Chapter 586: Crimea

In fact, Akado had the precise sailing time from Germany to Malaysia. The journey was not actually long, only two months and six days. This was the precise time obtained by a German submarine visiting Japan in another timeline. If the time spent evading British anti-submarine forces in the Atlantic were excluded, the sailing time could probably be compressed to under two months.

For a fleet that was not particularly large, this was really just a somewhat unfamiliar long-range training voyage. After all, most of the time they would not have to fight, but would just be sailing on the sea.

As for what the situation in the Pacific would be like after they arrived two months later, it no longer mattered. This sortie had been for political purposes from the beginning, mainly for long-range naval training. And as for the actual results that could be achieved, not many people were paying attention. Australia, naturally, could not be held. Chamberlain was very clear on this point.

One might ask, if the United States knew that defending Australia had become a difficult matter, would it not let Australia lean towards Northern Britain? In any case, Northern Britain, or rather Germany behind it, had no ability to take over this Australia. In the end, this Australia would inevitably be decided by the United States and Britain—such a simple political maneuver.

On the contrary, Northern Britain could not ignore such a defection. After all, the colonies of the former British Empire that now recognized Northern Britain were few and far between. Now that a large colony had taken the initiative to recognize Northern Britain’s status, Chamberlain would certainly accept it. It was just a matter of course.

So would Japan give up its aggression just because the master behind Australia had changed from Britain and America to Germany? Clearly, that was impossible. The Japanese had recently defeated the Americans and considered themselves the hegemon of the Pacific. How could they possibly be concerned about a distant Germany with no foundation in the Pacific?

In fact, everyone was just putting on a show, taking one step at a time. Politics is just lip service, isn’t it? Australia, at the behest of the United States, throwing itself into Germany’s arms caused no losses. Germany could not really extend its hand into the Pacific, and Japan’s invasion of Australia was a foregone conclusion. It could not give up the attack because of a distant Germany. Thus, a declaration of war between Germany and Japan was inevitable. But the declaration was one thing, and actually fighting was another.

Germany symbolically sent its fleet to the Pacific to show its face. The superficial effort was greater than the actual effect, the purpose being only to appease Northern Britain. And for Japan to take Australia was a settled national policy; it would not be changed because of a single statement from Australia. Everyone was methodically carrying out their own strategy. It was only because of a successful diplomatic trap by the United States that both Germany and Japan had declared war but were not fighting.

Under the dim lights, a short man sat in a chair with a worried expression. He held a wine glass in his hand and looked at the Marshal standing to the side. Now, the two of them were both traitors to the Soviet Union, pitiful people who could not return home.

These two were Khrushchev and Voroshilov, who had retreated to the Crimean Peninsula and southern Ukraine. They had led their routed troops all the way here but did not dare to return to Moscow to report to Stalin. So they had, in a semi-independent state, annexed the Crimea, and no one had questioned it.

About 10 divisions of troops had secretly left them and had returned to the main front to join the standoff with the Germans. These departing troops were commended by Stalin, and no blame was laid on them.

However, Voroshilov and Khrushchev still had nearly 300,000 troops in their hands. They were full of confidence in defending the Crimean Peninsula. Khrushchev had even used this to bargain with Stalin, attempting to hold on to the Crimean Peninsula forever and to be an uncrowned king.

But being an uncrowned king was not as easy as he had imagined. After all, the Crimea had originally had some troops, and it also had to store naval supplies. So after a month of confrontation and attrition, Khrushchev suddenly found that his own reserve supplies were almost used up. The large number of troops was now not good news for him, but a heavy burden.

Although the supplies that the Soviet Union had stored for the fleet in the Crimea were not small, and the grain was absolutely sufficient, who would have thought that the nearly 500,000 troops who had retreated to the Crimea in one go had not brought a single grain of food with them? This had made the grain reserves in the Crimean region a bit tight. In addition, having supplied the large army for a month, the remaining grain would probably be eaten up by the army in a few more months.

It was conceivable that Khrushchev would not receive any reinforcements from Stalin. His troops also did not have the courage to counter-attack and retake some areas. The idea of negotiating with the Germans to buy grain had also died in the womb. After all, if he were to be branded a collaborator, Khrushchev would be completely on the opposite side of the Soviet Union. Although he was not on friendly terms with Stalin now, it was, after all, just a tacit understanding, and they had not truly torn off all pretenses.

