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What if, instead of dividing up the forces of Barbarossa into Army Groups North, Center, and South, using North to take the Baltics and besiege Petersburg, Center to besiege Moscow, and south to conquer the Ukraine and drive towards the Caucasus, Hitler had opted for a "Moscow First" strategy? This could potentially involve the cancellation of Army Group South as we know it, with Hitler using most of its OTL troops to provide extra men and reserves for Army Groups North and Center (with extra for Center), and relying on the Romanians, Hungarians, and some Germans, if necessary, to hold the line in Ukraine and make some small gains. The plan would be for Army Groups Center and North to quickly capture Moscow and Leningrad respectively. Then, perhaps, Army Group North would occupy the territory between Moscow and Petersburg (with a few divisions splitting off to take Karelia, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk), and then fan out to the Urals. Army Group Center would split in half, with one part continuing south-west towards the Volga, and the other heading straight south, combining with units on the Ukrainian border to finally conquer Ukraine and push towards the Caucasus. The Soviets, weakened in morale, manpower, and leadership by the loss of Leningrad and Petersburg, may very well be unable to repulse this, potentially leading to a German victory on the Eastern Front. Would this change in overall strategy have been successful? Could it have led to the captures of Moscow and Leningrad, or would Army Groups North and Center simply have been hampered by worse logistics issues? Would the captures of those cities have led to German victory against the Soviet Union, if not against the swarms of partisans that would spring up? Would my specific vision of such a plan be close to the one enacted TTL, and how would the actual plan differ? And finally, would the changes to Hitler's mind required for him to make or approve this plan perforce have turned him into Notler?
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