Editing Case Blue (section)

===Army Group A: Caucasus===

====Breaking into the Caucasus====
{{main|Battle of the Caucasus}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-217-0494-34, Russland-Süd, Schützenpanzer.jpg|thumb|left|German troops and a [[Sd.Kfz. 251]] armored half-track on the Russian steppe, August 1942]]
With air support from the Ju 87s of ''[[Sturzkampfgeschwader 77]]'', List's Army Group A recaptured Rostov, the "gate to the Caucasus", on 23 July 1942 relatively easily.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=145}} The ''Luftwaffe'' had air superiority in the early phase of the operation, which was of great help to the ground forces.{{sfn|Bergström|2007|p=67}} With the Don crossing secured and Sixth Army's advance flagging on the Volga front, Hitler transferred the Fourth Panzer Army to Army Group B and sent it back to the Volga.{{sfn|Antill|2007|p=41}} The redeployment used enormous amounts of fuel to transfer the army by air and road.<ref name=H156>{{harvnb|Hayward|2001|p=156}}.</ref>

After crossing the Don on 25 July, Army Group A fanned out on a {{convert|200|km|abbr=on}} front from the [[Sea of Azov]] to Zymlianskaya (today Zymlyansk).{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=152}} The German Seventeenth Army, along with elements of the Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third Army, manoeuvred west towards the east coast of the Black Sea, while the First Panzer Army attacked to the south-east. The Seventeenth Army made a slow advance but the First Panzer Army had freedom of action. On 29 July the Germans cut the last direct railway between central Russia and the Caucasus, causing considerable panic to Stalin and Stavka, which led to the passing of [[Order No. 227]] "Not a step back!".<ref name="Glantz 1995, p. 121">{{harvnb|Glantz|1995|p=121}}.</ref> [[Salsk]] was captured on 31 July and [[Stavropol]] on 5 August.<ref name=A49/> Although the army group made a quick advance, by 3 August the vanguard comprised only light mobile forces and most of the tanks lagged behind, due to lack of fuel and supply breakdowns, despite the efforts of 4th Air Corps, which flew in supplies around the clock.<ref name=H156/>

On 9 August, the First Panzer Army reached Maikop in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, having advanced more than {{Convert|480|km|mi|sp=us}} in fewer than two weeks. The western oil fields near Maikop were seized in a commando operation from 8–9 August, but the oil fields had been sufficiently destroyed by the Red Army to take about a year to be repaired. Shortly afterwards [[Pyatigorsk]] was taken.<ref name=A49/> On 12&nbsp;August, [[Krasnodar]] was captured and German mountain troops hoisted the Nazi flag on the highest mountain of the Caucasus, [[Mount Elbrus]].<ref name=A39>{{harvnb|Antill|2007|p=39}}</ref>

The length of the German advance created chronic supply difficulties, particularly of petrol; the Black Sea was judged too dangerous and fuel was brought by rail through Rostov or delivered by air, but panzer divisions were sometimes at a standstill for weeks. Even petrol trucks ran out of fuel and oil had to be brought up on camels.{{sfn|Liddell Hart|1948|pp=201–203}} With the Soviets often retreating instead of fighting, the number of prisoners fell short of expectations and only 83,000 were taken.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=147}} As Hitler and OKH began to concentrate on Stalingrad, some of Kleist's mobile forces were diverted. Kleist lost his flak corps and most of the ''Luftwaffe'' supporting the southern front, only reconnaissance aircraft being left behind. The [[Soviet Air Forces|Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily]] (VVS) brought in about 800 bombers, a third of which were operational. With the transfer of air cover and flak units, Soviet bombers were free to harass the German advance.{{sfn|Liddell Hart|1948|p=202}} The quality of the Soviet resistance increased, with many of the forces used coming from local levies, who Kleist thought were willing to fight harder for their homeland.{{sfn|Liddell Hart|1948|p=202}} German units were especially bogged down by fighting Georgian alpine and mountain troops, who greatly contributed to stalling their advance.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Battle of Caucasus: Case for Georgian Alpinists|last=Javrishvili|first=K.|year=2017}}</ref> The quantity of replacements and supplies the Soviets committed increased, and faced with these difficulties, the Axis advance slowed after 28 August.<ref name=A49/>{{sfn|Glantz|1995|p=120}}<ref name="Glantz 1995, p. 122">{{harvnb|Glantz|1995|p=122}}.</ref>