“Has Moscow treated our telegrams as waste paper? Are they not planning to provide the rations and ammunition for an army of 300,000?” Marshal Voroshilov was more anxious than Khrushchev. He knew what the current situation of his troops was.

Although they were still far from the point of not being able to open the pot, the lack of ammunition replenishment meant that the army’s weapon reserves in the entire Crimean region could only be considered barely sufficient. Once the German army launched a large-scale offensive, then he and Khrushchev would have no ability to stop the Germans from entering the Crimean Peninsula, and the Soviet Union would lose its entire Black Sea Fleet due to internal strife.

And in fact, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet was already no different from being destroyed. The deteriorating diplomatic environment with Turkey had caused the Black Sea Fleet to lose a large amount of room to maneuver, and it was also unable to go to sea to conduct Mediterranean operations against Germany. So the Soviets had transferred a large number of naval sailors to land to participate in defense and combat.

The educational level of the Soviet Navy was far higher than that of the Army, and their training was also more thorough, so their demonstrated combat effectiveness was also stronger. These Soviet sailors were used as elite infantry and were deployed to key positions on the Crimean Peninsula.

“The only content of the telegrams Stalin is sending now is to tell you and me to return to Moscow at once. He is not even willing to give us two a guarantee of safety. Apart from telling us to return to Moscow immediately, he says nothing else,” Khrushchev said, taking a despondent sip of wine and letting out a drunken sneer.

Gritting his teeth, Voroshilov finally said, “If it comes to it, we can transfer 100,000 troops north and give them to Zhukov. He owes us a favor, so he will certainly accept this force. We can trade them for some munitions or something, to stabilize the situation here and hold on for another year or half a year?”

“Then how can the remaining 200,000 of us continue to hold the entire Crimea? At that time, the moment the Germans attack, we won’t even have the capital to bargain,” Khrushchev said listlessly, standing up. He swayed over to Voroshilov’s side, patted his shoulder, and said, “Old friend! We’ve been… screwed by Stalin! He first flirted with the Germans… and then… hic… hooked up with the Americans. In the end… in the end, when we were completely unprepared… he sent us to the front to supervise the battle and launch an offensive against the Germans… And now… now he wants the two of us to take the blame for the defeat!”

Who was it that told Stalin that victory was a sure thing this time? Who was it that was clamoring to go to the front, crying and shouting to be loyal to the country? Wasn’t it you? Voroshilov sighed. He was the one who had been caught in the crossfire. At that time, he had been a little ill and had been dragged to the front by Khrushchev.

Thinking of this, he shook his head, pointed to the map of the Crimea hanging on the wall of Khrushchev’s office, and said helplessly, “We are strengthening the fortifications of several fortresses, but we are short of raw materials, and the number of cannons is also insufficient. More importantly, we lack a screening force on the perimeter.”

Zhukov had not deployed many troops in the direction of the Crimea, so once the battle between the two sides began, it was very likely that the entire Crimean region would be abandoned. This way, the Soviet side would also shorten its defensive line, and Germany could also reduce its defensive pressure. So to abandon this place was indeed beneficial to both the Soviets and the Germans.

If the German army were to attack, Zhukov would very likely immediately give up the entrance to the Crimean Peninsula and withdraw his troops to Melitopol, to organize a new defense there. And such a retreat would at least save Zhukov over 200,000 troops, which could be used to participate in counter-attacks in other directions.

Once this speculation became a reality, then the Crimea would become an encirclement, with German soldiers on one side and the vast sea on the other three. At that time, it would truly be a case of catching a turtle in a jar. And this turtle was none other than Khrushchev and him, Voroshilov.

They couldn’t win if they fought, and they couldn’t escape if they ran. The current situation for Khrushchev and Voroshilov could be said to be the end of the road. For this reason, Khrushchev had been drinking himself into a stupor every day recently. Although, because he rarely went out, his subordinates did not yet know about this morale-affecting situation, as his partner, Voroshilov was well aware of it.

“Things have not yet reached an irreversible point. If the German army wants to stabilize its rear, there are at least two places that must be resolved. One is the Balkan Peninsula, which concerns the security of the Axis’s oil fields. The other is North Africa, which is also equally important,” Voroshilov still offered a few words of persuasion. “In the short term, it seems there will be no military action against us here.”

“You’re right! Hic!” Khrushchev hiccuped, walked to his single bed, and fell face down onto it. “But all we can do is wait to die, waiting for the Germans or Stalin to have time to come and get us!”

Published: 2025-09-08T03:35:28.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-09T15:46:13.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c586-crimea-138391016

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