Manstein led the Germans to escape from the Crimea, as he did not begin to cross the bay on a large scale with fishing boats until dawn, which made it impossible for the Soviets to pursue them.

But Manstein was not at ease.

Manstein was on a plane back to Yamiansk.

The current situation is that the Soviet army occupies Zhankoy at the southern end of the Perekop Isthmus, and the German army occupies Yamiansk at the northern end, separated by an isthmus only 8 kilometers wide, and no one can help anyone.

Hitler did not have any tone of reproach for Manstein.

On the contrary, Hitler praised Manstein in his telegram.

"Well done, my general!" Hitler said: "At a time when everyone thought we could not stop the enemy's attack, when they were all asking for a retreat, you stood up and let the enemy, especially the cowards who demanded a retreat, show them a real Imperial army, a real Imperial general!" ”

Hitler's praise for Manstein was not overstated, for he could indeed be said to have turned the tide when the German army was on the verge of collapse.

Although it cannot be said that he rescued Army Group Center, at least the offensive of the 11th Army threatened the southern flank of the Russian army, and at the same time transferred a large number of Russian troops to the south to give Army Group Center a respite.

But Manstein was not at all excited, and he looked out the window at the Crimean Peninsula from the plane, a white snowfield full of tanks, cars and artillery that the Germans could not take away and detonated on their own, and wisps of black smoke filled the shore, as if trying to hide the groups of German soldiers who were scrambling for fishing boats.

"It's a shame!" Manstein said to himself.

If Manstein had not been defeated on the battlefield before, then this battle was a solid and undisputed defeat, especially because Manstein could not accept that as a nobleman, he was defeated at the hands of a captain.

After thinking about it, Manstein said to the staff officer: "Major Fein, you are in charge of investigating that captain, I need to know everything about him, the more detailed the better!" ”

"Yes, General!" The staff officer replied, hesitated for a moment before asking, "Which captain, general?" ”

Manstein looked at the staff officer with incredible eyes, looked at him stunned for a moment, and then said: "'Breakout hero', otherwise which captain do you think there is?" ”

"Yes, General!" The staff officer nodded with relief.

Looking at the back of the staff officer leaving, Manstein shook his head and said to the adjutant: "We have failed, and sadly they do not yet know whose hands they have lost?" ”

"It's not just us who don't know!" The adjutant handed a newspaper to Manstein and said: "Stalin probably didn't know either!" ”

Manstein opened the newspaper and saw that it had a German annotation, which was a good news about the successful occupation of Feodosia by the Russian army. (Note: The Russian army occupied Feodosia a few days ago, and it did not reach the Germans until this time because of the lag of the newspapers)

"Look at this!" The adjutant pointed to one place and said, "They said it was Mehris who beat us, that idiot!" ”

"The 'King of Small Reports'?" Manstein asked.

Mekhlis's nickname of the "king of small reports" can be said to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and even the German army knows it.

"Yes!" The adjutant replied, "I suppose it should be the 'King of Small Reports' who stole the credit of that captain, what do you think, General?" ”

Manstein thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "You're right, Detrich, if that's the case...... Why don't we get into some trouble between them? ”

"Trouble? I don't understand what you mean, General! ”

Manstein didn't speak, but raised the newspaper in his hand.

Shulka didn't know this, of course, and by this time he had returned safely to Anapa with the Tiger, with his troops and an entire engineer battalion.

All were heavily armed and loaded...... They received orders from Moscow that anyone approaching without consent should be considered a spy shot.

Then the wreckage of the "Tiger" was sent to an underground warehouse.

This underground warehouse had been emptied before that, for fear that the explosion of ammunition would destroy the "Tiger".

Therefore, there is only one "tiger" in a huge warehouse, which looks empty and sparse.

Sisoy, Kalashnikov and other scientists had been waiting here for a long time, and as soon as they saw Shulka and others coming in, they hurriedly greeted them, looking at the canvas-covered "tiger pose" and asking, "Is this it?" ”

"Yes!" Shulka replied: "If they have a few more such tanks, I'm afraid we won't be able to come back!" ”

"Well done, Shulka!" Sisoy said.

Kalashnikov nodded at Shulka, and then eagerly untied the rope and lifted the canvas.

The searchlights lit up one by one, and then the majestic "Tiger Style" appeared in front of them.

The scientists were stunned for a moment, and then let out a burst of exclamation.

Before that, they thought that the Soviets were at least in terms of tanks, and they were completely crushing the Germans, protection, firepower, and mobility.

If it weren't for the lack of communication equipment and inappropriate tactics, the Soviet T34 would have been able to defeat the German army without a doubt.

In other words, at least in tank development, it is not the fault of scientists.

But now when the "Tiger" appeared in front of them, they knew that this was about to be overthrown again...... T34 is like a toy in front of this thing.

Then, dozens of scientists swarmed up, some got into the inside of the tank, some measured the artillery and armor, and of course Karanikov, who was a former tank soldier, was no less.

"What a big guy!" Sisoy said to Shulka: "We were lucky enough to capture one. Otherwise, we will have to 'try' to find its weak point for a long time to come, at the cost of countless tanks and soldiers! ”

"It doesn't seem to make much difference now!" Shulka said: "Do we have something to deal with it? ”

Sisoy was speechless.

This is just like the "T34" crisis for the German army before, and the "Tiger" crisis for the Soviet army.

"FRONTAL ARMOR 102MM!"

"CANNON SHIELD 135MM!"

"ARTILLERY CALIBER 88MM!"

……

"How did they get this thing moving?!"

102MM, WHICH IS EXACTLY BEYOND THE ARMOR-PIERCING ABILITY OF THE BAZOOKA, THAT IS, EVEN IF THE BAZOOKA SHOOTER CAN APPROACH AND HIT IT, THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.

"You're right!" Sisoy shook his head and said to Shulka, "We seem to be in trouble, big trouble!" ”