Chapter Summaries

The Russian Caucasian Front Army advanced against the defeated Iranian forces, but German reinforcements threatened to erase its advantage. Kozlov ordered his troops to press on while Iranian and Iraqi forces mounted desperate defenses to delay them.

• Tolbukhin reported that the Russians had taken more than a hundred thousand Iranian prisoners and that the survivors were retreating toward Tabriz.
• Kozlov ordered the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions toward Tabriz and told the 44th, 45th, and 46th Army Corps to keep the Turkish forces pinned down.
• Shamanin delivered news that Germany had sent two army corps to the Middle East, and Kozlov ordered the army to advance toward Kuwait before they arrived.
• The Iranian commander ordered his troops to resist for half a month, while König Reza Khan threatened them with consequences if they failed to stop the Russians.
• The Iranian Army’s desperate resistance slowed the Russian advance, and the Iraqi 1st Army Corps began preparing blocking positions in the Zagros Mountains.

The German 7th Air Fleet redeployed to Baghdad as German forces prepared to reinforce the Middle East front. On November 2, its aircraft began striking the Russian Caucasian Front Army to help Iran hold out until German ground forces arrived.

• Lieutenant General Alfred Kohler ordered the 7th Air Fleet to complete its redeployment to the Middle East and Persian Gulf within a week, arranging air transport for personnel and supplies.
• On November 1, the headquarters of the 7th Air Fleet moved to Baghdad, while several of its air wings and German ground personnel arrived or continued transferring to Iraq.
• General Rundstedt told Lieutenant General Alfred Kohler that Russian attacks were nearing the Zagros Mountains and asked the 7th Air Fleet to relieve pressure on the Iranians.
• Lieutenant General Alfred Kohler promised that the air strikes would begin the next day, though shortages would limit their initial intensity.
• On November 2, the 7th Air Fleet sent fighters to escort dive bombers and ground-attack aircraft as they attacked part of the Russian Caucasian Front Army's 47th Army Corps.

The Russian Caucasian Front Army captured Saqqez and crossed the Zagros Mountains into northern Iraq, but German air raids and Iraqi defenses slowed its advance. As Russian forces pushed south, German transport ships carrying the 21st Army Corps entered the Persian Gulf, leaving the Russian operation close to failure.

• Lieutenant General Kozlov ordered Lieutenant General Batov to intensify the attack on Saqqez, and the Russian 51st Army Corps broke through two Iranian defensive lines.
• German aircraft struck the Russian assault formations, halting their momentum and giving the Iranian troops time to regroup.
• On November 2, the Russians captured Saqqez, and the 47th and 51st Army Corps began crossing the Zagros Mountains under German air raids.
• On November 5, two mountain Infantry Divisions of the Russian 47th Army Corps attacked the Iraqi 1st Army Corps’s defenses, breaking through on November 8.
• The Russian corps advanced south through northern Iraq while facing German air raids and Iraqi resistance, as transport ships carrying the German 21st Army Corps entered the Persian Gulf.

General Rundstedt welcomed the first troops of the German 21st Army Corps to Kuwait and planned to send its leading units to the front quickly. He aimed to counterattack and destroy the Russian forces in Iraq before they could retreat north across the Zagros Mountains.

• General Rundstedt met Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah at the Port of Kuwait, where the Emir welcomed the German army and thanked it for protecting Kuwait.
• The 211th Mechanized Infantry Division disembarked, and Lieutenant General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord reported the 21st Army Corps' arrival to General Rundstedt.
• Equord told Rundstedt that the corps would take until November 13 or 14 to disembark, while the 22nd Army Corps was due to arrive two days later.
• Rundstedt and Equord agreed that the first arriving armored and mechanized divisions would rest briefly and then move to the front to contain the Russian advance.
• Rundstedt planned to accelerate a counterattack to destroy the Russian 47th and 51st Army Corps before they retreated beyond the Zagros Mountains.

The Russian Caucasian Front Army learned that German troops had reached Kuwait and could no longer complete its mission to seize or destroy the Persian Gulf oil fields. Lieutenant General Kozlov halted the advance and appealed to Moscow, leaving Joseph to decide whether the army should retreat or continue.

• At Tikrit, the Russian 47th Army Corps had fewer than fifty tanks left and faced more than 200,000 Iraqi troops backed by the German Air Force.
• Major General Shamanin, Major General Torbushin, and Lieutenant General Kozlov confirmed that German forces had reached Kuwait and discussed the danger of advancing toward Baghdad.
• Kozlov said the army could not withstand a German attack and suggested retreating north of the Zagros Mountains, but he feared Joseph's orders and the consequences of retreating.
• Torbushin proposed halting the advance and reporting to the General Staff Headquarters, and Kozlov agreed.
• Shaposhnikov brought the Caucasian Front Army's dilemma to Joseph, who reacted angrily after learning the oil-field mission could not be completed.

