The war is over.

The 450,000 Soviet troops were basically annihilated, and the battle for Kharkov continued to end with the great victory of the miraculous Baron Alexon.

A shocking victory, especially in such a short period of time after the Battle of Demyansk, the Germans achieved such a great victory!

Long live St. Ernst!

Baron Alexon, long live!

The Germans cheered wildly, the German people cheered wildly. Only Baron Alexon can lead Germany to victory!

The situation, which had become seriously unfavorable for Germany, was now stabilized at one fell swoop. The Soviets were no longer capable of launching a new offensive in a short period of time.

Ernst. Marshal Bram won the time he needed

And at the same time as the Battle of Kharkov was going on, Manstein also took advantage of the most favorable opportunity for the main forces of the Soviet army to be dragged down, and at the same time launched the attack on the fortress of Sevastopol!

The original site of the city of Sevastopol is located at the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula. Crimea is a large peninsula jutting out of the territory of the Ukrainian republics in the south of the Soviet Union to the Black Sea, and has been used as a holiday destination for successive tsars because of its warm and comfortable Mediterranean climate. But the resort is built on a huge fortress. The Black Sea is an inland sea shared by Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and many other countries, and it has considerable strategic value, and once it has mastered the control of the Black Sea, it can exert political pressure on the countries surrounding the coast. Sevastopol is the most suitable port in the region, making it a treasure trove for all countries.

The war continued until Orthodox Tsarist Russia recaptured the peninsula, by which time Sevastopol had evolved into a fortress city in response to the constant fighting. A large number of forts, moats, and deliberately made labyrinthine tunnels surround the urban area. In Soviet times, especially in the 30s, the fortress was completely modernized and a military airfield was built. As a result, it has also become a problem in Germany.

The Soviet troops stationed in Sevastopol could land from the Black Sea at any time to encircle the troops of the invading German army on the southern front, which made the German army inevitably dare not advance to the east; And the Soviet planes taking off from the Crimean airfield at the moment threatened the lifeline of the Axis powers - the Proiesti oil fields in Romania. And launching an attack on Crimea would undoubtedly allow Germany to win favor with Turkey. Thus pulling this great power, which had been on the sidelines, to the chariot of the Axis powers.

But the fortress, which had been in operation for a thousand years, was not so easy to deal with, and the city of Sevastopol was used as a reference, and the entire city was bordered by the slender southern shore of Sevinaya Bay to the north, and the northern shore of Sevinaya Bay and the Bebek Gorge were the focus of defense. In this rectangular strip of 360 kilometers, there are 12 permanent fortress groups, accounting for 75% of the total number of Crimean fortresses, each with a typical Soviet name. The center was guarded by three huge fortress groups, "Molotov", "Cheka" and "Kobeu", two fortresses "Lenin" and "Northern Fortress" were arranged in the angular salient near the sea in the southwest, and five joint fortresses "Stalin", "Siberia", "Volga", "Donets" and "Urals" were located due east. At the northernmost and most easily breached pass of the quadruple defensive line was the strongest "Maxim-Gorky I" turret fortress of the time, with a twin 305 mm cannon built in 1934 with a range of 44 km. The outer layers of defense resemble the turrets of battleships of the time. Surrounded by 200-300 mm thick armor plates, the turret has 3 layers of permanent fortifications, each layer of permanent concrete canopy up to 3000-4000 mm thick. In addition, on the east side of the "Maxim Gorky I", the fortress "Bastion I" was set up as a foresight. All fortresses were covered with permanent concrete armor plates, connected by underground passages and small railways, and countless bunkers and firing points were set up in the mountainous areas, and all the fortress turrets were sunken and had an absolutely superior firing range, making it theoretically impossible to carry out a ground attack on this defensive area. Moreover, the designers stored the basic ammunition of the fortress in the main ammunition depot of Kulabe, which is 30 meters underground on the southern shore of Sevinaya Bay. It's foolproof.

The Soviet soldiers guarding Sevastopol were more special, except for ordinary army troops. There were also the Marine Corps and the Soviet Internal Affairs Forces, which were very strong in combat effectiveness and weaponry, and in the quality of officers. At that time, the garrison of the city was about 100,000 men, but there were only 40 tanks.

On December 17, 1941, 7 infantry divisions and 2 mountain divisions of the German army completely surrounded the fortress and launched the first offensive and defensive battle of Sevastopol. The Germans bypassed the "Maxim-Gorky I" and attacked the Stalin Fortress from the west side of the fortress group, but without success, because the Soviet marines landed on the Kerch Peninsula two days ago and quickly smashed the German encirclement, the first offensive and defensive battle ended in a complete defeat for the Germans, and the Soviet marines in black sailor uniforms also received the title of "Black Death". However, since Crimea still threatened the German Southern Front, the Germans needed to pull out the nail at all costs.

Therefore, at the outbreak of the Battle of Kharkov, the Germans dispatched the 11th Army and Romanian mountain troops to begin a counterattack against the Soviet forces on the Kerch Peninsula. Thanks to the effective coordinated operation of the German 8th Air Army, the Germans reoccupied the Kerch Peninsula on April 6, in which a total of 26 Soviet divisions were annihilated and 170,000 prisoners were captured, and the door to Sevastopol was once again wide open.

