Chapter 428 Spring Awakening (4)

"Something happened!" Zhukov put down the phone, and the tone of his first sentence was very gloomy.

"What happened?"

"Comrade Chulenev sent a telegram, 50 minutes ago, the enemy launched a fierce artillery attack on it."

"It's nothing, the Germans have been firing fiercely these days, let the comrades hide better."

"It's good to be like this." Zhukov walked to the map and sighed silently, "Preliminary investigation shows that the artillery attack was launched from the sea, and the target is Sochi..."

He spoke very quickly, Rokossovsky didn't hear it clearly at once, but Vasilevsky reacted quickly and repeated unconsciously, "Sochi?"

"What?"

Now everyone was dumbfounded, the Germans were going to land? Without looking at the map, these generals who had commanded troops for many years knew that the situation was not good. Sochi happened to be the key point connecting the Inner and Outer Caucasus. If the Germans took this place, they could go straight to the middle of the Caucasus Mountains. Not only would the 100,000 troops who were currently fighting hard with the Turks and Iranians at various passes be cut off from their retreat, but the entire Caucasus Front was also facing the danger of being divided and surrounded. What's more terrible is that after the Turkish and Iranian coalition forces of up to 500,000 to 600,000 rushed in, plus the Kleist Group, which already had 500,000 troops, the Caucasus Front will face the heavy pressure of several times the superior force.

"Has the enemy dispatched a fleet?"

"It's hard to see the situation in the dark, but from the analysis of the explosion power, there are a large number of artillery with a caliber of 203mm or more attacking the opposite bank. Only naval guns, especially the naval guns of the main battleships, have such power... The city defense system is facing collapse, and our fortifications can't resist the attack of such large-caliber artillery at all."

"Immediately withdraw troops to strengthen defense." Rokossovsky couldn't help but follow up, but he realized that it was inappropriate as soon as he said it - in the face of overwhelming firepower advantage, strengthening the beachhead troops is simply giving food to the naval guns.

"We can only ask Comrade Qiulenev to strengthen the defense first, and then find a way to resolve the crisis in the Caucasus." Vasilevsky answered worriedly, and then told Rokossovsky, "The situation in Stalingrad must be maintained, and we can't retreat any further. Those reserve troops that have been drawn out may not all be given to you, and some should be left for the Caucasus Front."

"Yes, I will definitely hold the Germans to the death!" Rokossovsky knew that this was not the time to get angry, Qiulenev's place was several times more dangerous than him.

At 5:15 in the morning, the sky in the east slowly turned white, and the German army began to land after a night of shelling. This time, the main forces of the Italian Navy and the German Navy's Mediterranean Fleet provided cover for the troops. Taking advantage of the recent dispatch of the Japanese fleet and the organization of transport ships, the two companies left the port a week ago, pulled all the main battleships in the Mediterranean through the two Turkish straits without anyone noticing, and suddenly launched a fierce attack.

Since the German Navy currently has no available battleships in the Mediterranean (either they are being rebuilt in the shipyard or taken to the North Sea Fleet by Krank, and the only new battleship, the Empire, is still in the final outfitting), the main Italian battleships accounted for the majority of the troops this time. In addition to several new Veneto-class ships, the old Giulio-Caesar battleship was also pulled out. Although the overall level is far inferior to the firepower intensity of the Combined Fleet when it bombarded Guadalcanal, it is enough to crush Sochi's defense system.

Admiral Iaginso, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Navy, served as the fleet commander, and Frick, Chief of the German Navy General Staff, temporarily replaced Krank to coordinate the command. However, since the Red Navy's Black Sea Fleet had been basically destroyed and Germany had regional air superiority, the fleet was completely rampant.

The Middle East Army under Field Marshal Rommel was responsible for the second phase of the "Spring Awakening" campaign and the landing mission. Since the completion of the Kungunir Plan, Rommel has become the number one expert in German amphibious landings. This time, he quietly escaped from the southern line of the Caucasus and led elite troops including the Grossdeutschland Division, the Viking Division, and the German-Italian Airborne Forces to the beach. The first batch of landing troops was very large, and they directly used two armored battalions equipped with No. 4 diving tanks and two armored grenadier battalions.

Watching the fury of the 381mm main gun on the flagship Veneto extending into the depth, Rommel nodded with satisfaction. The naval artillery is much more powerful than the army's firepower. However, Frick quietly told him that the Empire, which was being fitted out, was not equipped with the same 381mm as the Veneto, but with the same 380mm naval gun as the Tirpitz, but with a triple mount instead of a twin mount. Rommel couldn't figure out the essential difference between 381mm and 380mm at first, but he understood it after a detailed explanation.

Although the 381mm main gun of the Italian Veneto class has a longer range and greater power than the German common 380mm, and Mussolini also said that he could build another batch for the Empire, Raeder considered again and again and decided to install a triple 380mm on the Empire: First, for universal use, the Tirpitz, Empire, and Scharnhorst classes will all use the same shells in the future, which can effectively reduce the logistical pressure; second, although the Italian powder guns are powerful, they also have side effects, including poor dispersion accuracy and severe barrel ablation. The German main gun barrels can usually be replaced after firing 250 rounds of shells, while the Italian naval guns must be replaced after firing more than 100 rounds, which is not worth the loss in the long run. Of course, this defect does not matter for attacks on the opposite shore and fire suppression, but can bring the power of powder guns to the extreme.

