"Order them!" At this time, even a person like Mehris, who knew little about military affairs, knew what to do, and he ordered without thinking about it: "Let them hold on, especially the Kerch Peninsula, and not take a step back!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Mehris!" The signal soldier answered and passed on the order.

"What should we do now?" Mehris set his eyes on Shulka: "Are you ready to land soon?" ”

"Yes!" Shulka nodded, "Of course, if they can hold it!" ”

So the Crimean Front went into action.

One by one, the troops drove to the port, including the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, where Shulka was located.

In fact, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade was the priority landing unit, which was ordered by Mehris.

Because Mehlis believed that as long as the 1st Guards Tank Brigade could successfully land on the Kerch Peninsula, then the battle would be half the battle.

Even Mehris intended to land with the 1st Guards Tank Brigade...... It is not known whether this is because Mehris wants to take a reputation as a "pioneer", or because he believes that the 1st Guards Tank Brigade believes that it is the only one that can guarantee its own safety.

Or maybe it was Mehris who knew that once he left Shulka he would not be able to command the battle.

Shulka thinks it's more important to be the last.

However, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade did not make the trip.

"Comrade Mehris!" A staff officer of the Navy Colonel, who was in charge of coordinating with the Army, reported to Mehris: "The wind and waves at sea are too strong today, and it is difficult to carry out the landing of tanks and other heavy equipment!" ”

It is true that the transport ship swayed with the wind and waves in the harbor, which would bring great trouble and danger to the crane lifting, and it could cause accidents if not careful, not to mention the occasional German fighter plane diving down from the air to drop a few bombs.

"If you could!" The colonel's staff officer said: "We can transport the personnel of the tank unit first!" ”

"Are you crazy?" Mehris looked at the staff officer with an incredulous look: "You let the tank troops drop their tanks and rush to the front?" ”

So the 1st Guards Tank Brigade remained, and the first to land became an infantry division.

In fact, not to mention tank units, infantry divisions have difficulty loading and unloading in such storms, because infantry divisions also have cars, artillery and ammunition.

In desperation, the infantry division could only give up its heavy equipment and rush to the Kerch Peninsula, and after a period of tossing, only more than 6,000 people in the first batch successfully landed in Kerch.

By this time, the situation in Kerch had already begun to deteriorate.

Commanding the Kerch operation was Marshal Kulik, who was originally the deputy commissar of defense of the USSR and was trusted by Stalin, who was considered an artillery expert because he had commanded artillery victories in the Battle of Tsaritsyn...... At that time, the Soviet Union was extremely short of talent.

But in fact, Marshal Kulik was strong and middle-of-the-road (known in history as Marshal Straw Bag), and the T34 tank, the "Katyusha" rocket launcher, and the "Bobosha" submachine gun were all denied by him, the deputy commissar of defense, because Marshal Kulik considered them useless, such as rocket artillery and submachine guns, which were inaccurate and wasted ammunition. Until Stalin personally ordered the production.

After the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, Marshal Kulik was dismissed from his post because of a miscommand in Leningrad.

Originally, Marshal Kulik could only stay in Moscow on vacation, but after Manstein launched an offensive and threatened the Crimea, Stalin transferred Kulik to the Crimea to take charge of the overall situation......

From this, it can be seen that Stalin's employment of personnel is actually quite subjective, and he thinks that what can be done can be done.

Kulik, for example, was shot or court-martial for failing because of command problems, while Kulik was able to be redeployed to the battlefield after a period of leave...... This is clearly giving him another chance.

If, in terms of military rank, Mehris is a lieutenant general and Kulik is a field marshal, Mekhlis, of course, cannot command the marshal.

But Mehris's other identity is that of a representative of the Supreme Command, that is, an order equivalent to the High Command, so Kulik must of course obey.

However, Kulik secretly complained when he received this order.

He led a unit that had retreated from the front, outnumbered the Germans but demoralized.

Just a second ago, Kulik was still complaining to the staff officer: "Hold on? Don't they know that my army is a remnant of the army? All they want in their minds is to retreat, or even run away...... I have to put a pistol to their heads to get them to fight on the front lines! In this case, they let me hold on!! ”

If these words came from the mouth of a soldier, it would be normal, but from the mouth of a marshal and the commander of a unit of more than 100,000 people, this battle was doomed to be unwinnable!

The reason is simple, the calm and confidence of the commander are the pillars of the morale of the whole army, and Kulik should try to convince all his soldiers that they have the ability to hold off the Germans and ultimately achieve victory, even if they have an idea in their hearts.

Kulik's complaints may seem like nothing on the surface, but they are actually a taboo.

So, naturally, the staff officers, the communications soldiers, and the guards would spread the word, and then everyone would not have the courage to fight the enemy.

At this time, the Soviet army actually had a great advantage:

The first is the comparison of forces.

The Germans were the first to rush to the Kerch Peninsula and engage in battle with only one division (the 46th Division) and a number of reinforced units, with a total strength of only 20,000 men.

The Soviets had 150,000 troops.

The second is the geographical advantage, the narrowest point of the Kerch Peninsula is only 16 kilometers, and on both sides there is an impassable sea, and the sea conditions are not good.

16 kilometers is nothing for the Soviet army, which has more than 100,000 troops, they can build several lines of defense one after another, and it is not a problem to block them for a few days.

Thirdly, it was the Soviet Crimean Front that had already implemented reinforcements on the Kerch Peninsula, that is, the time was also on Kulik's side.

Objectively this is a good opportunity, a chance to turn around. As long as he pretended to give a speech in front of the soldiers, strengthened the soldiers' confidence in defeating the enemy, and then laid the defense line one by one, even with mines, he could keep the German army out of the line.

Unfortunately, Kulik did not see this, and the first thing he did was to order the headquarters to retreat, and at the same time give the front line troops an order to hold on.

This is arguably the stupidest thing to do, even more stupid than he complains about the situation on the battlefield.

Because this is what is clearly told to all the officers and soldiers, and to those officers and soldiers whose morale is insufficient...... You're in the way, I'll retreat first!

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