The port of Constanta, located in southeastern Romania, is the largest port on the western shore of the Black Sea.

The cool sea breeze on the harbor diluted the heat of the scorching sun, which made Colonel Russo feel particularly pleasant.

Colonel Russo was the former Lieutenant Colonel Russo, who used the transport fleet he led as bait to lure the Soviet Black Sea Fleet to take the bait, and made great contributions to the total annihilation of the Black Sea Fleet.

After the total annihilation of the Black Sea Fleet, Mussolini was in a particularly comfortable mood and fiercely let out a vicious breath of the total annihilation of the Italian Indian Ocean Fleet.

Mussolini did not forget Lieutenant Colonel Russo, who was a great contributor to regaining his face, and at his behest, the Italian press boasted about Lieutenant Colonel Russo's performance in battle, and directly described Lieutenant Colonel Russo as a unique hero with both wisdom and courage.

Overnight, Lieutenant Commander Russo became a household name in Italy as a naval battle hero.

In addition to making the press famous for Lieutenant Commander Russo, Mussolini personally ordered the promotion of Lieutenant Commander Russo to colonel and the appointment of him commander of the newly formed Black Sea Fleet of the Italian Royal Navy.

After the total annihilation of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, the main forces of the Italian Navy and the German Navy naturally did not waste time in the narrow Black Sea, and withdrew from the Black Sea one after another, and then each set up a Black Sea Fleet to control the sea control in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea Fleet, commanded by Colonel Russo, consisted of the heavy cruiser "Goricia", the light cruiser "Sipione Africano", as well as six destroyers, as well as corresponding supply ships and other small ships.

The German Black Sea Fleet consisted of the armored ship Admiral Schell and four destroyers, and the commander of the fleet was Colonel Philip von Shippold (played by the reader "315129846").

Both fleets were stationed in the Romanian port of Constanta, temporarily assigned to the German Army Group C.

For half of the month since the annihilation of the Black Sea Fleet, Colonel Russo has been spent almost exclusively in various propaganda, meeting fans from all over Italy, receiving the frenzied cheers of the crowd, and was not until late June when he was recalled to the front line to prepare for the upcoming "C5" landing operation.

With the collapse of the Black Sea Fleet, the Soviet troops that had been left on the eastern side of the Crimean Peninsula could no longer hold on, and in the end, Marshal Budyonny withstood Stalin's pressure to withdraw all troops from the Crimean Peninsula and use them to strengthen the defense of the Taman Peninsula.

On the Axis side, after the withdrawal of these enemies from the Crimean Peninsula, how to cross the Kerch Strait and attack the Taman Peninsula east of the Kerch Strait was put on the operational agenda.

Army Group C is extremely large in strength, and the road leading from land to the south must pass through Rostov-on-Don, so that all the troops of Army Group 7 or 800,000 people can enter the battlefield through Rostov-on-Don, and the logistics lines of all the troops are crowded on a limited number of roads, which will be a major disaster for logistics and will also seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the troops.

The division of the troops into two, half of which entered the battlefield from the ground through Rostov-on-Don and the other half across the Kerch Strait, could reduce the logistical pressure.

At the same time, the Axis forces entered the battlefield from only one direction of Rostov, and the rear of the Soviet troops was safe and could calmly retreat in great strides, and it was difficult to encircle the Soviet troops and fight a war of annihilation.

Having another unit carry out a landing operation from the sea, penetrating directly into the enemy's rear, and cutting off the enemy's retreat to the Caucasus Mountains can increase the probability of encircling and destroying the enemy.

Finally, in order to achieve the two goals of reducing the logistical pressure and increasing the possibility of encircling and annihilating the Soviet army's heavy army group, the "C5" landing operation plan for landing on the Taman Peninsula came into being.

Since it was a naval landing operation plan, the two Black Sea Fleets of Germany and Italy did not come to chance, and became the main escort fleet of the "C5" landing operation plan.

In addition to the two Black Sea Fleets, the Romanian Navy also kindly sponsored 4 destroyers, 10 gunboats and 3 landing craft.

In addition to naval forces, the German 12th Army, the Romanian Mountain Army, the Italian 1st Mountain Infantry Corps, the German SS 12th Panzergrenadier Division "Hitler Youth", as well as the Italian Marine Brigade "San Marco", the 185th "Lightning" Paratrooper Division, were to be involved in the operation.

The commander-in-chief of the operation was under the command of Field Marshal Heydrich, commander of Army Group C, and the former enemy commander-in-chief of the first wave of the landing force was Vice-Admiral Vério Tours of Italy.

In the first wave of operations, Vice Admiral Tours commanded the fleets of Germany, Italy, and Romania to bring ashore the first wave of the Italian Marine Brigade "San Marco", as well as parts of the 1st Italian Mountain Infantry Corps, to establish a bridgehead near a small town called Anapa in the southern part of the Taman Peninsula.

The early morning of 1 July was the day when the troops under the command of Chen Dao launched a full-scale attack on the defense line of the Kagalnik River, and it was also the day when the landing force set off.

Field Marshal Heinrich, commander of Army Group C, personally rushed to the dock to see off the troops.

After shaking hands with Vice Admiral Tours, Colonel Russo, Colonel Hipbard, and the commanders of the first landing forces, Field Marshal Heinrich watched the officers get aboard.

At two o'clock in the morning, the fleet left on time.

Vice Admiral Tours was a well-maintained officer with deep eyes and a large nose.

Without any hesitation, Vice Admiral Tours took Colonel Russo's flagship, the heavy cruiser "Goricia", as his command ship.

After the fleet departed, looking out of the bridge window at the night that was still dark, Vice Admiral Tours said: "This time tomorrow we should be launching the bombardment of the town of Anapa, and in another hour and a half our lads will enter the town of Anapa and raise the Italian flag on the tallest building in the town."

Colonel Russo was silent, but nodded his head in agreement with Vice Admiral Tour's statement, and then asked a crucial question.

"There is no doubt that the first units to land will suffer the greatest casualties. It's just that it was our troops who were the first to land, and it was our troops who went to bear such casualties, and there were no Germans and Romanians. ”

Colonel Russo's question was very sharp, and Vice Admiral Tours rolled his eyes in embarrassment when he heard it, and said helplessly:

"I think it must have been the German General Rosen who had sensed the temper of our lovely Mussolini leader and knew that our leader was a man who liked to be in the limelight. What was the most dramatic thing during the war years? Naturally, one victory after another on the battlefield. So ·····"

Colonel Russo said: "So the last landing on the Sevastopol fortress was led by our Marine Brigade and Paratrooper Division, and this time it was our Marine Brigade and Mountain Units that took the lead, and the most difficult and sacrificial tasks were completed by us, and the Germans came out later and directly reaped the fruits of victory." ”

"They also sent some elite troops to follow us in action, although the number is a little smaller, only two battalions, but I have seen their equipment and soldiers, they are indeed elite, and in the upcoming landing operation, they are also carrying out very dangerous missions."

"You're talking about the 101st Special Air Service Regiment, and the unit called Blackwater?"

Vice Admiral Tours said: "Yes, these two forces are very few in number, and hopefully they will be the best of the best, as the Germans advertise." ”

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