Chapter 436 Fishing Boat

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, which was the correct and helpless choice when the Soviet Air Force was inferior to the German Air Force.

Although from a certain point of view, 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.

Therefore, 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 attack of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade on the Perekop Isthmus had to be postponed.

Otherwise, Manstein would have nothing to do after taking Zhankoy and pursuing the victory.

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 when the Perekop Isthmus is blocked, the German army's supply transportation line will be completely cut off. Unless Germany uses air force airdrops, the German army entering the Crimea will not get a single bullet.

In other words, the fall 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 the Germans retreating!"

"Retreat? Where are they retreating from?" asked Katukov.

"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 such a 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. Only have local command of the sea.

Obviously, Manstein made sufficient preparations before this. On the one hand, he asked Sponek to fight and go to buy time, and on the other hand, he asked the German troops on both sides of the bay to 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, only a German version of Dunkirk.

"Initiate an attack immediately!" Mehlis ordered without thinking when he received this information: "The navy, and the army... and of course the air force, attack them with all their strength, and these invaders cannot be let out of the Kerry just like this." Wood escape!"

Shulka was at the headquarters of the Crimean Front at the time, and he prevented Mehlis from this obviously unwise move.

"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 insignificant... 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 use the total casualties At the cost of more than 3,000 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 by 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.

It is rare for the Soviet army to win more with less and achieve such great results with such a small price, but the Crimean Campaign did it.

"I think that in itself will get Moscow's attention!" Shulka said. "I mean with less and with such a disparity in losses. 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 losses of the Soviet army 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 but nodded.

His purpose is not actually to drive the German army out of the Crimea, or to win or anything else, but 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 playing, thinking that taking advantage of the victory and chasing after the game would lead to greater victories.

Now being analyzed by Shulka, not only is it not beneficial to continue to attack, but it will lose the victories already achieved.

So without thinking, Mechlis immediately canceled the order for a full-scale attack.