With winter coming on, the Red Army showed no signs of collapsing. Privately, Finnish leaders agreed that Germany would probably lose the war and Mannerheim suggested that his army had best seize defensive positions with an eye toward a negotiated peace. In the field, Finnish troops held the same opinion, and for the first time Finnish soldiers refused attack orders. Mannerheim shifted his veteran II Corps to the front north of Lake Onega and spearheaded its assault with the so-called "Tribal Brigade," composed of local Karelian volunteers. Their volunteer status might have been dubious, but their hatred for the Soviets was not.

The tribal troops pushed forward with an enthusiasm lacking in their Finnish comrades. They captured the village of Porajärvi and sent the Soviets reeling backwards. Many of the troops had been carrying on partisan warfare in the Soviet zone since the end of the Winter War, and used their knowledge of forest paths to speed the advance.