Chapter 37 Stalin's offensive (continued)

Although the recovery of Feodosia and the blockade of the Kerch peninsula have temporarily removed the mortal danger, we do not have a false sense of security.Especially at that particular time, the enemy was everywhere on the Eastern Front trying to make up for his defeats of the previous summer and restore his initiative.Why did he make an exception in Crimea?Here, because he enjoys command of the sea, he has a better chance of success.The success here is enough to have a decisive impact on the entire Eastern Front. Politically, it can affect Turkey's attitude, and economically, it can restore an air base for attacking Romanian oil fields. In addition, there is another point that should be considered, because Russia The propaganda of the Communist Party of China has closely linked the offensive against Crimea with Stalin's name, so it is even more difficult to ride a tiger, and it will not end well.

Indeed, we soon discovered that reinforcements were being sent to Kerch.Because he owns the frozen strait, he can make up for the loss of the port of Feidocia.Aerial photos continue to show that the enemy has concentrated its forces in its Black Sea ports and airfields in the northern Caucasus. As early as January 29, intelligence estimates estimated that there were nine enemy troops on the Barbach line. divisions, two infantry brigades and two separate tank brigades.Sevastopol also became active, especially the artillery. After several weeks of tension and relaxation, the enemy finally launched a major offensive on February 27.On the Barbach and Sevastopol lines fierce fighting continued until March 3rd.Then both sides pause for a while because of exhaustion.On the Barbach side, we finally prevented the enemy's breakthrough in the northern sector by using the swamp, but although the front is now continuous, it has retreated a long distance to the west in its northern sector.

On March 13, the enemy began another massive attack, involving as many as eight infantry divisions and two separate armored brigades.Although we destroyed 136 tanks in the first three days, there have been several crises.The intensity of the fighting is evidenced by the fact that the regiments of the 46th Division, which this time bore the brunt of the attack, repelled ten to twenty-two attacks respectively within three days. On March 18, 42nd Corps reported that it was no longer able to withstand any major attack.The newly formed 22nd Armored Division just rushed to the front line at this time, which was just allocated by the Army Headquarters to the 11th Army. In such an emergency situation, we decided to use it to launch a counterattack. Our goal is to regain The main line, which was originally positioned at the true neck of Cape Barbach, cut off two or three divisions of the enemy in the salient area to the north.With a handful of staff, I set up a command post immediately behind the perceived threat area to oversee the preparations of the 42nd Army Headquarters for this counterattack.

This attack was launched on March 20, supported by the 46th and 170th Divisions on both sides, but it failed.The newly formed armored division rushed into a Russian army assembly area in the morning fog.It was evident that we had made a mistake in throwing this new unit into a major battle without training.Despite being used against a rather limited target, the attack failed.But this same force, having been trained for its wartime conditions, was able to reach the desired standard after a few weeks.But in that environment, what can we do but risk putting it into battle?At least it was enough to surprise the enemy and prevent him from preparing another great attack at this critical moment.When this attack was realized on March 26, it was repulsed by the 42nd Army.This time the enemy used only four divisions, either because the rest of the troops were exhausted, or because, seeing for the first time that we now had tanks, they preferred to limit their targets.

At this time, when the 22nd Armored Division pulled out the front line to rest and prepare, the avant-garde units of the 28th Light Division had already reached the rear of the front line.So we can now safely deal with any new attacks from the enemy. (Note: This new light division is different from the past. It is no longer a compromise between the armored division and the motorized division, but a unit that is closer to the mountain division in organization and equipment. They were later renamed the pursuit division .) The attack, which was the enemy's last effort to regain Crimea, took place on April 9 and involved six to eight infantry divisions, supported by a total of 160 tanks.By April 11 it was repulsed, and the enemy suffered heavy losses.At this time, the enemy's offensive ability on this battlefield began to become exhausted.

Those heroic divisions, though worn out after seeing the success of this defensive battle, were now able to relax, though still unable to withdraw from the front.But on the other hand, the situation of the Army Group Headquarters is completely different. After the unprecedented test throughout the winter, it is now about to start preparing for the next mission and launch an offensive to completely drive the enemy out of Crimea.