Episode 12 - Timoshenko’s February crescendo and Stalin fixates on a British Baku whispering campaign

This is episode 12 - it’s the third week of February 1940 and the Russians have eventually succeeded in punching a hole through the Mannerheim Line. As you heard last episode, the second major offensive began on the 11th February when Russian commander Timoshenko ordered a massive bombardment followed by focused thrusts at Poppius and Million Dollar bunkers. That section of the line was pierced but only after a few more thousand Russians had been listed as casualties. The Russians had also attacked in force near Taipale, charging across open ice in suicidal rushes, marching across Lake Ladoga like it was a parade ground exercise. The fighting here was intense, and on the 14th February, 2 500 Red Army troops died in the space of a few hours trying to overcome the Finnish positions. Soviet aircraft were also bombing this sector daily, at least 100 planes a day flew over strafing and bombing the Finns. In the sector further west near the Muolaa Church, it was carnage. The most exposed Finnish position was alongside this church, on the banks of Lake Kirkkojarvi. There was a large Finnish bunker here, but troops had to crawl out across a wasteland, and across at least one coffin that had been unearthed in the bombardments. The devil is in the details when there’s a war. Back in Moscow, Joseph Stalin received the news that Summa had fallen. He’d been misinformed before and didn’t believe the report, demanding that eyewitnesses contact him to confirm the sight of the flag of the USSR flying over the Summa pillboxes then phone him. They did and he accepted their word. Things were growing more and more grim for the Finns. They had no more reserves of men, and by now, into the third week of February, 16 year-old boys were being armed along with geriatrics and even convicts were being issued uniforms. Only the less serious criminals, but still, you get the idea. Meanwhile, back in Russia, subterfuge and intelligence were confounding Stalin — which is always the best technique to deal with a maniacal despot. Always paranoid, Stalin had been kept aware of Allied initial plans to seize the Finnish nickel mines at Petsamo in the north, then invade Murmansk — or even more outrageous plan to invade Arkangel. The British had managed to get their hands on a bullet-riddled Finnish code book and had heard that Mannerheim believed his men could hold out until at least May. That piece of unfiltered information was a fillup for the British. Desmond Latham blog