Episode 503-A Desperate Defense If Ever There Was One

The History of WWII Podcast

Ray Harris Jr

Society & Culture, Education, History

4.5 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After a quick and merciless victory just above the Sea of Azov, Gen. Eric Hansen readies his 6 infantry divisions to take the Crimea. But the naval infantrymen of Odessa are shipped over. The battle ground is marshy and limited so the Germans will attack all three land bridges and hope one of them is a winner. Meanwhile, Gen. Kuznetsov deploys his men and hopes for the best as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:45.6	Hello, and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast, episode 503,
0:49.1	A Desperate Defense, if ever there was one.
0:55.5	Having reached the entrance to the Crimea, General of the Caval the cavalry Eric Hansen's 54th Army Corps,
1:01.7	specifically the 46th and 73rd infantry divisions, were tasked with smashing through the Tatter wall and the other defensive lines of the Paracop Isthmus. For beyond it was the massive
1:08.4	peninsula, and certainly the Soviet port city of Sevastopol. Problem was,
1:14.3	Colonel General Kounetsov, commander of the Independent 51st Army, and Admiral Oktiabriski
1:20.8	of the Black Sea Fleet, were attempting to manifest Stalin's will by denying access. And though the struggle had been Titanic, going back and
1:30.5	forth, the Germans did manage to eventually smash their way through the first two defensive lines
1:35.5	and then the tatter wall. Konezov had no choice. He asked and was given permission to retreat to
1:42.6	Ashoun, a town about 20 miles to the south. Though losing the first few battles, he was given permission to retreat to Eschun, a town about 20 miles to the south.
1:46.1	Though losing the first few battles, the peninsula wasn't in German hands yet.
1:52.0	But just as Hanson's two divisions were about to dash south and continue the fight,
1:56.8	the Soviets of the Southwest Front attacked the Romanian troops threatening Militopol,
2:01.7	about 80 miles or 128 kilometers to the northeast of Crimea's entrance.
2:07.9	This local Soviet victory was only possible as the new commander of the 11th Army,
2:13.6	General of Infantry Eric von Manstein, had taken much from 30th Corps near Militopol and told the rest
2:20.5	to wait until Crimea was subdued. Then the borrowed units would be returned so 30th Corps could
	...

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