"Raudun taistelu" by Simo Eronen is a historical account written in the early 20th century. It chronicles the Battle of Rautu on the Karelian front of the Finnish Civil War from the White side, combining lecture-based narrative with battlefield maps to trace operations, logistics, and leadership under severe constraints. The opening of the book explains that the work grew from public lectures and introduces two detailed maps, then sketches the dire strategic
situation in Karelia: ill-equipped White forces, scant ammunition, improvised artillery repaired in Sortavala, and the need to hold the Vuoksi line despite weak reserves. After an alert from the border at Raasuli and a brave but outnumbered stand, the defenders fall back to Rautu station, lose it to a much larger, well-armed enemy, and watch as the station is rapidly fortified with brick-lined trenches, machine-gun nests, and strongpoints. The respite lets the Whites form a semicircular screen around the station through Mäkrä, Leinikkälä, the parish village, and Orjansaari, enabling repeated flanking thrusts—often led by Veikko Läheniemi—that blunt major assaults toward the church and Leinikkälä despite constant artillery fire and few machine guns. Reinforcements arrive only in dribs and drabs, including a single refurbished gun that boosts morale and helps stall an attack, while nearby the Valkjärvi sector briefly buckles before being shored up. Command passes from Kehvola to Ekman as the text emphasizes the enemy’s advantages from Petrograd’s proximity—fresh troops, ample munitions, tighter leadership—and the Whites’ exhaustion, poor clothing, and lack of rest. Yet a fierce resolve, fueled by the memory of Russian incursions and the defense of home soil, sustains the line as the narrative approaches the arrival of Elfvengren and a promised reorganization. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
