Battle of Honkaniemi The Battle of Honkaniemi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces on 26 February 1940 . This battle was fought by tanks , the only time they were used in the Winter War . The commander of the Finnish II Corps , General Harald Öhquist , had attached the Jaeger Battalion 3 and the 4th company of the Armoured Battalion to the 23rd Division . The 23rd was responsible for the area around Lake Näykkijärvi , just to the southeast of Viipuri , the second largest town in Finland . Also , the 3rd Battalion of the 67th Infantry Regiment that was on loan to the 5th division arrived as well , giving the reinforcement that the commander of the 23rd Division , Colonel Voldemar Oinonen , needed to launch an attack against the Soviets . At 10 : 15 pm , the commander of the Jaeger Battalion 3 , Captain I . Kunnas and Lieutenant O . Heinonen of the 4th Armoured Company received orders to attack . The plan . The original plan had involved six Infantry Battalions , four artillery battalions and the 4th Armoured Company . However , due to the haste to get the plan up and running , the planners missed important aspects of the battle , therefore reducing the overall number of units to four Infantry Battalions , two artillery battalions and the all important 4th Tank Company . The assault . On the nights of February 25 and 26 , members of the Jaeger Battalion were carried by truck to Heponotko , which was about three km away from a depot in Honkaniemi ( now Lebedevka ) . They then skied to the start point at 4 : 00 am . The tank company arrived around 30 minutes later after a 50 km march . That journey , however , cost them more than they would have liked . Since the conditions of the weather and roads were equally bad , the tank company lost five of their 13 Vickers 6 - Ton tanks , mostly due to engine failure . Seeing this as a major blow to their offensive capabilities , Captain Kunnas split his remaining tanks between the 1st , 2nd and 3rd Jaeger Companies . Six tanks were to support the Jaegers while two were to help the 1st secure the left flank . It was decided that the attack would commence at 5 : 00 am , but communication with the artillery battalions failed ; so it was decided that they would try again at 6 : 15 am . When communications with the artillery battalions were restored , the time had come to attack . However another setback had occurred . During the preliminary artillery barrage , some of the shells landed at the start point , resulting in 30 Finns being killed or wounded . The attack had to be postponed by another hour . The beginning . After the initial bombardment by two artillery battalions ( the 1st Battalions of the 5th and 21st Artillery Regiments ) , the attack commenced . Nevertheless , the Finns had had another set - back , another two tanks had been lost to technical failure , thereby reducing the total Finnish Tanks to only six for the entire battle . Even after all these set - backs , there were more to come . The 1st Jaeger Battalion had advanced some 200 meters before having to halt under heavy fire from the Red Army . The 1st Jaeger Company which was covering the left flank , advanced towards the railroad only to be unable to cross it . The 2nd and 3rd Jaeger Companies , which were the main attack force , had advanced to 200 meters southwest of the railroad , but had to be stopped . Tank Backup . The 4th Armoured Company had one of the worst days ever . One of its tanks got stuck in a ditch ; the turret was damaged in the process and it had to retreat back to the starting point . The remaining five tanks were lost in a more honourable way , " being targeted by s , T - 28 s and 45 mm anti - tank guns " . The platoon commander ' s tank , Lt . V . Mikkola ' s , advanced the farthest , almost 500 meters , almost into the Soviet lines . Only two Finnish tanks were able to destroy other Soviet tanks , the tank of Corporal E . Seppälä , which had kept on fighting after being immobilized , had taken out two Soviet tanks before the crew had to abandon their vehicle . The other tank was commanded by 2nd Lt . J . Virniö , which had destroyed one tank before being damaged . Finnish retreat . Captain Kunnas received orders at 10 : 00 pm that he was to abort the attack and retreat . The Finns ' first tank battle met with an unsuccessful end . The entire tank battle had been fought with inexperienced crews and almost no radio communication . In order to save money , the tanks had been bought from the UK without guns , optics and radios , and some even without the driver ' s seat . Due to the lack of vital equipment , communication between tanks was impossible and the tanks had to act upon their own judgement . Aftermath . The battle caused the deaths of one NCO while injuring two officers and two NCOs ; three privates were reported missing in action . Even though the Soviets had a huge advantage over the Finns in numbers and weapons , the Finnish troopers pressed home the attack . On February 27 , 1940 , the remaining eight tanks of the 4th Tank Company were ordered to move to the Rautalampi area for anti - tank duties . According to Russian sources during the day of 26 February , six Finnish tanks were destroyed in two separate engagements . No losses to their own tanks were recorded . The journal of the 35th Armored Brigade states : " Two Vickers tanks with infantry backup advanced to the right flank of [ the ] 245th Infantry Regiment . Both enemy tanks were destroyed in the following battle . Four Vickers tanks moved to their help , but were destroyed by three T - 26 tanks of companies commanders on [ a ] recon mission . "