Major General Vladimir's estimate was accurate, and the landing of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade was completed in a hectic 16 hours of intense ...... One of the tanks was damaged.

At that time, the tank was being hoisted, and because the barge was in a wrong position, the staff turned on the lights for a while.

The German BF110 immediately swooped down by the light, followed by a string of bullets and shells.

Unfortunately, several steel cables of the crane were hit and broken, the tank lost its balance and then smashed down from mid-air, smashing the barge below into a big hole, the barge soon sank, and more than a dozen soldiers fell into the water, although they were shivering when they were salvaged, but fortunately there was no danger to their lives.

Then the 1st Guards Tank Brigade was ready for battle in Feodosia.

Pointing to the map, Katukov said: "They occupied heights 3, 5, and 6 along the road, and laid anti-tank gun positions on the heights, including several PAK40 ......"

Shulka knew what this meant, with the armor-piercing ability of the PAK40, if he did not take these heights, it would mean that the tank units of the Soviet army would not be able to pass along the road at all, so of course they would not be able to raid Djankoy.

"Let them get a head start!" Lieutenant Colonel Zahakavich said with some regret.

This is indeed the case.

If the Germans had been one step late, even if it had been a few hours late, it would have been the Soviets, not the Germans, who had occupied those heights.

The highlands, especially those along the highways, have always been battlegrounds, and often only a small number of troops are a headache for the enemy.

Now the same is true for the Soviet army, especially the German troops stationed on the high ground, some of them have deployed a reinforced company, some have deployed a battalion in stages, and their main force is deployed to build a defensive line in depth.

It is conceivable that once the Soviet tank units attacked the Germans along the road, they would immediately be in a state of being flanked by the Germans on three sides.

"It seems that we can only attack the enemy's high ground!" Katukov said: "Only by taking these heights one by one will it be possible for us to continue the offensive!" ”

"But the colonel......" said Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov, "means that we will be locked in a stalwart with the enemy, and then the enemy's reinforcements will arrive in droves, and our chance to attack and surround them will be lost!" ”

"Stop thinking about Zhankoy!" Katukov shook his head and replied: "By the time the enemy's 46th Division returned to defend Feodosia, we had lost the opportunity to raid and occupy Koy. Now, we should think more about how to consolidate the current victory, that is, to recover the Kerch Peninsula! ”

Katukov was right, the German 46th Division used the terrain to block in front of it, and it was basically impossible to break through in a short time.

What can be done now is to recover the Kerch Peninsula, which the Germans have abandoned.

This was already a great success, and the Soviet army, including the High Command, would rejoice at this victory.

On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the Soviet army, which had been defeated all the way in the battles on the Southern Front, has now flipped around.

On the other hand, the situation of the Soviet army was very good at this time.

As mentioned before, the Soviet army has the strong fortress of Sevastopol in the south and the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack Kerch Peninsula in the east.

In particular, there is a crisis, any time the Soviet army breaks through the defenses of the German 46th Division, it is possible to blockade the German army in Crimea, and there is nowhere to escape.

As a result, the German offensive in the Crimea could almost be said to have been defeated.

But Shulka knew that was not the case.

Because historically, the Soviet army did recover the Kerch Peninsula as it does now, and transferred several army groups from the Caucasus to garrison the Kerch Peninsula in solidarity with Sevastopol.

But the cunning Manstein lured out the Soviet troops stationed in Kerch by "luring the snake out of the hole...... He pretended to attack and blockade Sevastopol, allowing the Soviet army to take the initiative to attack the Germans from the Kerch Peninsula to the German-garrisoned heights in waves, so as to achieve the purpose of depleting its strength and morale, and then unexpectedly launch a counteroffensive with armored forces to recapture the Kerch Peninsula.

Ironically, the commander who was tricked by Manstein and eventually lost the Kerch Peninsula was none other than Mehris.

Not Mekhlis, exactly, but the commander of the Crimean Front, Lieutenant General Kozlov.

But everyone knew that Lieutenant General Kozlov was a man of the backs, and it was the representative of the Supreme High Command, Mekhlis, who actually commanded the battle.

However, when reporting to Stalin, Mehris shamelessly put himself out of the way, blindly complaining about the poor command of the commanders and the cowardice of the soldiers...... The fact is that the soldiers, under the command of Mehris, pointlessly rushed to the muzzle of the enemy's guns in waves.

Stalin's criticism of Mekhlis was: "You have taken a strange position of a spectator who is irresponsible for the affairs of the Crimean Front. This position is convenient, but rotten. In the Crimean Front, you are not a bystander, but a responsible representative of the Supreme High Command, responsible for all the successes and failures of the Front, and should correct the mistakes of the leadership of the Front on the spot! ”

So, it's not that Stalin didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't objective in employing people, just like he did with Kulik.

Mehris was demoted as a result, but was promoted again not long after.

Of course, Shulka won't let that happen.

Shulka has two options at this point:

One is to breathe a sigh of relief and let the Soviet army gain a foothold on the Kerch Peninsula before making plans.

The other is to make a surprise attack on Dzhankoy with lightning speed now, completely thwarting the Soviet offensive on Crimea.

The former may be easier, i.e. you can take your time.

And with Shulka there, of course, the Soviets will not be allowed to launch a brain-dead suicidal charge against the Germans under the command of Mehris as they have done in history.

The problem is that Shulka is a little worried about Manstein...... Manstein was a staff officer and was also a strategist.

Now is the time when Manstein is in a hurry to fight a "blitzkrieg" in the hope of a quick surprise attack on the Caucasus, that is, when he makes a mistake in his hurry.

Shulka feared that if he missed this time, it would be difficult to defeat him when the battle stabilized, that is, when Manstein calmed down.

Therefore, Shulka thinks it is more reasonable to choose the latter, that is, to give Manstein a hard time when he is not in shape, although the latter will be more difficult...... People sometimes have this inertia, do what they can do later, especially fighting, fight later if they can, because it can mean dying later.

Shulka had the same idea, especially now that he could stop and enjoy the joy of victory.

But Shulka knew he had to overcome this inertia.

In other words, it was to quickly break through the defensive line and occupy Zhankoy with the German 46th Division occupying the high ground.

How can this be done?!

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