The news of the rout of the Romanian division soon reached the headquarters of Army Group South.

Rundstedt couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this information, and first scolded: "These fools! ”

Then he reacted and asked, "What about our sappers?" Aren't they supposed to lay mines on the roads? ”

"And they did!" The adjutant replied: "But the Russians broke through the minefield!" ”

Rundstedt, who was looking at the map, raised his head in surprise and looked at the adjutant: "They broke through the minefield?" ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!" The adjutant explained: "They loaded the grinding stone in front of the tank and ......"

Rundstedt was stunned for a long time, he could not have imagined that his mine plan would be cracked by a few grinding stones.

Soon, however, Rundstedt came back to his senses.

"Where are they now?" Rundstedt asked.

"Already within the reach of Kolayif!" The adjutant replied: "With the speed of their march, it may not take two days to get to Odessa!" ”

It doesn't take two days...... This meant being able to arrive before the Germans captured Odessa.

Moreover, if the defenders of Odessa heard that reinforcements would arrive immediately, they would undoubtedly strengthen their resistance, so that the possibility of the Germans wanting to take Odessa in two days was very small.

Rundstedt guessed correctly, and Moscow was also shocked by the victory of the Soviet 9th Army.

You must know that the Ukrainian front line has basically lost and is decided...... In fact, it would be polite to use the word "defeat is decided", and the entire Southwestern Front and the Southern Front may be surrounded by the Germans and face the end of total annihilation.

But now, with the sudden arrival of a surprise army from Kyiv to Odessa, the situation has suddenly reversed...... It was not the Soviet army that was surrounded and cut off from the supply lines, but the German army that broke into the heart of the Soviet Union.

Originally, Moscow did not believe that a mechanized army could fight its way out of the German rear as if it were no one.

After all, it is 500 kilometers from Kiev to Odessa, and the German armored forces have a hundred tanks to defeat the Soviet army and a tank army, which means that the Germans can defeat the Soviet 9th Army as long as they gather a random force.

But the fact was beyond everyone's expectations, the Soviet 9th Army was not only not defeated by the enemy, but went all the way to Odessa.

"How far are they from Odessa?"

"Seventy kilometers! If you march day and night, it only takes one day! ”

"Ordered them to speed up, and additionally ...... Immediately provide reinforcements for Odessa, be sure to hold Odessa! ”

"Yes!"

……

In charge of the command of Odessa was Major General Petrov.

Major General Petrov was originally the commander of the 25th Infantry Division, and after the outbreak of the war, the 25th Infantry Division retreated to Odessa on order.

When the Romanian 4th Army surrounded Odessa, Odessa did not even have a unified command...... It gathered the remnants of the retreat from all over the country, some even deserters.

The reason is that Odessa is backed by the Black Sea, and the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Army has sea supremacy, so deserters who are more familiar with geography know that it is easier to escape from here.

Soon Moscow ordered the creation of the Odessa defense zone, commanded by Major General Petrov.

Petrov, who was on the verge of being ordered, was very troubled by the mess he was facing, because the composition of the troops was very complicated, mainly the 25th Infantry Division and the 95th Infantry Division, in addition to the 9th Cavalry Division, the 421st Naval Infantry Brigade, the 54th Infantry Regiment, etc., and there were many stragglers of unknown troops.

Although there are many components, the total number of troops is only 35,000.

Before that, the situation was not bad, after all, it was against the Romanian army, although the Romanian army had much more troops than the Soviet army, but Petrov still commanded his subordinates to rely on the geographical advantage to repel their attacks again and again.

But after the German 22nd Infantry Division suddenly appeared on the battlefield and opened a gap in the middle line, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

The reason for this was that the middle line of defense was 6-8 km from Odessa, which happened to keep the enemy's artillery at a safe distance...... THE RANGE OF HOWITZERS OF THIS ERA WAS GENERALLY ABOUT 10 KM, SUCH AS THE GERMAN 105MM CALIBER HOWITZER.

Theoretically, a distance of 6-8 km could not prevent the enemy from pouring shells into the city of Odessa, but the Soviets also had artillery, and the Romanians, of course, did not dare to easily push artillery into the Soviet lines.

As a result, Odessa's connection with the outside world has never been severed.

The connection comes from two sides, one is the airport and the other is the port.

Odessa is no more than two hundred kilometers in a straight line from Crimea, and both aircraft and ships can quickly provide reinforcements to Odessa.

But after the middle line of defense was breached, it was different: the Soviets had to retreat to the last line of defense, that is, the city, to engage in street battles with the enemy, which gradually increased the difficulty of the defense.

More importantly, the Romanian army advanced the artillery positions by a few more kilometers, which allowed them to block the airfield and even the port with artillery...... More than 100 planes that had been fighting at the Odessa airport had to be withdrawn from Odessa, and in addition, the German and Romanian air forces bombed the port on a large scale and blocked the nearby area with mines, and Odessa's supplies immediately became strained.

This means that one bullet or shell will be less, and the loss of Odessa will be a matter of time.

In fact, the German 22nd Infantry Division had already broken through from the left flank into Odessa and approached the port in the rear...... Once the Germans were allowed to occupy the port, the only way for the Soviets to withdraw from Odessa was cut off.

Therefore, Petrov judged that Odessa was likely to be lost in a few days, and they had to withdraw from the port, otherwise the more than 30,000 people stationed here would be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated.

At this moment, the staff officer handed Petrov a telegram and said excitedly: "General, the order of Moscow, they say that reinforcements will soon arrive here!" ”

"Reinforcements? What reinforcements! Petrov asked, confused.

At this time, the Soviet army was defeated, and the port and airport were blocked by the enemy, and Major General Petrov could not imagine that there would be reinforcements anywhere.

"Southwestern Front!" "They attacked all the way south from Kyiv and have now entered Kolayif, which is only 70 kilometers from us!" ”

Hearing this, Major General Petrov couldn't help but look at the staff officer with his mouth half open.

"Kyiv? Are you sure? Major General Petrov asked.

Then Major General Petrov realized that this was nonsense, that the staff officer knew no more than himself, and that the telegram from Moscow was in his own hands.

I read the telegram back and forth several times, and it was indeed said so.

At that moment, Major General Petrov, who was suspicious by nature, even thought that this was a means of Moscow to keep them out until the very end.

After all, Kyiv has a support army...... It's hard to believe.