Because time was not on the side of the Germans, even though Manstein was somewhat helpless about the Kerch Line, he still developed an offensive plan.

The first to unfold, of course, is an air battle.

Manstein was very successful in this regard, and he estimated that if the Soviets were reinforced in terms of tanks, then they would certainly have strengthened in air power.

Manstein then dispatched bombers first, while fifty BF109s and F190s hid in the clouds later in ambush.

As soon as the Stuka bombers came up, the focus was to bomb the Soviet KV tanks indiscriminately...... This is where the Soviets made a mistake in putting tanks on the front line, the tanks were so big that they had a big thing, especially the KV tank, and a frighteningly tall turret, which made it exposed to the sight of the Germans in the first place.

Manstein then asked the communications corpsman to indicate the location of the tanks to the pilots...... The Germans have done a good job of coordination, or it can be said that out of the need for blitzkrieg, communication and coordination between air and infantry have always been very close.

Although the front and side armor of the KV tank were very thick, even the rear armor of the German army had to use tungsten armor-piercing shells at a distance of 30 meters to penetrate it...... It is said that during the Battle of Leningrad, a German infantry risked their lives to get close to the KV tank and tried to blow it up with twice as much explosives.

BUT NO MATTER HOW THICK THE ARMOR OF THIS KV TANK IS, THE ARMOR THICKNESS OF THE TOP 30MM STILL BECOMES ITS WEAK POINT, ESPECIALLY THE STUKA BOMBER IS A HIGH-SPEED DIVE BOMBER, WHICH ROLLS IN THE SKY AND DIVES DOWN AT A WIDE ANGLE OF ALMOST 90 DEGREES...... The bomb dropped was not only accurate but also amazingly large, not to mention that it could easily penetrate the top armor of the KV, and even if it could not penetrate the shock, it would shock the Soviet members of the KV tank to death.

Without any suspense, several KVs were blown into a ball of fire before they could play a role, and the "Stuka" bombers immediately attacked other tanks, artillery and cars that could be found.

Of course, the Soviets would not allow German bombers to destroy their tanks one after another, and immediately called a large number of "Seagull" fighters to come to support.

But this was already in Manstein's plan, and when the Soviet planes approached from afar, the German bombers turned and left the battlefield.

If Kozlov or Mekhlis had been a clever commander, the group should have been ordered to abandon the pursuit and instead bomb, strafe the Germans, and then turn back.

The reason is very simple: the maximum speed of the "Seagull" fighter is 442 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed of the German "Stuka" bomber is 410 kilometers per hour.

But Mehris shouted hysterically and ordered: "Catch them all and destroy them all!" ”

Mehris only thought in his mind, if he continued to avoid fighting like this, then wouldn't the German bombers be able to wipe out all the tanks in the defensive line back and forth?!

What he didn't expect was that the reason why the German army still had scruples was entirely because he knew that the Soviet army still had a good number of air forces, and once these air forces were eliminated, then the German bombers could do whatever they wanted.

Needless to say, the air battle that followed: fifty German fighters, who had been prepared for a long time, suddenly swooped down from the clouds, and then there was a heavy machine-gun fire...... One after another, "Seagull" fighters came down from the sky with black smoke.

The maximum flight speed of the German BF109 and F190 fighters is 710 kilometers per hour and 760 kilometers per hour, respectively...... The speed of the fighter in air combat is extremely important, because it means that the fast side can attack the opponent in any posture and direction at will, while the other side does not even have a chance to aim, and can only look at the target in the cabin for a while, and suddenly rush to the rear in front of him.

There is no doubt that the result of the air battle is the defeat of the Soviet army, although the Soviet army has as many as 150 fighters, but there is no problem of "fighting more with less" in air combat...... Fighters with generation differences are often wiped out without even touching the opponent's hair.

This time it was the same, only 18 of the 150 Soviet fighters were able to return, and all of them were wounded, and only one German fighter was injured by a stray bullet, and the pilot parachuted and was successfully rescued.

Manstein was satisfied with the air battle, and the first phase of his offensive plan was successfully completed.

Then, when the "Stukka" fighters returned to the base to reload the bombs and flew over Kerch again, the second phase of Manstein's offensive was launched.

The first thing to hit was the rows of shells.

Ironically, most of these shells were captured from Soviet troops...... The Germans adhered to the principle of using Soviet artillery shells first and then their own artillery shells, after all, carpet bombing did not require high accuracy, and it was not a pity to hit the captured shells.

The combination of artillery shells and the bombing of the "Stuka" bombers only hit the Soviet positions with fire and smoke everywhere.

Then, with Manstein's order, the infantry's charge began with artillery fire extending backwards.

This was somewhat different from the previous German charges...... Usually, tanks cover infantry charges.

But now, to do this on such a muddy battlefield is obviously to get yourself in trouble.

The infantry was followed by a group of sappers, who began to use stones, logs, sandbags, etc., to fill in the path for the tanks to attack as they charged.

Manstein's offensive strategy was certainly correct:

An attack by infantry following the artillery fire might break through the enemy's lines, and if not, the sappers would guide the tanks in the rear and prepare for the next attack.

But all seems to be in vain.

When the German soldiers approached the Soviet line of defense for 500 meters, the Soviets opened fire, and the dense bullets flew everywhere on the battlefield, and the German troops, who had no shelter to hide, fell in pieces...... From time to time, they lay on the ground to avoid bullets and then suddenly jumped up and leaped forward, but to no avail, the muddy ground made their tactical moves as clumsy as those of recruits, and the muddy ground was littered with blood and corpses in a short time.

In desperation, Manstein had no choice but to withdraw them.

"Colonel!" After thinking about it, Manstein shouted to Colonel Slain: "I wonder if the firepower of the First Infantry Corps can hold them down? ”

Hearing this, Qin Chuan couldn't help but be stunned, this guy Manstein was going to send the First Infantry Corps to such a battlefield.