Let's start with the Battle of Odessa. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the German Army Group South with a group of Romanian and Hungarian puppet armies entered Ukraine from the direction of Bessarabia (Moldova) and soon surrounded Odessa. After that, the Ukrainian Front suffered a crushing defeat due to Tukhachevsky's blind command and had to collapse for thousands of miles, so the besieged naval base of Odessa became an isolated city.

How lonely is it? The closest Red Army unit to the encirclement of Odessa was in Nikolaev, and the Romanian Fourth Army encircled Odessa was very strong (with 14 infantry divisions). In such a desperate situation, the government. The rulers had expected Odessa to fall soon, and they also believed that an isolated city hanging behind enemy lines would be of little value to the Soviet Union. Because the Red Army really does not have the ability to relieve it, look at Kiev, its political status is much higher than Odessa, when did Kievan Rus break the siege?

So the government. At one time, the government demanded that the army. Venezuela withdrew the Primorsky Army of the Red Army, which was besieged in Odessa, from the sea and left these units to defend Mykolaiv. It's just that this suggestion was met with the military. The committee resolutely refused. A group of generals led by a certain immortal strongly demanded that Odessa be held and must not be given up just like that.

Why? First, Odessa is one of the most important bases of the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, a one-grade presence in the Black Sea and Sevastopol, Nikolaev, Novorossiysk. And more importantly, at this time in the shipyards of Odessa lay two light cruisers and four destroyers of the Red Navy, as well as four frigates and a considerable number of submarines.

Under the conditions at that time, these ships on the slipway and in the process of outfitting would certainly not be able to take them with them, and could only destroy them on the spot. For the Navy, this is costly.

Of course, the boat is not the first factor, it is more critical. The Red Navy believes that the situation in Odessa is completely different from that in Kiev. Kyiv is surrounded on all sides and can only survive by airdrops, while Odessa's sea traffic is unimpeded, and the strength of the Red Navy can completely maintain the supply of military and civilian personnel in Odessa.

Li Xiaofeng, on the other hand, believed that using a small number of Primorsky Army to contain a large number of Romanian forces in Odessa would be beneficial to reducing the pressure on other directions of the battlefield, since Odessa was completely capable of holding on. Why not?

There was a lot of controversy at the time, but it turned out that Li Xiaofeng and the navy made the right decision. Why? Look at the comparison of the naval strength of the Black Sea countries before the outbreak of the war. The Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Oktya Borsky, had four battleships in June 1941, the former Gangut-class Marat (Petropavlovsk), the former Empress Maria: Poltava the Red (Catherine), the Will (Alexander III), and the former Nicholas I-class Red Sevastopol (Nicholas I).

In addition, there are two Type 35 heavy cruisers Red Simferopol and Red Izmail and four Type 39 light cruisers Red Lugansk, Red Rostov, Red Kerch and Red Donetsk. In addition, the Red Black Sea Fleet has 16 destroyers and 24 escort / anti-submarine ships, 24 submarines, 4 minelayers, 24 minesweepers and 48 torpedo boats. In addition, the naval aviation assigned to the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet has 346 fighters and 138 attack and bomber aircraft.

Its overall strength is not to say that it is in the Black Sea, but even in the Mediterranean.

Before the outbreak of war, the main task of the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet was to carry out offensive minelaying and the use of powerful surface ship formations to prevent the enemy from entering the Black Sea. Disruption of the enemy's sea lines of communication with a more powerful submarine force. Prevent the enemy from sending troops and military materiel through the Black Sea to the ports. Preventing enemy landings on the Black Sea coast and supporting the Marine Corps in offensive operations on the Black Sea coast.

It should be said that it is too easy to do this with the strength of the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, because the naval strength of the enemy it faces is really not worth mentioning. The Bulgarian Navy has only a few torpedo boats and patrol boats, while the Romanian Navy has 4 destroyers, 3 torpedo boats, 3 gunboats, 8 motorized torpedo boats, 2 submarines and 3 minelayers.

