Black Caviar Feast Section 01

  The Chief of Staff moistened his thumb and quickly flipped through the book from cover to cover, then back again, scratching his head and muttering to himself. Finally, he shook his head and spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness towards Manstein.

  Manstein stared blankly at Rania and asked: "What's this about the Soviet reserve army you mentioned earlier?"

  Rania smiled secretly, but her face remained calm and said: "The explosion outside is the 1939-type 210mm cannon, which can't be found in your book. This gun has a tracked carriage like the 1931-type 203mm howitzer, with a range of 29.4 kilometers, a shell weight of 133 kilograms, an initial velocity of 800 meters per second, and is only equipped with the artillery reserve corps controlled by the Red Army Supreme Command. Therefore, I conclude that the Soviet reinforcements have arrived."

  Manshtein's face was full of surprise, he walked up to Rania and stared at her: "How did you know?"

  Rania smelled a medicinal taste coming from his mouth, for the sake of the empire's interests and in order to eat caviar tonight, she endured it strongly and smiled at that wrinkled face.

  Manstein turned to Rennenkampf and shouted at Veller: "Tell the 54th Army, General Hansen, and General Kubler's 49th Mountain Army, as well as the Romanians, to intensify their attack on Sevastopol. We must capture this city before the enemy reinforcements arrive."

  Two 210mm shells exploded simultaneously, Renya predicted that the shelling would become more intense as their tracked artillery took time to install. The chief of staff cautiously suggested relocating the command post, but Manstein angrily refused: "We can't be like hamsters, moving house at every rustle of leaves."

  Manstein: "Order the 22nd Division to cross over the bay from west to east; order the 46th Division to hand over the task of defending Kerch to the Romanians and then move to Yalta. My Führer, you see..."

  "No way!" Li Dejian shouted categorically, startling everyone in the room.

  He extended his hand to Rania, indicating that she should speak her mind. She nodded slightly and walked up to the map, where Rania picked up a pointer and began explaining to the gathered officers: "The Soviet army will spare no effort to ensure two objectives: First, Sevastopol - as long as they hold it, our military cannot use the Black Sea route. Second, the Soviet army will land at Kerch with all its might, if I were them, I would rather..."

  The staff officer's flag work has reached the final stage, his legs blocked Rennia's line of sight. She stretched her command baton between the staff officer's legs and pointed to a place below: "If I were the Soviet army, I would rather land in Feodosiya and turn back to the rear of Kerch. The narrowest part of the Kerch Strait is only 4 kilometers wide. If our army occupies the strait, we can take a step forward into the Caucasus. The highest command of the Soviet army understands this truth."

  The staff inserted the last flag, just about to jump down at the last moment, and found a small wooden stick inserted between his legs. He tensed up and fell down, directly throwing himself into Rania's arms.

  Manstein said with conviction: "My Fuehrer, she is not only an agent but also a candidate for the post of Chief of General Staff."

  "I reiterate that this year's main task is not to capture Sevastopol, but to ensure the Kerch Strait, especially pay attention to Feodosiya, where it is calm and suitable for landing. If the enemy successfully lands here, it will cut off the rear of the 46th Division and the Romanians on the Kerch Peninsula."

  The head of state paused and continued: "In late November, the United States delivered 300 landing craft to Arkhangelsk."

  Rania retorted: "At the White Sea Port."

  "Maybe it's Murmansk."

  "You're mistaken, that's not possible because Murmansk doesn't have a canal. It must be Arkhangelsk, where American cargo ships, after crossing the ocean, unloaded landing craft which then used their own power to navigate through the canals to Lake Onega and from there via the Volga-Baltic Waterway, passing by White Lake, reached Rybinsk Reservoir..." Ranevskaya's words had an electrifying effect, everyone's heads were like invisible strings connecting her and the Premier, swinging back and forth between them.

  "We've reached the Rybinsk reservoir, and then we'll reach the Volga River. From there, we'll head south along the Volga-Don Canal to the Sea of Azov, and finally arrive at the Black Sea."

  Rania praised: "Ah, right, really clever, worthy of being the leader."

  Everyone burst out laughing. Manstein thought to himself: From the way the Führer is tolerating R?hm's teasing, they must be having an affair.

  Air Force Deputy Belo confirmed: "Air reconnaissance shows that those landing craft are moving along the Northern Canal and Volga River towards the Black Sea."

  Manstein began to plead: "This is also the purpose of my inviting the Führer, I have repeatedly asked the leader to return the Leibstandarte to me, but the commander of the army group disagreed."

  The Chief of Staff added in a muttering tone: "Kleist's First Tank Army broke through, occupied Rostov on the Don, and opened the gates to the Caucasus. But they were only happy for a few days before being chased out, now licking their wounds like a polar bear that has been torn apart. Now, if we are given another armored division, we can..."

  "Alright, I'll call Field Marshal von Lonsdorff, the commander of the Southern Army Group, right away and have a division transferred to you. But they can't be allowed to storm the city, let them stay on the Kerch Peninsula as a reserve."

  "Yes!" Manshtein stood up straight and sucked in his stomach, responding loudly. The chief of staff went off to arrange the work with great enthusiasm.

  Rania lifted her leg and deliberately said to Schumacher: "Colonel, the leader hasn't had lunch yet."

  "Don't worry, beautiful girls, I'll make sure you have the best caviar."

  "When I just came in, I heard someone say something - 'seductive'?" Rania stabbed the old general with a sentence.

