Chapter 775: Preparing a Way Out

In another parallel timeline, the German army fought repeatedly for the area near Kerch during the entire Crimean campaign. This also caused a large number of casualties for the German army and led to a seesaw battle in the overall Crimean campaign. In the end, when the German army captured the Sevastopol fortress complex, the more than 200-day-long Battle of Crimea finally came to an end.

In the present, the German army had the advantages of timing, terrain, and popular support. The situation was much, much better than the one Manstein had faced alone before. First, in the offensive and defensive battles in Crimea, the German army had cut off the Soviet Caucasus region’s support for the Crimean Peninsula in advance. Although this was caused by Khrushchev himself, it could be considered that the German army had seized the opportune moment.

Next, the Soviet Union had not, as in history, continuously strengthened and repaired the military fortifications on the Crimean Peninsula. Most of the navy’s funds had been thrown into the massive Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship project, so there was no decent investment in the civil engineering of the Crimean Peninsula. Many of the areas that were originally planned to have armored gun turrets installed only had an outer shell, with no real cannons inside. This could be considered to have given the German army some geographical advantage.

Finally, the Soviet army had no external reinforcements, and its internal elites had been consumed and destroyed. Although they did not lack ammunition, due to a shortage of troop replacements, they were simply unable to effectively counter-attack the German offensive. In the end, the entire Sevastopol fortress complex fell, and the pitiful Marshal Voroshilov was helplessly isolated near Kerch. At this point, the Soviet side had completely lost the support of the people, and the outcome of the entire Crimean campaign was thus decided at that moment.

Therefore, when Manstein had initially drawn up the operational plan for the attack on the Crimean Peninsula, he had decided to first attack the Sevastopol fortress complex. After taking down this hard nut, he would gain the sea supply line from Romania to Sevastopol, making it more convenient for the German army on the southern front to receive supplies.

“We must get the armored units rested and replenished to their pre-battle state as soon as possible. I need sufficient fuel, shipped directly from Romania. The issue of ships seems to no longer be a problem. Turkey has agreed to lend us 40 cargo ships, and Romania also has 90. This is enough to transport a large amount of supplies,” Manstein said, standing in front of the map and pointing between Romania and Sevastopol as he ordered his subordinates. “The port of Sevastopol must be restored to its pre-war level as soon as possible. The day after tomorrow, I want to hear that it can be used for normal loading and unloading of goods.”

“General, 10,000 replacement soldiers have already been assembled in Romania, including 3,000 local mercenaries and 7,000 Austrian youths and domestic soldiers,” the officer in charge of troop replacements reported. “The trains carrying these soldiers dropped them off at Tulcea, Romania, and then left.”

“Three infantry divisions are attacking fiercely in the direction of Kerch. The strength of the Soviet defense line is much weaker than that of the Sevastopol fortress. Our advance is very fast, and we are already approaching their core defensive circle,” the chief of staff said, pointing at the huge map hanging on the wall and giving Manstein a detailed account of the current battle situation. “Our army was counter-attacked here and here, but the Soviet army did not capture any positions. They withdrew when our air force arrived at dawn.”

It should be known that although the junction of the Kerch region and the Crimean Peninsula was also a long and narrow terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, without the support of the entire Caucasus region behind it, the defense line here was actually not as impregnable as it seemed. At least when the German army was attacking now, Voroshilov’s troops had been routed, and even faster than Khrushchev’s had been at Sevastopol.

“Report!” A German officer, holding a file, walked to Manstein’s side and saluted. “Heil Akado Rudolph, our Führer!” He was refined and elegant, clearly from a noble family. His clean face was a younger version of Marshal von Brauchitsch’s.

“Heil Führer!” Manstein returned the salute meticulously and then asked with a smile to Brauchitsch’s nephew, who had just returned from the front, “In such a hurry to come back from the front, is there something you need to tell me?”

“General! News just came from the front. Khrushchev’s body has been found. He died in battle on the path of the attack, which is in line with his usual style,” Brauchitsch’s son said solemnly. “His body has been found. It has been lying there for a day, but because of the weather, it is very well preserved.”

“…” Manstein was silent for a moment, then said, “Take good care of him, and then send him to the Wolf’s Lair by special train. I’ve heard that this former number two of the Soviet Union had met our Führer. I don’t know if it’s true. But the fact that he is dead now is also a fact. It seems we have one less opponent.”

The officer, who was related to the Field Marshal of the Army, immediately nodded. “Alright, General, I’ll see to it right away.”

