It makes sense that the Transcaucasian Front would be the weakest of all the troops, and Transcaucasia was located in the rear of the front...... If the Don River defense line is the main line of defense, it belongs to the rear.

In this way, if the enemy wants to hit Transcaucasia, he must fight from the Don line to the North Caucasus and then to Transcaucasia, and even if the Soviet army will fail, the rout will retreat in waves, and the source of troops will not be a problem when it reaches Transcaucasia.

The problem was that the Germans at this time did not follow the usual path, they did not attack from the Don River step by step, but landed from the Kerch Strait, passed through the Taman Peninsula and then went straight to Transcaucasia along the Black Sea coast, which completely exposed the rear of Transcaucasia to the German army.

But despite the fact that Transcaucasia was the rear was the weak point of the Soviet army, its forces were much superior to those of the Germans:

The 43rd Army, which was subordinate to the Transcaucasian Front, had a total of 9 divisions, plus an infantry division and a tank brigade directly under the Front, with a total strength of 200,000 troops.

The German army, excluding the air force, was only 60,000 men, less than one-third of the strength of the Soviet front.

This is one of the reasons why General Tyulenev proposed to take the initiative.

However, General Tyulenev did not take into account one point: the vast majority of the 200,000 people of the Transcaucasian Front are newly recruited recruits, naval infantry, and engineering auxiliaries.

Auxiliary engineering units, such as the 51st fortification area.

The Soviet army has a very distinctive type of troops, that is, fortified areas, which are used to build complete fortifications, such as the fortifications in the Sevastopol fortress before.

There were also a number of fortifications in Transcaucasia, but most of them were fortifications on the Caucasus Mountains facing north, and the Germans bypassed the Caucasus Mountains from the left flank, rendering them completely useless.

Another example is the 63rd Cavalry Division, which was basically useless during this period...... There is a certain reason why cavalry divisions have not been eliminated in the Soviet Union, because in the winter of the Soviet Union, cavalry is often more reliable than cars and tanks, but at other times these horses are the best targets for machine guns.

Therefore, among the 200,000 people of the Transcaucasian Front, there are actually only three divisions and one brigade, the 9th and 20th Mountain Divisions, as well as the 417th Infantry Division and the 52nd Tank Brigade directly under the Front.

General Tyulenev sent the 9th and 20th Mountain Divisions, in addition to the 389th Infantry Division and the 63rd Cavalry Division.

General Tyulenezhy's idea was simple: to advance his troops to the area of Novorossiysk, where the Caucasus Mountains on the right flank and the Black Sea on the left flank, and by constructing a defensive line with one mountain division, he could make himself invincible, and then attack Soglione with two divisions in conjunction with the North Caucasus Front and use the cavalry division as a mobile force.

The idea was good, but the Germans were not going to fight the battle the way he wanted it.

At nine o'clock that night, shortly after it was dark (around eight o'clock in May in the Soviet Union), German troops set off from the Soglione airfield and went straight to Novorossiysk.

Novorossiysk became a battlefield for no reason, it was an important port city for the Soviet army, and it was here that British military aid from Egypt to the Soviet Union was disembarked and then transported to the Soviet Union and other places by rail to the north, and the occupation of this place meant not only cutting off this supply line, but also occupying the mountain passes leading to Transcaucasia.

The German vanguard arrived at more than 12 o'clock in more than 30 hours.

The reason why it is so slow is that it is very difficult for tanks to march at night, especially when the troops are integrated into the march of the Soviet, British, American, German, and Czech mixed tanks, which is simply a hodgepodge.

This inconsistent equipment made the Germans look a bit like a rabble, but it looked like one thing, and it was another to actually fight...... Although the tank is very chaotic, the people who drive the tank are all veterans of many battles.

On the contrary, the units of the Soviet Army, even the elite units called the Mountain Division, were soldiers with no combat experience.

"The Soviets set up a defensive line three kilometers outside the city!" Manstein pointed to the map sent by the reconnaissance unit and said: "The line of defense from the Black Sea to the Caucasus Mountains, five kilometers long and one kilometer deep, the cavalry division is arranged at the end!" ”

"What is the specific troop deployment?" Colonel Slane asked.

"We don't know!" Manstein replied.

Then he added: "Because the Soviets themselves don't know!" ”

At first, the officers did not understand what Manstein said, but after explaining it, they learned about it...... It turned out that the German scouts had captured a few prisoners and wanted to ask for information from them, but what they got was chaotic and even contradictory information.

The German scouts were not reconciled, and captured a few more prisoners.

Later, the scouts realized that it was not the Soviet prisoners who deceived them, but the Soviet soldiers themselves who were not sure where their troops were stationed...... The orders of the Soviet troops were issued in a rather hasty manner, they usually resolved the contradictions in the form of verbal instructions, and did not issue detailed written plans and timetables for the troops at all, which directly caused confusion in the Novorossiysk defense line of the Soviet army.

For example, the three divisions used for the offensive thought that they were going to leave for Soglione tomorrow morning, so they moved their supplies and equipment as far forward as possible into the line of the 20th Mountain Division, which was responsible for the defense, and the 20th Mountain Division found that the follow-up troops had entered its line and doubted whether it had built fortifications in the wrong place, so some units moved the line forward. In the end, even the Soviet soldiers themselves were a little confused.

In the end, the German scouts had no choice but to give up...... Because they couldn't figure out what even the Soviet soldiers didn't figure out.

This, of course, added some jokes to the German officers.

"That is!" Pointing to the map, Manstein said: "The troops of their four divisions are crowded within three kilometers of the line of defense to Novorossiysk, and they have not detected us coming, at least so far!" ”

This seems a little difficult to understand, because the German army at this time had more than a hundred tanks, and their movement on the road was not small, and a few scouts between Soglione and Novorossiysk could be found by casually arranging a few teams of scouts.

But the Soviets just didn't do it, because they were given the order to attack Soglione, and they didn't expect the Germans to launch a counteroffensive at all.

"Annihilate these troops!" Manstein concluded: "I'm talking about annihilation, not defeat, because if only to defeat them...... They will flee back to Transcaucasia and become our new trouble! ”