Quote:
Originally Posted by DonQuigleone
The thing is, that going beyond Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad there isn't much of Russia that's actually heavily populated. The only major centers are Kazan and the Caucasus, and they were already on the verge of securing the Caucasus before Stalingrad. With the Caucasus taken, most of their resource problems would have been solved. |
What about the entire Volga river region? That looks pretty populated to me, and probably would've been even more populated with all the refugees escaping the German advance. German logistics and manpower would have only allowed them to securely hold land at or west of Moscow, and even that was a massive stretch. The Soviets could've relocated their base to somewhere like Omsk or Sverdlovsk, and they would've still had sizable armies and industry with which to raid and harass the Nazis. Additionally even though Soviet troops may not have been able to retake a lot of land, the occupiers would have had so many problems finding enough men to hold and police it that the whole place would turn into partisan-infested no man's land, with the partisans being constantly bolstered and reinforced by the remaining Soviet industry and army, as well as local peasants fed up with the invaders. In that sense it would be like China.