The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The German blitzkrieg has never been about ground troops advancing all the way under the cover of tanks. They usually advance in coordination with the air force, airborne troops and even Brandenburg troops.

Of course it was no surprise this time.

In fact, when Manstein reported the information about the 11th Army's crossing of the Kerch Strait to Hitler, Hitler set his keen eyes on Transcaucasus.

Although Hitler could not be said to be a military genius, he did have good commanding skills. He judged that if this battle continued like this, the Soviet troops in the Transcaucasus would most likely be attracted to the narrow mountain pass in the west.

Because this area is very suitable for Soviet defense, with the Caucasus Mountains on the right and the Black Sea on the left, it can be heavily defended to hold back the Germans without deploying too many troops.

Therefore, Hitler believed that the 11th Army was likely to fall into a quagmire... After all, the Soviet army only needed to bomb roads and lay mines in this area to slow down the German attack.

Therefore, Hitler urgently transferred the 7th Airborne Division, which was transferred to Kharkov, to Kerch, just waiting for the 11th Army to suddenly airdrop towards the rear of the Soviet army to launch a two-sided attack when the 11th Army was in trouble.

Unexpectedly, the 11th Army was not only not blocked by the Soviet army in Novorossiysk, but also fought a beautiful offensive battle and cleanly annihilated four Soviet divisions. This could not help but surprise Hitler.

"How did they do it?" Hitler asked Canaris.

"Your Majesty the Head of State!" Canaris replied: "Do you still remember the knighthood you awarded on the International Day of Demonstrations? "

"You mean 'Legendary Sergeant'?" Hitler asked.

"Yes!" Canaris nodded.

"What does this battle have to do with him?" Hitler asked.

"Of course it is related!" Canaris said: "He invented the amphibious landing craft and amphibious tanks used by the 11th Army to cross the Kerch Strait!"

Hitler couldn't help being stunned when he heard this, and then nodded with a smile: "A very good soldier!"

"Then!" Canaris pointed to the map and said: "When they arrived in Novorossiysk, these amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks were launched again. They started from..."

Canaris searched for a while on the map, then pointed to a point and said: "From here, Dada bypassed the Soviet defense line from the sea and attacked Novorossiysk. It only took more than half an hour. In one fell swoop, they destroyed the headquarters of the Soviet 43rd Army. The army commander, political commissar, and staff officer... a total of three major generals and eight colonels, all died on the spot..."

As he spoke, Canaris spread his hands and said: "The next step is simple. The Soviet army lost command and was surrounded. After failing to break through, they surrendered!"

"Perfect!" Hitler couldn't help but praise.

"That's not the point!" Canaris continued: "In the next battle, the Soviets will be almost unable to deal with this tactic of penetrating from the Black Sea to the rear!"

Hitler nodded in agreement.

He also saw that if you want to deal with this style of play, you must control the sea, and to control the sea you must control the air... The trouble with the Soviet army is that they have no air control, so they cannot prevent the German army from penetrating the sea.

The result of this is that no matter where the Soviet army sets up a defense line, it must deploy heavy troops on the coast, otherwise the Germans may not be able to suddenly land and surround it.

"So!" Hitler said: "It seems that I don't need to worry about the breakthrough of the 11th Army. This gives us a lot of freedom!"

As he spoke, Hitler turned his attention to the Caucasus Mountains further away.

The Caucasus Mountains span a total of 1,200 kilometers from west to east and are divided into three sections: west, middle and east. There are two passages connecting the South and North Caucasus between these three sections. As long as these passages are occupied and held, it is equivalent to using the Caucasus Mountains to cut off the connection between the Soviet Transcaucasus and North Caucasus fronts, and even attack the Don River defense line. Army Group A formed a pincer attack and encirclement on the Soviet Caucasus Front and the Don River defense line.

Thinking of this, Hitler no longer hesitated. He stood up straight, waved his white-gloved hands and ordered energetically: "Order the 7th Airborne Division to use Novorossiysk as a relay point, and to unite regiments. Airborne to the Western, Central and Eastern Caucasus, occupy them, and then rely on the Caucasus for garrison!"

The reason why Novorossiysk is needed as a relay point is that the Junkers 52 transport aircraft has a range of only 1,200 kilometers, which is not enough to fly from Kerch to and from the Central Caucasus.

Therefore, it is time for the 11th Army to occupy Novorossiysk.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Head of State!" Canaris replied.

Hitler may have made many wrong decisions, but this time he made the right one.

As mentioned before, the Soviet troops stationed in the Caucasus Mountains are fortified regional troops... In fact, there is no problem with the fortified regional troops, because they are not pure engineering troops. They also have military training, and at the same time they are very familiar with the structures they built. The fortifications are also very familiar and can be used as infantry when necessary.

The problem is that the fortifications built by the Soviet army are all facing north... That is the direction in which the German army should have appeared, but now the Germans have appeared from behind, which makes these fortification area troops have no idea how to defend.

As a result, the German 7th Airborne Forces successfully seized control of the southern Caucasus Mountains without much effort.

What's worse is that the Soviet troops in the fortification areas still store food, ammunition, water and other living supplies in those permanent fortifications. Most of these things fell into the hands of the Germans.

This blow completely stunned General Tyulenev... Originally he was still waiting for reinforcements from the Soviet paratroopers, but who would have thought that the Soviet paratroopers did not wait but the German paratroopers took the lead.

Once the barrier of the Caucasus Mountains is lost...in fact, it is not just a matter of losing the barrier, it has become a barrier and defense line for the German army.

Then there will be no hope for Transcaucasia to hold on.

After thinking for a while, Tyulenev gritted his teeth and ordered: "Withdraw all troops to Baku!"

"Comrade Tyulenev..."

"Execute the order!" Tyulenev interrupted the staff member who was trying to dissuade him.

Tyulenev knew that he could no longer hesitate at this time, otherwise, the Transcaucasian Front would eventually be surrounded in this area with no way out.

Now Tyulenev's only hope is to defend Baku, the Soviet energy base.

Tyulenev knew what it would mean if he could not hold it, and Stalin in Moscow also knew it.

But Hitler knew it too.