Chapter 773: A Choice

Surrender… This word was distant and unfamiliar to Khrushchev. He had once used this word to execute hundreds, even thousands, of soldiers. Now that it was his turn, it instinctively filled him with awe.

In the nearly one year since the war had begun, tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers had become German prisoners. The families of these soldiers, far away in the Soviet rear, had also been sent as laborers to the frozen land of Siberia, to work desperately for the eastward migration of Soviet industrial facilities.

In Khrushchev’s eyes, he had participated in everything in this war. It was Stalin who had ordered him to supervise the first offensive, to attack that damn German border defense line in Poland.

That might have been the most successful defense line in human history. It had pre-set breakthrough points and ambush zones. The entire front was a giant meat grinder. Whoever attacked there would be counter-attacked and face a devastating disaster. The ridiculous thing was that the Soviet troops had charged into these ambush zones, still thinking they had broken through the German lines, and had cheerfully drilled into the pocket the Germans had left for them.

It was Khrushchev himself who had personally driven those elite Soviet armies into those terrible encirclements. These troops lacked fuel, had little to eat, and were even short on ammunition. Their rear was cut off by the German army, and bullets came from all directions, easily cutting off and surrounding the superior Soviet Red Army.

A battle that was supposed to be a great victory had turned into a one-sided rout. Before Khrushchev could even figure out what had happened, a million Soviet troops had been surrounded by the German army. Although they had fought bravely and stubbornly in the encirclement until the very last moment, they still could not save the Soviet army from its fate of defeat.

What followed was the end of his happy days as the de facto number two in the Soviet Union. He was forced to retreat south with his remaining troops to the strong fortress of the Crimean Peninsula, attempting to bide his time there for future development. But heaven did not grant his wish. The German army had broken through into the heartland of Ukraine in one go, and his guilt for the defeat grew larger and larger as the German-occupied territory expanded.

Now, he had to consider his own future. After all, the German offensive would clearly not stop for reasons like prayer. This time, the Germans were going to completely occupy Crimea and then free up the M Army Group on the long front to prepare for the next step of their continued offensive.

It could be said that on the German side, the script for Akado’s Eastern Front counter-attack had already been written, and he, Khrushchev, was the most unlucky fellow to be used as a sacrifice to inaugurate the banner. The German army would inevitably first eliminate the isolated and Stalin-hated Crimea in order to further concentrate its forces in the future war.

The outcome for Khrushchev personally was already doomed. It was just that he had never thought that this ending would come so quickly. After all, on the Crimean Peninsula, including the original outer defense line, there had been a solid 450,000 troops.

However, since the beginning of the southern Crimean campaign, in just over a month, nearly 250,000 Soviet troops had been annihilated or had surrendered. This was a result that the Soviet soldiers had barely achieved, even with the foundation of a strong defense line. And to eliminate these 250,000 Soviet troops, the German army had also suffered a full 40,000 casualties, with over 11,000 killed in action.

If it weren’t for the German army’s clear air superiority, if it weren’t for the fact that the Soviet Union had cut off all support to Crimea, if it weren’t for the fact that Crimea had not received any reinforcements since the summer, then Manstein’s current offensive would have been even more difficult. But history does not have so many “ifs.” Now Manstein had won, and he had won quite easily.

In fact, the Sevastopol fortress was a general term for a fortress complex formed by the connection of countless fortresses around a city.

With the city of Sevastopol as a reference, the entire city was backed by the southern shore of the long and narrow Sevresnaya Bay. The northern shore of Sevresnaya Bay and the Belbek Valley were the key defensive points.

In this rectangular area stretching for 360 kilometers, 12 permanent fortress groups were deployed, accounting for 75% of the total number of fortresses in Crimea. Each fortress had a typical Soviet-style name, but the German army preferred to call them by the nicknames they had given them.

The central area was guarded by the three huge fortress groups of “Molotov,” “Cheka,” and “GPU.” The horn-shaped salient on the southwest coast was equipped with the two fortresses of “Lenin” and “North Fort.” To the east were five combined fortresses: “Stalin,” “Siberia,” “Volga,” “Donetsk,” and “Ural.”

At the northernmost and most easily breached pass of the four defense lines was the “Gorky I” combined-turret fortress, which could be said to be the strongest fortress in the world. It had a twin-gun 305mm cannon manufactured in 1934, with a range of 44 kilometers.

