"Comrade Joseph, we plan to draw the 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 51st Armies to form the Caucasian Front Army. The Caucasian Front Army will carry out the advance into the Persian Gulf!" Shaposhnikov submitted the organization plan for the Caucasian Front Army the very next day.
Joseph nodded. "Five armies should be enough to defeat the Turks and then seize the Persian Gulf!"
Although these five Russian armies were all newly formed and had limited combat strength, Joseph still believed that their fighting power far surpassed that of the Turkish Army. Moreover, the Turkish Army did not have many troops to begin with. According to intelligence obtained by Buru, the Turkish Army only numbered several hundred thousand men in total. After deducting the forces needed to defend other regions, how many troops could they still spare to resist the Russian advance? The concentration of five Russian armies was already enough to solve every problem.
"Comrade Joseph, the candidates for commander, Political Commissar, and chief of staff of the Caucasian Front Army have not yet been decided," General Shaposhnikov said.
Joseph had clearly prepared for this long ago. "Comrade Kozlov will serve as commander, Comrade Shamanin as Political Commissar, and Comrade Tolbukhin as chief of staff."
"Yes, Comrade Joseph." General Shaposhnikov nodded, voicing no objection whatsoever.
"All right, Comrade Shaposhnikov. If there is nothing else, we'll end here for today. I still have a Politburo meeting to attend," Joseph said.
Shaposhnikov seemed to want to speak, yet held back. In the end, he saluted and left.
Joseph knew what Shaposhnikov wanted to say. Yesterday, he had appointed Voroshilov as the future commander of the Western Front. In that case, it seemed Voroshilov ought to relinquish his posts as a Politburo member and People's Commissar of Defense. Shaposhnikov was clearly interested