News of the defeat of the Romanian Division soon reached the headquarters of Army Group South.
Rundstedt was stunned when he heard this information, and first cursed: "These idiots!"
Then he reacted and asked: "Where are our engineers? Shouldn't they be laying mines on the highway?"
"They did!" the adjutant replied, "but the Russians broke through the minefield!"
Rundstedt, who was looking at the map, raised his head and looked at the adjutant in surprise: "They broke through the minefield?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!" the adjutant explained: "They installed rolling stones in front of the tank, and then..."
Rundstedt froze in place for a long time. He never expected that his mine plan would be solved by a few stone crushers.
But soon, Rundstedt came back to his senses.
"Where are they now?" Rundstedt asked.
"They have entered the range of Koraev!" the adjutant replied: "With their marching speed, it may not take two days to reach Odessa!"
It doesn't take two days... which means we can arrive before the German army captures Odessa.
What's more, if the defenders of Odessa heard that reinforcements would arrive soon, they would undoubtedly strengthen their resistance. In this way, the possibility of the German army taking Odessa within two days would be very small.
Rundstedt's guess was correct, and Moscow was also shocked by the victory achieved by the Soviet 9th Army.
You must know that the Ukrainian front line has basically been defeated... In fact, using the word "defeated" is polite to describe it. The entire Southwest Front Army and the Southern Front Army may be surrounded by the German army and face the outcome of annihilation.
But now, a surprise force suddenly emerged from Kiev and went straight to Odessa, and the situation suddenly reversed... Those who were surrounded and cut off from the supply line were not the Soviet army, but the German army that broke into the hinterland of the Soviet Union.
Originally, Moscow did not believe that a mechanized army could carve a way out of the German rear in an uninhabited country.
After all, it is 500 kilometers from Kiev to Odessa, and the German armored force defeated a Soviet tank corps with a hundred tanks. This means that the Germans can defeat the Soviet 9th Army as long as they assemble a random force.
.
But the fact was beyond everyone's expectation. Not only was the Soviet 9th Army not defeated by the enemy, but it went straight to Odessa through three passes and killing five generals.
"How far are they from Odessa?"
"Seventy kilometers! If we march day and night, it will only take one day!"
"Order them to speed up, and...immediately provide reinforcements for Odessa, and be sure to defend Odessa!"
"yes!"
…
The person in charge of Odessa is Major General Petrov.
Major General Petrov was originally the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. After the war broke out, the 25th Infantry Division retreated to Odessa according to orders.
When the Romanian 4th Army surrounded Odessa, Odessa didn't even have a unified command... It gathered remnants of troops who had retreated here from various places, and some were even deserters.
The reason is that Odessa is backed by the Black Sea, and the Soviet Black Sea Fleet has sea control, so deserters who are more familiar with the geography know that it is easier to escape from here.
Soon, Moscow ordered the establishment of the Odessa Defense Area, with Major General Petrov as commander.
Petrov, who was ordered at the last moment, was very troubled by the mess he faced, because the composition of the troops was very complex, mainly the 25th Infantry Division and the 95th Infantry Division, as well as the 9th Cavalry Division, the 421st Naval Infantry Brigade, and the 54th Infantry Regiment.
Wait, there are still many skirmishers from whom I don’t know which army they belong to.
Although there are many elements, the total strength is only 35,000.
Before that, the situation was pretty good. After all, they were facing the Romanian army. Although the Romanian army had much more troops than the Soviet army, Petrov still commanded his men to rely on the favorable geographical location to repel their attacks time and time again.
However, the situation took a turn for the worse after the German 22nd Infantry Division suddenly appeared on the battlefield and opened a gap in the middle defense line.
The reason is that the middle defense line is 6-8 kilometers away from Odessa. This distance happens to be able to block enemy artillery at a safe distance... The range of howitzers in this era is generally about 10 kilometers, such as the German 105mm caliber howitzer.
Theoretically, a distance of 6-8 kilometers cannot prevent the enemy from pouring artillery shells into the city of Odessa, but the Soviet army also has artillery, and the Romanian army certainly does not dare to easily push the artillery into the Soviet defense line.
This means that Odessa's connection with the outside world has never been cut off.
The connection comes from two aspects, one is the airport and the other is the port.
The straight-line distance between Odessa and Crimea is only two hundred kilometers, and aircraft and ships can quickly provide reinforcements to Odessa.
But it was different after the middle-level defense line was breached: the Soviet army had to withdraw to the last line of defense, which was the urban area, to engage in street fighting with the enemy, which exponentially increased the difficulty of defense.
More importantly, the Romanian army advanced the artillery position a few kilometers further, allowing them to use artillery to blockade the airport and even the port... More than a hundred aircraft that originally insisted on fighting at the Odessa Airport had to withdraw from Ode
Odessa, coupled with the large-scale bombing of the port by the German and Romanian air forces and the blockade of nearby areas with mines, Odessa's supplies immediately became tense.
This means that every time a bullet or artillery shell is fired, there will be one less bullet. Odessa will fall sooner or later.
In fact, the German 22nd Infantry Division had already broken into Odessa's port from the left wing and reached the rear... Once the German army occupied the port, the only way for the Soviet army to withdraw from Odessa would be cut off.
Therefore, Petrov judged that Odessa was likely to be lost within a few days, and they had to withdraw from the port, otherwise the more than 30,000 people stationed here would be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated.
At this moment, the staff officer handed Petrov a telegram and said excitedly: "General, orders from Moscow, they said reinforcements will be here soon!"
"Reinforcements? What reinforcements!" Petrov asked doubtfully.
At this time, the Soviet army was completely defeated, and the port and airport were blocked by the enemy. Major General Petrov could not imagine where there would be reinforcements.
"Southwestern Front Army!" the staff officer said: "They attacked all the way south from Kiev, and now they have entered Koraiv, only 70 kilometers away from us!"
After hearing this, Major General Petrov couldn't help but look at the staff officer with his mouth half open.
"Kiev? Are you sure?" Major General Petrov asked.
Then Major General Petrov realized that this was nonsense. The staff did not know much more than he did, and the telegram from Moscow was in his hands.
I read the telegram back and forth several times and found that it was indeed what it said.
At that moment, Major General Petrov, who was suspicious by nature, even thought that this was a means by Moscow to make them hold on until the last moment.
After all, Kiev sent out a support force... This is hard to believe.