Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Road to Stalingrad (1)
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Even as late as June 1942, the German army had no plans for a large-scale summer offensive against the Soviet Union.
"Your Excellency, we've seen the Ivans fielding armies of ten million. Expanding the front lines would only give them more chances to strike our vulnerable flanks. Your Excellency, we absolutely cannot launch an offensive."
The Army High Command repeatedly urged Hitler, still haunted by the Soviets' ferocious winter counteroffensive in the 1941-42 season.
"Really, it's impossible?"
"My Führer. This isn't just my opinion—it's the consensus of the entire army."
Even the Waffen-SS, the most loyal to Nazism, was saying the same, leaving Hitler with little choice.
"Then we'll hold the defensive for one year."
And so, through August, both the army and Hitler agreed to rebuild their forces and bide their time.
But then the British entered the war, and all calculations fell apart.
With the traditional naval power as an enemy, oil supply lines from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela were severed.
No one needed to emphasize twice how vital oil was in modern warfare.
Virtually every means of combat—tanks and self-propelled guns at the army's core, trucks, Luftwaffe aircraft, naval vessels—relied on oil.
Unless they planned to fight solely with infantry, oil had to be secured.
Unfortunately, Germany lacked the ability to produce domestically the oil it needed.
They had synthetic fuel plants and stockpiles as precautions, but not enough for a prolonged war.
The already bloated Luftwaffe consumed an unimaginable amount.
Germany was in dire straits.
The only immediate sources were a few oil fields in Hungary and Romania.
That barely covered half the German army's needs.
Far better than nothing, but for Germany, which hadn't felt resource shortages until now, it still felt suffocating.
Of course, rationing could stretch it for a few more years.
But that meant abandoning major strategic redeployments to exploit enemy weaknesses.
How could they maintain the initiative that way?
Hitler believed a war won that way was as good as lost.
Hold out and rebuild strength?
While the British sat idle?
From late August, Hitler began hounding the Army High Command.
"No matter how I look at it, striking the Soviets now, while we have the strength, is best. If a full-front offensive is too much, limit it to the southern sector."
The target: Baku, the Soviets' largest oil region.
Hitler intended to seize it and solve Germany's oil shortage.
"Capturing Baku would deal a fatal blow to the Soviets. But advancing that far would overextend the front lines. Stalin won't leave our weak points alone."
The German military brass opposed the advance tooth and nail.
The Soviet counterattacks were scary enough, but the timing was too late.
It might have been different in May or June.
But now it was late August.
Even starting now, the rasputitsa would hit in just over a month.
Then winter followed right after.
Winter was the Soviets' season.
If they advanced a few months only to surrender the gains, better not to start.
Hitler raged at his generals' defeatism.
"That's why the army tasted bitter defeat in winter—because you think like this."
"Your Excellency."
"I'll make it clear: my mind won't change."
The Führer's stubbornness was like tempered steel.
With Hess's "defection" fueling his hysteria, there was no arguing.
Finally, the Army High Command gave up persuading him.
A mere army couldn't defy orders from the president, prime minister, and supreme commander.
After crushing France and purging generals in winter, Hitler's stature was incomparable.
"Do as the Führer says."
Army Chief of Staff Franz Halder even thought it was for the best.
If Hitler failed big this time, the anti-Hitler faction in the military would gain momentum.
The German army dusted off the long-shelved Plan Blau.
Army Group South's units began moving to their jump-off lines upon receiving orders.
The Soviets dismissed the Germans' preparations as "well-executed deception."
"Who'd go to some backwater Caucasus when they could head for Moscow, the political, military, and transport hub? Come on."
Soviet strategic reserves stayed put in Moscow.
Strategically, Germany had caught the Soviets off guard.
But lack of time was Germany's greatest liability.
"May God protect Germany."
Army Group South commander Field Marshal Fedor von Bock expressed his mixed feelings that way.
