Chapter 430 Psychology
"Shulk! Shulk?"
"Yes, Colonel!" Katukov yelled, pulling Shulka out of his contemplation.
"What are you thinking?" Katukov said with a smile: "Maybe I shouldn't interrupt your thoughts. To be honest, I like your dazed look, because often when you have this expression, the Germans will be serious." The 'trance' (meaning death)!"
The surrounding officers laughed.
"I was thinking about Zhankoy!" Shulka said.
"I guess it's the same!" Katukov nodded: "This is a great temptation, but I don't think it's realistic!"
"Can we bypass these highlands?" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov said: "It is winter, there is snow and ice everywhere, and we don't necessarily need to go along the road!"
"Yes!" Lieutenant Colonel Zakhakovic agreed. "We have ski battalions, and half-tracks... Now it's time to use the half-track! It's armored, and it can carry a small amount of heavy firepower and ammunition!"
There is indeed some truth to this statement, especially the half-track vehicle has good off-road capabilities.
But Shulka is not optimistic.
"We have too few half-track vehicles!" Shulka replied: "There are only more than a hundred vehicles, which means that at most it can carry more than a thousand people. Use more than a thousand people to bypass the highlands and raid Zhankoy..."
Katukov nodded in agreement: "Although the Germans probably didn't expect that we would use this method to raid Zhankoy under such circumstances, don't forget that their reinforcements are rushing to Feifei one after another. Odosia. And these reinforcements need to go through Zhankoy, in other words, there is no shortage of troops in Zhankoy at any time, and it is almost impossible for a thousand people to occupy it!"
Even if you have a half-track armored vehicle, after all, a half-track armored vehicle is an armored vehicle after all, and it cannot even fight against enemy light tanks.
"We may consider tanks interspersed together!" Lieutenant Colonel Zaha Kavic said.
The T34 tank has wide tracks, and its mobility and off-road capabilities are quite good, so this is indeed an option.
But Katukov still shook his head.
"I thought about that too!" Katukov said. "But it means that our march is not fast. Even if it goes well, it will take us a few days to reach Zhankoy. By then the enemy has already discovered us. intentions and prepare even traps waiting for us in Zhankoy!"
As Katukov said before, the enemy has no shortage of troops in Zhankoy, so they may lay a pocket for the 1st Guards Tank Brigade and wait for it to drill in.
Therefore, if you want to surprise Zhankoi, you must be fast and powerful.
Because only fast, there will be few reinforcements from the enemy arriving at Zhankoy.
If it is strong, it can guarantee the occupation of Zhankoy and build a good defense to resist the possible counterattack of the enemy in the future. Otherwise, even if it can occupy Zhankoy, it will be surrounded and wiped out by the German army in two or three times, which is meaningless.
To satisfy these two conditions at the same time, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade must penetrate along the road.
After thinking about it, Shulka said, "Maybe we still have a chance!"
"What chance?" Katukov asked.
"Reinforcements from the enemy!" Shulka replied.
"Enemy reinforcements?"
The officers, including Katukov, looked at each other in blank dismay. How could enemy reinforcements be an opportunity?
"Colonel, which troops will be the fastest reinforcements to Feodosia?" Shulka asked.
"According to intelligence, it should be the Romanian 4th Mountain Brigade!" Katukov replied.
"4th Mountain Brigade!" Shulka said: "What if they arrived instead of stationing on the high ground like the 46th Infantry Division, but launched an attack on Feodosia?"
"This is impossible!" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov laughed: "They should know that we have occupied Feodosia, and some troops have landed to stand firm..."
"Why not?" Katukov looked up at Shulka from the map, and said, "Shuerka is right, the enemy is likely to attack Feodosia!"
After a pause, Katukov pointed to the map and continued: "Although the enemy was forced to withdraw from the Kerch Peninsula, they are likely to be unwilling to fail, that is, to hold their ground in the 46th Division to keep Zhankoy safe. After that, they will hope to defeat us and retake the Kerch peninsula!"
"Yes!" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov couldn't help but suddenly realized: "For example, if they blow up the port facilities, then there is reason to believe that our landing equipment and supplies are very slow!"
The fact is that the speed of landing is indeed very slow. The reason why the 1st Guards Tank Brigade can be in place within more than ten hours is entirely the reason for occupying the highest priority. Even the naval infantry brigade fighting the Germans in Feodosia can only Use rubber boats and lifeboats to move ammunition back and forth.
As the battle heats up, more and more ammunition and supplies will be transported, so the number of new troops and heavy equipment that can land will be further reduced.
"On the other hand!" Katukov said: "Their follow-up reinforcements will continue to rush to Feodosia, which is the confidence for them to launch a counterattack... They will hope to drive us out of the sea and gain a firm foothold before us." Have enough strength to counterattack before!"
"Once Feodosia is captured!" Lieutenant Colonel Zakhakovic continued, "They can re-attack the Kerch Peninsula. Because the Kerch Peninsula did not receive effective reinforcements in time, it will still be defeated as before. !"
"Yes!" Katukov nodded, and then turned his gaze to Shulka: "You have grasped the enemy's psychology, Shulka. This is why you see farther and deeper than others. Then, How do you think we can take advantage of this?"
Shulka was silent for a while.
Although the facts are not as analyzed by Katukov and others... Shulka knows that the fact is that there is a disagreement between the commander of the 46th Division, Lieutenant General Sponek, and the commander of the 11th Army, Manstein .
Lieutenant General Sponek believed that the Kerch Peninsula must be abandoned to ensure overall security, while Manstein believed that the overall security could be ensured without abandoning the Kerch Peninsula.
So it can be said that it was an accident that the 46th Division was in the way of progress, but it was certainly not an accident.
Lieutenant General Sponek no longer has the intention to counterattack Feodosia, but Manstein is not like this. He still wants to end the battle quickly... This cannot be said to be wrong, because "the only thing in the world that can't be broken is fast", The gist of the German "Blitzkrieg" is to be fast. Once it slows down, it is likely to fall into a protracted and bitter battle. (The real Crimean battle was fought for more than half a year because it was forced to slow down)
After thinking about it, Shulka said: "Why don't we defeat the Romanian army and let them lead us to smash the German 46th Division's defense?"
(end of this chapter)
