Time Slip Reiwa Japan

058 - Aftermath of the Sea

End of the Karelian Isthmus Conflict.

In the end, the Finnish government reached a settlement by ceding four islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Leningrad to the Soviet Union. They also agreed to establish a demilitarized zone of about 2 kilometers around the border between Finland and the Soviet Union. This became the Treaty of Karelia, which also set out the final resolution for the border between Finland and the Soviet Union in Article 1.

For the Soviet Union, this was a victory as they gained territory, but for Finland, it was a political victory as it prevented further territorial cessions. During the negotiations for this treaty, the Soviet Union offered Finland a mutual defense pact and an actual alliance, in addition to a non-aggression treaty. The price for this was Finland's withdrawal from the Warsaw Anti-Comintern Pact. *1

While this proposal was attractive to Finland in terms of protecting themselves from the Soviet Union, they declined as it would have worsened their relations with important allies such as Poland, Siberian Republic, and the Japanese Federation, which were crucial for their national strength.

. . .

Soviet Union

After achieving a military victory, albeit a small one (information about the units that were carefully and mercilessly burned was concealed), the Soviet leadership was overjoyed.

Stalin gathered the top brass of the army and served them vodka with a smile. He then gave strict orders to the navy to take measures against Japan, particularly regarding the submarine and battleship Musashi, which had shown its might in Karelia. The fear was that the firepower demonstrated in Karelia would be unleashed on Leningrad, the heart of Karelia.

The Soviet navy proposed accelerating the construction pace of the Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships, which had a standard displacement of 65.000 tons. Currently, six Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships are under construction in various shipyards in the Soviet Union, and their main guns are 15-inch guns *2 with a much larger caliber, although they have a slower firing rate. These guns are mounted in three triple turrets on a large battleship. Therefore, the Soviet navy estimated that if they had two or more Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships, they could possibly compete against the Yamato-class battleships.

But Stalin was not satisfied with that. His idea was to prepare for a scenario where the Yamato-class battleships would avoid meeting them at sea and instead target Leningrad. This could also be seen as a fear of what would happen if they couldn't detect them. Although the Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships were designed for speed, with a maximum speed of 30 knots, if the Yamato-class battleships moved at full speed, there was a possibility that they could evade pursuit. Therefore, Stalin ordered the Soviet Navy to increase their numbers. *3

. . .

Germany

The impact of the Battle of Karelia was not insignificant for Germany.

As a positive report, German military observers noted that the Soviet IS tanks were able to fight on an equal footing with Japanese tanks. This was seen as an indication that the newly developed IS tanks, which had previously been brutally overpowered in the Siberian War of Independence, could also be capable of competing against the German Panzer IV tanks, which were similar in technology and specifications to the IS tanks.

The German army and technical department cheered at this news, but the Luftwaffe was terrified by the overwhelming kill ratio demonstrated by the F-7/F-6 fighters in the Karelian air battle, as well as their impressive performance. At present, German aircraft manufacturers were putting all their efforts into developing jet fighters, which was Hitler's top priority. However, the development of jet engines was still difficult, and the prototypes that had been equipped with such engines could not be considered superior to the latest models of the German air force's main fighter, the Bf 109. Concerned about this situation, the top brass of the Luftwaffe negotiated directly with Hitler to obtain permission to develop an auxiliary fighter that could bridge the gap between the Bf 109 and future jet fighters.