In October 1938, almost a year ahead of another time and space, when Zhuashvili met with the Finnish negotiating delegation in the Kremlin, he personally put forward some of the "territorial" demands of Soviet Russia against Finland: (1) agreeing to sign a "Soviet-Finnish mutual assistance" treaty; (2) "lease" the Hanko Peninsula and its surrounding islands in southwestern Finland to Soviet Russia as a naval base for a period of 30 years; (iii) the cession of certain islands in the Gulf of Finland; (d) in order to "increase the security of Leningrad", agreed to adjust a sizable border area of the Karelian Isthmus to Soviet Russia; (5) agreement to dismantle the fortifications of the Karelian Isthmus; (6) In order to correct the border line, which according to the Russians had previously been "rudely and unnaturally", part of the Bechaimo region bordering the Arctic Ocean was ceded. In exchange for these cedesions, the Soviet government was willing to cede to Finland the Karelian frontier along the Soviet border.

Karetia was very important for Finland's border defense, and Finland rejected the Russian demand out of national security and strict neutrality. However, under pressure from Russia, the Finnish side offered a concession: it agreed to move the border line closest to Leningrad by about 12 kilometers to the north and cede several islands in the Gulf of Finland to Soviet Russia. The Russians rejected these concessions, believing that they were not sufficient to meet their demands.

The collapse of the Soviet-Finnish border negotiations was followed by a sharp deterioration in Soviet-Finnish relations.

However, most Finns did not expect that war would come suddenly.

On the afternoon of November 15, 1938, Moscow announced that at 15:45 p.m. (14:45 Helsinki time) on the same day, Finnish troops attacked the village of Menila, about 800 meters on the Soviet side of the Karelian Isthmus, firing a total of seven shells. In a diplomatic note to the Finnish ambassador, Molotov demanded that the Finnish troops immediately withdraw 20-50 kilometers from the border.

The Finnish government denied that Finnish artillery had ever shelled Manila and stated that there was evidence of the detection of the activity of Soviet Russian artillery when the alleged attack took place. Finland demanded that the contents of the non-aggression pact be invoked and that the matter be referred to an arbitration commission composed of the United States and Scandinavian countries to investigate and settle the matter, and that it refute the Soviet government's accusations that Finland was hostile to the Soviet Union and that it threatened Leningrad. At the same time, the Finnish government is ready to withdraw the border guards at the southernmost tip of the Karelian Isthmus from Leningrad by a certain distance, so that these troops can no longer be accused of "threatening" the security of the city.

Finland's construction did not yield any results.

On 19 November, Molotov sent a further note announcing that the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact had been nullified. On 20 November, Russia announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Finland.

At 6 o'clock the next morning, about 550,000 Soviet troops, who had long been massed in the border area, launched a full-scale attack on Finland.

"Left rudder 5, speed 20 knots!" On a clear day, winter temperatures in the Baltic Sea are not particularly cold, around minus seven or eight degrees. On the bridge of the battleship "Bohemia", Vice Admiral Wagner, dressed in a dark blue woolen coat, gave orders with a blank face.

After the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War, Germany and Austria and other countries strongly condemned the aggression of Soviet Russia, and Austria-Hungary even sent the Second Fleet into the Mediterranean Sea and gathered in the Gulf of Riga with the German fleet to show support for Finland. Since Finland was unwilling to give up its neutrality and chose to form an alliance with Germany, Germany and Austria could not find a reason to directly intervene in the war for the time being. And Germany and Austria clearly did not want to risk getting involved in the war in Northern Europe, although they agreed to provide arms support to the Scandian coalition led by Sweden.

At this time, the 42-year-old flagship captain, Colonel Recoba, would repeat the order of the fleet commander: "Turn right 5, speed 20!" ”

Less than a minute later, the Bohemia's massive body began to turn slightly, and began to accelerate, heading northwest out of the Gulf of Riga and turning in the direction of Stockholm for a routine "demonstration cruise".

The battleships Bohemia and Croatia, built during the European War, were arguably one of the strongest warships in the world at that time, and the hull, which had been in service for more than 20 years, was indeed a little old in appearance, and after modernization, this class of old battleships with a power system was still able to gallop at sea at a speed of 28 knots, which allowed it to barely keep up with the actions of the aircraft carrier fleet. Although its mobility and protection capabilities cannot be compared with the cutting-edge battleships currently being built by various countries, it can still maintain a fairly strong combat capability.

Since the Austro-Hungarian Navy established the position of aircraft carriers as the main force of the fleet, the battlefleet was assigned to the secondary role of fleet escort, and it was rare to be able to fight alone and dominate the sea as it is now.

Through the very solid portholes, you can see that the sister ship "Croatia" of the same type is also turning at the same time on the calm sea on the side, the bow is stirring up white waves, and the gun muzzles in the four turrets on the deck are raised high, pointing to the sea in the distance, which really gives people a domineering feeling of being self-sacred, which makes people's blood boil.

The fleet completed the turn and began to sail in the direction of Stockholm.

"Keep on your guard!" After a slight admonition, Lieutenant General Wagner turned and got off the bridge.

In the eyes of others, he was a little too careful, and in fact, even in the Baltic, no one would challenge the authority of the Austro-Hungarian navy and cause trouble for himself.

"Damn the Russians!" Navigator Mijakovich, who sat at the chart table, cursed in a low voice, the sudden outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish war ruined his vacation, and if the war did not end in a short time, the Second Battlefleet would probably have to spend the whole winter in the Baltic, and even Christmas and New Year's Day, although only on routine cruises and some ordinary escort missions for merchant ships.

"Stoya, I'm sure the Finns won't last more than a month, think about it, the Russians sent hundreds of thousands of troops, while the Finns only had tens of thousands of regular troops." Yankovic, who was sitting next to him, said.

The Germans and Austria-Hungary had some sympathy for the Finns, but most did not think the war would have much to do with them. Finland was not a member of the Entente after all, and it would be fine to provide some material and moral support, but if it went to war for the Finns, the vast majority of people would not be happy.

But the Finns' will to resist exceeded most estimates.

After the emergency mobilization, the Finnish army, with only 130,000 troops, blocked the Soviet army in the Mannerheim Line.

The war dragged on until March 1939, when the Soviets defeated Finland at a huge cost of 60,000 casualties, forcing them to cede large swaths of territory. However, Germany's connivance with Soviet Russia in this war made Zhuashvili even more aggressive, and he began to step up preparations for military invasions on the Don River, the Caucasus and Ukraine. R1152