The Road to Astrachan

Hitler's Army Group A had driven deep into the southern steppes of Russia. So far and so fast, in fact, that maps were of limited use and intelligence of the opposition even less. The Germans decided to equip a long …

1942-09-13

AP01

Hitler's Army Group A had driven deep into the southern steppes of Russia. So far and so fast, in fact, that maps were of limited use and intelligence of the opposition even less. The Germans decided to equip a long range reconnaissance force to probe a 150 kilometers into enemy territory. Made up of veterans of the 16th Motorized Infantry Division and ex-patriot Cossacks, they began their odyssey on a cold morning in September. In order to accomplish their mission, however, they first had to run through a gauntlet of local enemy forces. - Dale Holmstrom

Elista, Russia

Case Blue (German: Fall Blau) was the German Armed Forces' name for its plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku, Azerbaijan SSR for two purposes: to enable the Germans to re-supply their low fuel stock and also to deny their use to the Soviet Union, thereby bringing about the complete collapse of the Soviet war effort. After Operation Barbarossa failed to knock the Soviet Union out of the war the previous year, the Germans recognised that Germany was now locked in a war of attrition, and they were also aware that Germany was running low on fuel supply and would not be able to continue attacking deeper into enemy territory without more stock. With this in mind, Adolf Hitler ordered for the preparation of offensive plans for summer 1942 to secure the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus. The operation involved a two-pronged attack: one from the Axis right flank against the oil fields of Baku, known as Operation Edelweiss, and one from the left flank in the direction of Stalingrad along the Don River, known as Operation Fischreiher.

Wikipedia: Case Blue

Russia

Germany