Chapter 456 Fishing boats
Katukov is a steady offense.
He prepared for more than ten hours, and after Zhankoy had gathered enough strength and supplies, he launched an attack on the Perekop Isthmus.
The attack was also launched at night. This was the correct and helpless choice when the Soviet Air Force was inferior to the German Air Force.
Although in a certain respect, the Soviet Air Force should be on par with the German Air Force, because the Soviet Army has a numerical advantage.
However, the German army, which has an advantage in quality and quality, can always succeed in attacking a certain airspace with all its strength at any time, and the Soviet Air Force has nothing to do with it.
So, if the 1st Guards Tank Brigade attacked during the day, it would undoubtedly be brutally bombed by the Luftwaffe.
This is also one of the reasons why the 1st Guards Tank Brigade's attack on the Perekop Isthmus had to be postponed.
Otherwise, Manstein would have nothing to do after capturing Zhankoy.
The offensive of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade went smoothly. The German army relied on landmines, anti-tank guns and other equipment to fight and go. It barely blocked for ten hours, and finally gave up resistance and retreated to the Perekop Isthmus before dawn the next day.
After the German army entered the Perekop Isthmus, it was difficult for the Soviet army to continue to attack, because the narrowest width here was only 8 kilometers. The dense deployment of German artillery and anti-tank firepower in this area made it a bottleneck that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Besides, it will be light soon.
However, the Soviet army does not need to continue to attack, because they captured the gap, which means that they successfully blocked the German reinforcements and surrounded the German army in the Crimea. In other words, the Soviet army won the battle of the Crimea. victory.
All the officers and soldiers cheered, and Katukov immediately reported the good news to the headquarters, and Mechelis shouted excitedly: "Great, you are the heroes of the motherland, and what we have to do next is Annihilate those lackeys who have invaded the Crimea!"
This is basically not a problem, because the German army's supply transportation line is completely cut off when the Perekop Isthmus is blocked. Unless Germany uses air force airdrops, the German army entering the Crimea will not get a single bullet.
In other words, the destruction of the German army is only a matter of time.
However, the battle situation was beyond everyone's expectations.
After dawn, Katukov got the report: "Colonel, we found that the Germans are retreating!"
"Retreat? From where?" Katukov asked.
"Kalkinit Bay!" The scout reported: "The Germans occupied the Sami area, and then used fishing boats to transport soldiers through Karkinit Bay to Yamyansk!"
Katukov couldn’t help but keep his mouth half open and couldn’t close it for a long time. He didn’t expect Manstein to have this trick, and the situation that was originally a catch in a jar made him escape by sea.
This is mainly because the Soviet army always thought that they had command of the sea, so once the German army's retreat was cut off from land, they would have nowhere to go. Possess local command of the sea.
Obviously, Manstein made sufficient preparations before this. On the one hand, he let Sponek fight and go to buy time, and on the other hand, he let the German troops on both sides of the bay collect fishing boats.
The German army did not even spend much time collecting fishing boats, because many Ukrainians supported the German army, and many fishermen were even willing to help the German army transport them.
As a result, the German army possessed hundreds of fishing boats overnight. These fishing boats shuttled between the Karkinit Bay, which is only more than 30 kilometers wide, and batch after batch of German troops were transported from the Crimean Peninsula to the isthmus. Yamyansk at the other end.
It's kind of like Dunkirk, but it's a German version of Dunkirk.
"Attack immediately!" Mehlis ordered without thinking when he received this information: "Navy, and army...and of course the air force, attack them with all their might, we cannot let these aggressors escape from the Crimea like this. escape!"
Shulka was at the Crimean Front Command at that time, and he prevented Mehlis from this obviously unwise approach.
"Comrade Mehlis!" Shulka said: "The entrance to Karkinit Bay is narrow, and if our navy attacks it, it will expose itself to the double blow of the enemy's coastal air defense and air force. If it doesn’t work, it will cause us to lose many warships! In addition, let the ground troops attack, it is daytime, and our tanks will be exposed to the firepower of the enemy’s air force!”
"Should we just let them escape like this?" Mechelis said: "No, even some losses are worth it. We will never be intimidated by difficulties and casualties!"
"You're right, Comrade Mechelis!" said Shulka, looking around, and then, stepping aside with Mechelis, said in a low voice: "But, Comrade Mechelis. So far, we have The losses and casualties can be said to be negligible... In addition to the casualties of more than 2,000 people from the Navy Infantry Brigade, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade lost some tanks and more than 1,000 casualties during the attack. That is, we take the total casualties of three At the cost of more than a thousand people, the entire Crimea Peninsula was regained, and tens of thousands of German and Romanian troops were killed and wounded, and countless prisoners and equipment were seized!"
The latter needless to say.
Although the main force of the German army bypassed the isthmus and returned to the Ukrainian mainland through fishing boats, there were still many stragglers and Romanian troops who were lost in the Crimea. If they failed to return in time, they would only surrender or be annihilated.
In addition, the main force of the German army is to transport troops by fishing boats, which means that all heavy equipment such as tanks, artillery, cars, and even ammunition must remain in the Crimea and cannot be taken away.
But of course, the Germans would choose to blow them up.
The Soviet army rarely wins more with less and can achieve such great results at such a small price, but the Crimean Campaign did it.
"I think that in itself will attract the attention of Moscow!" Shulka said: "I mean win with less and the loss ratio is so disparate. If we launch another full-scale offensive..."
There is no need for Shulkado to say the next thing. The attack during the day will cause the Soviet army’s losses to rise sharply. Even the entire 1st Guards Tank Brigade may be wiped out under the bombing of German fighter planes. warships, the battle damage ratio will be evened out.
Mehlis couldn't help nodding when he heard this.
His purpose is not actually to drive the German army out of the Crimea, or to win victory or anything else. His purpose is very simple, that is, to win attention and add chips to his struggle for political power.
Before, it was because of the excitement of the game, thinking that taking advantage of the victory and chasing after the game would lead to a greater victory.
Now being analyzed by Shulka, continuing to attack will not only do no good but will lose the victory already achieved.
So without thinking, Mechlis immediately canceled the order for a full-scale attack.
(end of this chapter)
