At Mykhlis's request, the Black Sea Fleet immediately transferred a brigade to Demlyukski.
They were dressed in black navy uniforms, carrying rifles and semi-automatic rifles on their backs, wearing brimmed military hats, and long bullet bags hanging between their shoulders and waists. They looked energetic.
These units were known in the Soviet Union as Naval Infantry Brigades...officially renamed Marine Corps in 1942.
Although they were part of the navy, they were used as infantry throughout the Soviet-German War. For example, the Coastal Army stationed in Odessa and Sevastopol were mostly composed of naval soldiers, even in the defense of Moscow.
Naval Infantry Brigade.
Shulka knew something about this army in modern times, and knew that they were of very good quality among the Soviet army, and their combat effectiveness was as good as that of the "Guards" units named for their military merits in actual combat.
The main reason is that the navy usually selects soldiers with high educational quality, such as high school and above. In addition, training and supplies are relatively sufficient. In particular, when the naval infantry brigade was established, it still drew 40,000 people from each fleet as its backbone, and expanded based on these backbones.
.
In contrast, the Soviet Army was mostly composed of farmers with low educational levels, and there was definitely a gap in overall quality.
One thing that illustrates this problem is that at this time the Soviet army had produced the SVT semi-automatic rifle.
This semi-automatic rifle should be said to have quite good performance, with a 10-round ammunition capacity and a weight similar to the Mosin Nagant, but its rate of fire is much faster.
The problem is that it is difficult to maintain, so it is not popular with infantry. The equipment is small...The quality of the infantry is poor. Many people have only undergone basic shooting training, and of course they cannot perform routine maintenance on the gun.
This is not the case with the Marine Infantry Brigade.
As a result, the same piece of equipment has two completely different prices for the army and navy.
The person who walked into the headquarters of Maekhlis was a rear admiral. He walked up to Maekhlis with a gloomy face, stood up and saluted, and said: "Comrade Maekhlis, Commander of the Fifth Naval Infantry Brigade Vladimir
Reporting to you!”
"Very good!" Mahlis was pretending to review documents. When he heard the report, he stood up and invited Vladimir to come to the map. Then he introduced to Shulka who was looking at the map: "Shulka, I will give you
I brought the people who need it, I think you should communicate!"
Then Mahlis introduced to Vladimir: "This is Comrade Shulka, I believe you know him, the 'Breakout Hero'!"
Vladimir looked at Shulka unexpectedly, then shook hands with Shulka politely, and said: "Yes, I have heard of you, Captain!"
"It's an honor to meet you, Comrade General!"
"So!" After Mahlis left, Major General Vladimir asked Shulka in a low voice: "Did you come up with this stupid plan?"
Major General Vladimir snorted from his nose without concealing the anger in his eyes. He looked at Shulka fiercely and said with a pun: "Very good, Captain! I will remember you and me.
troops!"
Shulka knew what Major General Vladimir meant.
Obviously, the 5th Naval Infantry Brigade and even Navy Marshal Kuznetsov did not agree with Shulka's plan... This is normal. No one would think that it is right to implement an amphibious landing under such circumstances.
But they had to do this because it was an order from the High Command representative Mahlis.
Otherwise, how could a captain like Shulka, even a "breakout hero", mobilize the naval infantry brigade?
Shulka shrugged indifferently and replied: "I know, Comrade General. There are many people who remember me, more of them Germans, but quite a few of them are dead!"
Major General Vladimir couldn't help being stunned. He didn't expect Shulka to answer like this. At the same time, it was the first time he experienced Shulka's courage.
In fact, this was all trivial to Shulka. At this time, he had come out of life and death on the battlefield several times. How could he be intimidated by Major General Vladimir with just a few words.
"Let's talk about your attack plan, Captain!" Vladimir said sarcastically: "Others say you are a war genius, and I also want to see how you want to plan this battle!"
"Do you have an air force?" Shulka asked.
"Yes!" Major General Vladimir replied: "Our air force once raided Berlin. I think you have heard about it!"
This happened more than a month after the Soviet-German war broke out. 15 DB-3 bombers of the Naval Air Force took off from the Ussel Island and flew long-distance to Berlin (the straight-line distance between the two was 900 kilometers, which was already the limit of the bomber's range.
, as long as you delay for a second, you may not be able to return smoothly).
Then, they dropped 7,500 kilograms of aerial bombs on Berlin, the capital of Germany.
This operation was actually more symbolic than practical. The Soviet army could use it to boost morale and reduce the arrogance of the German army.
However, the effect was not ideal, because at that time the Soviet Army was in full retreat and hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands of them were surrounded and annihilated.
Therefore, a little bit of news of victory from the navy could not dilute the blow caused by the defeat on the frontal battlefield.
"I know, Comrade General!" Shulka said: "But what I want to know more is how many planes you can dispatch and what types of aircraft they are!"
"Does it make any difference?" Major General Vladimir asked back: "I know what you want to do, Captain, you want to bomb Feodosia. I think I should remind you, Captain! The Germans have air superiority, we don't
An effective bombing of Feodosia would be possible, because the Germans would spot us, intercept our bombers mid-flight and shoot them down!"
To a certain extent, Major General Vladimir is right. The German army will deploy reconnaissance aircraft around the Kerch Peninsula. In addition, they also have radar. Once a Soviet bomber group is discovered, they will immediately send fighter planes to intercept it.
But of course Shulka's idea is not that simple.
"We will organize a counterattack on the Kerch Peninsula, Comrade General!" Shulka said, pointing to the map.
"Counterattack?" Major General Vladimir couldn't help laughing: "Who is commanding? Kulik? I heard that he has fled to Moscow!"
The Soviet Navy generally looked down on the Army. One of the reasons was that the Army had many commanders like Kulik.
"It doesn't matter who is in command, Comrade General!" Shulka said: "What is important is that a group of our fighter planes will arrive from Moscow, and then we will put them into Kerch's counterattack... You know what I mean.
?"
Major General Vladimir couldn't help but be stunned. He had begun to think that this battle might be worth fighting.