Kuhmo — Vuokko and the great encirclement
The Soviet (General ) — 15,000 men, 50 tanks — attacks from Repola on 28 December 1939 towards Kuhmo, hoping to exploit the collapse caused by Suomussalmi to outflank the Siilasvuo sector from the south. But the Finns, forewarned, are waiting for it.
Colonel , 38, commands the : 4,200 men, two reserve regiments, a ski company. He applies the motti, but on an unprecedented scale: encircle the entire 54th Division in one go, blocking its retreat with a 250-man ski company athwart the road.
From 1 January 1940 to 13 March 1940 (73 consecutive days) the 54th Division is wholly encircled in the Kuhmo forest — the largest motti of the entire Winter War. Resupplied only by airdrop (15-30 percent of the drops reach the target). The Soviets dig trenches in the snow and ice, slaughter their horses for food and burn their papers for warmth.
Vuokko must decide on the final assault against an enemy weakened by 60 days of encirclement.
How should Vuokko prioritise the final assault?
Vuokko chooses B. The 54th Division is never entirely wiped out — the Peace of Moscow of 12 March 1940 "frees" it in extremis. 5,000 Soviet survivors emerge from the Kuhmo motti on 13 March (out of 15,000 to start with). 8,000 Soviet dead from exhaustion, cold and night harassment. Finnish losses: 1,340 dead, 1,100 wounded. Gusev — spared by the motti doctrine — was sacked by Stalin in April 1940, arrested, freed in 1942 for Stalingrad, and died of wounds in 1947. Kuhmo became the tactical archetype of the long-duration motti — studied by every modern army.
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