east of the city. During the next two days, the Whites also attacked the suburb of Messukylä in the southeast (taking over for a moment the Takahuhti village belonging to it) and the village of Lempäälä, 15 kilometres south of Tampere, but were repelled. White artillery started firing on the town, and the Reds were forced to evacuate the eastern working-class district of Tammela. The Whites captured the village of Kangasala, 15 kilometres east of Tampere, but using an armoured train, 300 Reds managed to fight their way through advancing White troops and flee to Messukylä. On the evening of 24 March, the Reds finally lost Lempäälä. The Whites were now able to cut the Riihimäki–Tampere railway, the main Red supply line. The Whites completed the siege on 26 March by taking the Siuro railway station on the Pori railway, 20 kilometres west of Tampere in the Siuro village. On the same day, the Reds left their defence posts in Messukylä, forming a new line next to the Kaleva district. The Whites also managed to capture Ylöjärvi, located 10 kilometres northwest of Tampere. After taking Ylöjärvi, the Whites instantly continued the attack on the western side of town in Epilä and south in Hatanpää, but suffered heavy losses and were pushed back. The Reds, in turn, launched a 3,500-man counterattack in Lempäälä, under the command of Eino Rahja. The Red Guards of Turku and Yläne attempted a simultaneous breakthrough along the southbound Helsinki railway. Up to 30 fighters were killed and the armoured train had to pull back. On 27 March, the fighting still continued in Messukylä–Kaleva area, Epilä and Lempäälä. Bloody Thursday On 28 March, the Whites suffered the hardest daily casualties of the war so far, in what was later called ″Bloody Thursday″. The Whites completed a large offensive in order to finally enter the town. The fighting concentrated to the areas of Kalevankangas Cemetery and the Hippodrome in the eastern outskirts of Tampere. The attack was launched at 9:00 am. After seven hours of fighting, the Whites managed to repel the Reds from the Kaleva district but could not reach the town. Instead of the paramilitary White Guards, the White Army now used troops composed of conscripts and led by Jäger officers. Conscripts were much easier to command and send into a heavy battle than voluntary White Guards. Instead of disobedience, the problem was now the lack