Kerch!

This is coolbert:

"And with one stupid slither of his greasy, stubby finger, the Great Strategist [Stalin] sent 120,000 of our young men, almost as many as all the Russian forces at Borodino, across the Strait of Kerch in December, 1941—senselessly, and exclusively for the sake of a sensational New Years communiqué—and he turned them all over to the Germans without a fight" - - From the GULAG Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

This one I only finding passing mention of from way back when. NOT an item the Soviet and Russian military historian when speaking of the Great Patriotic war [WW2] is keen to talk about.

The obliteration of the Soviet 51st and 44th armies, vicinity Crimea, Kerch.

"the Soviets made large landings at Kerch and Feodosia on the 26th and 29th [1941] respectably."

"The Soviet landings at Kerch and Feodosia were part of the much wider ‘Stalin offensive’ which was launched all across the eastern front."

An amphibious operation the mission of which was the overland relief of the besieged Soviet fortress of Sevastopol.

Soviet armies not pressing home the offensive, lackadaisical and sluggish, WITHIN A PERIOD OF TWO WEEKS THE ENTIRE SOVIET FORCE ELIMINATED BY GERMAN COUNTER-ATTACK!

"the Soviet 51st army was able to dig in and bring in more troops . . . But the Soviet commanders were indecisive and instead chose to dig in around the landing areas . . . [yet the German] attack on the Feodosia bridgehead went unexpectedly well over the 15th-18th of January and the Soviet grouping was crushed."

Catastrophic defeat taken by the Soviet and Russian commander with relative calm? Always more troops and equipment available. At least during WW2 for Stalin and Stavka this was the case. Kerch was no exception.

coolbert.