Simo Häyhä is arguably the greatest Sniper the world has ever known.
How bad ass was he?
*Well over 700 confirmed kills...and not urban combat where multiple kills and confirmation are easier, no he did it during winter warfare in a wooded environment.
*The Russians became so alarmed at his success that they deployed counter sniper teams that ended up dogmeat.
*The Russians got so frustrated that they sent Infantry Battalions to hit him down. He sent them back in body bags.
*Finally the Russians quite the subtle tactics and launched artillery strikes on grid squares where they thought Simo might be hiding.
Simo was 100 percent warrior personified, and probably one of the greatest snipers the world has ever seen.
This guy was really something. They've nicked named him the White Death, and taking into consideration the settings of the battle between the Russians and the Finns (temperatures below -40 degrees Celsius), it's a suited call. He died in his late nineties I think and during the war he received a shot true his lower jaw, barely surviving but surviving none the less.
ReplyDeleteThe Fins really gave the Soviets a run for their money back then and they where only a hand full of people. Superb hit and run and guerrilla warfare tactics.
Soviet Union chose winter time for attack to make use of frozen rivers and lakes, to be able easily cross them (makes some sense when invading country named "Country of thousand lakes"). But this make them much less mobile outside of the roads, and thus vulnerable to guerilla attacks. Also during winter it is almost polar night in this high latitude, which is severely limited soviet aviation use, and of course also benefited guerilla warfare.
ReplyDeleteI must admit finns fought well, it takes guts to fight such terrifying war machine equipped with best weapons of the time only with his rifle. Some sources mentioning he for example pressed down snow before his shooting position so his shot don't create snow cloud marking his position. Absence of optical sight allowed him to hold head lower and be harder to detect. A true warrior.
and armed with nothing more than a stock M39 Finn Mosin-Nagant and a Suomi SMG.
ReplyDeleteThe Finns were ill-equipped to fight such a war. The military had never been a priority in Finland, the artillery was from WWI or prior, AT capabilities were non-existent, the airforce undersized, and shortages in small-arms, etc.
They put a hurting on the Soviets that Sovs never forgot, but not after losing thousands of acres of territories to the USSR in treaties after the Winter and the Continuation Wars. Had they taken a serious interest in defense, I think the Finns might have held the Soviets off. Just modest outlays in mortars, MGs and decent artillery could have yielded significant benefits.
It was why the Finns took defense so seriously after WWII.