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[–]PM_ME_PSN_CODES-PLS 78 points79 points80 points  (5 children)

They'll never be as cold as Simo though.

500+ confirmed kills, that is wild.
This is OG John Wick if there ever was one.

His diary is available online. With letters, pictures and his own feelings about the stuff going on.

It should all be available for free here.

However I received this link from a Finnish friend with a refer code so there might be some paid content. I am not sure. I think it was all published for free though. Let me know if it works or not and else I'll go about finding the free link for you if you want. Or I pay for it I don't care. Everyone should know the story of the White Death.

[–]Brickzealand 225 points226 points227 points  (47 children)

Simo

Yeah I know what was the reference, Simo would be proud.

However, the use of the iron sights is prelevant because there is no other choice. I would personally not like to use iron sights.

Also most of the casualties are from the arty which is very sad, we have had people that we trained in July already POWs or KIA. Which makes me even more devasteted.

[–]Weird-Vagina-Beard 208 points209 points210 points  (56 children)

Edit: misinterpreted your comment, it makes sense now.

I work in construction. How do they do excavating there? I imagine digging through solid ice to pour a foundation would be very difficult but I've never tried.

Do they typically just accept the ground as stable/compacted enough and build on top of whatever is there? And how do they pour and work concrete?

I imagine it's infinitely different than anything I've ever seen, really fascinating though.

[–]dangercat415 339 points340 points341 points  (22 children)

I'm into survival and have studied it extensively. They are absolutely the experts. It's an entirely different thing and way of thinking. Training is way more important than gear. When trained properly, even with little or broken gear, you can survive for months in the arctic even without food.

This is one of the reasons the Russians got their ass handed to them in the winter war.

Finland just dominates in winter and it's part of their culture.

[–]penguinopusredux 12 points13 points14 points  (0 children)

One of my favourite Finnish jokes, and pretty accurate.

The other is Eero and Jaakko decide to meet for a drink. The home-brewed vodka is opened and they have a couple of glasses.

"Excellent vodka," Jaakko remarks. "Look, are we here to drink or to talk?" is the response.

[–]DEADB33F 113 points114 points115 points  (1 child)

Doubly so for thermal scopes, etc.

It's during winter time that the utility of thermal scopes, thermal vision drones, etc. is unparalleled (especially when used against a foe who isn't similarly equipped).

The US may have "owned the night" when fighting insurgents in Afghanistan, and if properly equipped by allies Ukraine can "own the winter" against Russia.

[–]wrecktangle1988 1029 points1030 points1031 points  (33 children)

the fins had a little saying for the winter war to bolster morale

something along the lines of "they are so many and we are so small, where will find room to bury them all"

it was one of those HAHA cause its true

Edit: ending casualties would be 65,000-70,000 Finns vs 321,000-381,000 soviets

This would remain a war Finland could never win and it nearly went bust as Finland lacked many things. With planes and tanks numbering in the dozens, a lack of artillery shells along with general low stocks of ammunition to fuel a war

They were successful at stalling as long as possible along with inflicting horrible casualties that allowed them to negotiate from a position of strength resulting is minor relative territory loss

They would be the only nation invaded by the soviets that would retain independence and not be sucked into the greater soviet sphere and not be part of the Warsaw Pact

You could call it a strategic victory in spite of the loss

[–]sanguinesolitude 543 points544 points545 points  (17 children)

"We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them."

"They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can’t get away from us now!”

“Great. Now we can shoot at them from every direction.”

Lewis "Chesty" Puller | US Marine Corps

[–]Ni987 3954 points3955 points3956 points  (92 children)

The Soviet army is marching in Finland

They hear a voice from the other side of a hill: One Finnish soldier is better than ten Soviet soldiers.

The Soviet general sends ten soldiers. There is some gunfire then everything is quiet again.

The voice then says, one Finnish soldier is better than one hundred Soviet soldiers.

The Soviet general sends one hundred Soviet soldiers. There is more gunfire and then silence.

The voice speaks up again and says one Finnish soldier is better than one thousand Soviet soldiers.

The Soviet general then sends one thousand Soviet soldiers. There is a lot of gunfire and then silence.

