ABSTRACT
People are talking about motti tactics as if the main objective of the Finns was to create them. The composition of a motti depended upon where the Russian column was cut and on what kind of troops and weaponry were isolated. The Russian soldiers were hungry in their mottis but their horses which were supposed to pull their cannon and supply wagons were even worse off. General Stepan Ivanovitch Kondratjev and his headquarters office were desperately trying to get out of the motti. Military strategists were puzzled at the passive behavior of the Russians but Mannerheim considered it almost predictable, According to the Red Army manuals and repeated suggestions by high-ranking Red officers, any terrain that had been gained must be kept to the last man. The Reds attempted a counterattack, hoping to nail the intruders, but at 0240, they were thrown back.
