Liveblogging World War II: June 7, 1942
On the Eastern Front... Sevastopol is again the object of heavy fighting because of its importance as the main Soviet naval port on the Black Sea. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet is supplying the besieged city. The Sevastopol garrison is comprised of 7 infantry divisions and 3 marine brigades. These forces are badly under strength. The Germans are attacking with 9 divisions, two of them manned by their Romanian allies.
Why spend time, blood, and materiel in frontal assault to conquer the Crimea rather than just cordoning it off? Because Hitler is terrified that the Russian air force will use the Crimea as a base to bomb the Romanian oil fields--and none of his generals will tell him that that would be really hard for the Russians to do.
