"Comrade Shaposhnikov, is the situation in the Middle East truly beyond saving?" Joseph asked.
A few beads of cold sweat immediately appeared on Shaposhnikov's forehead. He understood what Joseph meant—Joseph was still unwilling to accept the outcome in the Middle East. From this, he could conclude that the hundreds of thousands of men in the Caucasian Front Army would likely come to no good end.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Shaposhnikov finally replied, "Comrade Joseph, the Caucasian Front Army has already suffered considerable losses in the previous battles. Moreover, prolonged high-intensity combat has left the soldiers utterly exhausted. If they are attacked by two elite German army corps, they will be unable to hold them off."
"As far as I know, those two German army corps were only recently formed. Are they really that strong?" Joseph wore a doubtful expression.
Shaposhnikov suddenly did not know how to explain it. The German military's newly formed units were essentially made up of soldiers discharged within the past five years, who had then undergone extensive adaptation training. Their weapons and equipment were also among the finest and most advanced in the world. Though their combat strength was naturally inferior to the German military's Frontline Troops, they were certainly far more formidable than the Russian military's elite units. Besides, several units under the Caucasian Front Army had also been expanded from older formations. They contained many recruits and were not particularly strong in combat. Trying to gain any advantage against the German military was practically impossible.
Joseph glanced at Shaposhnikov and decided not to press the matter further.
"What exactly have Comrade Kozlov and the other leaders of the Caucasian Front Army been doing? Weren't they fighting quite smoothly before? How did things turn out like this? Tell them that our plan will