Feodosia.

Major Weber commanded his men to resist the Soviet attack in the city while making a phone call to Lieutenant General Sponek.

"General!" Major Weber reported amid the sound of gunfire and explosions: "The enemy has broken through our defenses, we can only hold out resistance in the city, and Feodosia is about to be lost!" ”

"What do you say? Feodosia lost? Lieutenant General Sponek was so surprised that his jaw almost dropped: "How did this happen, it's only been more than an hour since they launched the attack!" ”

"General!" "They put wheels on the bottom of the ship, and I think there are some motors like cars, which allow them not only to move in the sea but also to rush ashore, so there is no beach-landing and they are driving the ship directly to our position!" ”

Lieutenant General Sponech was furious and understood what had happened.

"Hold on!" Lieutenant General Sponech ordered: "In any case, hold Feodosia until reinforcements arrive!" ”

"Yes, General!" After hanging up the phone, Major Webber looked out the window and shouted at his men, "They're coming from here, machine gunners......"

Lieutenant General Sponek immediately made contact with Manstein.

Manstein was just as stunned as Sponek when he heard the news.

In fact, it is no longer possible to use the word "stunned", but rather to describe Manstein's state at this moment.

"I command you to hold it for 15 hours!" Manstein said: "It is not a difficult task for a reinforced battalion to hold on to the beach for 15 hours, but you only hold it for an hour!" God, this is almost the time when the Russians put down their landing craft and paddled ashore, which means that they fled in the first place, and I have every reason to believe that they did not do their duty as an imperial soldier! ”

"No, General!" Sponek retorted, "I know my men, they are not people who are greedy for life and fear death, especially Major Weber......"

"Forget it, Lieutenant General!" Manstein interrupted Sponek: "They were supposed to hold out for 15 hours and wait for reinforcements to arrive for only one hour, and you call them brave? ”

Sponek didn't know what to say, after all, it was his own men who had lost important positions, and any explanation seemed to be an excuse at this point.

After a moment of silence, Lieutenant General Sponek suggested: "General, I think now we have to withdraw Feodosia, I mean the 46th Division, otherwise we will be surrounded by the Russians!" ”

Lieutenant General Sponek thought that Manstein would agree to this proposal, but Manstein flatly refused.

"No, Lieutenant General!" Manstein replied: "You must not retreat, not a single step, otherwise more Russians will land in Kerch, and then we will be caught in the dilemma of being flanked by the enemy, and all our efforts will be in vain!" ”

"But General, the crisis of Feodosia ......"

"I'll fix this!" Manstein said, "Let them use the night and buildings in the city to deal with the enemy. Although the Russians successfully landed, we destroyed the port facilities, which meant that they could only land a limited number of infantry, and heavy equipment could not land. When the 4th Romanian Mountain Brigade arrives, we can drive them back to the sea! ”

Sponek hesitated and replied, "Yes, General!" ”

"This time, don't mess it up again, understand?" Manstein said, "Contact your men in Feodosia and make them hold on!" ”

"Yes, General!"

After putting down the phone, Sponek stared at the map in front of him, stunned.

He knew that it was useless to say anything, and Manstein would not give up on Kerch in any case to allow the 46th Division to retreat, even if the 46th Division would most likely be surrounded.

Spinek knew what was at stake.

The first is that Feodosia could not hold out for long.

Although Manstein was partly right in this regard, the Russians were unable to land a large amount of heavy equipment after the destruction of the port facilities.

The problem is that it was the infantry brigade of the Russian Navy that attacked Feodosia...... The troops, known to the Germans as the "Black Devils" because of their black naval uniforms, were a force of good quality and strength, although most of them even wore sailors' hats instead of helmets.

On the other hand, it was because Feodosia was a Russian place, and the people there supported the Russians and provided information to the Russian soldiers.

Therefore, it was almost impossible to rely on the remnants of Major Weber to maneuver for a long time in Feodosia, which had absolute superiority in manpower and geography and humanities.

Secondly, Lieutenant General Sponek also did not believe in the combat effectiveness of the Romanian army.

Taken together, Sponek's judgment is the opposite of Manstein's.

He did not believe that the Germans would hold out until reinforcements arrived and drove the enemy out to sea, but he believed that it was more likely that the Russians would quickly occupy Feodosia, while the sappers repaired the ferry at the port and landed heavy equipment ashore to consolidate Feodosia's defenses.

By the time the Romanian 4th Brigade arrived, they were helpless against the Russian army, which relied on construction to hold Feodosia.

Then, as soon as the Russian tank units landed in Feodosia, that was when the tragedy of the German army began:

First of all, the Russian tank forces will crush the Romanian mountain brigade and completely encircle the 46th Division on the Kerch Peninsula, unable to move.

The Russian tank forces would then continue to advance northward, crushing the unsuspecting reinforcements that were rushing to Feodosia.

As soon as the Russian tank units arrive and occupy Zhankoy, an extremely unfavorable situation will be created, which can even be called terrifying.

The German 11th Army was to be divided into three parts that could not be reinforced by each other: the Kerch Peninsula, the Crimean Peninsula, and reinforcements outside the Crimea.

The German forces on the Kerch and Crimean peninsulas had no way to retreat once they were encircled, unless they could swim across the Black Sea in such temperatures.

That would be the end of the 11th Army, the entire army would collapse, and all the Russians would have to do was advance 100 kilometers with tank forces to Zhankoy...... If it's fast, it only takes a day.

But what can Sponek do?

Convince Manstein?

No, at this time, Manstein was already caught up in the idea of quickly taking the Crimean Peninsula and attacking in the direction of the Caucasus, and because of his previous victories, he firmly believed that every German army could block a hundred.

Therefore, it is unlikely that he will agree to let the 46th Division retreat and defuse this crisis.

After thinking about it, Lieutenant General Sponek gave the order to the adjutant: "Pass the order down and retreat!" ”