Although Admiral Graf Spee was built as the last in its class, his story is probably the most famous of the three German pocket battleships. Firstly, because she was the first to take part in war operations, but also because she was blown up in front of the inhabitants of the capital of the neutral country. Perhaps the fact that her captain's command and gentlemanly way of fighting gained respect and recognition on the part of the Allies also contributed to their extent. He sank a total of 9 ships with a displacement of over 50,000 tons without losing the life of a single British sailor.
When General von Manstein took over the 11th Army on September 17, 1941, he realized that the forces he had from the German highest command could not be enough for the current conquest of Crimea and the attack on Rostov. He therefore decided to occupy Crimea first, as it was a constant threat to the entire right flank of the German advantageous front. In the direction of Rostov, only contact with the retreating enemy was to be maintained.
Operation Barbarossa's plan envisaged the creation of three large formations, each of which was to attack in one of three strategic directions. Army Group North was to advance through the Baltics and conquer Leningrad. The Army Group Center was to destroy the main Soviet forces and advance directly to Moscow. Finally, the South Army Group was to advance as far as possible to Ukraine and destroy enemy ties. We will look to the north, where in the end everything turned out completely differently than the German command imagined.
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