Joseph ordered the exhausted Caucasian Front Army to keep advancing toward Baghdad despite Shaposhnikov’s warning that it could not withstand the Germans. As Russian forces approached from Tikrit, German troops reached Baghdad and Rundstedt chose to counterattack and destroy them.

• Shaposhnikov warned Joseph that the Caucasian Front Army was depleted and could not stop two German corps, but Joseph ordered it to continue its plan and forbid retreat.
• Kozlov received Joseph’s orders and commanded the Caucasian Front Army to resume its march toward Baghdad at dawn.
• On November 11, the German 21st Army Corps advanced from Kuwait while the Russian 47th and 51st Army Corps moved toward Baghdad under German air attack.
• The German 21st Armored Division and two mechanized infantry divisions reached Baghdad on November 12, while the Russian forces remained eighty kilometers away.
• Rundstedt decided to counterattack and destroy the advancing Russian 47th and 51st Army Corps, and the German 22nd Army Corps began disembarking to join the operation.

General Enver rebuked the Turkish commanders for their poor performance, then ordered a counterattack against the Russian forces in Turkey. The Turkish armies destroyed the Russian 44th, 45th, and 46th Army Corps, with the 1st Army Corps advancing into Georgia.

• General Enver scolded Lieutenant General Arslan and Lieutenant General Muhammad for barely holding the line against a smaller Russian force.
• Lieutenant General Ilhan proposed a counterattack, and General Enver ordered the Turkish 3rd Army Corps to attack with the 1st and 2nd Army Corps.
• On November 13, the Turkish 1st and 3rd Army Corps attacked and nearly annihilated the Russian 44th Army Corps in less than two days.
• The Turkish 1st Army Corps advanced into Georgia while the 3rd Army Corps joined the 2nd Army Corps against the Russian 45th and 46th Army Corps.
• The Turkish 2nd and 3rd Army Corps trapped and wiped out the Russian 45th and 46th Army Corps.

General Rundstedt ordered German forces to encircle the Russian 47th and 51st Army Corps and destroy them before they could retreat. After a heavy artillery barrage and a tank assault, the Russian forces were defeated, and their senior commanders killed themselves rather than surrender.

• General Rundstedt ordered the 21st Army Corps to cut off the Russian 47th and 51st Army Corps while the 22nd Army Corps attacked from the front.
• Lieutenant General Equord led the 21st Armored Division and two mechanized infantry divisions from Baghdad on November 13 to block the Russians' retreat.
• On November 15, German heavy artillery bombarded the Russian positions, causing devastating casualties.
• The 22nd Armored Division and its accompanying mechanized infantry divisions attacked, while German forces encircled the Russian troops from behind.
• Russian soldiers were killed, surrendered, or attempted suicidal attacks, while Lieutenant General Kozlov, Major General Shamanin, Major General Torbushin, and the corps generals shot themselves after the defeat.

After the Caucasian Front Army was destroyed, Shaposhnikov informed Joseph that Buru could not defend the Baku oil fields against the Germans. Joseph insisted that Baku had to be held, while Shaposhnikov warned that oil reserves and possible American aid could only buy them time.

• Shaposhnikov learned that the 47th and 51st Army Corps had been wiped out and their commanders killed, then went to report to Joseph.
• Shaposhnikov told Joseph that the Caucasian Front Army had been lost and Turkish forces had advanced into Georgia and Armenia.
• Joseph recognized that the Germans would threaten the Baku oil fields, which supplied nearly all of Buru’s oil.
• Shaposhnikov said Buru lacked enough troops to defend Baku and that the Germans could not be stopped with the forces remaining in the Caucasus.
• Joseph ordered that the Baku oil fields must be held, while Shaposhnikov pointed to stored oil and possible American supplies as ways to prolong Buru’s resistance.

Joseph ordered troops and resources sent to defend the Baku oil fields and to destroy them if they could not be held. As Turkish forces neared Baku, the Russians evacuated what they could and destroyed the oil facilities and wells.

