The price paid by the Soviet Union for defeating the small country of Finland: a total of one million casualties.

In the late 1930s, the Soviet Union possessed huge military strength: with an army of up to 5 million people and powerful forces of various services, including the air force, it seemed invincible. In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact", which allowed the Soviet Union to carry out aggressive operations in the Baltic Sea region. After trying to force Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to compromise (a prelude to annexing them to the Soviet Union), the Soviet Union turned its attention to Finland.

Finland was a small country with a population of only 3.7 million at the time. Facing the powerful Soviet Union, it seemed destined to fail. One million Soviet troops have been deployed on the Soviet-Finnish border, while Finland had only 33,000 combat troops before mobilization. The Soviet Air Force and Navy dispatched 2,300 aircraft, while the Finnish Army had only 114 aircraft.

However, the Finns, who had a strong sense of patriotism, refused to surrender and they were determined to fight the Soviets in a bloody battle.

Finland established the Air Force in 1918, and in 1928 the Air Force was reorganized into the Air Force. The Finnish Air Force has a tenacious and independent spirit, and they can work in harsh environments, even in the cold tundra and barren high Arctic latitudes. They built mobile shelters to heat exposed aircraft; utilized mobile logistics support to ensure austere environment operations; and had complete unit-level maintenance capabilities.

In 1936, the Finnish Air Force ordered two squadrons of British "Blenheim" bombers and more than two squadrons of Dutch "Fokker D.XXI" fighters. "Fokker" fighter jets form Finland's air defense line, although their weapons are only four 7.9 mm machine guns and their top speed is only 286 miles per hour (about 460 kilometers per hour). However, although this fighter is not fast enough to intercept most bombers, it can also become a potentially lethal weapon if flown by a skilled pilot.

Finnish fighter pilots received first-class training, thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Lorenz and Captain Magnusson. In the early 1930s, Lorenz commanded the 24th Fighter Squadron. He adopted the tactical idea of ??using two fighter jets - the leader and the wingman to form a basic formation. He emphasized mutual protection, marksmanship, utilizing aircraft radios and ground observation networks, and utilizing signals intelligence. He advocated a simple airborne command and control system. In 1938, the 24th Fighter Squadron was commanded by Magnuson. He strictly trained pilots, emphasizing tactics, marksmanship and maintenance; he advocated side attacks, rear attacks, off-angle shooting, close range shooting, and attacking the enemy first. The square gunners then attack the engines and pilots.

Compared with the Finnish Air Force, the Soviet Air Force has a huge advantage. The Soviet Union deployed 2,318 aircraft, including 1,044 fighters and 855 bombers; an additional 395 aircraft of other types were deployed for strategic bombing, paratrooper transport, reconnaissance, artillery observation, and maritime patrol. In comparison, the Finnish Air Force has only 114 aircraft, including 42 Fokkers, 15 old Bulldogs and 18 Blenheims.

On November 30 of that year, under severe weather conditions, Soviet fighter planes escaped the interception of Finnish fighter planes, and eight bombers began to attack ports and oil storage facilities near the Finnish capital Helsinki. But the Soviet bombers missed their original target and instead dropped bombs over the entire city, killing nearly 100 Finnish civilians and sparking outrage from the international community.

The next day, more Soviet bombers entered the skies over Finland, but encountered a group of "Fokker" fighters commanded by Magnuson. The angry Finnish pilots quickly shot down 11 Soviet bombers, one of which was shot down by Magnuson.

This encounter established a pattern for subsequent air battles. Finnish pilots concentrated their efforts primarily on destroying enemy bombers, fighting enemy fighters only when necessary or to defend their own bombers and reconnaissance aircraft.

On December 19, the pilots of the 24th Finnish Fighter Squadron shot down 12 Soviet bombers; on December 23, they shot down 6 Soviet bombers and 2 fighters, and the Finnish Air Force lost only 1 aircraft. Fokker fighter jet and its pilot were also rescued.

By the end of the year, the 24th Finnish Fighter Squadron shot down 54 Soviet aircraft at the cost of losing one "Fokker" fighter.

On January 6, 1940, 17 Soviet DB-3 bombers took off from Estonia and flew over the Gulf of Finland, but signal intelligence alerted the Finns that they were about to be attacked. Therefore, near Ooty, the second wave of eight Soviet bombers encountered Finnish pilot Sovilius flying a "Fokker" fighter, and he shot down one of the bombers. The remaining Soviet bombers were attacked by Finnish pilot Salfanto. In just 4 minutes, Salfanto shot down 6 bombers.

On January 17, the Finnish Air Force intercepted 25 Soviet Tupolev SB bombers over Karelia, shooting down 9 of them and damaging many more.

Three days later, the Finnish Air Force shot down nine more Tupolev SB bombers and shot down two Soviet I-16 fighter jets at the cost of one Fokker fighter and one pilot.

In short, in January 1940, the Finnish Air Force used "Fokker" fighters to shoot down 34 Soviet aircraft, mainly bombers.

Throughout the war, Lorenz and Magnusson of the Finnish Air Force repeatedly emphasized attacking enemy bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, and artillery observation aircraft. As time went on, and the threat from Soviet fighter aircraft increased, the Finnish Air Force further refined its tactics so that once a Soviet bomber formation was located, dispersed radio-directional fighters would swarm out and attack concentratedly, before returning to dispersed bases. Destroy enemy bombers at multiple locations.

