 The Suomussalmi – Raate was a double operation , which would later be used by military academics as a classic example of what well @-@ led troops and innovative tactics can do against a much larger adversary . Suomussalmi was a small provincial town of 4 @,@ 000 . The area has long lakes , many wild forests and few roads . The Finnish command believed that the Soviets would not attack here , but the Red Army committed two divisions to the area with orders to cross the wilderness , capture the city of Oulu and effectively cut Finland in two . There were two roads leading to Suomussalmi from the frontier : the northern <unk> road and the southern Raate road . 
