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The Battle of Nietjärvi (15–17 July 1944) was part of the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union, which occurred during World War II. The battle ended in a Finnish victory. ==Background: U-line prepares to meet a Soviet attack== Nietjärvi is a name of a village by Lake Nietjärvi (''"järvi"'' meaning lake). The place is located in the Ladoga Karelia district, north of Lake Ladoga (in the southwestern corner of the Aunus Karelia frontier), in an area which belonged to Finland up to the end of the Continuation War (1944). Here, Finland's Aunus Group was in 11–12 July 1944, ready in positions at the U defense line, expecting an enemy offense. The construction of the U defense line had been launched seven months earlier on the level of Nietjärvi – Lemetti – Loimola, as the fortified line behind the PSS-line (Pisi – Saarimäki – Sammatus), which was the most heavily fortified defense line in the Olonets Karelia (north and northeast of Lake Ladoga). The frontline—up till July 1944—had been following closely the banks of the River Svir, which flows from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga. Before battles even begun Finns abandoned the bridgehead which they had occupied on the southern shore of Svir when troop transfers to the Karelian Isthmus made it impractical to hold. Behind the frontline there was a secondary defensive line before the strong PSS line for the Finnish Army to slow down the Soviet advance. The long awaited Soviet offensive begun with overwhelming force and managed to push through Finnish defenses at the front line. Attack stalled at the PSS line but combined effort from assaulting troops and from naval infantry landing behind the Finnish lines made holding PSS impossible for the Finns who started withdrawing towards U line while delaying Soviet advance. During the previous three weeks, the Finnish defenders had managed to delay and disturb the advancement of the enemy offensive, wearing down and eating away the sharpest edge of the Soviet attack. Withdrawing Finnish stopped at U line and after finding out the Finnish defenses the Soviets begun to make local probing attacks against the U-line in an attempt to locate possible weak spots suitable for a breakthrough attempt from the Finnish defense line. Decision was made to breach Finnish defenses along the main coastal road at Nietjärvi and advance to Kittilä. Reaching Kittilä would provide access to better maintained Finnish road network as well as several roads to Finnish rear areas (Sortavala, Värtsilä and Matkaselkä). In the dawn of 15 July, the formation of the Finnish 5th Division was as follows: The line between Lake Ladoga and Nietjärvi was defended by 44th Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ilmari Rytkönen. The 2nd Infantry Regiment defended on the northeastern side of Nietjärvi under command of Colonel Heikki Saure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Nietjärvi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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