“CRISIS IN THE CAUCASUS,” Montreal Gazette. August 7, 1942. Page 12
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DRIVING down for Caucasus oil, the Nazi armies have struck pay dirt across the Don River. South along the railroad and pipe line linking, Rostov with the Maikop and Baku oil fields, the invader's tanks may find easy rolling for 200 miles through the great northwest plains. But once they get into scoring position, desperate Russians with their backs to the towering Caucasus mountains and shortened supply lines from Iran may pull another "Leningrad" or "Moscow" defensive stand.Â
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No military analyst attempts to minimize the gravity of the Nazi threat to Russia in the drive into the Caucasus, but despite Axis gains in the savage onslaught, Hitler is still a long way from gaining concrete returns from the rich between-seas area.Â
There are two very serious factors weighing against the Russians in the present campaign. The first is the German drive east towards Stalingrad, which threatens to cut the Russians In the Caucasus off from the north. Second, rail communications in the Caucasus are scanty and appear to have been cut by the German push.Â
Splitting the Russians off from the north would be serious, but not necessarily fatal. The Leningrad garrison successfully carried on in a similar situation. The lack of rail transport to the north is being rapidly overcome as the railroad to Astrakhan on the west shore of the Caspian Sea is rushed to completion.Â
An estimate of the situation in the Caucasus now brings the general conclusion that Hitler's toughest fighting is yet to be done. The terrain in the North Caucasus is Ideally adapted to mechanized fighting, in which the Nazis are brilliant.Â
The flat plains are made to order for tank deployment, but in the northeast, extensive salt marshes and desert areas militate against mechanized offensives. It is probable that the main attack must be channeled west of th badlands, which would give the defence the advantage of a narrow front.Â
Farther south, an invading army's troubles really begin. The Caucasian mountain range is one of the world's most rugged, averaging 10,000 feet high, with the peaks jutting well over that. Passes are almost non-existent below 8,500 feet.
This range cuts across the land between the Black and Caspian Seas from northwest to southeast. Even Maikop, the small oil field closest to the German advance, is in the first foothills of the range. Other key objectives are protected by the mountains.Â
Even if the Axis forces succeeded in occupying the oil objectives, the Russians could retire behind the Caucasian bastion. They would be close enough so that it would be unlikely the Germans could consolidate their winnings and begin to realize on the investment in lives and materiel. Experience in Yugoslavia has shown that a determined, mountain-wise force can raise continual hob with occupation armies.Â
The United Nations supply line through Iran could be counted on to keep the Russians in munitions as long as Baku survived as a receiving port. All in all, Hitler hasn't marked up a winning score in the Caucasus by a long, long shot.
