Moscow's Twofold Miscalculation; The Finns And Their Foes; Transportation Difficulties appears that the Soviet Army chiefs both under-estimated the fighting qualities of the Finns and paid too little consideration to the difficulties of campaigning in the Arctic winte. The Bolshevists have a profound faith in their infallibility and in the invincibility of their army, which is less justified than ever since the great purge of 1937 and 1938 removed at least three-quarters of the higher command and probably not less than half the more experienced field officers, writes a correspondent to "The Times."
Just now the operations in the far north around Petsamo are for the most part being conducted in darkness; while in the centre, opposite the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, daylight is only a matter of a couple of hours of twilight at midday. In the south the daylight lasts not more than four hours a day. However, when the ground is covered with snow there is always enough light, even in the forests, to see one's way, though objects at any distance are indistinguishable. The the Russians probably cannot see them at half that distance.
Up to about the middle of January the sky is usually heavily overcast and snow falls almost constantly, covering up all tracks almost as soon as made and making it difficult to keep to the paths that wind through the the forests and marshes in the most special windproof outer clothing, with thick: woollen underclothing, which is practically unknown in Russia, they must wear sheepskin shubas, which make long marches terribly exhausting and skirmishing Practically impossible.
Much has been written about the advantage the Finns possess through their skill on skis. Finnish skis are much longer and narrower than the familiar Norwegian type. They are fastened to the foot by a broad leather loop, for which Finnish skiing boots end in a long upcurled toe. This simple type of attachment allows the skier to slip out of his skis to shoot, and if he wants to return on his tracks he just steps out of his skis, reverses them, and steps into them again. On firm and level snow the Finns can maintain a six-mile-an-hour pace for hours on end. In a hurry they would be capable of 10 miles an hour for several miles. "To the Russians, except in the northern forest regions and in Siberia, skiing is merely a sport. guns, finding themselves ditched; for there has hardly been severe enough frost yet to allow the marshy country to bear the weight of heavy vehicles.
Intense Cold of the most comprehensive systems in the world, have always been regarded as the backbone of wartime But what is most likely to bring the Russian advance to a halt is the intense cold which begins about the middle of January. The most dangerous Russian attack appears to be against what is called Finland's waistline, between the north-western part of the White Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. This is roughly on the Arctic Circle, and here the temperature can fall to 50 degrees below zero. Unless one has experienced such cold it is hard to realize what it means. It is impossible to touch metal with the bare flesh, and an unprotected hand becomes frost-bitten roads mutes. Ordinary leather in a few minut From the military point of view it 1s doubtful whether the construction of huge military highways such as the Autobahnen can be justified.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.