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shocked
and friendly infantrymen, remnants of the defenders once holding the line in the area.
They reported that many enemy tanks were located in front. Small independent groups of
Finns still fought in forests, and Red Army was not well organized, nor was the Finnish
forces. A heavy Klimenti Voroshilov (KV1E) tank was called to support the advancing medium
tanks and took the lead when the company continued its advance along a bending dirt road.
Though enemy tanks were known to be near, in a meadow behind next curve, a Finnish major
believed that enemy could be beaten if attacked and so Finnish tanks were ordered in move.
As soon as the KV drove out from the cover of woods using the left side of the road, two
anti-tank grenades exploded on its reinforced, thick frontal armor. Heavy explosions
damaged the tank slightly and the gun couldn’t be used, so the crew bailed out
leaving the damaged tank under heavy enemy fire. Russian T34/85:s scored numerous hits on
KV, but couldn’t manage to defeat the KVs frontal armour plating This particular KV
survived the war and the picture of this tank shown below with all it’s hits still
clearly visible. T34s
stopped instantly and waited for better time to attack. It came soon. A
Infantrygroup, following the situation in the cover of the forest, reported that enemy was
retreating and the road and meadow were now clear. As the Finnish tanks rolled around the
curve again, two T32s were sighted nearby lying in the road. A few shots were fired before
Finns realised that those two tanks were damaged and abandoned.
Tanks of the company then crossed the glade only to be stopped before next curve by a
lone Finnish jaeger. An immobilised giant, a JSU152 assault gun weighing 70 tons, was
reported to be lying in the road just around the next corner with its 6 inch howitzer
ready to cripple any Finnish tank advancing along the road. The tank crews
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