The common consensus is that 1942 was the year Germany squandered any last real chance to win or even stalemate the war. Leningrad was struck an awful blow, but the Soviets anticipated the second attempt at Moscow and dug themselves in deep. It was only going to go one way.
What I like about these offensives is that they weren't much liked by Hitler from the start, and had been mostly sourced from the Wehrmacht. This really runs against the grain of the "If only he listened to his generals" crowd, but that's just me. It seems like Hitler actually understood that Germany was now in an economic war, and wanted to attack an economic target - the vast oilfields of Baku, in near the Caucasus Mountains, supplying the Soviets with the majority of their oil. Taking these oilfields would've been a boon to Germany and a blow, possibly crippling, to the Soviets. However, his generals convinced him otherwise that Moscow and Leningrad were more critical targets.
So, I'm going to ask a question not often asked - What if the generals listened to Hitler? Would the Soviets have anticipated the offensive deep down in the south? Would the German offensive succeed? Would the USSR have been crippled if it did?
What I like about these offensives is that they weren't much liked by Hitler from the start, and had been mostly sourced from the Wehrmacht. This really runs against the grain of the "If only he listened to his generals" crowd, but that's just me. It seems like Hitler actually understood that Germany was now in an economic war, and wanted to attack an economic target - the vast oilfields of Baku, in near the Caucasus Mountains, supplying the Soviets with the majority of their oil. Taking these oilfields would've been a boon to Germany and a blow, possibly crippling, to the Soviets. However, his generals convinced him otherwise that Moscow and Leningrad were more critical targets.
So, I'm going to ask a question not often asked - What if the generals listened to Hitler? Would the Soviets have anticipated the offensive deep down in the south? Would the German offensive succeed? Would the USSR have been crippled if it did?