Today, two of the deadliest forces in world war 2 shall engage in a showdown. Finnish White Guards ,Finland's deadliest guerrilla soldiers that managed to push back Soviet Invasion, defending their motherland with sheer will and courage. Imperial Japanese Army, Japan's invasion device that butchered their way through China, South East Asia and the entire West Pacific, impacting Ally with their brutality and iron loyalty. Who will be the deadliest ?
Finnish White Guard[]
| “ | White Guards! Old Medes tales tell of the battle between Ormuzd, the god of light, and Ahriman, the god of darkness. When Ormuzd gives sunshine and rain, so Ahriman brings darkness and frost, as well as the desert winds. When Ormuzd tries to protect the people and lead them to the path of truth and purity, so Ahriman lies in wait for a chance to seduce them to the path of human debauchery and falsehood. This battle between light and darkness is as old as mankind.
— Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish military leader and statesman
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The White Guard (Finnish:Suojeluskunta, plural: Suojeluskunnat, Finland-Swedish: Skyddskår, literary translated as Protection/Defense Corps) was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. The Finnish term Suojeluskunta has received many different approximations in English, including the literal translation Protection Corps, and Security Guard, Civic Guards, National Guard, White Militia, Defence Corps, Protection Guard, and Protection Militia. They were generally known as the White Guard in the West due to their opposition to the communist Red Guards. In the White Army of Finland many participants were recruitees, draftees and German trained Jägers and not part of the paramilitary as sometimes it's erroneously thought.
Their central organization was named Suojeluskuntajärjestö, and the organization consisted of local chapters in municipalities.
Russian revolution of 1905 led to unrest and lack of security in Finland, which was then a Grand Duchy under the sovereignty of the Russian Czar. Citizen militias were formed as a response, but soon these would be formed along political (left-right) lines. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent independence of Finland also caused conflicts in Finland. On January 27, 1918, the Finnish government ordered the disarmament of remaining Russian garrisons with the forces of the White Guard, and on the same day, the Reds proclaimed revolution, leading to a bloody civil war. White Guards, led by General C.G.E. Mannerheim, constituted the bulk of the victorious White Army during the Finnish Civil War (1918). After the war, Finnish Defence Forces and a regular police service were founded. From 1919 up to 1934 White Guards were considered a voluntary part of the army, and separate Guard formations were in the reserve, but in 1934, all defence was consolidated into the regular army was and the Guard became a voluntary defence training organization only. Politically, it was neutral although anti-leftist, clearly anti-Communist and conservative and largely rejected by the labor movement and the political left. However, parts of it formed the main forces of the Lapua Movement's abortive coup d'état, the Mäntsälä Rebellion (1932). White Guardsmen served in the regular army during the Second World War. The White Guard was disbanded according to the terms of the Finno-Soviet peace treaty after the Second World War. (From Wikipedia)
In this battle, they'll fight with the following equipment :
- Name: Pukko (Everyone)
- A combination of hunting knife and combat knife.
- Short Blade (<100cm)
- Equipped on belts
Imperial Japanese Army[]
| “ | The sword is our steel Bible!
— Sadao Araki, Japanese general, core member of the Japanese leadership during WW2
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The Imperial Japanese Army was Japan's military superpower during the Second World War. They were fanatical and well-disciplined, but the Japanese war machine suffered as far as munitions and weapons were concerned. The Japanese Army steamrolled through Manchuria (a part of northwest China) and through the rest of the Chinese subcontinent before it turned its attention toward a defensive position against counter-attacking American forces. The Japanese slowly lost their hold on their islands through battles like Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Phillippines, and the Japanese war plan degenerated into little more than stubborn resistance until the atomic bombing of their cities, forcing their surrender.
In this death match, they will be armed with :
- Names: Gunto (Squad Leader), Type 30 Bayonet (other squad members)
- Leather combat cover, with length of 2 feet (Gunto).
- Length 51.4 cm.
X-factors[]
- Training:IJA.The Finnish White Guard consisted of both trained soldiers and not so well-trained militias, while the IJA were majorly trained Japanese soldiers.
- Experience:Even.Both groups had begun to engage in wars before the start of WW2, with Finnish guards struggling against Soviet invaders and Japanese Troops invading China. The Finnish had fought on various terrains, including mountains, forests and cities. They also adopted a lot of tactics, including guerrilla warfare, front-line engagements and so on. The IJA also fought in plains, cities and jungles, fighting with Chinese Nationalist forces,Chinese Communist Guerrillas,Marine Raiders British and Indian forces.
- Radicalism and Brutality:IJA.No contest. The IJA was known for their shocking war crimes , massacres and stubborn loyalty to their emperor, which enabled them to utilize suicide attacks. While the Finnish were certainly brutal, they are just outclassed by the Japanese in this category.
- Stealth:Finnish soldiers. Finnish soldiers are known for their stealth guerrilla tactics. The Japanese are also stealth, known for ambushing US and British Patrols between huge stand-offs, but they didn't rely on guerrilla tactics as much as the Finnish soldiers did, and they were also constantly troubled by Chinese Guerrillas ( both nationalists and communists) during their war in China, which greatly slowed down their pace of conquering China.
