Sectors: The Caucasus
I'm giving up Maikop in order to save Grozny. Much of the units left between Rostov and Maikop have made it on trains to Grozny, or at least are staging along the coast for the rail trip south and east. As I mentioned in the previous report, my biggest fear right now is the race against time... and the 3rd Panzer Armee. They've already crossed two rivers, with only one tank division and one horse cavalry division standing in their way. Fortunately, I've been able to move the 1st Guards, 1st Gds Tank, 54th Army, and mixed detachments from reconstituted armies in the north, down to Grozny.
Mark faces a few challenges here. The first is supply. There are no rail lines leading from the Axis supply point at Rostov down to the Grozny area. By the time his forces reach the outskirts of the city, they could be very tired and out of gas. The second is manpower itself, as I've seen troop movements going toward the north from the Rostov areas. This would indicate he's not giving 100 percent of his efforts down here any more. There is no way in hell he has the numbers to cover all of the Caucasus, unless he's brought in fresh corps from places I don't know. But even if they were arriving, they would not have the benefit of getting to the front by rail. The attrition alone of such a march southward would render them much less effective against my defenses than had they arrived by rail.
Not much going on. Not even in other parts of the Eastern Front.
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