Chapter 608 Interspersed

It is easier to defeat them, but much more difficult to annihilate them, because they have to prevent the Soviets from escaping.

But this is not a big problem for the Germans, because they have 500 amphibious landing ships...

The Soviets should have learned a lesson from the German landing in the Kerch Strait, knowing that the sea water could not stop the Germans, but they just took it for granted that this kind of amphibious landing ship was used by the Germans to cross the Kerch Strait, and it would not be of any use in other battlefields.

So, the First Infantry Regiment drove the amphibious landing ship back to the sea again when it was still two kilometers away from the Soviet defense line, and the ship was fully loaded with ammunition.

There were also 20 "No. 4" tanks launched with the fleet, but these tanks were left far behind by the fleet in a short while... The underwater speed of the amphibious tanks was too different from that of the amphibious landing ships, so it could only serve as the second echelon.

Then, in order to prevent the Soviets from discovering the sound of the amphibious boarding ship motors in the sea, the Germans in the front launched an attack.

First, several flares rose into the sky, illuminating the panicked faces of the Soviets on the defense line, and then a piece of artillery shells whistled towards the Soviet positions.

Ironically, most of these shells were captured by the Germans in Solyon.

For these shells, Manstein's order was: "Don't worry that they are not enough, because there will be more ahead!"

Manstein was right. The Caucasus region, especially the Transcaucasus region, not only has a very important strategic position, but was also once considered the safest place in the Soviet Union.

It is not unreasonable to say that it is "the safest", because the German army has only two ways to the Transcaucasus:

One is by sea, that is, entering the Aegean Sea through the Mediterranean Sea and crossing the Black Sea Strait to the Black Sea.

But this road is obviously not accessible, because the Mediterranean has a strong British and American navy that forms a copper wall, not to mention that the Soviet Union also has a fleet in the Black Sea.

The other is by land, from the Don River through the North Caucasus across the Caucasus Mountains to the Transcaucasus.

Historically, the German army took this route to attack the Transcaucasus, and Hitler specially trained several mountain divisions to capture the Caucasus Mountains.

The problem is that the Soviet army also trained mountain divisions, and most of these mountain divisions were Caucasians who grew up on this land.

The right time, right place, right people, and the advantage of the Seagull low-speed fighter in air combat in the Caucasus made it difficult for the German army, which was good at blitzkrieg, to move forward here and eventually ended in failure.

Taking these factors into consideration, the Soviet army moved part of its industry to the Transcaucasus.

This approach should be said to be correct, because once the German army attacked the Caucasus, it would be difficult for the Caucasus Front stationed here to get supplies from the north, and the British and American shells, bullets and equipment were different from the Soviet army, so although they could get supplies from Britain and the United States, they would probably encounter supply difficulties.

Therefore, the Transcaucasus must be able to produce shells, bullets, guns, artillery, and even tanks to achieve self-sufficiency.

A natural barrier plus a self-sufficient industry, plus the warm climate, rich products, and almost inexhaustible oil in Transcaucasus, so even if Transcaucasus is blocked for a few years, it will not be a problem. Instead, it will become stronger and stronger. The industry here has even become an important supply base for the Soviet counterattack... This is also one of the reasons why the German army failed in the Caucasus in history.

(Note: The Caucasus Mountains block the cold current from Siberia in the north and gather the warm sea breeze from the Black Sea in the south, so the climate is very warm, and the lowest temperature is not less than 5 degrees)

No one expected that Qin Chuan thought of another way: crossing the Kerch Strait and landing on the flank of the Caucasus Mountains.

So, what lay before the German army was one supply warehouse or even arsenal after another, and of course, there was no need to save things like artillery shells.

The explosion of the shells immediately alarmed the army headquarters stationed in Novorossiysk.

Major General Sergatskov, commander of the 43rd Soviet Army, jumped out of bed, cursed, and hurriedly put on the military uniform he had just taken off. He opened the door and walked into the command center in the hall while buttoning his clothes, and asked the staff officer who was busy on the phone: "What's going on?"

"Comrade Sergatskov!" The staff officer reported to the major general in a panic: "We were attacked by the Germans!"

"How many people are there?" Major General Sergatskov asked.

"I don't know yet!" The staff officer replied: "But we saw a lot of tanks and the artillery fire was also very fierce!"

Major General Sergatskov looked at the map, and then ordered: "Order the artillery to fight back and suppress their artillery fire!"

"Yes!" The staff officer responded and passed the order down.

"Comrade Sergatskov!" Political Commissar Zhigashev also walked into the headquarters at this time: "Are they Germans?"

"Yes!" Major General Sergatskov pointed to the map and replied: "I think the Germans are worried about being surrounded by us in Solyonie, so they took the lead in attacking us in order to gain more combat space!"

Zigashev nodded in agreement, because Novorossiysk is a mountain pass. Although it is a strong defensive position, it is also a good place for the Germans to intercept... The front is only a few kilometers wide, and the Soviet army's several divisions cannot be fully deployed here.

"So!" Zhigashev said: "The Germans may just be bluffing, and they will not deploy too many troops in our direction?"

"Yes!" Sergatskov replied: "Because in addition to intercepting us, they also have to garrison Solyony, and at least one unit must be sent to fight against the two divisions of the North Caucasus Army!"

Under Stalin's order, Budyonny could only send two divisions to cooperate with the attack of the Transcaucasian Army.

"So!" Sergatskov continued: "We are not in a hurry. We will prepare tonight and wait until dawn to launch a counterattack against the Germans! Then we will make them regret setting foot on our land!"

Zigasev had no opinion on this, because he also knew that the Soviet army was not good at fighting at night... The lack of training troops seemed to be unsuitable for fighting at night.

But what Zhigasev and Sergatskov did not expect was that the Germans did not just stop them as they thought, but wanted to annihilate their four divisions in one go.

But it seems that this is not their fault. Who would have thought that the German army, with only two divisions of troops, would want to defeat the four divisions of the Soviet army in one go?

Before the battle of the Kerch Peninsula, even the German army itself did not dare to have this idea, but after that... the German army from top to bottom had no doubt that they had this ability.