The Finnish side
At the end of November, the Finnish army had deployed on
the Karelian Isthmus some 133 000 men, which was some 42 % of the
total number of men in the defense forces.
The II Corps under the command of Lt.General H.Öhquist ,
had 65 400 men and the III Corps under the command of Major General
A.E.Heinrichs , 45 600 men.
The delaying / covering groups of Uusikirkko (U-Group),
Muolaa (M-Group), Lipola (L-Group) and Rautu (R-group) had a combined
total of 21 600 men, which have been counted into the Corps numbers
above. The delaying groups were consisted of separate companies, divisional
light detachments, Jaeger Battalions, separate artillery batteries
and border guard companies in addition to the HRR, URR and the 3.Pr
shown on the map.
In addition to the above, the commander of the Isthmus Army,
Lt. General H. Österman , had 22 000 men under his command
in other duties.
The Soviet side
On the Karelian Isthmus, The Red Army had the 7th Army, led
by Army Commander 2nd Class V. F. Jakolev , facing the Finnish
defenders. The supreme commander of military actions in the Leningrad
military district was Army Commander 2nd Class K. A. Meretskov .
The 7th Army had two Corps, the 19th Corps on the
west and the 50th Corps on the east. The 7th Army was supported by
the 10th Tank Corps (3 Tank Brigades), and at least by 4 artillery
regiments of the Soviet High Command.
The total strength of the Soviet forces on the
isthmus, when the war started was some 180 000 - 190 000 men, over
900 artillery pieces (including mortars) and between 1 400 - 1 450
tanks. The Leningrad area coastal batteries and the Red Navy on the
Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga was to provide support along the coastline.
The air strength in the Leningrad district was estimated to be around
700 planes.
From these forces, some 60 - 70 % were in the first wave to fight
the Finnish delaying forces. The numerical superiority in men was
only a little over 1,5 times bigger, but in the weight of fire the
defenders were woefully outmatched. The most critical handicap was,
that against the armored forces of the Red Army, 1400 + tanks, the
Isthmus Army had a total of 67 antitank guns!
