Hevossalmi-The Drive on the Center - Winter War

12 DECEMBER 1939, HELVOSSALMI STRAIT, THE CENTER, BATTLE OF TOLVAJÄRVI As Task Force Malkamäki was repelled on the northern pincer of the Lake Hirvasjarvi, Col. Pajari ordered his troops forward on the center. Reeling from a miscalculation in the amount of time it would take the Finnish artillery to move into position, the RKKA forces in the sector exploited this momentary stall. Unfortunately for the Russians, the Finnish guns were brought to bare in time to repel elements of the 609. Rifle Regiment that had launched a counterattack along the Finnish northern flank. After recuperating from this momentary setback, the 2nd and 6th Companies of the 16th Infantry Regiment launched their attack into a heavily defended and prepared line. Finnish casualties became high as the Soviet troops turned the Tourist Hotel on Hevossalmi Strait into a fortress packed with heavy and light machine guns. Determined to take the position, Pajari continued to commit Finnish reinforcements to the center as the 609th Rifle Regiment continued to resist fiercely. Eventually Pajari would commit the 2nd and 3rd Companies of ErP.10, and PPP7 to the fray as the fight became a close range meat grinder of attrition. Although the position was eventually taken and the elements of the RKKA 609th Regiment defending the Hotel were wiped out to the man, the task of taking the Hotel was no easy task for the Finns. In addition, several battalions of Finnish troops were in a concentrated area and stood the risk of being counterattacked by the Soviets en masse. Note*- This scenario represents the battle before the arrival of 2.ErP/10 and the PPP7.