====Battle for the oilfields====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-031-2417-09, Russland, Kaukasus, Gebirgsjäger.jpg|thumb|German ''Gebirgsjäger'' in the Caucasus]]

In the south-east, the ''Wehrmacht'' headed in the direction of Grozny and [[Baku]], the other important petroleum centers. More installations and industrial centers fell into German hands, many intact or only slightly damaged during the [[Russia]]n retreat. From August–September, the [[Taman Peninsula]] and a part of the [[Novorossiysk]] naval base were captured.{{sfn|Antill|2007|pp=13–14}} The Germans continued towards [[Tuapse]] on the Black Sea coast and in the east [[Elista]] was taken on 13 August.{{sfn|Schramm|1963|p=583}} In the south, the German advance was stopped north of Grozny, after taking [[Mozdok, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania|Mozdok]] on 25 August.{{sfn|Schramm|1963|p=639}} German paratroopers assisted an [[1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya#German support|insurgency in Chechnya]], operating behind Soviet lines.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/bilder_dokumente/00863/index-17.html.de |title='Die Brandenburger' Kommandotruppe und Frontverband |last1=German Federal Archives |language=de |publisher=German Federal Archives |access-date=13 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110212057/http://www.bundesarchiv.de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/bilder_dokumente/00863/index-17.html.de |archive-date=10 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> German mountain troops failed to secure the Black Sea ports and the advance fell short of Grozny as supply difficulties arose once more. The Soviets dug in the 9th and 44th armies of the North Transcaucasian Front along the rocky [[Terek River]] bank in front (north) of the city. The ''Luftwaffe'' was unable to support the [[Nazi Germany|German]] army that far forward and Soviet aviation attacked bridges and supply routes virtually unopposed. The Germans crossed the river on 2 September but made only slow progress.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=167}} At the beginning of September, Hitler had a major argument with the High Command and specifically List, as he perceived the advance of the German forces as too slow. As a result, Hitler dismissed List on 9 September and took direct command of Army Group A himself.{{sfn|Wegner|1990|pp=942–953}}

Axis ships transported 30,605 men, 13,254 horses and 6,265 motor vehicles across the Black Sea from Romania, from 1–2 September. With the reinforcements, the Germans captured most of the Black Sea naval bases but were held up at Novorossiysk, where the Soviet 47th Army had prepared for a long siege.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=169}} The port fell on 10 September, after a four-day battle, the final German victory in the Caucasus. It left the heights south of the port and several coast roads in the hands of 47th Soviet Army. Attempts to push out of Novorossiysk were costly failures and the Axis also failed to break the defences on the coastal plain from Novorossiysk to Tuapse, having only the strength to stabilize the line. Romanian Army losses were particularly high and the Romanian 3rd Mountain Division was nearly wiped out by a Soviet counter-attack from 25–26 September.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=170}}

