Battle of Kelja The Battle of Kelja , fought from December 25 to December 27 , 1939 in and around the village of Kelja ( now Portovoe , Priozersky District , Leningrad Oblast , Russia ) , was a part of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union . Prelude . In the weeks before the Soviet attack , the whole Taipale sector had been under heavy shelling and daily infantry attacks . These attacks were all repulsed , mainly by Finnish artillery . The infantry attacks had reached their climax on December 17 , and abruptly ceased the next day . However , the shelling increased in intensity , and lasted throughout the invasion . In the final days before the main attack , Finnish reconnaissance planes reported the arrival of the Soviet 4th Rifle Division , and ground patrols reported unusually high amounts of Soviet soldiers in the area . Battle . December 25 . The attack began early in the morning , with Soviet soldiers crossing the iced - over Lake Suvanto under the cover of darkness . With the help of dense snowfall , the attack achieved nearly total surprise . The Soviets unleashed a massive artillery barrage on Patoniemi Fort , away from the main attack at Kelja . When the first Soviet soldiers reached the beachhead , artillery finally opened up on rear Finnish positions . This caused confusion as to the size of the attack , including the company defending the beachhead reporting the attack as “ nothing unusual ” . Eventually , three beachheads were established at Patoniemi , Volossula , and Kelja . Finnish artillery was able to repel the second and third waves of reinforcements , however a battalion had already landed at each of the three beachheads . At the Patoniemi sector , the Soviets had deployed their heavy machine guns on the flanks of the Finns before they realised what was happening . The defenders were able to stall the attack long enough to alert their battalion headquarters . Finnish command reacted swiftly , committing a reserve battalion to the defence , and within a few hours the majority of the attackers had been pushed back across the ice or destroyed . However , sporadic resistance lasted until evening , when the area was finally cleared . The Volossula sector was put on alert after the regimental headquarters was informed of the Patoniemi landings . After reporting that there were no Soviet forces in sight , they were ordered to advance towards Patoniemi . However , the Soviet troops began landing on the shores and they were forced to deal with them before advancing . The Finnish battalion sent to reinforce the company defending the beach was hit by an artillery barrage , but nevertheless reached the objective within an hour . When they got there , the Soviets were already starting to dig in . Intense fighting ensued , and the Soviets were pushed back across the ice with heavy casualties . At the Kelja sector , the battalion commander received reports of Soviet forces crossing the ice . Finnish artillery opened up immediately and prevented the left wing of the attack from reaching the shores . By the time the battalion reserves could be mobilised , the rest of the attacking forces were already at the edge of the field near Kelja . A Finnish counter - attack managed to push them back to the edge of the forest with the help of an artillery barrage . The Soviet troops dug in and managed to repel another counter - attack , with fighting lasting throughout the day . December 26 . Throughout the day , the Soviets tried to send reinforcements across the ice , most of which were repulsed by Finnish artillery . Two more counter - attacks against the dug - in Soviet positions failed , as the situation became more serious . The Finnish command decided an immediate and decisive attack was needed to defuse the situation . Early in the morning on December 26 , the attack began as a company of Finns advanced towards the Soviets . Without artillery , the mortars they were promised and under heavy fire , they were forced to retreat . Another attack , this time with two companies , began later that day . The attack made some gains early on , but after using most of their ammunition and coming under a heavy artillery bombardment , they were forced to withdraw . The rest of the battalion was ordered to hold their positions and stop reinforcements from crossing the ice . Throughout the night , the Soviet 4th division made repeated attempts to reinforce their positions on the shore , but because of the clear moonlight , all were repulsed by Finnish artillery . Nearly a regiment took part in these attacks , which were disastrous . Finnish observers reported “ . . . the ice is littered with piles of bodies . . . ” . December 27 . The Finns launched yet another counter - attack after the Soviets were bombarded by artillery . This attack failed due to heavy machine gun fire , and they were forced to withdraw again . Then , later that day , another counter - attack with more artillery support was launched . This was a success , as the battered Finnish company managed to infiltrate Soviet positions . After over seven hours of continuous fighting , the majority of Soviet resistance collapsed , though with a high cost . By the morning of December 28 , the area was entirely cleared , and the Battle of Kelja was over . Conclusion . Although the attack eventually failed , it did succeed in draining the Taipale sector of its reserves . The Finns were so short on manpower that reserves from the Western Isthmus had to be relocated to Taipale , further weakening the area . However , they did capture much desperately needed equipment from the Soviets , including 12 anti - tank guns , 140 machine gun s , 200 light machine gun s and 1500 rifle s .