Chapter 13, The 1942-3 Winter Campaign in South Russia Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 13, the big picture of the Southern part of the German front after November 1942 was that German positions in the Caucasus region stretched out almost 400 miles south of Rostov, while Soviet forces were less than 200 miles from Rostov. Further west, the Germans would also be cut off if they lost the Dnieper River crossings at Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk, both key railroad bridge crossing points. These were the target points that the Soviets had to reach to cut off the German Southern front. The enemy targets were the German allied armies of Romania, Italy and Hungary and to create huge holes in the front. The Soviet Black Sea fleet would be able to blockade German forces stuck on the coast. Hitler could have created the chance for...