The decisive battle against the Third Reich

"Do we have enough troops to defend Baku?" Qin Chuan asked knowingly. The only one defending Transcaucasus was Manstein's 11th Army, and the 11th Army's defense zone was not only Transcaucasus, but also Crimea.

On the other hand, the 11th Army even had some troops defending North Caucasus... This was determined by the lack of German troops.

Therefore, the Caucasus region was very empty of troops.

"God!" After staring at the map for a while, Hitler exclaimed: "We almost got fooled... How stupid we were to ignore the Baku oil fields in Transcaucasus and defend Stalingrad. Stalingrad is nothing but a pile of ruins!"

From this, it can be seen that Hitler's obsession with Stalingrad has been completely reversed.

And Hitler was right. After capturing the Baku oil fields and the industrial areas and food bases in Transcaucasus, the strategic significance of Stalingrad was only the meaning of its name and the industrial capacity of not much value.

Needless to say, the meaning of the name is that it is a city named after Stalin, and the capture of it can hit the morale of the Soviet army to a considerable extent.

The industrial capacity lies in the fact that there are several large factories in the north of the city, such as tractor factories, artillery factories, metallurgical factories, etc. that produce tanks.

But these meanings have vanished with the full occupation of Stalingrad by the German army.

In other words, defending Stalingrad has no strategic significance at all. If there is any strategic significance, it can be used as a forward base for attacking the Soviet hinterland and even outflanking the rear of Moscow next spring.

But this strategy has also become smaller and smaller because the Soviet Union has built a defense line on the other side of the Don River and the Volga River.

On the contrary, the Baku oil field in the Caucasus is the lifeblood of the Soviet industry.

Defending a strategically meaningless Stalingrad puts such an important Baku and the entire 6th Army in danger, which can be said to be the dumbest approach.

"You reminded me, Major!" Hitler nodded and said, "Yes, we can't hold on to Stalingrad anymore. In fact, our strategic goal has been achieved, and it's time to let go!"

"I fully agree, Mr. Fuhrer!" Qin Chuan said.

"Then..." Hitler asked again: "Where should we retreat to? The west bank of the Don River?"

"No, Mr. Fuhrer!" Qin Chuan replied: "If we only retreat to the west bank of the Don River, we will inevitably be attacked by the two Soviet fronts, and we will still face a shortage of troops. On the other hand, the Soviets are better at winter warfare. Once the defense line is broken, the Caucasus region will still face the danger of being divided and surrounded!"

Goering interrupted: "But if we don't defend along the Don River, we will actively let the Caucasus fall into a state of division!"

"Active and forced are different!" Qin Chuan pointed to the map and said: "I suggest...we withdraw the defense line back to the state of the attack, that is, the Kharkov Donetsk River as the defense line. On this defense line, we have complete railway and road facilities, which can guarantee our logistics!"

Hitler nodded.

This is certain. The German army has been stationed on the Kharkov defense line for more than a year. In order to provide enough supplies to the front line, the railways and roads have been well maintained. There are even security divisions stationed along the way to make it difficult for the guerrillas to launch a surprise attack.

Once you cross this defense line, you will reach the area that was just captured this year. Not only is the traffic situation a mess, but there are also many guerrillas harassing you, making logistics very difficult.

Goering objected: "But this means we have to give up all the captured land!"

"We still have the Transcaucasus and oil fields!" Qin Chuan replied: "If we withdraw to the Kharkov Line, half of the existing forces will be enough to ensure the stability of this line of defense. From this, we can send more troops to reinforce Baku and hold the lifeline of the Soviets firmly in our hands!"

"What about the supplies of the Transcaucasus?" Goering asked back: "Don't forget, this will divide the Transcaucasus into two unconnected parts!"

"No!" Hitler said: "It's not two unconnected parts..."

Hitler pointed to the Crimean Peninsula and said: "We also occupied the Crimean Peninsula!"

"The Crimean Peninsula and the Transcaucasus are separated by a strait!" Goering said: "That will increase the burden of transportation !"

"You are right, Your Excellency, Imperial Marshal!" Qin Chuan said: "But you seem to have forgotten that the Transcaucasus region is like spring all year round, and it is a grain production base. We even seized several arsenals and ironworks there. It can produce food and ammunition by itself, which means that the Transcaucasus does not need many supplies. On the other hand, the narrowest part of the Kerch Strait is only 4 kilometers, and we can use a large number of amphibious transport ships to transport supplies!"

Hitler nodded in agreement: "So the Transcaucasus is connected to our defense zone by the Crimean Peninsula, and our air force can also be withdrawn to the Transcaucasus. Because we have air superiority, the Soviets have no way to deal with our transportation like this!"

Criminus is a peninsula, and the security of the peninsula mainly depends on air superiority, because it is surrounded by wide seas with no concealment.

Similarly, the landing battle in the direction of Baku is also... Landing on the sea without air superiority is simply asking for abuse.

"Then..." Hitler pointed to several exits in the Caucasus Mountains and said: "As long as we can guard these passages and rely on the natural barrier of the Caucasus, the Soviets will not be able to enter the Transcaucasus."

"Unless they use paratroopers!" Qin Chuan said.

These words made Hitler laugh "haha". Hitler understood the joke told by Qin Chuan. Of course he knew that the Soviets had carried out airborne operations to rescue Baku, but that airborne operations could only use various "amateur" methods. "To describe it, the German army, which was good at airborne operations, completely ignored the Soviet airborne troops after that battle.

After a while, Hitler said: "A very good idea, Major! The most important thing is that you let me see what is the focus of this battle... You are right, the 'Baku Oil Field' is The most important thing is that without it, the Soviets would have more than half of their machines, tanks, cars and planes unable to drive. What could be more important than this, and I was thinking about those meaningless things? Land, ruins, and a lot of hungry Soviet people!”

It’s not surprising that Hitler would think so, because he himself had a deep oil plot, which may have been determined by Germany’s long-standing oil shortage.

Now, it is time for the Soviet Union to taste the lack of oil.