FH2 Campaign #17 - The Unyielding: Battle #9 Ilomantsi

History
"The Battle of Ilomantsi was a part of the Continuation War. It was fought from July 26 to August 13, 1944, between Finland and the Soviet Union. The battle took place in an area 40 kilometers wide and 30 kilometers deep, near the Finnish-Soviet border, close to a small Finnish town of Ilomantsi, in North Karelia. The battle ended with a decisive Finnish victory, as the last major Soviet attack against Finland was stopped here.

At first, the Soviet offensive seemed to be successful as on July 21, 1944, the Red Army units were able to reach the Finnish-Soviet border of 1940 for the only time during the entire Soviet offensive of 1944 and, in fact, ever since 1941. Finnish reinforcements arrived on July 28, and on July 31 Raappana started the counterattack. Already by August 1 the Finns had cut the sole road leading to the 176th Rifle Division and by August 3 both Soviet divisions were encircled as the Finnish forces utilized envelopment tactics ("motti" in Finnish) that drew upon ancient methods of warfare and those already used by them in the Winter War (1939–1940). Soldiers of the Erillinen Pataljoona 4 disrupted the supply lines of the Soviet artillery, preventing effective fire support.

The Soviets deployed three brigades with armor support to open the road connections to the encircled divisions but Finnish efforts prevented them. Renewed attacks distracted the Finns enough to allow the encircled Soviet forces to escape through the dense forests by abandoning their heavy equipment. Given the element of surprise and due to the superior numbers of the Soviets, the Finnish troops guarding the encircled divisions had little hope of containing organized breakouts, especially in the forests, and so many of the encircled Soviets managed to escape to their own side with the last escaping on August 10.

The Utrio area played a central role in General Raappana's plan of defence. Fast-moving battalions from the Cavalry Brigade, experienced in forest warfare, drove through this area between lakes, as a wedge between the attacking Soviet 176th and 289th Rifle Divisions. The opening battles fell on the Finnish Light Infantry Battalion 6. When it implemented the encirclements at Leminaho and the Lutikkavaara hill, the Uudenmaa Cavalry Regiment attacked through Utrio and the River Ruukinpohja, with flanking from Light Infantry Battalion 1."