NOVPUB
Chapter 85: The Road to Stalingrad (1)
As of June 1942, the German army had no intention of launching a large-scale summer offensive against the Soviet Union.
“Your Excellency, we have seen the Ivans operating an army of millions. Expanding the front will only give the Ivans a chance to pierce our weak flanks. Your Excellency, an offensive is absolutely out of the question.”
The Army High Command, having clearly remembered the Soviet army’s relentless large-scale counteroffensive during the 1941-1942 winter season, repeatedly tried to persuade Hitler.
“Really, it’s not possible?”
“My Führer, This is not just one person’s opinion, but the unanimous view of the entire military.”
Even the Armed SS, the most faithful to Nazism, was saying this, so Hitler had no choice.
“In that case, defend for just one year.”
Until August, both the Army and Hitler agreed on the policy of rebuilding their forces while waiting for an opportunity.
However, when the British entered the war, all calculations fell apart.
As the traditional maritime power became an enemy, the oil supply lines from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela were cut off.
The importance of oil in modern warfare was too obvious to mention twice.
Almost all combat means that enable warfare, such as tanks, self-propelled guns, trucks, which are the core of the Army, aircraft of the Air Force, and Navy vessels, required oil.
If there was no intention of fighting with only infantry, oil had to be secured.
Unfortunately, Germany did not have the ability to self-supply the oil it needed.
Synthetic oil facilities were built and oil reserves were stockpiled in case of emergency, but it was not enough to endure a prolonged war.
The amount of oil consumed by the already bloated Luftwaffe was beyond imagination.
Germany was in a desperate situation.
The only immediate sources of oil were a few oil wells in Hungary and Romania.
The oil obtained from here was barely enough to meet half of the demand required by the German military.
It was a much better situation than the original one, but for Germany, which had not felt the shortage of resources until now, even these conditions were just as frustrating.
Of course, they could last a few more years if they used oil sparingly.
However, to do that, they had to give up actions like piercing the enemy’s weakness through large-scale strategic redeployment.
How could they exercise initiative in that way?
Hitler thought that even a war that could be won would be lost that way.
Endure while rebuilding military power?
Would the British bastards just sit still?
From the end of August, Hitler began to pressure the Army High Command.
“No matter how much I think about it, now that we have the strength left, striking the Soviet Union is the best option. If it’s too much to launch an offensive across the entire front, launch a limited offensive on the southern front.”
The target was Baku, the Soviet Union’s largest oil field.
Hitler intended to alleviate Germany’s oil shortage by seizing this area.
“If we capture Baku, we can deal a fatal blow to the Soviet Union. But to advance that far, the front will be overstretched. Stalin won’t leave our vulnerabilities alone.”
The German military strongly opposed the advance.
Not only was the Soviet counterattack fearsome, but the timing was too late.
If it were May or June, it might have been different.
But now it was the end of August.
Even if they start advancing now, after just over a month, the Rasputitsa will begin.
After the Rasputitsa passes, it’s immediately winter.
Winter was the Soviet Union’s time.
If they only advance for a few months and have to give back the gains, it would have been better not to start in the first place.
Hitler was furious at the generals’ defeatism(?).
“It’s because you think this way that the military tasted bitterness in the winter, isn’t it?”
“Your Excellency.”
“I will make it clear. My mind will not change.”
The Führer’s stubbornness was as tough as a steel cord.
On top of that, with Hess’s defection(?) and his hysteria, there was no answer at all.
Finally, the Army High Command gave up on persuading Hitler.
It was impossible for the mere Army to disobey an order issued by the President, Prime Minister, and Supreme Commander of the Army.
Hitler’s status was incomparable to before, at the point when he crushed France and purged the generals in the winter.
“Do as the Führer says.”
Franz Halder, the Chief of the Army General Staff, rather thought it was a good thing.
If Hitler shows a big failure this time, the anti-Hitler forces within the military will gain more momentum.
The German Army took out the Fall Blau operation plan that was only waiting to be scrapped in the cabinet.
The units of the Southern Army Group that received the operation order began moving toward the offensive starting line.
The Soviet military understood the German military’s preparations as a ‘well-prepared deception tactic’.
“Oh, come on, would they come to the Caucasus boonies instead of Moscow, the center of politics, military, and transportation?”
The Soviet military’s strategic reserves did not move from Moscow.
From a strategic point of view, Germany succeeded in piercing the Soviet Union’s weakness.
However, the lack of time was the biggest misfortune for Germany.
“May God protect Germany.”
Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Army Group, expressed his complex feelings with the following words.
Regardless of the thoughts of the command, the German soldiers were eager to finish off the Ivans with this attack.
“When Christmas comes, the Ivans will surrender, and we will return home.”
On September 9, 1942, amidst the expectations of the soldiers and the concerns of the command, the curtain rose on the autumn offensive that would determine the fate of Germany.
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The scale and speed of the German offensive were tremendous.
In the first week alone, several Soviet divisions were annihilated, and the way to the Don River was wide open.