Precisely because battleship guns are so powerful, after Turkey joined the Axis, Romania was very covetous of the old battleships such as the Oceania that Romania obtained from Germany. In addition, due to the need to maintain the balance of power in the Black Sea, it also expressed the hope that Germany could support a capital ship. . Redl could not come up with extra warships, and finally Hoffmann came forward and asked Speer to execute a triangular deal: Italy handed over the old battleship Giulio Caesar and some torpedo boats to Turkey; Germany gave Turkey 10 offshore submarines , and at the same time, it will give Italy 500,000 tons of coal every month; Turkey will give Italy 3 million tons of coal and 100,000 tons of bauxite every year, and give Germany 1.5 million tons of grain, for a total of three years. After an exchange, the three families each got what they needed and everyone was happy.

The Sochi defense line failed to withstand the joint attack of the German-Italian army, sea and air. At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the first batch of troops of the Middle East Army successfully landed. By noon, Rommel had sent more than 10,000 people to firmly control the beachhead. Although Tyulenev ordered the local Red Army to launch counterattacks one after another, this struggle was destined to be in vain. , except for losing soldiers and generals, there will be no effect.

In the evening, a relaxed atmosphere filled the headquarters of Army Group South in Rostov. Lieutenant General Weiler walked up to Hoffman and stood at attention and saluted: "Reporting to the head of state, Marshal Rommel has led his troops to occupy Sochi, and the follow-up troops are currently A steady stream of people came ashore to join the battle, and the losses during the entire landing process were very small. We only lost 7 tanks and 10 armored vehicles, with about 400 casualties, and more than 10,000 enemy troops were killed, wounded, and captured. "

"Very good, send a telegram to Marshal Bock, requesting that those passes in the Caucasus Mountains be captured as soon as possible..." Hoffman nodded with satisfaction and turned his gaze to Manstein, "Dear Erich, Gibraltar is about to be captured. I want to capture it today." Going to Spain, the follow-up of the 'Spring Awakening' campaign depends entirely on you, but I would like to know what your next move is?"

"The key target of the attack remains unchanged, it is still the enemy's Caucasus Front." Manstein pointed to the map and said, "Intelligence shows that the initial strength of this front is between 550,000 and 600,000. In the direction of Transcaucasus, after the enemy's Persian Army Group was destroyed and the Palestinians After the surrender of the Kurdish defenders, their strength dropped to about 400,000. Currently, the number of troops blocking our army at the Caucasus Pass is about 80,000-100,000, and the number of troops confronting the Kleist Group north of the Caucasus Mountains is about 250,000-300,000. After occupying Sochi, consider having Rommel lead troops to outflank the Turks, completely occupy the passes of the Caucasus mountains within a week, and then encircle and annihilate the main force of the front in three ways.”

The goal of Manstein's "Spring Awakening" plan was completely directed at Tyulenev's Caucasus Front: one group was sent by the Kleist Group to attack from west to east, with an offensive force of no less than 300,000; the second group was sent by Marshal Rommel's Middle East Army is the main force, plus some Turkish troops attacking from south to north, with a total strength of about 200,000. The third force, Marshal Bock, leads the Turkish and Iranian army's main force of 400,000, heading north from Baku and the eastern section of the Caucasus Mountains. Later, they attacked from east to west, with the primary target going straight to Grozny.

Hoffman silently calculated that the number of troops to encircle and annihilate the Caucasus Front would reach 900,000, while the Red Army only had more than 300,000. We also had the advantage in technical weapons such as aircraft and tanks, so it should be said that it could be completed with great confidence.

"As for Yeremenko's Stalingrad Front and possible enemy reinforcements, it is planned to use the main force of the Center Group and the remaining forces of the Kleist Group to contain them." Manstein paused, "If it can be completed before the end of April "Relevant battles in the Caucasus theater and losses are within a tolerable range, we plan to consider further weakening the Stalingrad Front and attacking the lower reaches of the Volga River."

"Is this the idea for the third phase of the 'Spring Awakening' campaign?"

"Yes." Manstein nodded, "After controlling the Don River Basin and the lower reaches of the Volga Basin, the enemy's Volga Industrial Zone will lose half of its economic potential, and Stalingrad will form a huge salient."

"If it is too late during the 'Spring Awakening' period, we can consider it based on the summer campaign plan." Hoffman then added, "I will send another person to contact the representatives of the Chechen ethnic group. After the second phase of the campaign, consider having this ethnic group and Some other Caucasian peoples established separate states."

Keitel interjected: "I'm afraid this will cause dissatisfaction on the Turkish side."

Hoffman smiled slightly: "I know, but the Turks can't stretch their hands too far."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then smiled knowingly.