Battle[]
IJA :
FWG :
During a mop-out operation, six Japanese soldiers marched through a snow-covered forest in an attempt to eliminate Chinese guerrillas rumored to be hidden inside these woods. Little did they realize that a group of men dressed in white coats were watching them from a distance, steadying their Mauser rifles and pistols for the upcoming ambush. Minutes later the Japanese squad arrived at an abandoned cabin set in the center of the forest. The squad leader ordered his team to rest inside the house, while one soldier was given the task to guard the cabin.
As the Japanese patrol man wandered around the house, he sensed something peculiar moving on the hill beside. Alerted, the man blinked his eyes and pointed his Arisaka to the spot. The moment he was about to open fire, a bullet thrust into his back, pinning him to the ground, coloring the winter ground in rouge. Watching his target collapsing down, the Finnish captain who fired the shot signaled all of his men to kick out.
Hearing the shot, the Japanese inside the room immediately grabbed up their weapons and headed for the door, but they weren’t fast enough to match with the Finnish soldiers, two of whom had already made their way to the cabin from their hiding spots nearby. The first Finnish soldier to arrive fired at the window. The Japanese man behind it managed to take a few bullets while still standing, but another shot from the Finnish captain’s Swedish Mauser was able to pull him down. The Japanese captain held the man from behind, preventing him from falling down and creating a human shield. Then he fired his Nambu at the Finnish soldier with a Suomi KP 3/1, putting an end to his life by poking a bloody hole on his chest. The rest of the Japanese soldiers aided their captain, roaring their Type-100 through the window and the door, with the KP 3/1 soldier dead, their sub machine guns managed to dominate the field temporarily. Another Finnish soldier broke through the door, only to provide the Arisaka soldier a chance to pump a shot right into his stomach. Dropping his rifle on the ground, the man struggled to reach for his pistol in haste, but the Japanese captain finished him by slicing his neck with the Gunto. Tossing his human shield aside, the captain commanded his men to go out and banish the enemies outside.
Hardly had the Japanese soldiers reached the broken door when an Model 24 Grenade was thrown into the room through the shattered window. Almost instantly the Type 100 soldier was turned into minces. The Japanese soldier beside was also severely injured, with a wood spike piercing his left leg, while what seemed to be twisted fingers were sprinkled on the floor around him. Another soldier’s head was hit by the broken fragment of the door. The impact wasn’t fatal, but sent him into temporary dizziness. As he struggled to get his vision cleared, the Japanese captain retreated upstairs alone. Seconds later a white phantom hopped into the room and capped him with Lahti L-35. Little did he notice a click-click noise coming from a body lying on the floor behind.
“Yksi heistä ajoi yläkertaan kun taas muut ovat täällä. (One of them fled upstairs, while the others are all here.)” Reported a winter guard. However a string of groans dragged the captain’s attention away. The injured Japanese soldier kept on muttering and pointing at them, as if he had something to report as well. The captain noticed something peculiar gleaming inside the man’s eyes, something mysterious but dangerous, something that shouldn’t be shining in the eyes of a man with so many limbs missing. It reminded him of patients in Helsinki Mental Institution. He immediately demanded someone go up to the spot and check out what the man attempts to express.
One Finnish soldier went up to check, only to find the soldier holding an activated Kiska grenade with the remnants of his hand.
“バンザイ! (Banzai !)” The man managed to gobble out a single word before the bomb went off, tearing apart his eyes gleamed with craze and sheer insanity and the Finnish soldier frozen next to his body. The rest of the Finnish soldiers sheltered themselves behind the ruins and broken furniture scattered around the room. One of them wasn’t lucky enough to dodge a sharp segment, which was a part of the grenade and got sent flying across the room, poking into the Finnish man’s throat, twisting apart his artery. Blood gushed out of his neck and mouth as he knelt down, coughing in desperation and slowly becoming a silent corpse.
After the explosion was over, the Finnish captain and his last man got up. Before continuing to pursue the Japanese captain upstairs, they poked the body of every dead Japanese soldier in the room with their Pukkos and the butt of the rifle, so that they can make sure none of them would get up and attack.
The two climbed up the stairs, finding another door awaiting them. The last winter guard kicked it open and entered the room. Almost simultaneously, the Japanese captain charged out from a corner with a bayonet installed on an Arisaka rifle. The sheer force of insanity plunged the blade into the chest of the Finnish soldier, killing him instantly. To regard the Finnish captain, the Japanese captain let loose of the rifle and grabbed his Type-100 taken from the human shield downstairs, rushing out of the room, only to be met with the Finnish captain’s Finnish devil Suomi KP 3/1. He didn’t even have the chance to open fire before being transformed into a puddle of flesh and blood rubbed on the floor of the dilapidated cabin.
Mourning over his lost teammates, the Finnish Captain went back into the woods to contact other winter guards to capture the weapons left by the Japanese soldiers.
Winner : Finnish Winter Guards
Expert's opinions[]
Although the Japanese soldiers are better trained and known for their extreme measures, they're outgunned in almost every weapon category. With the addition of the guerrilla tactics which fits with the simulation used by the winter guards, the victory goes to the Finnish soldiers.