Whatever the high command thought, the troops burned with zeal to finish off the Ivans in this offensive.
"By Christmas, the Ivans will surrender, and we'll head home."
On September 9, 1942, amid the troops' high hopes and the command's worries, Germany's fateful autumn offensive began.
*
The scale and speed of the German offensive were impressive.
In the first week alone, several Soviet divisions were annihilated, and the path to the Don River lay wide open.
Still, compared to the vast Soviet forces, it was like scooping a bucket from the sea.
"At least a deep German advance will disrupt Baku oil supplies."
Not our concern.
We could import oil from Southeast Asia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
Even without that, Korea had oil.
The Daqing oil field, Manchuria's largest.
In the original timeline, Japan collapsed and the Communists took over before it was developed, but our Korea didn't need to wait until its discovery in 1959.
We just picked suspected sites and drilled to 1,500 meters.
After punching about a hundred wells, oil gushed out.
It improved the empire's negotiating power on oil matters.
Of course, Daqing alone couldn't make us self-sufficient, so it hadn't impacted the war much.
Until now.
But when circumstances change, so does an item's value.
Umbrellas get pricier in the rainy season, right?
Our house's umbrella could fetch that price now.
"Ambassador, if Baku is threatened, won't oil supplies to Moscow be in jeopardy?"
"If the Germans reach near Baku, yes. But our federation won't be pushed that far."
The Soviet ambassador showed strong confidence in holding Baku.
Overly confident, it seemed.
He might regret it big time.
I proposed supplying oil from Daqing in an emergency.
"I'll convey Your Excellency's generous offer to the General Secretary."
The Soviet ambassador seemed convinced it would never come to that.
Not unreasonable.
The Soviets had fought too well in 1941.
Absorbing the German onslaught with 13 million troops, they blunted Hitler's sharp offensive with far fewer losses—3.5 million versus much more in the original timeline.
And that wasn't all.
Though it failed, their winter counteroffensive had pushed the Germans back over 150 km.
Just holding their own against the superpower that unified Europe gave the Soviets bragging rights.
But the Soviets fighting well was separate from underestimating German prowess.
Despite 1941's heavy attrition, the Wehrmacht remained a dangerous foe capable of a knockout blow.
A beast with sharp teeth charging full tilt at the Caucasus, and the Soviets not redeploying strategic reserves to easily stop it?
That scenario was for 1943 onward.
'I gave my advice.'
I had no intention of grabbing the confident ambassador and warning him they'd be in trouble.
When push came to shove, they'd cling to our pant legs anyway—what was the point of wasting energy?
Fine by me.
The more Soviet blood spilled, the closer the postwar order I envisioned.
Exactly one month passed.
By October 1942, the Soviet attitude flipped completely.
'German vanguard reached the Don River bend, they say.'
At this rate, the Germans reaching Stalingrad, industrial hub, and severing the Caucasus-Moscow link was only a matter of time.
The Soviet ambassador, face utterly changed from a month ago, sought my goodwill.
"Your Excellency. Is your promise of emergency oil support still valid?"
"Of course. Aren't we friends against a common enemy?"
I pledged oil aid with an especially friendly demeanor toward the Soviets.
There was reason behind such giveaways, of course.
Leverage.
The more indebted the Soviets were to us, the more we could shape Europe's postwar order.
We were playing the role the Americans did in the original timeline.
To maximize our stake before the U.S. entered, we needed solid aid like this from the start.
And another reason.
The 'what if' variable.
The Germans entering the Caucasus late made things tricky.
If they didn't reach Stalingrad, history could change.
No guarantee the Soviets would win big like in the original.
In their current lighter-loss scenario, it wasn't bad, but ideally, a similar flow with Soviet victory made postwar painting easier.
That was why I helped the Soviets.
"Thank you, Your Excellency."
"No trouble at all."
Escorting the Soviet ambassador with a smile, I sank into thought.
To eliminate more variables, getting the U.S. in was the sure way, right?