The German Navy, the Red Army's biggest enemy, did not have any combat ships in the Black Sea at first, and only after the outbreak of the war did 12 minesweepers and 6 submarines be transported from the Danube. However, when the Red Army was retreating, Turkey, under the strong pressure of Germany and Italy, had to turn a blind eye and acquiesce to the German Navy and the Italian Navy to reinforce the Black Sea, and a total of 24 submarines were transported through the Bosphorus. There are 6 destroyers, 30 torpedo boats, 84 frigates, 23 minesweepers, and 26 submarine hunters.

This is one of the key reasons why the Soviet Union is strongly dissatisfied with Turkey and that a certain immortal is determined to destroy Turkey. However, in general, the Black Sea Fleet still has a large advantage. Basically able to control sea supremacy, the Germans could only cause problems for the Red Navy through submarine and torpedo boat sneak attacks and offensive mine-laying tactics.

Of course, this is by no means to say that the defense of Odessa was easy, so to speak, the Red Army did not have an easy time in the early days of the Great Patriotic War, especially when it was easier to fight more with less.

August 5, 1941. The Red Army began the defense of Odessa, and in order to protect Odessa, the Red Navy sent three additional shore artillery battalions, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment and a naval aviation brigade, in addition to sending a cruiser and two destroyers.

On land, on August 16, the German 11th Army had reached the city of Nikolaev (one of the only two technically equipped bases of the Black Sea Fleet at that time, the other being the main base of Sevastopol). That is, on land, it is impossible for the Primorsky Army to receive any reinforcements.

Fortunately, in early August, the city defense work in Odessa was carried out vigorously, and three lines of defense were built in a relatively short time. The first line of defense is the forward line, which is 30 to 35 kilometers from the city and 120 kilometers from the Ajarek Bay to the Dniester Bay. The second line of defense, the basic one, is located 20 to 15 kilometers from the city and is 80 kilometers long, starting near Chebanka and ending in Sukhoi Bay. The third line of defense was the rear, 6 to 10 kilometers from the city, and 250 barricades were built in the defensive zone of the city.

In response to changes in the specific situation on the battlefield and the need to strengthen unity of command, on August 13, the Primorsky Army Group divided the entire city into three fan-shaped defense areas. i.e. the southern sector of defense (from the southwestern coast of Odessa to the line of Odessa, Vakarzane, Shekretavka), the defense of which was carried out by two regiments of the 25th Shaboyang Infantry Division and its subordinate detachments; The western sector (from the demarcation line to Hajibeysky Bay) was defended by the 95th Infantry Division, and the eastern sector (from the demarcation line to the coast east of Odessa) consisted of the 54th Regiment of the Shaboyang Division, the 1st Marine Regiment, the 26th NKVD Regiment, a battalion of the 163rd Reserve Regiment (these units were later unified into the 421st Infantry Division).

The Navy also set up a special formation of ships in the northwest region to provide artillery support, initially with one cruiser, two destroyers, four gunboats, six minesweepers, two minelayers, a torpedo boat detachment and a frigate fleet. The coastal defense forces consisted of separate battalions of the 42nd and 44th battalions of coastal artillery. equipped with 54 shore guns (45 to 203 mm, mainly 9 130 mm, 3 152 mm, 3 180 mm and 11 203 mm guns); The anti-aircraft artillery unit has 20 anti-aircraft guns; Air support was provided by 40 aircraft of the naval aviation unit and 20 aircraft of the Primorsky Air Force.

And how many enemies are there? The Germans were not many, with only one infantry regiment, four engineer battalions, three artillery battalions, and one air group. Romania concentrated the main 14 divisions and three cavalry brigades of the 4th Army.

In addition, to be honest, the logistical reserves of the Odessa base are still very sufficient, for example, the supply is enough for six months, 50 base for rifle ammunition, 10 base for various artillery shells, and 6 months of gasoline.

When the battle for defense officially began. In order to strengthen its maritime support forces, the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet successively dispatched the battleship Marat, the light cruiser Red Rostov, the light cruiser Red Luhansk, and eight other destroyers to participate in the battle. It is still quite strong in terms of support firepower.