• Joseph told Shaposhnikov to reinforce Baku, evacuate its oil and workers, and destroy the oil fields if they were about to fall to the Germans.
• Joseph reestablished the Caucasian Front Army under Lieutenant General Vatutin and ordered it to defend the Northern Caucasus Mountains.
• The Turkish Army advanced through Georgia and Armenia, facing guerrilla resistance and carrying out massacres under Enver’s orders.
• General Rundstedt ordered Enver to seize Baku before German forces could cross the mountains, and Enver led the Turkish 3rd Army Corps toward the oil fields.
• As the Turkish 3rd Army Corps approached Baku, Russian troops evacuated personnel and equipment, then detonated explosives that destroyed the oil facilities and set the wells ablaze.

Germany had decisively defeated Buru in the Caucasus, capturing the Transcaucasus and Baku oil fields, while Joseph falsely claimed victory to keep the Russian public confident. American military assessments warned that Buru might last only a year and a half without foreign reinforcements, leaving the Anti-German Alliance facing the prospect of a swift German victory.

• The German Army halted its advance in the Northern Caucasus for the winter and planned to resume its offensive with Army Group D in spring.
• Joseph announced that Buru had won the battle and exaggerated the Caucasian Front Army's achievements to bolster public morale.
• Qin Tian learned of Joseph's claims and recognized that propaganda was helping sustain Buru's confidence despite its battlefield losses.
• The US Army and Navy concluded that Buru could hold out for no more than a year and a half without help from other countries.
• President Roosevelt and other senior American officials recognized that Germany might defeat Buru far sooner than they had expected.

President Roosevelt and senior US officials reviewed a war game predicting Buru’s defeat by Germany and concluded that the worsening situation threatened American security. The chapter ended with Admiral Harold Stark warning that the German Navy outmatched the US fleet in key areas, leaving officials doubtful that the United States could defeat Germany at sea.

• President Roosevelt told the officials that the war game showed Buru would probably fall and that the United States needed to change its original plan.
• General George Marshall said Germany’s superior forces and tactics could deal Buru a fatal blow by spring, especially after Buru lost the Baku oil fields.
• Woodring and Hopkins warned that Buru had to keep German forces occupied, but American supplies were delayed and might arrive too late to help.
• President Roosevelt asked whether the United States could withstand Germany if Buru lost, while General George Marshall and Admiral Harold Stark stayed silent.
• Admiral Harold Stark compared the US and German fleets and said Germany had the advantage in carriers and carrier aircraft, leaving the officials worried that the US Navy could not secure a route to Europe.

President Roosevelt and his advisers discussed expanding the US Navy, balancing carrier construction against pressure to build battleships stronger than Japan’s Yamato-class. They planned to exploit a possible German fleet deployment to the Pacific, but the outcome of their proposed Atlantic campaign remained uncertain.

• Roosevelt asked Secretary Swanson about naval construction, and Swanson reported that eight carriers were being built while the Navy had no battleship plans.
• Hull urged the United States to build battleships with 18-inch guns, and Swanson agreed to a costly class stronger than the Montana-class.
• Stark said Japan had promised to attack Germany at the end of January next year, which could draw German fleets away from the Atlantic.
• Roosevelt and his advisers hoped Japan would draw Germany’s Mediterranean Fleet into the Pacific and ease American pressure in the Atlantic.
• Stark estimated a 50 to 60 percent chance of victory if the Mediterranean Fleet moved east and outlined a plan to attack the Azores before confronting the German Home Fleet.

German Navy marshals discussed their fleet, future aircraft carriers, and efforts to stop American supplies reaching Buru. They planned a larger carrier class, while Dönitz sought to neutralize the Bolshevik Navy so German submarines could tighten their grip on the Arctic route.

• Lütjens asked Raeder to assign the four Sovereign-class aircraft carriers at Kiel to the Home Fleet, but Raeder said he needed the Emperor’s instructions.
• Raeder said a second batch of four Sovereign-class carriers would soon enter service and that construction of a fifty-thousand-ton carrier class would begin afterward.
• Raeder named the planned carriers the Nordic God-class, prompting Dönitz to declare that Germany would build the world’s most powerful navy.
• Dönitz reported that German submarines had sunk more than ten American merchant ships carrying supplies to Buru through the Arctic route.
• Dönitz said he had sent more submarines north and argued that eliminating the Bolshevik Navy would let them block the route more effectively.

Marshal Raeder proposed destroying the Bolshevik Navy at Murmansk before Germany fought the United States, and Emperor Oscar approved the Home Fleet’s plan. The chapter ended with Oscar and Raeder discussing further German naval development.