Still, compared to the vast Soviet military power, it was like scooping a bucket of water from the sea.
“Still, if the German military advances deep, there will be disruptions in the supply of crude oil from Baku.”
We’re not talking about us.
We could import crude oil from Southeast Asia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
Even if not, the Korean Empire had oil.
It was the Daqing oil field, the largest in Manchuria.
In the original history, it was an oil field developed only after the Japanese Empire collapsed and the Chinese Communists took over, but our Empire didn’t need to wait until 1959 when the oil field was originally discovered.
We just had to pick an area suspected of having an oil field and dig up to 1,500 meters deep.
When we drilled about a hundred wells like that, oil burst out.
Thanks to that, the Empire’s negotiating power related to oil improved a bit.
Of course, the Daqing oil field alone was not enough to self-supply oil within the Empire, so it did not have a significant impact on the war.
Until now, that is.
But it was the law that when the situation changes, the value of things changes too.
Doesn’t the price of umbrellas go up during the rainy season?
The value of our house’s umbrella could become like that now.
“Ambassador, if Baku is threatened, won’t the oil supply to Moscow be in jeopardy?”
“If the German military advances near Baku, it would be like that. But there’s no way our Union will be pushed back that far.”
The Soviet Ambassador showed strong confidence in defending Baku.
It seems too overconfident.
You might get your nose bloodied like that.
I made a proposal to the Soviet Union that we could supply oil from the Daqing oil field in case of emergency.
“I will convey Your Excellency’s goodwill to provide oil in case of emergency to the General Secretary.”
The Soviet Ambassador seemed to have the conviction that such a thing would never happen.
Well, it’s not unreasonable.
The Soviet Union fought too well even if they fought well in 1941.
With the thickness of a 13 million grand army, they absorbed the shock of the German military and cut off Hitler’s sharp offensive with a much smaller loss of 3.5 million compared to the original history.
Is that all?
Although it ended in failure, they even pushed back the German military by more than 150km with the Winter Grand Offensive.
Just by putting up an equal game against a superpower that unified Europe, the Soviet Union had the right to boast.
However, the Soviet Union fighting well and underestimating the German military’s skills were entirely separate issues.
Despite the severe attrition in 1941, the German Wehrmacht was still a dangerous match that could deliver a threatening blow.
A beast whose teeth have not yet dulled is rushing toward the Caucasus with all its might, and the Soviet Union, which has not even redeployed its strategic reserves, can easily stop it?
Such a picture could only be expected after 1943.
I advised them.
Still, I had no intention of grabbing the confident Soviet Ambassador and advising them that they would be in trouble.
They’ll cling to my pants and beg anyway when they get desperate, so why waste my energy?
Well, it’s a good thing.
The Soviet Union needs to shed a bit more blood to get closer to the postwar structure I have in mind, so this picture isn’t bad either.
And exactly one month passed.
When October 1942 came, the attitude of the Soviet side completely changed.
I heard the German vanguard units reached the bend of the Don River.
At this pace, it was only a matter of time before the German military reached Stalingrad, a major industrial city of the Soviet Union, and cut off the connection between the Caucasus and Moscow.
The Soviet Ambassador, with a completely different face from a month ago, asked me for goodwill.
“Your Excellency. Is Your Excellency’s promise to support oil in case of emergency still valid?”
“Of course. Aren’t we friends with a common enemy?”
I promised oil support to the Soviet Union with a very favorable attitude.
Of course, there was a reason for this kind of giveaway.
Negotiating power.
The more the Soviet Union owed us, the more we could reflect our position in the postwar structure of Europe.
We were now playing the role that the United States played in the original history.
To maximize the stake before the United States enters, we needed to provide solid support starting from this.
And one more reason.
There’s the variable of ‘what if’.
The situation became a bit subtle as the German military entered the Caucasus late.
If the German military doesn’t come to Stalingrad, history could change.
Then, there was no guarantee that the Soviet military would achieve a great victory like in the original history.
Well, in a situation where the Soviet Union suffers less damage like now, that’s not bad either, but if possible, it’s easier to draw the picture if the Soviet military wins in a flow similar to the original history.
That was all the reasons I was helping the Soviet Union.
“Your Excellency, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
As I sent off the Soviet Ambassador with a smiling face, I became lost in thought.
Indeed, to eliminate more variables, it would be certain to have the United States join the war, right?
Footnotes
1. Rasputitsa is the mud season that occurs in various rural areas of Eastern Europe, when the rapid snowmelt or thawing of frozen ground combined with wet weather in spring, or heavy rains in autumn, lead to muddy conditions that make travel on unpaved roads problematic and even treacherous.2. Franz Halder was a German general and the chief of staff of the Army High Command in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942. During World War II, he directed the planning and implementation of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.3. The Daqing Oil Field, formerly romanized as "Taching", is the largest oil field in the People's Republic of China, located between the Songhua river and Nen River in Heilongjiang province. When the Chinese government began to use pinyin for romanization, the field's name became known as Daqing.
