Chapter 597: 1st Mountain Division

The explanation of the number of casualties in the following text is not, of course, to complain about the price of a certain mobile phone as some book friends said. Most of the data in this book that are accurate to the single digit are the real casualties of this battle in history... Of course, the data recorded by the Soviet Union and Germany are different, and the data quoted in this book are the data recorded by the German army.

Qin Chuan is discussing the battle plan with Manstein on the map.

"I think we should change the landing site!" Qin Chuan said: "The landing point should not be the North Island, but the South Island!"

The terrain of the Taman Peninsula is different from that of the Kerch Peninsula.

The Kerch Peninsula is a long strip, while the Taman Peninsula is like a two-headed snake facing the Kerch Peninsula. The two snake heads are close to the Kerch Peninsula, about ten kilometers on average, and there is a 35-kilometer-long bay between the two snake heads.

The German army called the two snake heads separated by the bay the North Peninsula and the South Peninsula.

"But if we choose the South Peninsula, it means at least 9 kilometers away!" Manstein said, "It will take us an hour to cross it!"

"I think it's worth it!" Qin Chuan replied, "Because the Soviets' defense in the South Peninsula is weaker... On the contrary, because the shortest distance in the North Peninsula is only 4 kilometers, the Soviet army deployed most of its troops in the North Peninsula!"

Manstein nodded silently.

"If we attack the South Peninsula!" Qin Chuan pointed to the map and said, "Even if the Soviets know that they are being attacked, they will not be able to reinforce in time because there is a 35-kilometer-long bay in the middle. More importantly..."

As he said, Qin Chuan's finger pointed to Solyonie, the intersection of the South and North Peninsulas along the map.

"Airport?" Manstein's eyes lit up.

"Yes!" Qin Chuan nodded.

If the Taman Peninsula is a two-headed snake, then Solyonie is the neck that connects them together, and the Soviet airport is built here.

It is normal for the Soviet army to build an airport here. On the one hand, it is because of the previous Kerch Peninsula Campaign and the need to defend the Taman Peninsula. On the other hand, the fighter planes here can provide air support for the Don River Defense Line.

(Note: Solyony is about 135 kilometers away from the Don River Defense Line in a straight line, and its location extends from the Sea of ​​​​Azov to directly threaten the right wing of the German army. The geographical location is very important).

It is precisely because of this that the Soviet army deployed more than 300 fighter planes here.

"Amphibious landing ships can reach a speed of 80 kilometers per hour on land!" Qin Chuan said: "And Solyony is only 35 kilometers away from the south coast, which means... if we move quickly, it will only take half an hour for us to get to the airport from the time the enemy discovers that we are being attacked!"

"The enemy has no time to react?" Manstein asked.

"Of course!" Qin Chuan said: "Because they didn't expect us to cross the sea, nor did they expect us to break through their defense line so quickly after crossing the sea, and they didn't expect us to hit the airport so quickly, plus the Soviets' communication equipment is backward and coordination is insufficient..."

There is no need to say more about the next words. This will be a battle to annihilate the enemy's air force from the ground.

At this time, Major General Freco of the 1st Mountain Division stood up in front of the two men and saluted.

"You came just in time, Major General!" Manstein waved his hand and asked Major General Freco to walk to the map.

"Let me briefly talk about our battle plan!" Manstein pointed to the map and said, "You must be prepared to land from the South Peninsula tomorrow night with the 1st Infantry Regiment..."

"Land?" Hearing this, Major General Freco was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

"But, General!" Major General Freco asked, "How do we land? As far as I know, the Soviets didn't leave us any ships!"

Manstein couldn't help laughing: "Major General, you have already brought the boats!"

"What?" Major General Freco was dumbfounded: "Are they really ships? But..."

"But how can they drive on land?" Manstein raised his head to Qin Chuan: "Before explaining this, I think I must introduce Captain Frick to you first!"

Major General Freco's eyes showed a trace of surprise, but soon turned into admiration, and took the initiative to shake hands with Qin Chuan and said: "Nice to meet you, Captain, I have heard of you for a long time!"

"Me too, General!" Qin Chuan replied.

"He is the one who invented this ship!" Manstein explained, "I think you have guessed that the ship can indeed be driven on land like a car, and can also be driven in the sea like a ship!"

In order to let Major General Freco know more about amphibious landing ships, or to make him believe it, Manstein went to the beach with several people and watched the amphibious landing ship drive from the beach into the sea and then move at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour.

Freco was so surprised that he opened his mouth wide for a long time.

After a long while, he said, "God, we didn't drive it to the sea to try it on the way..."

"It's not your fault, Major General!" Manstein said, "Who would drive a car into the sea?"

"Yes, General!" Major General Freco replied, "But if they knew this, they would definitely regret it to death!"

"Why?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Captain!" Major General Freco replied, "Most of us come from the Alps. You don't understand how much we want to play in the sea!"

This is true. People who are used to living by the sea will like mountains, and those who have never seen the sea will like Shanghai at first sight.

"You will have a chance!" Manstein replied, "and it won't take too long!"

"Yes, General!" Freko replied, and then said to Qin Chuan with a look of shame: "I think I should apologize to you, Captain!"

"Why?"

"Because..." Freko raised his head towards the amphibious landing craft and said awkwardly: "My soldiers and I have been laughing at it all the way!"

Manstein and Qin Chuan couldn't help laughing when they heard it.

The 1st Mountain Division has one day to prepare. During this time, what they have to prepare is how to use life jackets... After all, they are a mountain division, and it can be said that everyone is a landlubber. It is unrealistic and unnecessary to let the whole division learn to swim at this time.

As for life jackets, the warehouse of the Kerch Shipyard can be said to have everything.

In addition, they also have to learn how to protect their equipment from moisture in the sea, as well as the essentials of driving an amphibious landing ship.

In fact, they have already mastered part of the latter, after all, they drove the amphibious landing ship to Kerch Port. But this is only the part on land, and the part in the sea is completely different.

Of course, Manstein would arrange special drivers to train the 1st Mountain Division so that if the driver died in battle, they would not be at a loss because there was no one to drive.

The German army was of good quality, and the Mountain Division was an elite unit of the German army, so these were not a problem.

Then, "everything is ready, only the east wind is missing"!