• Marshal Raeder argued that the Bolshevik Navy threatened Germany’s rear and recommended eliminating it before a decisive battle against the Americans.
• Marshal Lütjens proposed sending four Kaiser-class Battleships and two Constellation-class aircraft carriers, while Raeder cautioned him to avoid major losses.
• Raeder returned to Berlin by train and presented the Home Fleet’s battle plan to Emperor Oscar the following evening.
• Oscar approved the operation and ordered Marshal Lütjens to act, hoping for a perfect victory.
• Oscar and Raeder discussed building aircraft carriers and the supporting warships needed to protect them.

Marshal Lütjens led a German fleet toward the Norwegian Sea to attack the Bolshevik Navy, while its deployment alarmed the United States and exposed American spies in Germany. After learning the Germans were coming, Joseph and Admiral Isakov considered how to preserve the outmatched Bolshevik fleet.

• On December 2, 1939, Marshal Lütjens boarded the battleship Kaiser as the German Home Fleet sent eight Capital Ships and four Constellation-class aircraft carriers to sea.
• The German mobilization put the American Navy on alert, and German security agencies arrested many American spies as the United States tried to discover the fleet's destination.
• Four days later, an American submarine spotted the German fleet in the Norwegian Sea, sent a Telegram identifying its likely target, and was sunk by German anti-submarine destroyers.
• Admiral Harold Stark ordered the American fleets to maintain their highest combat readiness and inform the Russians, but rejected Major General Spruance's suggestion to attack the Germans.
• Joseph asked Admiral Isakov how to respond to the German fleet, and Isakov urged avoiding it to preserve the Bolshevik Navy's strength.

Admiral Isakov learned that a powerful German fleet was approaching Murmansk and ordered the Bolshevik Navy to evacuate. The Germans found the naval base empty and prepared an air raid to destroy it.

• Admiral Isakov arrived in Murmansk and told the Bolshevik Navy generals that the German fleet would reach the area in about three days.
• Admiral Isakov said Joseph had approved avoiding the German fleet to preserve the navy, and he ordered the fleet to leave Murmansk at dawn.
• The Bolshevik Navy sailed into the Barents Sea as the German fleet approached Murmansk on December 8.
• Reconnaissance Aircraft from Sagittarius found Murmansk Naval Base empty, and Marshal Lütjens ordered German ships and seaplanes to search the nearby waters.
• Marshal Lütjens ordered Archer and Capricorn to launch carrier-based aircraft for an air raid on Murmansk Naval Base.

German carrier aircraft launched repeated raids on Murmansk Naval Base, overwhelming its defenses and destroying its facilities. By the end of the third attack, the base was devastated and the Bolshevik Navy had nowhere to dock.

• Marshal Lütjens ordered aircraft from the carriers Archer and Capricorn to attack Murmansk Naval Base and destroy it.
• Colonel Hofmann directed the first wave of German fighters to suppress Buru anti-aircraft positions as bombers attacked the base.
• German carrier aircraft destroyed key facilities, including the fuel depot, while Buru gunners shot down one German aircraft.
• The second wave struck surviving targets and destroyed the ammunition depots.
• The third wave completed the raids, leaving Murmansk Naval Base in ruins and unusable by the Bolshevik Navy.

The Buru fleet faced being trapped in the Barents Sea after the Germans destroyed Murmansk Naval Base, and Admiral Isakov’s decision to contact Moscow exposed their position to German radio detection. After Joseph left the fleet to decide its own fate, German planes and ships moved to search for and intercept it.

• Admiral Isakov learned that the Germans had destroyed Murmansk Naval Base, leaving the Buru fleet without its retreat route or vital supplies.
• Admiral Isakov agreed to send a Telegram to Moscow, unknowingly revealing the fleet’s location when German communications officers triangulated its signal.
• Marshal Lütjens ordered seaplanes to search the waters northwest of Yuzhny Island while the German fleet approached the area.
• Admiral Isakov received Joseph’s reply that the navy would have to decide for itself, leaving the trapped fleet to face its crisis alone.

Admiral Isakov and the Bolshevik Navy leaders weighed fleeing to the United States against fighting the German fleet after Murmansk's port was destroyed. A German seaplane found them before they could seek Moscow's approval, leaving Isakov to order a night battle.

• Admiral Isakov presented fighting the Germans or fleeing to the United States as the fleet's two options, and the admirals supported fleeing.
• Admiral Orlov agreed to the plan but urged Isakov to request instructions from Joseph, so Isakov ordered a telegram sent to Moscow.
• A staff officer reported a German seaplane, and Isakov sent Buru destroyers to drive it off or shoot it down.
• More German seaplanes appeared, convincing Isakov and Orlov that the fleet could no longer escape and must fight.
• Admiral Isakov ordered the fleet northwest before turning south after dark to prepare for a night battle.