The decisive battle against the Third Reich

After a night of rapid march, the 1st Mountain Division arrived west of Sudak in Crimea in the early morning of the next day and built a line of defense there... It is reasonable to arrange the 1st Mountain Division to build a line of defense in the mountains west of Sudak. The reason is, first of all, because they are mountain divisions and are suitable for fighting in mountains. Secondly, even if they were stationed behind Sudasi, that is, the German defense line, the retreat of the German 42nd Army would not be pursued by the Soviet army and become a rout.

This situation would generally not happen for the German army. Their retreat would be heavily defended and blocked at all levels.

The problem is that it is the 42nd Army, a force composed mainly of Romanian soldiers, that performs this task.

Romania is Germany's main oil supplier, but this country has been in a state of swing for a long time, that is, on the one hand it is unwilling to offend the Allies, and on the other hand it is unwilling to offend Germany. It was not until the defeat of Britain and France that they had to choose a side. Avoid destruction.

In fact, this is the fate of small countries. Just like Switzerland, Sweden and other countries, no matter how prosperous their lives are, they will never become powerful countries. In the face of disputes between big powers, they can only be fat meat on the chopping board to be slaughtered.

Because of this mentality, the Romanian army does not have much combat needs and its combat effectiveness is certainly vulnerable.

But even so, their quality is still slightly better than that of the Soviet army... The Soviet army lost about one million troops in the Battle of Moscow. At this time, the Soviet army was filled with a large number of poorly trained recruits, while the Romanian army at least had Trained.

Therefore, the Romanian army's performance in the subsequent battle was not satisfactory. Two infantry divisions and one cavalry division (the cavalry division rushed to Crimea for later reinforcements) covered each other and fought and retreated until Sudak. area.

The scene in Feodosia was quite another matter.

The Soviet troops rushed toward the German defense lines in batches, and fell in front of the defense lines in batches... The German army almost did not need to set up mines, roadblocks or barbed wire, because the muddy roads made the Soviet army's charge very difficult. .

Qinchuan once went to the front line to observe the fighting situation. In the aperture of his telescope, it was almost difficult for the Soviet army to advance because everything was deep in mud. The tanks made a "rumbling" roar in the artillery fire but could not advance half a mile. The cannon was trapped in the rear and pushed forward slowly by manpower, because the car towing the cannon was also stuck.

Those Soviet soldiers had helplessness and confusion on their faces. They were at the mercy of others and had no idea what they were doing or what the meaning of it was.

There were no foxholes or trenches to hide in front of them. There was no cover in all directions except for the bullets and artillery shells fired by the Germans.

What was even worse was when the Soviet army launched a cluster charge... Perhaps the Soviet army hoped to rush through the German firepower network in this way, but all this was obviously in vain, because more than ten Sevastopol soldiers Dozens of giant cannons in the fort have been used by the German army and aimed at this place.

Just hearing a "rumbling" sound like thunder, clouds of smoke burst into the sky in front of the German position, completely engulfing the charging Soviet soldiers.

When the smoke cleared, we could see the bodies of Soviet soldiers lying in various postures on the bright red soil, as well as their broken limbs. Many of them had even been blown into pieces and their whereabouts were unknown.

Such an attack by the Soviet army was of course foolish. They achieved no purpose other than consuming German ammunition.

But this is not the fault of those Soviet soldiers.

It is not difficult to imagine that there must be a scene in the Soviet command where people are making suggestions, but they are rejected without authority or even directly dismissed by Mehlis. The result is that the Soviet army still has to trample each one like a execution ground. He rushed forward with the corpse of his comrade in mind.

Qinchuan does not need to care about these. What Qinchuan needs to care about is that the Soviet army on the left wing has advanced 5 to 6 kilometers. In front of Feodosia, the Soviet army, which can only attack by force, suffered heavy casualties and could not replenish its personnel for a while. Coming up, a gap 2 kilometers wide and long was opened between the 47th Army on the left and the 51st Army on the right.

"The opportunity has come!" Manstein looked at Qin Chuan: "Everything is as you said, Captain. Your analysis is much more accurate than the weather forecast of meteorological experts."

"I have fought in Africa, general!" Qin Chuan said: "The Africans there believe more in gods, so they have witch doctors in their army. Before each battle, the witch doctors will tell them about the battle on behalf of the gods. The battle will be won or lost!"

"Hmm, what next?" Manstein asked.

"Maybe you can ask me whether I will win or lose this battle!" Qin Chuan said.

Manstein was stunned for a moment, then laughed, and said while leaning on Qin Chuan's shoulders: "It's a very interesting joke, Captain, you are very humorous!"

This is a bad joke, but a more traditional and aristocratic man like Manstein likes this kind of joke.

"But now!" Manstein continued: "I don't need to ask you this 'witch doctor'. I believe we will win this battle. Even if we fail to reach the end, our spirit will definitely be able to occupy the moment." Chigang!”

Qin Chuan understood the meaning of Manstein's words, and he planned to personally lead this mobile force to carry out the assault.

The "spirit" in Manstein's words can be said to be a portrayal of himself, or it can be said to be an encouragement to the morale of the entire army.

This mobile force consists of two infantry divisions and one armored division.

The German 30th Army has three divisions: the 28th Chasseur Division, the 50th Infantry Division and the 132nd Infantry Division.

Manstein organized the 28th Chasseur Division, the 50th Infantry Division and the 22nd Armored Division together to form a mobile force... The Chasseur Division refers to the lightly armored and fast mobile infantry, equipped with many three-wheelers and vehicles. .

In fact, the 50th Infantry Division was almost the same, because Manstein collected all available means of transportation during this period and even temporarily recruited a thousand horses from the Romanian Cavalry Division.

The remaining 132nd Infantry Division was arranged to continue to contain the Germans in Feodosia.

Manstein also gave this mobile unit a resounding name: "Grodek" Motorized Brigade.

Originally, Qinchuan didn't know what "Grodek" meant. After asking Colonel Slain, he learned that it was a poem written by a poet named Trakl. The poem was about spirit:

Spirit is fire,

And perhaps only as flame,

The spirit is an erratic thing.

It illuminates and makes things sparkle,

But at the same time, it can also continuously devour and turn everything into white ashes.