The main problem of the Red Army at that time was poor command, there were two commands: one was the command of the separate Primorsky Army group, which was subordinate to the Ukrainian Front (the commander was Lieutenant General Sofronov), and the other was the command of the Odessa naval base (commander was Rear Admiral Zhukov), which was subordinate to the Black Sea Fleet. To put it bluntly, it was a little bit of trouble between the army and the navy, but this bit of trouble had an extremely negative impact on the operational command. It was not until Li Xiaofeng couldn't stand this kind of bullshit infighting that he personally intervened in the establishment of the Odessa Defense Zone and appointed Rear Admiral Zhukov as the commander of the defense zone that the problem was solved.

On 13 August, enemy forces began to approach the city. On the 18th, the Romanian army concentrated three infantry divisions and one tank brigade for a surprise attack along the Razgelnaya-Odessa railway line. The 95th Infantry Division resolutely resisted and repeatedly repelled enemy attacks.

During the battle, the 161 regiment to which the division belonged was honored, and the commander of the third battalion, Lieutenant Brieus, was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". However, despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, they were ultimately outnumbered, allowing the Romanians to break through parts of the southern defensive zone. And forced the troops of the Eastern Defense Zone to retreat several kilometers.

At 1:34 a.m. on the 19th, the Romanian Navy torpedo boats NMS Viscolul and NMS Vijelia tried to sneak attack the Red Army ships in the harbor, but they were discovered by the radar of the coastal defense forces.

Seeing that the sneak attack on the surface of the water did not work. The Romanian Navy sent another submarine Dolphin, which began to wander around the sea near Odessa on the 20th, and although it failed to break through Odessa's anti-submarine net, it provided some information to the Luftwaffe and the Romanian Air Force. Under its guidance, the air forces of the two countries bombed Odessa, but with little effect, destroying only some small transport ships.

On August 20, because the initial battle exposed a large number of command and coordination problems, with the intervention of Li Xiaofeng, the Odessa defense zone was established. With the formation of defensive zones, as well as the timely contraction of the Red Army, when the fighting broke out near the outskirts of Odessa, the Romanians paid a heavy price, and the first echelon involved in the offensive suffered heavy losses, losing more than half of their living forces.

Also on August 20, in order to strengthen Odessa's defenses, the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet transported three newly formed regiments of marines to Odessa by sea, which brought the defenders of Odessa to the size of 35,000 men. At the same time, the Romanians were idle, and immediately replenished the 4th Army with a large number of living forces and began the second round of onslaught.

On 25 August, Romanian troops broke through several positions in the eastern sector of Odessa. Began to approach the outskirts of the city. By 27 August, the Romanian army had lost 27,307 men, of whom 5,329 were killed, 18,600 wounded, and 3,378 missing.

From September 1st. Romania again strengthened the forces besieging Odessa, bringing in the 11th Army (under the 7th Cavalry Brigade and the 8th and 14th Infantry Divisions). The unit arrived on the battlefield on 10 September, and by this time the Romanian army in Odessa had reached the size of 200,000 - 16 infantry divisions and 3 cavalry brigades.

Under strong pressure from the enemy, the Red Army units stationed in Odessa also began to find ways to increase their strength and began to form Odessa militia units. This was met with a positive response from the local population, and in just one week, 55,000 citizens took part in the battle to defend the city, of which 30,000 were directly integrated into the combat unit!

September 13th. Defense District Army. Committee to the Red Army. The Committee reported on the status of the situation and requested reinforcements. Li Xiaofeng personally replied: "Please convey the message to the commanders and fighters defending Odessa. The situation on all fronts is relatively grim, and it is temporarily impossible to send more ground troops to reinforce you in the short term (one week to half a month). Army. We can only provide you with sea and air forces to reinforce you as much as possible, and hope that you will continue to persevere and survive this difficult time......"

