Hold Fire!

Treriksrøysa on the boundary between Finland, Norway and Russia
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Okay, this isn't a "book" post, I need to step back for a day or so and consider the direction I'm going. While the Winter War isn't quite over yet (in the book, in reality it ended 82 years ago this month), I think my telling of it is finished. The reasoning behind that decision is simple.

I like writing about warfare at its lowest levels, telling the tale of those who actually have to fight it, not those who fight from a map or attend staff meetings. While those folks are important (seriously, some of them serve a useful purpose, especially those who do logistical stuff) I've always had a love for the grunts, the gravel agitators, the ones on the sharp end of the stick.

Frankly, the fighting in the Winter War continues on but in reality the politicians in Finland have realized by this point that they're screwed, they should have taken the "deal" the Soviets offered before the attack. They would have lost less land than they did.

While I could press on and describe the suffering from combat and the climate but really, what's the point? I've introduced a number of characters, both Russian and Finnish, who we will meet again later on in the book. Did you know that when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on the 22nd of June 1941 that the Finns joined in? They hoped to regain the territory they lost during the Winter War.

No, that didn't really work out they way they thought it would. Or rather, hoped it would.

I need to get back to France because the Germans are heading that way. I need to get Billy, Guillaume, Jan, and Jürgen ready for that event. I'll probably visit the Allied participation  in the Norwegian campaign. Like the Winter War it didn't last long, but it was pretty intense and really should have coincided with the Winter War, the idea had been originally to support the Finns by going through Norway and Sweden. Didn't happen that way.

So that's where I'm at right now. A short pause, maybe a day, maybe two, while I change the barrel on my mental machine gun, and let the Muse catch her breath, she's been very busy as of late.

I also need to catch up on my sleep. This was on sale the other day (half price on Steam) ...

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So ...

I've stayed up rather late too many nights in a row playing this, so my brain is just a bit worn out. You know what they say, "All work and no play makes Sarge a dull boy." But too much play makes Sarge a tired boy.

So you all get to suffer as I stoke the fires of my gaming addiction.

Sorry.

Not. 😲