For General Almendingale, the fate of his troops now depended on two things: one was that the last beachhead had to be held until the remaining soldiers were completely withdrawn. In addition, the ship used for evacuation must be able to arrive at the designated place in a timely and accurate manner. If any of these points fail, what awaits them will be a long life of Siberia.

The German and Romanian soldiers, who had already been beaten to pieces by the Red Army, found themselves almost standing on a nearly eight-kilometer-long Chiguo front at the moment. Yes, this line of defense is almost undefended, and there is no depth at all. The only good news for the German and Romanian armies was the convenience of ships with their backs to the sea.

Again, General Almendinger, a typical Prussian soldier, planned his retreat so carefully that even in the midst of a panic, he did not forget to transport all the precious food, fresh water, and ammunition to the last positions, which saved the besieged soldiers from a more tragic fate.

Almendingale's close friend was also his chief of staff, Litfen. "On the beach, we had deployed all the troops we could find as planned, and it was not easy to evacuate the soldiers here, and many of the units had been completely disrupted, and the officers and men had to regroup in their positions, and many of them joined the unfamiliar ranks," recalls Major General Exlander. The Russians soon attacked and tried to seize our last position by daylight on the same day (June 9). The general (Almendingal) sent all the men who could still hold guns to the front line, and to no avail, we held our positions with a makeshift patchwork of troops. But the Red Army soon brought up the artillery. And make the most of their material strengths. Concentrate fire on us. There are bomb craters all over the beach and it's really getting worse......"

It's just that in the battle that day, neither the Red Banner Independent Coastal Army nor the 37th Army rushed and fought, and it seemed that they intended to let the Germans go?

Anyway, similar statements were popular after the war, and the official records of the Red Army's war history also contain the words Vasilevsky urging the troops to act cautiously. There is an opinion that Vasilevsky, in order to end the battle of Constanta earlier, turned to attack Bucharest as soon as possible, and deliberately saved his strength and spared the trapped Germans.

In fact, such a statement is untenable, and Vasilevsky was really in a hurry to go to Bucharest. But he did not dare to release the water, because of the army. From the very beginning, the Committee made clear the operational principle that the Red Army should give priority to the annihilation of the living forces of the German army, and any commander and fighter who violated this principle would be punished with the most severe punishment. Vasilevsky still has a great future, and there is no need to lose the big because of the small.

And at that time, there was only one reason for Vasilevsky and Bogdanov to abandon the onslaught, the army. The instructions of the committee came, the army. Frunze, chairman of the committee, sent them a congratulatory telegram early in the morning: "To Colonel-General Vasilevsky and Lieutenant General Bogdanov, as well as all the commanders and fighters of the 37th Army and the Red Banner Independent Primorsky Army, I have learned that you, with the cooperation of aviation and artillery, have broken through the impregnable fortress of the German army with three-tiered reinforced concrete fortifications and liberated the fortress on the Black Sea coast and the extremely important port city of Constanta a few hours ago, Conquered the fortress that the German fascists and their puppets boasted of never falling...... The people of the Soviet Union and the people of Romania will always remember your great deeds! For the time being, though. We can't be careless and impatient, and we can ensure the combat effectiveness of the whole team to the greatest extent. The most important task is to accumulate forces for the next step in the liberation of Bucharest and even the whole of Romania......"

It can be seen that it is the army. The commission asked Vasilevsky to exercise restraint, and the reason is very simple, in total. In a telegram sent by Chief of Staff Ubolevich to Vasilevsky and Bogdanov, he said: "A strike at sea is simpler and the losses are smaller than attacking on land, and it is the most appropriate choice to drive the enemy into the sea and let the Red Navy and the Red Air Force, which have absolute superiority, solve the problem!" ”

Seeing it, the reason why the Red Army gave the Germans a breath of air was actually to wait for the Germans to go to sea and destroy more enemies in the least costly way. At that time, this was a wise decision, after all, the Germans who were still fighting would fight to the death, which would bring great losses to the Red Army infantry, and it could be said that this was a very humane instruction.

On the night of June 10, while Moscow fired a 21-gun salute for the capture of Constanta, the Bulgarian navy and rescue ships finally arrived at the last position of the German army in Constanta, and General Almentinger, who had the temperament of a Prussian soldier, breathed a sigh of relief and said to his chief of staff categorically: "You go first, I must stay here and leave with the last child!" ”

The "laxity" of the Soviets gave the Germans and Romanians hope for survival, but these poor creatures did not know that behind this hope was the murderous intent of Chiguoguo, and that the retreat at sea was definitely not smooth sailing, and death would always be with them.

In order to transport Almentingale and the remaining 40,000 soldiers out of Constanta, the Bulgarians and Romanians were almost freed up that night at Hitler's insistence, and not only military ships, but also all merchant and civilian ships capable of navigating the Black Sea coast were thrown into this rescue operation.

