the German troops. From July 9th, the Soviet attackers no longer tried to break through the Finnish lines. Nevertheless, there were repeated minor fighting in the area.
losses
Finnish sources estimate the losses of the Soviet Army in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala at 300 tanks. In addition, around 120 to 280 Soviet aircraft were shot down.
The Finnish Army reported 8,561 men wounded, missing or killed in action.
According to the ten-day report of the Soviet 21st Army, 18,000 to 22,000 soldiers were wounded or killed in the battle.
reception
Movies
- Battle of Finland (FI 2007). Directed by Åke Lindman and Sakari Kirjavainen .
supporting documents
- ↑ SP Platonow (ed.): Битва за Ленинград ( The Battle of Leningrad ) . Voenizdat Ministerstva oborony SSSR, 1964.
- ↑ a b c d e Matti Koskimaa: Veitsenterällä. 1993, ISBN 951-0-18811-5 , WSOY.
- ^ Archives of the Soviet Ministry of Defense, daily reports of the 21st Army from June 29 to July 10, 1944.
- ↑ Ohto Manninen: Molotovin coctail, Hitlerin sateenvarjo. 1994, ISBN 951-37-1495-0 , Painatuskeskus.
- ↑ a b Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulun historian laitos, Jatkosodan historia 1-6 , 1994