Chapter 244: The decisive battle before the decisive battle! Attacking Crimea!
But if it is really as the emperor said.

In the long battle with the Huns, they still won fewer battles than they lost, and a large number of their veteran soldiers died, leaving only new recruits.

Now we know that the Huns are about to launch a new large-scale offensive.

The Han Dynasty is very likely to continue to suffer a crushing defeat.

Many soldiers will narrowly escape death.

In a situation like this, even though Huo Qubing was fearless, he still moved forward bravely.

But Huo Qubing really couldn't guarantee that his soldiers would not feel afraid!
Even if it can be guaranteed.

He can only guarantee his own personal guards.

And those second- and third-line troops that are a little farther away from their command core.

These not-so-elite recruits faced an enemy they knew they could not defeat.

Faced with a suicidal combat mission with an extremely high mortality rate.

So will they be afraid?
Maybe it’s really hard to say!

……

While Huo Qubing was doubting and thinking, he continued to look at the sky.

[There was a reason why the morale of the entire Soviet army was low at the time.]

【Because it was at the same time as the Blue Action was launched. 】

【The Soviet Union had just suffered another disastrous defeat in a huge battle.】

[The Soviet Union did hold out for a very long time in this battle.]

[Compared to the previous battles where hundreds of thousands of people were annihilated in just a dozen days or one or two months.]

【Noticeably longer lasting.】

[But the longer the struggle, the easier it is to collapse after failure. ]

[This battle, which is considered a prerequisite for launching the Battle of Stalingrad, is called the Battle of Sevastopol, and it was also the battle in which Manstein was crowned a marshal.]

At this moment on the sky screen, the camera turned slightly to the south.

Moved to the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea.

[As an ally of Germany in World War II, Romania was an important oil supplier to Germany.]

[Soviet fighter planes taking off from the Crimean Peninsula could easily enter Romanian airspace and bomb the oil fields that Hitler regarded as his lifeline.]

【So shortly after Operation Barbarossa began. 】

【Hitler urgently revised the battle plan and added a mission to the Southern Army Group to capture the Crimean Peninsula.】

【The Crimean Peninsula has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. 】

[The Crimean War that took place here is also considered the first truly modern war. ]

[Under Manstein's command, the German army quickly occupied the Kherson area and opened the way to the Crimean Peninsula. ]

[And cooperate with friendly forces to attack Mariupol from Zaporizhia! ]

[Within five days, the Soviet Eighteenth Army was annihilated and 80,000 prisoners were captured.]

【Manstein, after defeating the Soviets in Zaporizhia and Kherson. 】

【Begin preparations to take a hard bite of the Crimean Peninsula.】

……

《Banmu: They are all familiar names.》

"There is no war in Zaporizhia."

"Add the Kharkiv region and we're all set!"

"I finally understand what a battleground is."

"Kharkov drag race, Kherson triathlon, Mariupol siege, there is nothing new under the sun..."

Modern audiences are talking about it, but the ancients have no idea what happened.

Instead, they continued to look at the sky intently.

[The Crimean Peninsula, represented by the Sevastopol fortress complex. ]

[It is built very solidly! ]

[The local garrison was supplemented by nearly 100,000 soldiers of the Primorsky Army who retreated from Odessa.]

[Plus, there is heavy artillery support from the Black Sea Fleet. ]

[The defensive power is very strong. 】

[The German army launched an offensive against Crimea in late October. After paying a heavy price, it finally broke through the defense line of the Coastal Army Group and was able to enter the peninsula on a large scale.]

[But the peninsula is full of Soviet transportation networks and fortresses.]

【With these fortifications, the Soviet Union can defend for a long time. 】

【Manstein wanted a panzer division, but he didn't have one.】

[In fact, Manstein's military strength was less than one-third of his opponent's, and he had no air superiority or sea superiority.]

[The only advantage is the German army's veterans and artillery advantages. ]

Outside the sky.

Huo Qubing was surprised to see that even the great Manstein had such limited resources at hand.

It's so miserable.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Manstein.

"Did Hitler of later Germany not trust Manstein at all?"

"With such limited resources, how can Manstein fight?"

"If Manstein was just a general, it would make sense to give him a small number of troops to exercise his subjective initiative."

"But Manstein is clearly a commander-in-chief."

“Give him all the resources!”

Huo Qubing became a little anxious after seeing this.

And the sky curtain continues to tell the story.

[With limited resources at hand, Manstein took the initiative to form an armored brigade with assault guns as the main force, and trucks and motorcycles as auxiliary forces. ]

[Modern warfare has proven that pickup trucks can also fight blitzkrieg, not to mention World War II.]

[This beggar version of the armored brigade occupied Simferopol, a key transportation hub in Crimea, at an extremely fast marching speed.]

[Separate the various Soviet army groups in the Crimean Peninsula. ]

[Starting from this Beggar's Edition Armored Assault, within just ten days. ]

[The German army occupied almost the entire Crimean Peninsula. ]

[This drag racing battle is another classic of Manstein’s. ]

[A lightning raid not only occupied almost the entire peninsula, but also captured more than 100,000 Soviet troops. ]

[With almost no resources, such a brilliant victory was achieved. This battle is worthy of being Manstein's masterpiece. ]

[But even a genius general would be defeated when facing a group of solid fortresses.]