In view of the seriousness of the situation, Admiral Dönitz personally inquired into the matter and ordered that no matter how great the risk, the rescue operation must begin immediately. At six o'clock in the evening, almost as soon as the sun had set, more than 190 German, Romanian and Bulgarian ships sailed to Constanta under the escort of frigates.

It's just that the actions of the Germans, Romanians and Bulgarians have always been under the control of the Red Army, and of course the Germans have also taken certain countermeasures to avoid the previous tragedy, such as the large ships that are large and large are not filled with people, but are used to lure the enemy, and the real main force is small and medium-sized transport ships.

For example, the 3,152-ton luxury liner "Great Romania" carried only a small number of soldiers, and Lieutenant Colonel Julian, the only survivor of the later sunk liner, recalled in his later years: "With the roar of the Black Death's arrival, the Russian air raid came, and the vibration of the hull told me. The Great Romania was accelerating to avoid the blows of the opposing side. Despite the fact that the captain made every effort to maneuver. And the ship's artillery constantly returned fire with anti-aircraft guns. But misfortune soon befell us, the explosion of the aerial bomb caused the entire hull to shake violently, no one could keep standing, and all the glass in the cabin was torn to pieces by the merciless earthquake. This was followed by the groans of the wounded soldiers, and the poor men were placed on the deck of the bow of the ship (almost all the wounded were there) ......"

"There was another deafening whistle, but fortunately, there was a timely cover of anti-aircraft fire, and the barrage successfully diverted the Russian planes hovering over our heads from the attack course. The bomb whizzed and fell into the water, stirring up a column of water dozens of meters high. But good fortune doesn't always come with the Great Romania. When a motorboat full of wounded people drove in front of it, the Great Romania had to slow down, and tragedy struck at that moment! ”

"There was a rush of Russian planes in the upper left, and a series of nightmarish explosions made the whole hull tremble violently, and I guess this time there were at least two, no, at least three aerial bombs. The flames on the deck were almost impossible to look at, and the most horrific scene took place in the engine room, where an aerial bomb pierced the deck and shattered the entire cabin, and the fuel sputtered made the fire on the ship even worse. The pungent smell of smoke and scorching air was hard to breathe, and the back deck, laden with blood and corpses, was packed with people ready to dive to survive. The ears were filled with the desperate screams of the wounded, intermingled with the hissing of water vapor coming out of the cabin and the clatter of anti-aircraft artillery, and I must pay tribute to those artillerymen who really fought to the last moment! If it weren't for their heroic resistance, I'm afraid I would have died on board the Great Romania. ”

"After a hard struggle on the aft deck, I finally seized the opportunity to jump headlong into the sea, in order to survive we had to hurry away from the sinking Great Romania, I desperately waved my hands and hit the water, the cold water made me tremble, death was only one step away from me, and I was left with only a herd of floating corpses......"

The flames aboard the poor Great Romania burned for a whole day. It wasn't until the early morning of June 12 that the luxury cruise ship finally came to an end, sleeping forever in the depths of the sea. But this was not the only tragedy at the time, as at 10 p.m. that day, the fifty-year-old Romanian steamship Danubis was hit by fire from a Red Navy destroyer and then cut in two by a 533-mm torpedo. Equally unfortunate was the Gothridge, which, after receiving 50 rounds of 76-mm shells and 20 rounds of 130-mm shells, slowly sank off the coast of Constanta.

Although most of the attack aircraft and bombers of the Red Air Force could not be attacked at night, the Red Navy's Black Sea Fleet was almost fully dispatched, and destroyers, frigates and even torpedo boats firmly controlled the sea, and the Romanian Navy was no match at all.

More than 80 percent of the ships were either sunk or captured by the Red Navy, and according to post-war statistics, less than one-tenth of the Romanian and German soldiers who successfully boarded the ships escaped the end of being shipped.

To be honest, the naval interdiction operations of the Red Air Force and the Red Navy active on the Romanian coast were very effective, and although this kind of near-massacre operation was not pleasant, all the pilots and sailors did not object to it, and they would never be soft on the enemy, who made the war itself bloody and cruel?

The retreat from the sea was in full swing, but let's not forget that on the beaches of Constanta there were tens of thousands of Romanian and German troops blocking them, and the stay of General Almendinger played a crucial role in stabilizing people's hearts. Of course, he also knew that the Red Army could not leave him much time, and perhaps after dawn a group of Russian GIs armed with Bobosha would appear at the entrance of his headquarters.

The last wave of retreat was scheduled for 11 p.m. on June 11, and the troops in charge of the rear had to hold out for another hour. Sources from the navy say that a large group of transport ships will arrive at midnight, and that the existing small transport ships will have to make at least two round trips with full load to get the more than 10,000 people on the sea, and this will take a considerable amount of time.

