#1: Info about Battle of Tali-Ihantala summer 44 Author: AT_Stalky, Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:57 pm — Battle of Tali-Ihantala was fought about 10 Km east of Viborg. The battle is named after the villages of Tali and Ihantala as from the south (Tali) to the north (Ihantala) forms of impact area. The battle was fought between, 25 June-9 July 1944. The Finnish forces (50 000 in number) under the leadership of Karl Lennart Oesch managed to stop the triple (approximately 150 000 man) so large Soviet forces in what would become the biggest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries (It was bigger than El-Alamein). Through a series of counter-attacks with a resolute defense and massive artillery concentrations, the Finnish defense managed to break the tip of the great Soviet offensive.
In the battle, the Soviet Union used about 600 tanks, of which 300 were destroyed by the Finnish side during the battle. The German troops in Finland had a significant role in the battle, mainly the German so-called Kuhlmey-flight department with about 70 aircraft shot down 100 Soviet aircraft during the battle. The battle was most intense June 29 when the Finnish front in Tali burst. The Finnish divisions then retreated to Ihantala which together with the newly arrived Finnish reinforcements managed to stop the Soviet offensive. Thanks to the artillery lead by General Vilho Petter Nenonen who managed to concentrate a large part of the Finnish artillery to fire against the Soviet forces, taking very large losses.
Red Army offensive stopped on the 9th July and on July 12th Stalin ordered that the Soviet offensive against Finland was suspended. Finland had caused the Soviet Army great losses, and the Soviet Army had to preserve resources for the great offensive against Nazi Germany . The Finnish victory in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala (and in several of the other battles in the summer of 1944, including the Battle of Tienhaara) made the Soviet accept the cease fire against Finland . On September 4th the war between the Soviet Union and Finland ended.
