Battle of Varolampi Pond
{{Short description|Battle of the Winter War}}
{{redirect|Sausage War|the 2021 UK-EU trade dispute|Northern Ireland Protocol}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Varolampi Pond
| partof = Winter War and Battle of Tolvajärvi
| image = Winter war ladoga.jpg
| caption =
| date = 10–11 December 1939
| place = Northwest of Tolvajärvi, north of Lake Ladoga
| coordinates = {{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
| map_type = Russia Karelia#Finland
| map_relief = yes
| map_size =
| map_marksize =
| map_caption =
| map_label =
| map_mark =
| casus =
| territory =
| result = Finnish victory
- Soviet attack repulsed
| combatant1 = {{flag|Finland}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
| commander1 = {{flagicon|Finland}} Aaro Pajari
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} Kombrig Nikolai Belyaev
| strength1 = 10th Infantry Division
| strength2 = 718th Rifle Regiment
| casualties1 = 20 killed
55 wounded
| casualties2 = 100+ killed
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Winter War}}
}}
The Battle of Varolampi Pond also known as the
Battle
On the night of 10 December, the 718th Rifle Regiment of the Soviet army swung around the Finnish rear of the Tolvajärvi front and attacked the lightly defended Finnish supply and artillery troops at Varolampi Pond{{in lang|ru}} [http://wikimapia.org/29390632/ru/Озеро-Варолампи Озеро Варолампи] Wikimapia situated along the {{ill|Korpiselkä|fi|Korpiselkä (kirkonkylä)}}-Tolvajärvi road.
The surprise attack saw initial success by the Soviet troops in advancing through the Finnish lines but soon faltered. The Soviet soldiers stopped to eat the sausage soup that the retreating Finns had left behind in their field kitchen. This gave enough time for Major Pajari, who happened to be passing nearby at the time, to muster men from the 16th Infantry Regiment (JR 16) Headquarters Company, and Third Battalion supply elements, which included field cooks, clerks, supply and artillery NCOs, to launch a counter-attack, accompanied by the battle cry Hakkaa päälle.{{cite book |last1=Chew |first1=Allen |title=The White Death: The Epic of the Soviet-Finnish Winter War |date=1971 |publisher=Michigan State University Press |pages=31-59}}
Fighting lasted well into the night and involved close quarters combat and one of the only cases of bayonet fighting during the Winter War. By dawn on 11 December the counter-attack succeeded in driving back the Soviet force and inflicted heavy casualties, with over 100 dead Soviet troops left on the field according to Finnish estimates, along with 20 dead on the Finnish side.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Seki32T1LAMC&dq=sausage+war+finland&pg=PA91|title=War of the White Death: Finland Against the Soviet Union, 1939-40|last=Irincheev|first=Bair|date=2012|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811710886|language=en}}