Obviously, this means that the last of the rear's troops will most likely not be able to go. If possible, Almendinger certainly hopes to take these valiant lads with him. It's just that Vasilevsky can't give him this opportunity.

Just an hour before the start of the final retreat. At ten o'clock that night, the command of the German Army Group South suddenly ordered that Almentingale must immediately go to the Bulgarian port of Varna to report to his superiors.

According to Almendingale's recollections, he himself was extremely reluctant to bear the infamy of being greedy for life and afraid of death at the last moment, but it was difficult to disobey the military order...... Whatever the purpose, at least Almentinger's previous performance had proved himself that without his composure and rock-solid command, the German and Romanian armies in Constanta would not have been able to escape.

Just half an hour after the German Supreme Commander in Constanta left Constanta in a motor-torpedo boat from Bulgaria, the last wave of rescue ships arrived off the coast of Constanta. General Schultz, who was in charge of the retreat, had the transports as close to the coastline as possible, and ordered the small transports to and from the ships to move neatly to save time.

At the same time, more and more German and Romanian soldiers were massing towards the intended retreat site, and the beach was full of bustling soldiers walking around, all anxiously waiting for a savior.

"When will we be able to retreat?"

"Where are the ships?"

"Why hasn't the ship come yet?"

It had become almost the only topic of conversation among the restless soldiers.

Although the rescue ships were already close to the shore, they could not move them any closer, because the Red Army artillery had blocked the coast. In addition, the nighttime fog in the Black Sea also caused great trouble to rescue operations, and the fog quickly extended from the shore to the sea, making it difficult for ships to orient themselves on the sea, and only a little light on the beachhead could be seen at a very close distance. And the lighthouse on the shore has long been destroyed by artillery fire from the Red Army.

How to get the rescue ships to clear their course and find their target was the most urgent task before General Schultz.

Coincidentally. How did this terrible fog come sooner rather than later, at the critical moment of the German retreat? It stands to reason that the Black Sea in May and June is the best time for weather and sea conditions, and it is abnormal to look at such a large fog at this juncture.

No, the Red Army deciphered the truth only after the war, this sudden fog was completely artificial, and the Red Army artillery fired a large number of fog-making bombs at the beachhead at night. Vasilevsky used this new weapon on the right occasion and at the right time.

The fog stumped General Schultz, who was in charge of the rescue work, and the fog made it impossible for him to determine the location of the fleet and the beachhead, so many ships, especially those with poor navigational equipment, constantly staggered through the fog and darkness, so that only a small number of ships could find the rescued troops.

The thick fog broke the last psychological line of the German and Romanian soldiers who had gathered on the beachhead. When they realize that all hope of rescue has been lost, they must make choices for the future. Although many soldiers chose to face the tanks of the Red Army with their comrades who stayed behind to block the attack, and faced death together. But there are still thousands of soldiers trying to leave this desperate place.

By chance, the commander of the German 98th Infantry Division, Major General Reinhardt, found several ferries and dinghies on a beach far from the designated location, followed by two large transports offshore. As soon as he made contact with the ships, he informed his troops and the friendly 111th Infantry Division and sent all the Axis soldiers he could find on the ships.

Equally lucky was the 336th Infantry Division, where the bandaged Commander Hagerman and his men of 300 men found a Bulgarian destroyer, while Rear Admiral Bohemi swam a landing craft with a dozen men, and they were the last lucky ones to escape from Constanta.

And just when the Axis soldiers in Constanta were still holding on to their last luck, they did not know that they had been ruthlessly abandoned, and considering that the threat of the Red Air Force and the Red Navy was too great and that the rescue operation was not so effective, General Scholz, at the active instigation of the commanders of the Romanian Navy and the Bulgarian Navy, received this order in the early morning of June 12, which he considered degrading to the dignity and dignity of the soldiers: "In view of the risk of retreat, all rescue operations are now cancelled!" ”

Half an hour later, another harsher telegram came: "The situation is so grave that all rescue operations are to be terminated at once, and all ships must return at once before half past two!" ”

Although the military orders were like a mountain, Schultz did not abide by these two orders, even after half past two, he was still actively rescuing his comrades on the shore until dawn. His last effort brought some 1,000 Axis soldiers onto the ship.

Of course, getting on the ship does not mean that you can reach Bulgaria alive, and on the way, the Red Navy and the Red Air Force will still do their best to torture these poor creatures, and in the end, only a very few people who can reach Bulgaria alive are the few people who are favored by Lady Luck.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that this General Schultz did not end well, because he disobeyed orders and returned to Hong Kong with a destroyer damaged by a bomb, he was relieved of all duties and brought to court-martial...... (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank Andoney, Chuanliu Huagui, The Lost Remnant Feng, William the Dead, 13452314, tianwen2018 and Comrade Juventus!