[Beginning in mid-November, Manstein made several attempts to attack the fortress group.]

[They lost thousands of men, but still failed to capture the fortress. ] [During the defense, Sevastopol also received continuous reinforcements. ]

[With control of the sea and partial control of the air. ]

[Taking advantage of the fact that winter was not conducive to attack, the Soviet defense forces built four more lines of defense in the Sevastopol fortress complex.]

[Under the cover of heavy artillery, the German army launched a general offensive, aiming directly at the port of Sevastopol.]

[The first round of the general offensive yielded good results, but the Soviet Union's reserve forces continued to fill in, as well as various coastal defense artillery and naval artillery, as well as the Red Navy that landed. ]

[The German army paid a heavy price for every attack, but was unable to capture the core area of ​​the fortress.]

[Because the German army did not have complete air superiority over the Black Sea, and the Black Sea Fleet existed. ]

【This allowed the Soviet Union to send reinforcements.】

[The usually calm Manstein also became angry.]

【At the end of the year, we announced that we would storm the fortress. 】

[The German army fought desperately against the fortress on all fronts. As a result, after a round of siege, although 54 Soviet troops were annihilated, the German th Army responsible for the main attack also lost nearly people, and the entire army was defeated. ]

[And the fortress is still in Soviet hands. ]

【After the general offensive failed, Manstein was forced to suspend the offensive. 】

[And the classic Soviet combination of defense followed by counterattack is about to come. ]

……

Han Dynasty.

Liu Che had seen the direction of the German attack on the sky and saw that it was heading straight for Stalingrad.

I feel that this battle came a bit abruptly.

After all, it was based on Tianmu's tone.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a decisive battle.

Generally speaking, there will be a preliminary battle before the final battle.

Liu Che himself found the Crimean Peninsula an eyesore.

Not to mention Hitler in later generations.

And sure enough.

The Crimean Peninsula, south of the Stalingrad offensive direction, was the outpost of the Battle of Stalingrad!
This strategic intention is even true for an ancient person living 2000 years ago.

You can also see it clearly.

Liu Che also wanted to show off, so he said to Huo Qubing beside him:
"See? This is what we call global deployment."

"Although the real intention of the German army was to attack Stalingrad."

"But before attacking in that direction, a large amount of troops must be invested to resolve the Crimean Peninsula."

The strategic intention is very obvious.

Huo Qubing also saw it at a glance.

nodded.

At the beginning, Huo Qubing saw that Manstein was coming to lead the offensive in the direction of Crimea.

I'm also quite excited.

Because Huo Qubing knew that Manstein was definitely one of the strongest men in the German army.

But seeing this, Manstein became furious and gave the order to storm the fortress.

Huo Qubing also had some doubts.

"It can be seen that Manstein played very well in November."

"It took only a few days to break through the Soviet defense line."

"Even with limited resources, they launched a lightning raid and captured the transportation hub of the Crimean Peninsula."

"This allowed the German army to successfully occupy almost the entire Crimean Peninsula."

"But then we faced a strong fortress group."

"Fortresses are difficult to capture. We all know this, and Manstein should know it too."

"But why is he in such a hurry to attack?"

But after raising this question, Huo Qubing answered part of it to himself.

"One general's success will make a thousand bones wither."

"I can understand sacrificing countless soldiers' lives for the sake of war goals."

“I agree with this behavior…”

Liu Che, who was standing by, supplemented Huo Qubing's answer.

"The sky gave time."

"This period at the end of 1941 was when the German army suffered defeat in the Battle of Moscow."

"At this moment, Germany needs a victory in a battle to boost morale."

"And Manstein also knew that if he could win a battle when the army was defeated."

"If you completely occupy the Crimean Peninsula."

"It can increase a lot of impression points in front of the head of state."

"The death of the soldiers was of no importance to Manstein."

"He doesn't need casualty figures, he just wants the Sevastopol Fortress!"

"But it is clear that even Manstein miscalculated this time."

"The Soviet fortress was already strong, and the supply was never cut off."

"It would be extremely difficult to storm a fortress that is always being supplied."

"The sky says that Manstein will be in real trouble next."

"I can guess that since the Soviet Union has an advantage in naval power in the Black Sea."

"Then maybe they can organize a sea crossing operation."

"To surround Manstein's army trapped in the fortified city."

"If the fighting goes on like this, the German army might be wiped out as a whole!"

"The Soviet Union may even sweep across the entire peninsula in one wave and cut off the retreat of Germany's Southern Army Group!"

Huo Qubing was slightly surprised when he heard this.

"Ah, there is indeed such a risk. Isn't that dangerous?"

"However, if we want to attack Stalingrad, we must ensure the security of the Crimean Peninsula."

"It must be the battle in Crimea."

"The German army should have won, right?"

“I wonder what the German army will do next under Manstein’s command?”

In Huo Qubing's worry.

On the map on the sky screen, red arrows representing the Soviet army began to draw sharp lines on the map.

(End of this chapter)