Manstein watched him go out, then walked straight to the huge map hanging on the wall, looked up, and carefully examined the markings on it. He finally reached out and tapped the map with his finger, and said in a cold voice, “Since Khrushchev has been kicked out of the game by me, then now you… Voroshilov, are you ready for your own funeral?”

…

“It’s all… over, comrades.” Voroshilov, of course, knew his own capabilities. He now had only about 100,000 men under his command, which was a bit stretched to defend Kerch and the surrounding areas. What was even more despairing was that his situation was even more difficult than Khrushchev’s. After all, the ammunition reserves on the Kerch side were not as plentiful as those at Sevastopol.

Sevastopol had always been built as the core of the entire Crimea, so most of the reserve ammunition was also stored in this strong fortress. Although the Kerch side also had some reserves, it was not as much as the Sevastopol fortress complex.

With the war having reached this point, the early consumption had already left the Soviet army’s ammunition supply stretched thin. Now that the German army had taken down Sevastopol and had turned its guns on the pitiful Kerch, it made the Soviet army in the direction of Kerch even more desperate.

With Khrushchev’s defeat and death at the Sevastopol fortress, Voroshilov immediately felt the pressure on his front line increase. The intensity of the German attack was countless times stronger than when the Sevastopol fortress complex was still standing. Several of his positions were instantly captured by the German army, and his strategic depth was compressed to the point of near-collapse.

“Damn Manstein! He’s really relentless,” Voroshilov thought. He had originally thought that the German army would rest and refit for a while after the battle for the Sevastopol fortress before beginning their attack, but he had not expected that the German infantry would begin their advance almost on the same day. His troops were defeated again and again, and now they were almost beaten back to the gates of Kerch.

Compared to Khrushchev, Voroshilov was a well-known “good old boy” in the military. He was one of the early marshals of the Soviet army and had made an indelible contribution to preserving the mid- and high-ranking officers of the Soviet Union during the disaster of the Great Purge. Now that he was in trouble, his first reaction was not to fight to the death, but to continue to retreat.

Although from the map, Kerch looked like a dead end, and without a rear, this place was no different from a desperate situation. The entire Kerch region was surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the German army had already occupied the only land side. So it seemed that he, Voroshilov, was bound to follow in Khrushchev’s footsteps.

However, only he himself knew that he still had a way out. Not far to the east of Kerch, on the other side of the strait, was the Soviet heartland of the Caucasus. As long as he prepared a boat, it would not be a difficult matter for him, Voroshilov, to escape to safety whenever he wanted.

In these past few days, besides deploying his troops to deal with the German attacks, he had actually been in constant contact with Moscow, begging his old colleagues to plead on his behalf, to let him return to the Soviet Union and continue to command the troops in the Caucasus region to resist the German invasion.

His efforts were not in vain. Many officers felt that this marshal had indeed made a contribution to the Soviet army and that there was no need to force him to fight to the death in a place like Kerch. Khrushchev’s death had given this matter a way out. Everyone had thrown the responsibility onto the dead man, insisting that they were the victims who had been forced.

Everyone has their own selfish motives, and everyone has a side that is afraid of death. Once you give a person hope, the hope of living, then this person will not do anything desperate like a life-or-death struggle. The ancient tactic of “surrounding on three sides and leaving one open” when besieging a city was based on this principle.

Now that Voroshilov saw that his retreat was being planned step by step, he naturally had no intention of resisting to the death. He gradually contracted the defense line of Kerch, waiting for the exact news from Moscow. Then he would tuck his tail between his legs and run.

As for the lives of the Soviet soldiers under his command, he had no good solution. It was clear that the fewer people who knew about this, the better. Once tens of thousands of men had crossed the strait and retreated to the Caucasus, then the whole matter would be exposed, and it would undoubtedly be a huge blow to the morale of the frontline Soviet army. A group of people who had already been classified as traitors had been pardoned. Then surrender or temporarily disobeying orders would become rampant.

“Send a telegram to hurry them up. Ask Marshal Zhukov if I can move my command post to the Caucasus… forget it, just ask directly… when can I set off for the Caucasus.” Voroshilov knew his own worth. To bargain directly with Stalin would probably be met with a flat refusal. So he had found the frontline commander-in-chief, Zhukov, with whom he had had some personal dealings, hoping that he could help him. Zhukov, of course, had not disappointed him. He had decided to arrange a false identity for him and send him to the Caucasus region to be an idle old man who no longer meddled in military affairs.

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com