NoMommsen
Donor
i never said it was flatland like Denmark. Just a little easier, thats all.
i never said it was flatland like Denmark. Just a little easier, thats all.
I give up.
I agree i shouldn't have said its "a lot easier" or "a lot less" when comparing the two. The Caucasus is quite rough. Perhaps i'm mistaken.
For this scenario, I think it would be relevant to consider the Soviet-Turkish naval parity on the Black Sea and also the Soviet capability for amphibious operations there. Could the USSR 1) (handily) beat the Turkish fleet and 2) make a big enough landing on the Turkish coast for it to be relevant, to capture Istanbul, for example? My knowledge on the matter is very limited, so maybe someone has better information.
approx. 8 pages of discussion on the logistics on another forum, one of the more relevant posts:
"In general, the Turkish rail net, while relatively developed further west, is not designed to facilitate traffic to Turkey's eastern frontier. On the contrary, it seems designed to prevent traffic from her eastern frontier -- i.e., to hamper and slow a Russian invader as much as possible. An actual rail line runs across southern Turkey and then through French Syria to Mosul. East and north of that there is literally nothing at all except a few roads and tracks of uncertain quality.
Moreover, much of this is extremely rugged country. It would appear to be feasible to move large quantities of materiel from western Anatolia to as far as a line running Trebizond-Erzerum-Diyarbakir-Nusaybin. From there, though, it's another 200 km to the Russian frontier. A lot of engineering is going to have to happen if a major military effort is to be mounted across those 200 km."
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=207545&start=90
believe the Turks proved adept at playing all sides against one another also ...
I was asking about the Soviet fleet and amphibious capability because I believe the Red Army would have trouble in Eastern Turkey, and making a landing or landings on the Turkish coast might be a way to break a possible deadlock. Istanbul (and the Straits) is the obvious prize. As it is, in terms of Finland I believe that if the Soviets managed to capture the Åland islands early in the game, Finland could have well fallen in the Winter War. In both Soviet conflicts against their neighbours in 1939-40, the naval component could potentially have a big impact on the war. The question is how realistic such operations would be. As it is, I understand the Soviet Black Sea fleet should be able to beat the Turkish fleet to open the way, but maybe someone would have better information about the make-up and readiness of the Turkish fleet in 1939.