  "Perhaps you heard wrong, I said 'jiao yan', no, 'nü mei hao jie'."

  "What a beautiful and heroic woman?" Li De savored this phrase.

  ……

  The climate of the Crimean Peninsula is slightly sunny, when Ladoga Lake is howling with north winds, when Kaluga is flying with great snow, and when Kursk is shrouded in winter haze, here the sunset is like blood, and the clouds in the western sky change into rose-colored hues.

  As night fell, Manstein led the Führer to the Crimea restaurant in Simferopol's business district, opposite the railway station square. Next door was the Taurida Medical University.

  Several people came to the fourth floor suite through the back door, and after Li De went up, he pulled up the curtains. Li De, Bao Man, three deputy officers, three girls, plus Manshtein and his chief of staff, exactly ten people, sat in a circle.

  General Manshtein transformed into a professor, teaching the art of eating caviar: place caviar in small dishes filled with ice to preserve its quality and freshness, and serve it with various accompaniments according to personal taste. The most classic and popular accompaniment is sour cream and toasted white bread. It's especially worth noting that caviar should not be paired with strong-smelling ingredients such as onions or lemons.

  Manshtein concluded: "Caviar with vodka or champagne is the highest level of eating caviar."

  Baurmann laughed, and Manstein asked him why. He said: "You remind me of another Ukrainian dish: salo with onions and vodka - the highest level of eating salo."

  Amidst a gentle burst of laughter, the waiter brought over the menu, Li De flipped through it and passed it to Bao Man, who in turn passed it to the next person, and after making its way around the table, it finally returned to the host's hands.

  Bao Man said disapprovingly: "Just pick one, I had it 20 years ago, it's both salty and fishy."

  "Have you ever tasted anything other than salty and fishy?" asked Manshtein.

  Bowman put on a napkin and swallowed hard: "It's a bit like oysters."

  "Only the caviar from the Black Sea is authentic," Manstein said, tapping his palm on the table. "What you're having today is sturgeon roe. The ossetra I've had before is the most common wild caviar in the Black Sea, not bad."

  The waiter cleared his throat, and Manshtein solemnly took over: "The Führer is a vegetarian, so how about an order of tiger-skin eggs with fish roe sauce, truffle potato foam, and corn cream soup? The boiled-and-fried eggs, foamed potatoes, and corn that's been turned into a thick soup, along with the naturally-flavored truffle slices, should suit you better."

  "Mr. Bowman, I'll have a plate of caviar scrambled eggs with sea urchin shell set meal."

  "After eating sea cucumber, you can work for the Party with energy and vitality."

  "Whatever you do, do it with all your might." - Colonel Sherman

  Manshtein turned to Rania with a big smile: "I recommend beef slices with caviar, blue cheese ice cream and parmesan cheese, how about it?"

  Rania rolled up her sleeves, propped one hand on her cheek and asked coquettishly: "Can the general give a detailed introduction?"

  "Raw beef slices lay at the bottom, caviar on top of a blue cheese ice cream, and when the ice cream slightly melted into the rich flavor of Parmesan, with a spoon, the caviar, blue cheese ice cream together entered my mouth, the salty aroma of caviar mixed with the unique taste of blue cheese and the icy freshness of ice cream was truly unforgettable."

  Mansfield asked Miss Adelheid: "Will you have some too?"

  Miss Adelaida glanced at Rania and said bluntly, "No. I want champagne and quail egg fried rice with 'Tartare' caviar, more lettuce please. I'd like to see if it's the same taste as the Ukrainian restaurant in Spain a year ago."

  Miss Adelaida glanced at Rania and shouted to the waiter: "Do you have European sole?"

  The waiter hastily replied: "The European sturgeon here is unique to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Miss, you really have a good eye for it. Only people who are well-bred and from wealthy families have eaten European sturgeon."

  "Yes, she is a child of a prominent family in East Prussia." Li De interjected.

  "I'm going to the restroom." Rania threw down her napkin and stood up.

  Li De spread the caviar on bread, and with his tongue and upper jaw gently pressed the eggs, which burst forth in a spray, an experience that cannot be described in words.

  "He exclaimed: 'Crimea, such a good place, let the Ukrainians and Tatars live here, what a pity. Bauman, have the Racial Affairs Bureau conduct a census to see how many Germans are living here.'"

  Bormann ate directly with a spoon: "There are still many Jews here."

  "Let's not talk about Jews today," Li De interrupted, "so as not to spoil our appetite."

  Manshtein's chief of staff said timidly: "The Germans here are descendants of the Goths and have been Russified."

  Then they debated whether caviar is vegetarian or non-vegetarian for a while, and finally Li De made a conclusion: "Non-vegetarian means meat, meat has bones, but eggs have no meat and no bones, so eggs are vegetarian."

  Everyone was enjoying delicious food and drinks, even the president had a few small cups of champagne.

  Manstein drank a few cups of vodka, grasping Lidell's hand and chuckling: "My Fuehrer, do you know why I invited you here?"

  Li De shook off his scorching hand and gazed at him with a hint of a smile.

  Manstein raised his glass, drained it in one gulp, and turned the bottom towards the Führer, saying: "My Führer, you helped Hoth take possession of the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga; why can't you help me take possession of the Crimean Peninsula? That's what I've come to ask you for."

  Li De was shocked: Drunken words are true words. It turns out that this guy had other plans.