Over the years I have made my specialty the ETO and PTO while not studying the Eastern Front all that much with the exception of Kursk and Stalingrad somewhat, and a little on the Battle in front of Moscow.
So my questions are thus:
1) Would the germans have done better to have fainted as much as possible towards Moscow to make Stalin think they were going after him and the government, then when the Bulk of the reserves are in position make an all out push to grab or at least interdict the oil in the Baku area/Caucasus Mtns?
2) Could the attack have come sooner then June 22? I know about the business with waiting for things to dry but with the Russian army as badly outclassed as it was and with virtual total surprise, would an extra few weeks have made a big difference with how soon that year the Russian winter came? You were going to be confined to roads pretty much as it was and with so much of the mechanized forces in relatively light vehicles compared to later on, and so much horse drawn, was it really that important to wait as long as they did?
3) did Greece and the fun and games in the Balkans really delay the attack?