The outer defensive layer was shaped like a battleship turret of the time, entirely covered with 200-300mm thick armor plates. Below the turret were three layers of permanent fortifications, each with a permanent concrete canopy 3,000-4,000mm thick.

In addition, to the east of the “Gorky I” fortress, the “Bastion I” fortress was set up as a forward observation post. All the fortresses were surrounded by permanent concrete armor plates and were connected by underground passages and small railways. In the mountainous parts, countless hidden bunkers and fire points were set up.

All the fortress gun turrets were installed in a sunken position and had an absolute advantage in their field of fire. Theoretically, it was impossible to carry out a ground attack on this defensive zone. And the designer had stored the basic ammunition for the fortress in the “Kurabe” main ammunition depot, which was 30 meters deep underground on the southern shore of Sevresnaya Bay, making it virtually foolproof.

Relatively speaking, the defensive strength of the southern and western parts of the city of Sevastopol was not so concentrated. Along the line from due east to southeast, only the three fortresses of “Bastion II,” “Kube,” and “Balaklava” were deployed. Interspersed between them were five main frontline infantry defensive positions.

To the west of the frontline positions were only three second-line infantry positions: “Uphill Heights,” “Vulture Heights,” and “Windmill Heights.” To prevent a maritime threat from the south, the “Gorky II” combined-turret fortress was set up on the southern tip of the Crimean Peninsula. Between the second-line positions and the city of Sevastopol was the “Soviet Mountain Range Position,” which was the last barrier.

Of course, many of these fortifications only existed on paper. The Soviet Union, whose naval power had been improved by more than a little with the help of Germany, had an unparalleled confidence in its ever-increasing number of battleships. Therefore, the funds originally intended for the Crimean fortress had been diverted to the navy for the construction of battleships.

It was precisely for this reason that these strong fortresses, which had given Manstein quite a headache in another timeline, were actually mostly just simple ground trenches and not-so-strong bunkers. The annoying 305mm cannon turret on the Gorky I fortress was still there, but it was just a lone palm unable to clap.

The Soviet soldiers defending Sevastopol were rather special. In addition to the ordinary Red Army, there were also marines and Soviet internal troops. These special units had strong combat effectiveness, weapons and equipment, and officer quality, and they were the last bit of strength in Khrushchev’s hands. At that time, the defending force was about 70,000 men, but they had only a pitiful 40 T-26 tanks.

The surrender of the defenders on the main peak of Roman-Kosh mountain had suddenly created a huge gap in the defense line. Nearly 10,000 soldiers had thus become German prisoners of war, and the few reserves in Khrushchev’s hands had been lost in this one surrender.

This surrender had also created a rift between the political commissars and the military commanders under Khrushchev’s command. Suspicion and accusations began to occur frequently. Some political commissars began to push out the commanders for self-preservation. Although a bigger mess had not yet broken out, it was clear that this army had no heart for defense.

“Comrade Khrushchev! Our men in the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment report that their company commander has shown dissatisfaction with you,” a political commissar reported, standing before Khrushchev’s desk, tirelessly reciting the small reports that had been gathered from all levels of the army in the past few days.

Khrushchev was now a little tired of it. His head was filled with thoughts of his own way out. How could he have the mood to care about such trivial matters? What’s more, he and Yezhov had launched the magnificent Great Purge back then. How could he not know the dirty little secrets behind these accusations?

A year ago, he, Khrushchev, was still a hot commodity in the Soviet Union, in charge of the political and ideological work of millions of people at the front. At that time, the Great Purge was just coming to an end. It could be said that there was not a single dissenting voice in the entire army. And what was the result? Wasn’t he now hiding in an underground fortification, sighing at the cold walls?

To fight on? Impossible. It wouldn’t be long before the entire Sevastopol would collapse. Khrushchev knew that even if a military genius like Zhukov were to command this losing battle now, it would only be a matter of delaying for a few days. Not to mention a “general” like him with no real ability.

He didn’t even dare to think of surrendering. He had dealt with surrendering traitors his whole life. If he himself were to become such a person in the end, even his own soul would not forgive him. The remaining options seemed very simple. It was just a choice between dying in battle here or committing suicide here.

Where did that fighting spirit and drive I had in my youth go? Since I can’t have a good end, I should at least live like a true fighter, right? Thinking of this, Khrushchev’s eyes became firm. Even if he had to die, he would not die a pathetic death by suicide. He was still young. At the very least, he should die like a true warrior, on the path of a charge.

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