Further east, the Axis enjoyed greater success and on 1 September, the Germans took {{interlanguage link|Khulkhuta|ru|Хулхута}} (Хулхута́), halfway between Elista and [[Astrakhan]].{{sfn|Schramm|1963|p=667}} During August and September, German patrols raided the railway around [[Kizlyar]], north-east of Grozny, marking the farthest advance of the German forces towards the Caspian Sea.{{sfn|Schramm|1963|pp=639, 671}} In the south, the First Panzer Army advance on Grozny was stopped by the Red Army and the [[14th Air Army]]. By late September, supply failures and the resistance of the Red Army slowed the Axis advance.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=171}} The Germans took Nakchik on 26 October.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1970-033-04, Russland, Kaukasus, Gebirgsjäger.jpg|thumb|German ''[[Gebirgsjäger]]'' operating a 2 cm anti-aircraft gun in the Central Caucasus near [[Teberda]], September 1942]]
On 2 November 1942, Romanian mountain troops (''[[Vânători de munte]]'') under the command of Brigadier General [[Ioan Dumitrache]] took [[Nalchik]], the capital of [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] and also the farthest point of Axis advance into the Caucasus. This victory earned the Romanian General the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wm_YDAAAQBAJ&q=dumitrache&pg=PA1422 Spencer C. Tucker, ''World War II: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection (5 volumes)'', ABC-CLIO, 2016, p. 1422]</ref> Up to 10,000 prisoners were captured in two days, before the advance toward Grozny was stopped again west of the city at [[Vladikavkaz]].{{sfn|Schramm|1963|p=65}}{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=174}} On 5 November, Alagir was seized and the [[Alagir]]–[[Beslan]]–[[Malgobek]] line reached became the farthest German advance in the south.<ref name=rosite>{{cite web |last1=Pusca |first1=Dragos |last2=Nitu |first2=Victor |title=WorldWar2.ro&nbsp;– Romanian Armed Forces in the Second World War&nbsp;– The 3rd Army in the Caucasus – 1942 |url=http://www.worldwar2.ro/operatii/index.php?article=11 |access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=January 2021}}{{sfn|Schramm|1963|pp=719–723}} By this time, the gap between Army Groups A and B had left them vulnerable to a counter-offensive. Only the [[German 16th Motorized Infantry Division]] remained inside the gap, guarding the left flank of the First Panzer Army by securing the road towards Astrakhan.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=172}} On 22 November, after several Soviet counter-attacks, Hitler appointed Kleist as Group commander with orders to hold his position and prepare to resume the offensive if [[Stalingrad]] could be taken.<ref name=rosite/>{{self-published inline|date=January 2021}}

====Luftwaffe oil offensive====
In the first week of October 1942, Hitler came to recognize that the capture of the Caucasus oil fields was unlikely before winter, which forced the Germans to take up defensive positions. Unable to capture them, he was determined to deny them to the enemy and ordered the ''[[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe]]'' (OKL) to inflict as much damage as possible.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|p=179}}

On 8&nbsp;October, Hitler called for the air offensive to be carried out no later than 14&nbsp;October, as he required air assets for a major effort at Stalingrad.{{sfn|Bergström|2007|p=84}} As a result, on 10&nbsp;October 1942, ''Fliegerkorps'' IV of ''Luftflotte'' 4 (4th Air Corps of Fourth Air Fleet) was ordered to send every available bomber against the oilfields at Grozny. Fourth Air Fleet was in poor shape by this time – Richthofen had begun Case Blue with 323 serviceable bombers out of a total of 480. He was now down to 232, of which only 129 were combat ready. Nevertheless, the force could still deliver damaging blows. Attacks on the refineries reminded Richthofen of the attacks on Sevastopol several months earlier. Thick black smoke rose from the refineries to a height of {{cvt|5500|m}}. On 12&nbsp;October, further raids caused even more destruction. It had been a strategic mistake not to have made greater efforts to hit the oil refineries at Grozny and Baku sooner, as their destruction would have been a greater blow to the Soviets than the loss of Stalingrad, where most of the air fleet was deployed. On&nbsp;19 November, the Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad compelled Richthofen to once more withdraw his units north to the Volga and bring an end to the aerial offensive.{{sfn|Hayward|2001|pp=179–180}}

Much damage was done at Grozny, but the remaining oilfields were beyond the logistical reach of the German Army as well as of the fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Grozny was within range of German bombers from 4th Air Corps, based near the Terek River. But Grozny and the captured oilfields at Maikop produced only ten per cent of Soviet oil. The main fields at Baku were out of German fighter range. German bombers could have reached them, but it meant flying the most direct, thus most predictable route without protection. In August it may have been possible to carry out these operations owing to the weakness of Soviet air power in the region, but by October it had been considerably strengthened.{{sfn|Hayward|1995|pp=94–135}}