"Are the Soviets all crazy?!" In the army headquarters in the Finnish capital, Field Marshal Mannerheim, as commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defense Forces, stared angrily at the urgent document in his hand.

Mannerheim's hands trembled, and his teeth clenched for a long time. He knew very well what the news in the document in his hand meant to his country.

A fleet flying the Soviet flag shelled the Finnish defenders on the Rybaki Peninsula in the Gulf of Finland.

The Soviet ambassador has just issued a statement saying that the heroic Soviet Red Army will retaliate because the Finnish army shelled the village of Manila and killed Soviet soldiers.

"How is this possible?!" After receiving the document handed over by Marshal Mannerheim, his confidant, Colonel Silasvoy, immediately jumped up, and said in a trembling voice: "The Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Pact signed between us and the Soviet Union has only three full years to expire, how dare they openly violate the law and attack us!" ”

Although the military rank is only colonel, in a small country like Finland, a colonel can be more valuable than a major general in Germany. After all, Germany has millions of troops assigned to the commanders, but how big is Finland, how many troops can it have?!

As of November 26, which is today, the Finnish Army has barely expanded to 127,000 men, organized into five corps. And Colonel Silasvo was the commander of the Third Army in it.

Of these five corps, there are only 9 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry brigade and a number of independent small border guards. As for the armored forces, Finland does not have the national strength to develop and form them.

In addition, Finland has 300,000 reservists, 100,000 reserve "National Guards" and 100,000 women's service corps. But for these second-rate troops, the Finnish government could not provide weapons and ammunition at all, let alone let them go into battle to kill the enemy.

Even the Finnish Defense Forces are in a dire situation where they are suffering from a shortage of anti-tank guns and ammunition and fuel. The Finnish army had only about 100 anti-tank guns, and the ammunition was only enough for two months, and the shells were only enough for three weeks of combat. The Finnish Air Force was also insufficient, with a total of only 30 bombers, 56 fighters and 59 reconnaissance aircraft.

Looking at this subordinate who was stunned by the situation, Mannerheim shook his head with a miserable smile and said: "Our Finland is a small country after all, let alone a duel with a behemoth like the Soviet Union, even blocking them is a difficult thing for us to climb!" ”

"This bunch of shameless Soviet politicians!" Colonel Silasvo slammed his fist on the desk in Mannerheim's office, gritted his teeth, and said: "How can a big country, a former member of the Council of the League of Nations, tear up the international peace agreement and provoke a war so lightly? This is nothing short of hooliganism! ”

Mannerheim looked at Silasvo with deep eyes, and after sighing, he said faintly, "It's useless to say anything now. Since Germany went to war with Poland and Britain and France declared war on each other, the Second World War had already begun, in the words of German journalists. Throughout Europe, the war that took place here in Finland was barely a local war. ”

Mannerheim was well aware that the war meant the fate of Finland. But in the eyes of the European powers, it is nothing more than a medium-sized local battle, and no matter what the outcome, it will not hurt the overall situation.

In this way, the Soviet Union's brazen tearing up of the peace treaty will not be severely attacked by the Western powers because the bad consequences will not be huge enough.

Taking a deep breath, Mannerheim helplessly looked at Silasvo, who was still in shock: "The League of Nations can't count on it, they won't give us any substantial help at all." At most, blame the USSR for two sentences, and then leave it alone. Over the years, they've been ......."

"Then we should ....... now," Silaskou looked expectantly at the highest-ranking soldier in Finnish military history.

Even as the commander of the Finnish 3rd Army, Silas Vat only had the rank of colonel. But his boss, Mannerheim, has already crossed the rank of general and reached the height of the Finnish marshal!

To have such a position, Mannerheim relied on real talent and merit.

Born in a lonely aristocratic family, he led the Finnish White Guards to victory in the civil war with his outstanding military talents, became independent from the rule of Tsarist Russia, and established a tall image of the "Finnish god of war".

Later, because Finland followed Germany in the First World War, Mannerheim, which was supported by Germany, also retired to the countryside and returned to the countryside.

However, as the international situation deteriorated, Mannerheim had to return to the mountains in 1931 as chairman of the Finnish Defence Council, assuming command of the Finnish Defence Forces.

During his tenure, he reorganized the army, strengthened its defenses, and built a 105-kilometer line of defense in Karelia on the Finnish-Soviet border, known as the "Mannerheim Line".

And this line of defense is what Mannerheim is dealing with now!

Taking a deep breath, Mannerheim dragged his chin and analyzed: "Over for the League of Nations, I've asked people to ask for help, but most of it is useless." The only thing we can count on is the Germans who have been guiding us in recent years. However, we still have to take the first step on our own. ”

"The Mannerheim Line was used for static defense, with most of the forces concentrated on the Mannerheim Line on the western shore of Lake Laduga. After all, this narrow strip was the traditional route used by the Russians to invade Finland. As for the northern shore of the lake of Laduga all the way to the Barents Sea, only a small number of vigilant troops are temporarily deployed to monitor the entire impenetrable dense forest and swampy wasteland. Mannerheim quickly began a step-by-step analytical planning.

Although the Manneiheim Line was not very strong, it was mainly based on the bunker groups along the line as the center of gravity, and the bunker groups were also very well spaced between them; Many of the bunkers were made of logs, not even concrete.

But this line of defense can be regarded as a continuous defensive belt, which can provide an artificial defensive barrier for the Finnish army. Coupled with natural barriers such as dense forests and swampy wastelands, the Finnish army, which was at a disadvantage, also had the capital to fight a defensive battle with the Soviet army.

Putting his hand on Sirasvo's shoulder, Mannerheim solemnly instructed: "The Third Army under your command is the strongest unit of our army. Whether you can withstand it or not is directly related to the outcome of this battle. Resist it, it's heaven! ”

"If you can't stand ........," Mannerheim said, "Finland will become a country synonymous with history!" ”

Hearing this, Silasvo reversed his panicked attitude just now, and said with a resolute expression: "My marshal! Rest assured! As long as there is one person alive in our Third Army, we will never let the Soviets cross the defense zone by half a step! ”

Although Silasvo was surprised by the Soviet attack, it was by no means because of his timidity. Coming from a family with no military background, Silasvo was not as popular as Mannerheim and became his cronies, not because of his smugglers.

If Mannerheim won the honor of Finland's first Confucian general in World War I, known as the "wisdom of Finland", then Silasvo can be said to be the first brave general of Finland and worthy of the "courage of Finland"!

In this war of "elephants vs. ants", Finland, which symbolizes the ant side, can only rely on these two generals.......