"Comrade Joseph, the Caucasian Front Army has completed its formation. During this time, we have been stockpiling military supplies. At your command, the Caucasian Front Army can launch an offensive!" Shaposhnikov said.
Joseph nodded. "Comrades, the Persian Gulf in the Middle East is the Germans' most important source of oil. We must either seize the Persian Gulf or, failing that, destroy those oil wells. Without the Persian Gulf's oil, the Germans' mighty war machine will not be able to move. Their tanks and aircraft will become nothing more than heaps of scrap iron. We will defeat them with ease!"
Indeed, if the Russian army could truly occupy the Persian Gulf, it would greatly affect Germany's war effort. Although Germany had oil fields in both Romania and Libya, as the economy developed, Germany and all of Europe consumed ever more oil. The ongoing war further expanded that consumption. The oil fields in Libya and Romania alone simply could not meet Germany's oil demands. By then, they might even have to restrict oil consumption and prioritize supplies for the military. But if that truly happened, it would inevitably provoke public resentment. Thus, a Russian offensive against the Persian Gulf would pose a major threat to Germany.
However, Germany was not wholly unprepared. Although Germany had not stationed troops in the Persian Gulf, leaving its security to local forces, the Republic of Turkey had long declared to Germany that once war began, its army would guard against the Russian forces in the Caucasus.
Certainly, the Turkish Army's combat strength was limited, and whether it could withstand a Russian offensive remained very much in doubt. But as long as it could delay the Russian army's movements for a while, that would be enough. Germany would swiftly dispatch troops to land in the Persian Gulf