The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The battle began from the air.

It should be said that this is completely expected, because the Soviet army has never had air supremacy in battles. They have been suppressed for too long and are eager to fight a battle with air supremacy.

On the other hand, in places like the Caucasus Mountains, it takes time for infantry to board and airdrop of supplies. If an attack is to be launched, the air force must be in the lead.

Zhukov is obviously well prepared in this regard.

First, he located the main force of the air force in Makhachkala.

Makhachkala was a port for large-scale landing and unloading of Soviet military resources, where the Soviet Air Force could more easily obtain fuel, ammunition, and parts.

Secondly, Zhukov set up a large number of air defense troops around Makhachkala...except for the seaward direction, two air defense regiments were deployed in each direction.

But Zhukov believed that this was not enough, because after all, the air defense force could not prevent enemy fighter planes from bombing the airport. It could only give a certain blow and deterrence to the opponent's air force.

Therefore, Zhukov transferred from other directions two hundred of the Soviet Union's most advanced Yak-1 and MiG-3 fighters that could fight the German Air Force.

Anti-aircraft firepower coupled with advanced fighter aircraft protection can basically ensure the safety of Makhachkala.

In the end, Zhukov configured more than 700 low-speed Seagull fighter jets and put them into the Caucasus battlefield in batches.

The Soviet Air Force obviously has an innate advantage in bombing. Most of the fortifications on the Caucasus Mountains were built by the Soviet army. They knew the specific locations of those fortifications, so they could carry out targeted bombings.

And this bombing does not seem to be difficult... The Soviet army has a large number of Seagull fighter planes, and it can be said to be very safe to fly in the peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. The German FW or BF fighters are not afraid or unwilling to enter these mountain peaks. Airspace chase with Seagull fighter jets.

So just as Zhukov imagined, the Soviet Union at least had partial air supremacy in the Caucasus Mountains...For a while, the sky was filled with Soviet Seagull fighter planes, one after another swooping down to bomb and strafing German fortifications.

The problem is that this is what the Soviet army considers a "German fortification."

These fortifications were indeed built by the Soviet army, and Soviet soldiers also knew their specific locations... The problem was that Soviet soldiers generally had low educational and military qualities. If they were allowed to visit the Caucasus Mountains in person, they would look like Walking in your own home, you know that you are going from this road and this direction, and there is a cave under a certain rock, and that is where they built a bunker.

But it would be difficult to point them out on a map.

"Is this here? I remember this is here!"

“No, I’m sure it’s this place because I can always see Mount Elbrus!”

"But you can also see it here!"

…

So the uncertain positions were designated by the Soviet soldiers and handed over to the Soviet pilots.

The Soviet pilot almost cried after seeing these positions:

"On the left side of the Viejo Pass, at a height of five hours' journey, it is about fifty meters to the left from Chike Rock (a name given by Soviet soldiers to a certain giant rock)!"

"Dick Mountain, three hundred meters west of Rom Creek, under the big tree."

…

What's even worse is that when it's covered with heavy snow in winter, all these rocks and big trees are completely white, and you can't see anything clearly from the sky.

As a result, Soviet pilots often could only drop their bombs casually, or shoot a bunch of bullets downward and then leave.

German soldiers were often baffled... did they see anyone? Did you see the fortifications? Why do you throw bullets and bombs where no one is?

In addition, the Soviet army also faced a more serious problem, which was the supply problem.

You must know that this is climbing a snow-capped mountain, and it is still climbing a snow-capped mountain with a large number of troops. The altitude of a considerable part of the area even reaches more than 3,000 meters... The Soviet army's main offensive targets are the two mountain passes in the eastern Caucasus. If they occupy These two mountain passes meant that the Soviet army could pass through the Caucasus Mountains and enter the hinterland of Transcaucasus.

But mountain defense is often like this. To pass through a mountain pass with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, you must occupy the highlands of more than 1,200 meters on both sides. The high ground is crucial, so the areas to compete for will become higher and wider.

In this way, we will face a problem. It may take more than ten days to climb a highland more than 3,000 meters above sea level, and the rations carried by the soldiers can only last about a week... Each soldier needs to carry ammunition, weapons, and The amount of food that can be carried with mountaineering equipment is very limited.

Therefore, there will be situations where the army starves to death before it reaches the battlefield.

Regarding this, Zhukov took two measures.

One is to set up supply points on the road.

To put it simply, before the war begins, the engineers of each unit and the civilians without weapons and equipment (mostly civilians in the Caucasus who are familiar with the terrain and have the skills to climb snowy mountains) carry food and enter the Caucasus along the planned march route of the unit. mountains, then travel about a day's journey to a supply point and bury the food in a safe location and mark it.

Then, set up the second supply point based on the first supply point, and then set up the third one...

In this way, the large army can use the food and fuel at these supply points on the way forward to save the food and fuel they carry.

(Note: The fuel is mainly kerosene. If the gasoline of this era has not been specially treated, such as adding antifreeze like aviation fuel, the freezing point will be around minus 30 degrees. Kerosene has the advantage of low cost and low freezing point, so it is suitable for use in extreme environments. Used as fuel in cold areas, such as heating and eating... Food such as bread will become very hard in extremely cold environments and require fuel to bake before eating)

The other is to set up supply stations at deeper locations.

Because this supply station is far away from the starting point, the supply point can no longer extend to the hinterland.

So Zhukov sent several teams of professional soldiers with climbing skills into the hinterland to find suitable areas, such as relatively flat terrain, weak wind, and close to the marching routes of several troops.

Then, with the cooperation of these soldiers, transport aircraft were used to airdrop large areas. The soldiers at the supply depot did their job all day long to find these supplies and then haul them to the supply depot.

This work did not stop even from the time the Soviet troops landed in the Caucasus until the end of the battle.