In the early morning of the next day, when the sky was just getting dark, the whistle of artillery shells rang over Feodosia.
Artillery shells hit the buildings in the city in pieces. At the same time, German fighter planes and bombers also flew over the city and dropped bombs and gasoline barrels downwards. In a moment, Feodosia was filled with smoke, dust and flames.
The bombing lasted for half an hour, and Agapia ordered on the walkie-talkie: "Attack!"
Then a regiment of troops advanced towards Feodosia under the cover of several light tanks.
Major General Agapia was a little worried because his troops were better at fighting in the mountains than in urban areas.
From this point of view, the Romanian army should switch defenses with the German 46th Infantry Division and then let the 46th Infantry Division launch the attack... The German 46th Infantry Division at least still has "Plank III" tanks, while the Romanian Mountain Brigade only has a few R2 and FT
Light tanks, these tanks can be said to be vulnerable to Russian anti-tank equipment.
Agapia also made this suggestion to Manstein.
"General!" Agapia said: "I wonder if you would consider letting us exchange with the 46th Infantry Division? I think it is more appropriate to let them attack!"
"I said it!" Manstein ordered: "Launch the attack immediately. We will have a lot of reinforcements later. Don't worry about equipment and troop strength!"
"Yes, General!" Agapia felt helpless.
It's not that Manstein has never thought about this plan, but as soon as Manstein contacts Spanneck and talks about it, Lieutenant General Spanneck's objections and remonstrances with protest will immediately be on the phone.
The head rings.
"General, I think this is irrational! We don't have enough strength to drive the Russians overboard!"
"I think they have at least completed the landing of part of the heavy equipment. The information you got is probably just an illusion!"
"We should wait for more reinforcements and make more preparations, otherwise we will give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage!"
…
Manstein had reason to believe that if Sponneck was forced to attack Feodosia, Sponneck would likely disobey the order again.
Therefore, Manstein had only two options: either immediately relieve Spanneck of command, or temporarily accommodate Spanneck and let the 46th Division guard the defensive line.
In the end, Manstein chose the latter.
The reason is that changing generals before battle is a taboo for military strategists, even if Sponeneck disobeyed military orders.
Another reason is that Manstein is worried that if it is true as Sponneck said, the Russian army has landed enough equipment in Feodosia, and a hasty attack will not only fail, but also the defense line may be in danger.
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However, Manstein would feel more at ease if the 46th Division was allowed to garrison the defense line...Although Sponeneck disobeyed orders, Manstein believed in the combat effectiveness of the 46th Division.
Therefore, it was the Romanian army that finally launched the attack. This may also be said to be Manstein's test of the strength of the Russian army in Feodosia.
Manstein certainly did not expect that the Soviet troops stationed in Feodosia were waiting for this moment.
Major General Agapia raised his telescope and looked forward. His soldiers were attacking Feodosia in the rising sun... This can be said to be a weakness of the attacking troops. It is difficult to detect them in the dazzling sunlight.
And aimed at the enemy on the dark side, but he was clearly exposed to the enemy's sight under the sunlight.
However, this was unavoidable, because they needed air force and artillery support, so the attack had to be launched during the day.
But soon, Major General Agapia discovered that something was wrong, because in the aperture of his telescope, a row of black shadows appeared in the distant sky, like a flock of geese flying together.
But of course it wasn't a wild goose, it was an airplane.
"Russian planes!" Major General Agapia turned to the staff and said, "Inform the German Air Force immediately!"
"Yes, General!"
Then Agapia was stunned, and then quickly realized that it was not the Luftwaffe that had to be careful, but himself.
The Luftwaffe has always had the upper hand, even though they were smaller in number...it's a known fact.
So, why do the Russians still send out their air force to fight when the German air force clearly has the advantage? They will not do this unless it is a last resort or under special circumstances, because this often means losing a considerable number of fighter planes!
In other words, now is a special situation. The appearance of these Russian planes means that the Russians have taken action!
What action will be taken?
No need to think too much, counterattack, the Russians will counterattack!
They have the strength to counterattack!
It was even planned!
Thinking of this, Agapia hurriedly shouted to the staff officer who was on the phone: "Retreat, let them retreat! Now!"
But it's too late.
Suddenly there was a whistling sound of artillery shells in the sky, as well as the creepy "whining" sound of rocket launchers. In the blink of an eye, several German artillery positions were destroyed... The reason why I say "several" is because the artillery often fired after
They moved their positions, so many shells did not hit their targets.
The most terrifying thing about this was the opponent's large-caliber naval gun. Several shells came over and shook the ground like an earthquake.
During the artillery bombardment, the enemy and our fighter planes also started a fierce fight in the air... The speed of the air battle was much faster than expected. As soon as the fighter planes of both sides came into contact, one after another planes fell from the sky with black smoke.
When they came down, some caught fire in the air and then exploded and disintegrated.
That's not what Major General Agapia paid attention to. He had little to do with the casualties of the air force and artillery. To put it bluntly, most of them were Germans.
He lay on the ground and crawled forward for a short distance, then leaned out from behind a stone and raised his binoculars again to look at the battlefield ahead.
A terrifying thing appeared in his sight. He saw a Russian tank smashing into the wall and "drilling" out of the building. It was a "T34".
Then another one, and another one.
"Damn it!" Major General Agapia shouted: "We have fallen into the Russian trap!"
Major General Agapia was right, they did fall into the Russian trap, but they should feel lucky, because the Russians' purpose was not to annihilate them, they just wanted to defeat them.
"Forward!" Shulka ordered, and then led his men to follow the tank and drove out of the city.
The first thing I encountered was a Romanian light tank.
These tanks are like toys in front of the "T34". They don't even dare to fire and try to turn around and run... In fact, this is correct, because everyone knows that the armor of the "T34" is even the "No. 3"