This was also unavoidable, because at that time Tukhachevsky was scavenging all forces to prepare for a counteroffensive. The needs of the chief of staff. Odessa, naturally, can't take care of it. The only thing Li Xiaofeng could do was to order the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet to reinforce Odessa at all costs, and soon all the battleships and cruisers of the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet would sail to Odessa. Hit the Romanian army that was constantly attacking the city with the heaviest firepower. In just a dozen days, the battleships and cruisers bald all their gun barrels and had to return to Nikolaev and Sevastopol to replace their barrels.

With the support of heavy artillery fire, the Binhai Group Army gritted its teeth and held out for another 20 days until October 3, under the repeated urging of Li Xiaofeng. The 157th Infantry Division (about 12,000 people), which had just returned from Central Asia, boarded a ship from Novorossiysk and was transported directly to Odessa, followed by an artillery regiment and a rocket artillery battalion.

The arrival of reinforcements has improved the situation in Odessa, but the situation in the eastern defense zone remains dire. To this end, Rear Admiral Zhukov decided to organize the 421st and 157th Infantry Divisions for a counterattack. To accompany the operation, the 3rd Marine Regiment also landed in Grigorievka, behind the enemy's flank, and carried out an airborne landing in the area of Sitzli.

October 5th. The Black Sea Fleet dispatched the Red Rostov and Red Lugansk, as well as four more destroyers, to cover the landing of the 3rd Marine Regiment 1929 people (three marine battalions and a mortar battery under the regiment) in Grigorievka.

At 13:30 p.m. on the same day, the ships carrying the landing force set sail from Sevastopol, and at 15 o'clock, the destroyer Tenacious was besieged by a large group of German fighters, which was seriously damaged and had to run aground on the beach. However, the Tenacious lived up to her name, and even if it ran aground on the beach, it concentrated all its firepower to support the landing force, and at one point used close fire support to beat the Romanians unable to raise their heads.

At 17 o'clock in the afternoon, the landing was successful. The first landing forces managed to recapture Grigorievka and clear the way for the follow-up troops. At two o'clock in the morning of the next day, all the main forces of the landing came ashore and immediately launched an attack on the enemy without stopping. At the same time, the two infantry divisions of the eastern defense zone were also immediately engaged in a counterattack, and the fierce fighting lasted until 7 October, when the landing force and the counterattack force successfully joined forces. This successful joint operation of land, sea and air repelled the Romanian army that oppressed the eastern defense zone, expanded the defense zone, and injected a boost into Odessa's continued resistance.

Particularly noteworthy is the destroyer Tenacious, which was forced to land on the beach; after the ship ran aground, it supported the battle with eight 130-mm naval guns on the one hand, and organized a combat squad carrying light weapons to fight with the marines while intensively repairing and plugging the leak. After the victorious recapture of Grigorievka, with the help of friendly ships, taking advantage of the high tide, the ship successfully got out of trouble. After the war, the ship was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In this operation, the Red Army inflicted heavy losses on the Romanian 13th and 15th Infantry Divisions, annihilated 2,000 enemy troops, captured 50 artillery pieces, 127 machine guns, and 1,100 rifles, while the landing force suffered only 29 killed and 407 wounded. In addition, fleet aviation shot down 20 German and Romanian aircraft and blew up another 12. This was the first successful example of the Black Sea Fleet, the army, and the aviation forces working together during the war.

German historian Friedrich. "The landing force, in cooperation with the Odessa Army, pushed back the 13th and 15th Romanian infantry divisions by five to eight kilometers, returning the front to the state it was in August," Foremeier commented...... This dealt a heavy blow to the Romanian army, after which it seemed that only the Germans were still trying to continue to conquer the city, while Romanian Field Marshal Antoniscu ordered his troops to stop the offensive and go on the defensive. The Russian generals should be satisfied that their defensive forces were able to turn the tide on their own and effectively resist the German and Romanian attacks, despite the fact that the opposing side had an advantage of 160,000 men and the defenders had only five broken infantry divisions......" (to be continued). )