After awhile a Soviet soldier crawls over the hill and say to the general, do not send more troops, it's a trap, there are two Finnish soldiers.

[–]Excelius 113 points114 points115 points  (13 children)

Same thing in a lot of video games.

The sweatiest players are always running around like maniacs. Sprinting into a room and using movement mechanics to throw off the enemies aim, so they can get enough shots into the enemy before they get enough shots into them.

The risk/reward in paintball and video games rewards that kind of thing. In real life you don't respawn, in real life your vision doesn't turn red for a few seconds after you take a bullet and then you're just fine.

[–]bluGill 62 points63 points64 points  (2 children)

Having done construction outdoors in winter I know from experience your tools fail before humans. Sure cold isn't fun, but with warm coats and gloves you can deal with it (what I couldn't figure out how to deal with was -1C and rain). However without tools you are limited.

Ukraine has good logistics, hopefully they invested in oil that works in winter (different grade is needed for the guns and equipment), and plenty of clothing and other winter gear.

Russia has so far been operating on bad logistics, so the right thing for Ukraine is plan their risky attacks for the coldest days in hopes that the Russians cannot fire back. (of course if they can avoid risky attacks that is all the better, but this is war) Sure winter war sucks, but it will suck more for Russia so Ukraine needs to press their attacks - as they already know.

[–]k4Anarky 2399 points2400 points2401 points  (110 children)

  • Every able bodied citizen is/was a soldier.

  • Experts in winter warfare.

  • Fighting Russians is their specialty.

  • Their entire public infrastructure is literally made to be Russian-proof.

  • Badass ski commandos.

No one is better teacher than the Finns.

[–]Gideon_Lovet 44 points45 points46 points  (5 children)

Lot of people referencing Simo Häyhä, who was absolutely a badass, but no one is mentioning another badass Finnish soldier, Aimo Koivunen. His claim to fame is being the first soldier to OD on meth in combat. After becoming separated from his squad, he took the squad's alotment of meth pills to stay awake and alert (allegedly he OD'ed accidentally due to exhaustion).

He proceeded to then go on a bender in which he stepped on a landmine that set fire to a Soviet camp, laid in a ditch for a week, survived on pine needles and a live bird he caught and ate raw, and skies some 280 miles before reaching friendly forces. And still, he had a resting heartbeat of 200 beats per minute.

Despite this, he survives the war and dies at the age of 71.

Just don't mess with the Finns. Just don't. They have more sisu than whatever an invading force could muster.

[–]Jassokissa 27 points28 points29 points  (4 children)

The key word is training for operating in the cold and also acclimation to it. When doing the military service in Finland 90s, I do remember being cold in October-November (of course it's also wet at that time), by January/February the cold wasn't really a problem, you get used to it (of course we had winter clothing too).

I do remember during the Kymi 96 military manouvers/training, the lieutenant came around, when I was eating my dinner, "there's this British reporter here, he wants to talk to a conscript and you're good with english". So I go outside to chat with the reporter, eating my dinner while chatting with him, wearing a t-shirt and it's -25C°, the reporter asked "how the hell do you handle the cold?". I replied "you get used to it". To be honest, it was cold but it was only for a couple of minutes it wasn't windy, so it's not that terrible.

[–]haysanatar 47 points48 points49 points  (3 children)

Oh boy!!!! I get to post my favorite Winter War Joke!!!!.

A large group of Russian soldiers in the border area in 1939 are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a small hill: "One Finnish soldier is better than ten Russian".

The Russian commander quickly orders 10 of his best men over the hill where Upon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence. The voice once again calls out: "One Finn is better than one hundred Russian."

Furious, the Russian commander sends his next best 100 troops over the hill and instantly a huge gun fight commences. After 10 minutes of battle, again Silence. The calm Finnish voice calls out again: "One Finn is better than one thousand Russians!"

The enraged Russian commander musters 1000 fighters and sends them to the other side of the hill. Rifle fire, machine guns, grenades, rockets and cannon fire ring out as a terrible battle is fought...

Then silence.

Eventually one badly wounded Russian fighter crawls back over the hill and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men...it's a trap. There's two of them."