The German commander, General Manstein, was well aware of the strength of the fort's defenses, and in order to ensure the success of this attack, in addition to the support of the 8th Air Army, a strong army artillery was also indispensable. As a result, the German 306th Artillery Command was transferred in its entirety, mainly attached to the 54th Army on the northern front, while the 30th Army and Romanian mountain troops were to encircle the Soviet first-line positions in the south.

On April 16, 1942, the Second Offensive and Defensive Battle of Sevastopol began.

On that day, 203 German artillery batteries were assembled in the northern fortress group, and Manstein tried to open a gap in the strongest defensive line, thus launching one of the most frantic German artillery bombardments of World War II. However, in the far north, the fortress "Maxim-Gorky I" suppressed the main northern road and the dangerous area of the Bebek gorge. The 305-mm gun could pose a devastating threat to the German infantry at any time. Ordinary artillery could do nothing against this impregnable fortress, and its range of 44 kilometers made it difficult for the German 54th Army to advance an inch. In order to break through the strongest fortress, the strongest artillery must be used. After careful planning, the Germans deployed 3 super cannons. They are the 420-mm stationary mortar "Gonma Equipment", the 610-mm self-propelled mortar "Karl Equipment", and the 800-mm train cannon "Gustav Equipment". The first target of the German army was the ammunition depot of the Soviet army Kurabe, for which the "Gustav" first continuously fired armor-piercing shells weighing 7,100 kg directly penetrated the 8,000-mm protective layer and hit the middle of the underground ammunition depot, causing a large explosion that shook the whole island, thus cutting off the ammunition supply of the northern fortress group of the Soviet army. Gustav then made a turn south along a makeshift four-track railroad and began to attack Stalin's Scypriot. At the same time, the artillery of the German army in the north began to enter into a full-scale artillery bombardment of the "Gorky I".

At this time, the protagonist of the northern shelling was replaced by the 610-mm "Karl gun", which was also called the "Thor's hammer". "Karl" has a higher rate of fire. 2200-mm high-explosive shells weighing 610 kg were poured around the fortress "Gorky I", 4000 mm thick permanent cement armor plates were smashed to pieces, and the interior of the fortress began to be exposed; Then the 8th Air Army poured out. Wave dive bombardment, with 1,000 sorties per day, inflicted complete damage on the living quarters of the fortress, forcing Soviet soldiers to retreat into the interior of the fortress. In order to suppress the breakthrough and reinforcement of the Soviet infantry, the 420-mm 'Gangma artillery' carried out carpet bombardment around the fortress, and the 1,000-kilogram 420-mm shells rained down all the roads and railway networks around the fortress. "Maxim Gorky I." is completely isolated!

April 17th. General attack by the Germans.

On a narrow position of 35 km, 1300 German artillery shelled the "Maxim-Gorky I." without interruption, the fortress was covered with a scorching shock wave, and all the outer defensive positions were almost reduced to ashes. But the most important intermodal turrets were not hit due to the small size of the target, and still insisted on counterattacking. In order to accurately attack this turret, the Germans deployed two 355-mm mortars to the north side of the Bebek gorge, and ordered all artillery to suppress the Soviet turret with an armor-piercing salvo. When the "Gorky I" was temporarily silent, more than a dozen 355-mm grenades, which were equipped with delayed burst fuses, were inserted from the top into the turret armor plates. Caused internal explosions in succession within minutes. The roof of the armored turret "Gorky I" was completely lifted, and the Germans immediately used 280-mm rocket artillery to fire incendiary shells at the open turret. Other artillery switched to high-explosive shells and continued to bombard the turret perimeter.

The "Gorky I" cannon was completely destroyed, and all the Soviet officers and men stationed in the turret were killed.

At the same time, the German army in the south also began to press the first line of defense of the Soviet army. On April 16, the German 30th Army attacked in three directions: the 72nd Infantry Division went north and went straight to the uphill heights, and the Romanian Mountain Division pinned down the Soviet Army's ruins mountain and the northern nose position for cover, and occupied the uphill heights by April 22; The 170th Infantry Division bypassed the fortress of Kube from the center and captured the Vulture Heights on the 18th; The main 28th Infantry Division successively conquered Thorn Hill and Red Heights 1, 2, and 3, and then went north and turned back to attack the fortress of Balkulwa from behind, and the Soviets were caught off guard and quickly lost.

In just 10 days, the two defensive lines of the Soviet army in the south have been broken, and the German 30th Army has advanced to the rear Soviet mountain position, waiting for the cooperation of the 54th Army in the north.

On April 17 on the Northern Front, the giant artillery "Gustav" bombarded the Stalin Fortress in an all-round way, and at the same time, most of the artillery also advanced 10 kilometers to concentrate on attacking the central fortress group. A large part of the commanders inside were inexperienced new officers, and many of the first-generation officers when the fortress was completed were killed during the Great Purge, and most of the internal affairs troops and marines were stationed in the urban area, so it was natural to suffer a big loss in the face of the elite German 54th Army.

On 22 April, the German 22nd Division occupied the Stalin's fortress, and the artillery units advanced layer by layer, using 88-mm guns and rocket artillery to break through the rest of the fortress at close range.

By April 28, the central Soviet defenses in the north had completely collapsed, and 11 out of 12 fortresses had fallen into German hands!

The attack on the fortress of Sevastopol ended, and this supposedly impregnable fortress fell into the hands of the Germans!

General Manstein, taking advantage of the favorable opportunity of the Battle of Kharkov, achieved a victory as brilliant as Baron Alecson! (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )