The fortress of Sevastopol is a mirror city, and in the underground part corresponding to the above-ground urban area, there is also a city.

In addition to the necessary garrisons, most of the soldiers and civilians in the fortress were hidden underground, and the previous bombing and shelling of the fortified city by the Germans did not cause a large number of casualties to the fort, except for causing serious psychological panic to the soldiers and civilians in the fortress in the initial stage.

As the shelling progressed, the soldiers and civilians hiding in the fortress in the underground city even disappeared from psychological panic, which can be said to be accustomed or numb.

Because of the strict information control in the fortress, most of the people in the fortress did not know the progress of the war, but only paralyzed themselves under the propaganda of the political workers: the fortress of Sevastopol was impregnable, and every inch of land and every fortification of the fortress was stained with the blood of the invaders.

As for the real progress of the battle, only a few people in the fortress know.

As the leader among the few, the supreme commander of the defenders of the Sevastopol fortress, Major General Petrov was unsurprisingly subjected to the greatest mental pressure.

Relying on the battlefield instincts that had been honed in the past year since the beginning of the war, Major General Petrov had come to the conclusion that this unprecedented large-scale artillery bombardment was the prelude to the German army's general offensive.

The soldiers and civilians of the fortress could hide underground, but the defensive positions on the perimeter of the fortress were not covered by underground fortifications, and could only be destroyed one by one under the ferocious fire of the Germans.

Soon, bad news came one after another, defending the two most powerful positions of the fortress, battery No. 35 at Cape Kelsen in the southwest of the fortress, and battery No. 30 on the north side of the fortress, a total of 8 305-mm guns were destroyed one after another.

The most shocking thing was that the commander of battery No. 30 to the north of the fortress sent three photographs.

The first photo shows a crater with a shell lying in the crater, clearly a dud.

Next to this shell lay a soldier who was used as a reference, and the soldiers lay side by side by the shell.

At a glance, the shells surpassed the soldiers in both length and width, and the soldiers looked particularly thin against the background of the shells.

On the back of the photo, there is a message from the commander of battery No. 30: Comrade Major General, after I personally measured it, the caliber of the shell is 600 mm, this time you won't say that I'm insane, right?

Seeing this message, Petrov not only felt hot on his face.

Soon after the start of the shelling, Petrov received reports from the outer defense line that our positions were being shelled by German super-caliber artillery.

Without exception, all the reports were scolded back by Petrov, were you deranged from the frightening Germans, or were you shelled for the first time? There is no oversized caliber artillery, hold your positions.

The photo sent by Battery 30 was tantamount to a slap in the face.

Verbally, Major General Petrov was a tough guy who never threw in the defeat, but psychologically, Major General Petrov had long been sure that the last battle for the defenders of the fortress had arrived.

To die in battle with the enemy is an honor for a soldier, at least more than being shot by a court-martialed for being a deserter.

What's more, the three escape routes of the fortress have all been blocked by the enemy, and there is no way to escape from the fortress.

In the early morning of 25 May, before dawn, Major General Petrov woke up from his sleep by his adjutant, and then learned a more terrible news than the use of super-large caliber artillery by the Germans.

The enemy landed at Cape Kerson, southwest of the fortress, and the exact strength of the force is unknown.

Hurried to the operational command room, Major General Petrov shook the thick beard above his lips, pointed to the location of Cape Kerson on the map and said: "The enemy's landing force will definitely not be very large, immediately order the reserves to attack, reinforce Cape Kerson, and drive them into the sea." ”

In the afternoon of the same day, the bad news came, the first wave of the reserve assault was devastating by the enemy's naval guns, the counterattack failed, and the reserve was planning a second round of attacks, in order to avoid the enemy's naval guns, the second round of attacks would take the form of night attacks.

In the early morning of 26 May, a series of two bad news reached the underground command room of the Lenin district of the fortress.

The first bad news was the failure of the night attack of the reserves on Cape Kerson, which resulted in heavy losses among the troops.

The second bad news hit Petrov no less than the first, and even more than the first.

This morning, the outer defense line of the fortress was not shelled by the Germans, but it was attacked by a combined attack of German infantry and panzers, that is, the general attack of the German troops on the fortress began.

Staring at the location of Cape Kerson on the map, Major General Petrov sighed weakly.

"From Cape Kersen to the east, at most fifteen kilometers to the east, the main German forces in the east, how long can our men hold out in two flanks? Two days or three days? The general secretary told me to hold on for at least a month, what should I take to keep it? ”

When Rear Admiral Petrov sighed, on the Black Sea south of the fortress, on the aircraft carrier Hans von Seekert, Chen Dao stood in the combat command room with his hands behind his back, looking at the combat map spread out on the table.

"After the last two days of fighting, two questions that have puzzled me for a long time have finally been answered. The first question is whether the Italians will be able to win the battle. The Italians gave an affirmative answer with their actions. The second question is, what is the real reason why the Italians were able to win the battle? Who of you knows? ”

The four lieutenants stood at the map table and looked at each other, and Major Lorenz from the Navy tentatively gave an answer.

"The Italians are generally less combat-ready, but they still have a small number of elite troops. For example, the Blackshirts, and the Marine Brigade of San Marco, which was the first to land on Cape Kerson in this battle, and so on. ”

Chen Dao glanced at Major Lorenz, nodded and said, "You are only right about part of the reason, and it is a secondary reason. What was the real reason why the Italians were able to win the battle? ”

Chen Dao's gaze swept over the confused faces of the four adjutants, and then said, "The reason is that there are Germans standing behind them, do you understand?" ”

The four adjutants suddenly realized, and then nodded again and again, deeply convinced.

"Well, if the Italians could fight at half the level of football they played, I wouldn't have bothered so much. From Cape Kersen, to the positions of the Polish Doge's Guards Heavy Armored Brigade to the east, the distance in a straight line was about fifteen kilometers. If you are flanked from both sides, forty-eight hours should be enough to break through. ”

Chen Dao walked to the window and looked at the flight deck, where the logistics staff were replenishing aerial bombs from the supply ship parked nearby.

Chen Dao stared at the unloaded aerial bombs, touched the stubble on his chin and said: "Considering that our landing force lacks heavy weapons, in order to avoid heavy casualties during the assault, we have to come first with a wave of cloudburst bombs to wash the ground. Thank me, Italians! I'm so heartbroken for you. ”