Do you know the best war hunter in the world?

 Simo Häyhä, known as the "White Death," murdered at least 500 enemy soldiers in less than 100 days during the Winter War.

In 1939, at the start of World War II, Josef Stalin invaded Finland by sending more than 500,000 soldiers across Russia's western border. It was a decision that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives and marked the start of the Simo Häyhä legend.

The two nations fought in the Winter War for three months, and in an unexpected turn of events, Finland—the underdog—came out on top.

The Soviet Union suffered a shocking defeat as a result. When he invaded, Stalin thought Finland would be a simple target. He had good justification because the odds were clearly in his favour.

Soon after the war, Simo Häyhä. His wartime wound left scars on his face.

In contrast to Finland's army, which only numbered 300,000 soldiers, the Soviet army marched into Finland with some 750,000 soldiers. The smaller Nordic country has less than 100 planes and a few tanks.

In contrast, the Red Army had more than 3,000 aircraft and nearly 6,000 tanks. It seems that they could never possibly lose.

The Russians lacked Simo Häyhä, a small-framed farmer turned sniper, but the Finns did.

When Simo Häyhä turns into The White Death۔

Simo Häyhä and the new rifle he received as a present from the Finnish army.

The mild-mannered Häyhä, who was only five feet tall, was not frightening and was actually extremely simple to miss, which may have been why he was perfect for sniping.

He served his mandatory year in the military when he was 20 years old, as did many other residents, and then went back to his peaceful life of farming, skiing, and small game hunting. Although he was well-known in his tiny community for his shooting prowess and enjoyed competing in matches in his spare time, his true test was yet to come.

Häyhä was called into action since he had served in the military before Stalin's forces entered.He took his old revolver out of storage before going to work It was a vintage Russian gun that had no telescopic lens and had a basic design.

Häyhä received substantial, all-white camouflage with his fellow Finnish military troops, which was essential amid the several feet of snow that covered the ground. The soldiers could effortlessly merge into snowbanks because they were completely covered.

Häyhä performed what he did best while wearing his white suit and his go-to firearm. He prepared himself with a day's worth of food and numerous clips of ammo because he preferred to operate alone, then crept covertly through the forest. He would lie in wait for the Red Army to cross his path after he located a location with adequate view.

And they stumbled.

Winter War of Simo Häyhä

Finnish snipers camped out in a foxhole behind snowbanks.

Häyhä used his outdated gun to kill all 500 to 542 Russian soldiers he encountered during the roughly 100-day Winter War. Häyhä was fighting with an iron sight, which he believed offered him a more accurate target, while his comrades were utilising cutting-edge telescopic lenses to zoom in on their targets.

Additionally, he observed that numerous targets had been alerted by the light reflecting off of the more recent sniper lenses, and he was desperate to avoid that fate.

Although his plan kept him alive, missions were never simple for Häyhä. Conditions were harsh, to start with. The days were brief, and the evenings' low temperatures seldom ever rose above zero.

As the war comes to an end, a close call

Simo Häyhä's adversaries were swarming the Soviet trenches, and it was only a matter of time before he was apprehended.

Simo Häyhä quickly established himself as the elusive shooter who waited in the snow and was known to the Russians as the "White Death."

The White Death was frequently the focus of Finnish propaganda, and in the imaginations of the populace, he evolved into a myth, a protector spirit who could move through the snow like a ghost

The Finnish High Command gave Häyhä a brand-new, specially made sniper weapon as a gift after learning of his talent.

Unfortunately, the "White Death" ultimately struck 11 days before the Winter War came to a conclusion. He was shot in the jaw by a Soviet soldier who saw him and put him in an 11-day coma.