Page 271 - The Chief Culprit

232 y e Chief Culprit

flank will be defended by the mountains of Slovakia, primarily by the Tatra Mountains which
are up to 2,500 meters tall. Advancing troops would only need to worry about securing one
flank; the other would be covered.
An attack on Krakow out of Lvov would have divided Hitler’s coalition, cutting
Germany off from all her eastern allies: Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. An attack
south of Polesye—and this is the most important point—would have cut Germany off from
her primary source of petroleum: Romania. e delivery of just this one strike would have
immediately secured the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II. Further on from the Krakow
region, it was best to turn north. In this case, the Red Army troops could freely advance to the
Baltic Sea, cutting the German army off from Berlin and the inner regions of Germany. is
would have formed a corridor, in which the Red Army had no threats: to the left, advancing
Soviet divisions, corps, and armies would have been covered by the Oder River right up to
the sea, and to the right—by the Vistula River. German counterattacks here would have been
impossible. is is exactly what Stalin was preparing in the first half of 1941. e plan of such
an operation is a picture of diabolical strategic beauty.