Due to excessive fatigue of Finnish pilots (an average of 8 flights per day), many accidents have been caused. By the end of January, only 28 "Fokkers" of the 24th Fighter Squadron were still able to perform combat missions.

Fortunately, Finland's diplomatic efforts to secure foreign aircraft support have paid off. Some countries have provided 116 aircraft at a time, which can be put into combat before the end of March. Among them, the United Kingdom sent 30 "Gladiator" fighter jets, France provided 30 "Morana" fighter jets, and South Africa donated 29 "Glove" fighter jets.

In addition, Finland has also ordered other fighter aircraft, including 35 Italian "Fiat G.50" fighter jets, 44 American B-239 fighter jets and more than 10 British "Hurricane" fighter jets.

The "Morana" and "Fiat G.50" fighters were similar in effectiveness to the "Fokker", and from February 1940 onwards, both fighters proved equally lethal to Soviet bombers .

Many foreigners voluntarily went to Finland to participate in the war, but the Finns had strict selection conditions. In fact, very few foreigners participated in air combat. The only organized foreign aviation unit was the Swedish Volunteer Squadron - 19th Fighter Squadron, commanded by Major Bekhammar. The squadron's pilots and technicians are from the Swedish Air Force, and they are equipped with more than a dozen "Gladiator" fighters and 4 "Hart" dive bombers.

The 19th Swedish Fighter Squadron entered combat in early January 1940. Over 62 days, it flew 464 aircraft sorties and lost 5 aircraft in the battle. In an accident 1 aircraft was lost. At the same time, the squadron's pilots destroyed 8 (probably 12) Soviet aircraft, including a TB-3 heavy bomber. The participation of the 19th Fighter Squadron freed up the Finnish Air Force to concentrate its forces over the Karelian Isthmus.

In January 1940, Soviet leader Stalin changed the head of the invasion force to Finland, with Semyon Timoshenko as commander. Timoshenko adjusted his tactics, dispatched a large number of aircraft, artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, concentrated his superior forces, and launched a new attack on Finland on February 1.

From February 1st to 10th, the Soviet army launched a fierce attack on the Finnish army positions, destroying most of the Finnish army's firepower points in the main direction.

On February 12, the Soviet army resumed its offensive. After three days of fierce fighting, the Soviet army broke through Finland's solid Mannerheim Line of defense, and the Finnish army retreated to the second line of defense.

On February 18, the Soviet army tried to break through Finland's second line of defense, but failed. In this case, the Soviet army once again stopped attacking and adjusted its deployment. The Finnish army also took the opportunity to rest and recuperate, and transferred some of its troops north of Lake Ladoga south to strengthen the defense of the Karelian Isthmus.

On February 28, the Soviet army launched another fierce attack and quickly approached the Finnish army's rear defense zone.

By March 5, the Finnish army was on the verge of depleting its troops, running out of ammunition and food, and having no hope of foreign aid. Although Britain and France expressed their willingness to send troops to assist Finland, Germany threatened that if Finland accepted British and French assistance, the war would spread to the entire Scandinavia Peninsula. Sweden and Norway, under pressure from Germany, announced that they would not allow British and French troops to pass through their territories to fight in Finland. Under these circumstances, the Finnish Communist Party was forced to send representatives to Moscow on March 7 to sue for peace with the Soviet Union. On March 12, representatives of Finland and the Soviet Union signed a peace treaty. This ended the Soviet-Finnish War.

In the Soviet-Finnish War, the Finnish army suffered 68,480 casualties, including 24,923 dead or missing, and 43,557 injured. Its casualties accounted for nearly 2% of the country's total population. This war caused Finland to lose 10% of its territory and the Karelian Isthmus. Most of the more than 220,000 Finnish residents who lost their homes later returned to Finland, and only a handful chose to stay and become Soviet citizens.

However, due to the brave and strong fighting will of the Finns, Finland did not become a puppet regime and also escaped the same fate as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and other countries. Several formerly independent countries were eventually annexed by the Soviet Union. More than a million Baltic residents disappeared from Soviet Gulag labor camps, most of whom were shot or killed by overwork.

For the Soviet Union, although the Soviet army finally won the war and conquered Finland, it paid a high price: 273,000 people died - more than 10 times the death toll in Finland. Hundreds of thousands were injured; hundreds of aircraft were also lost. When a Soviet general was asked what he had gained from the war, he replied, "We have won enough land to bury our dead."

The air battle of the Soviet-Finnish War can be said to be based on A typical example of defeating more with less and defeating the superior with the inferior. Facing the powerful Soviet Air Force, the Finnish Air Force relied on its strong fighting will and effective tactics to deal a heavy blow to the Soviet Air Force. It shot down 521 Soviet aircraft in one attack, while only losing 62 aircraft of its own. 10 Finnish pilots piloted "Fokker" fighter jets and shot down 68 Soviet bombers and fighter jets, earning the title of ace pilot. The Finnish Air Force defeated the Soviet Air Force's systematic bombing campaign, undoubtedly saving the lives of many Finnish civilians.