Word: caspian
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Russians, too, showed confidence. The Grozny fields had not yet been scorched. Here, midway between the Caspian and Black Sea, they were making a stand not only to protect Grozny's oil, but also to guard the main routes into the heart of the Caucasus and the richer Baku oilfields. Southwest of Grozny lies industrial Ordzhonikidze, terminus of the only two highways scaling the lofty range near its center. Both highways, the Georgian and Ossetian military roads, are tortuous, treacherous routes that mount 10,000 feet through gorges giving every advantage to the defender...
Geographically, the easier invasion route is eastward through Grozny to the Caspian, thence south along the coast to Baku. Here again nature aids Russia. Halfway down the coast toward Baku is the Derbent gateway, where impenetrable mountains narrow the coastal shelf to a six-mile strip. Nature's fortifications have been improved by man, making Derbent a formidable obstacle...
...northern Caucasus fell July 27, Melnik's forces retreated steadily for seven weeks. Then for four weeks the Germans had to fight for every foot they gained. This week the Germans were trying to advance in two directions through the Caucasus. One force, striking toward Grozny and the Caspian, had been stalled for the past two months on the Terek River, which German broadcasts described as "the accursed stream where so much German blood has already been shed." Another spearhead had moved from captured Novorossiisk toward the great oil port of Batum. It did not get far before...
Everybody is waiting for the first signs of winter. Up here it is goddamn cold and the wind rips down from the Black and Caspian Seas. Sometimes black clouds scud over the Caucasus. But when the wind ceases and clouds lie tranquil, then comes snow and thick rain and real cold. That is what all these men are waiting for. That, after the second front, is what the whole Soviet Union is waiting...
...Stalingrad falls, most of the German weight will be directed against the Caucasus. There are five ways through the Caucasus: one route on the Caspian Sea, one on the Black Sea, three passes across terrible mountains. They all come out into the southern Caucasus valley, stretching from Batum to Baku. It is most probable that, if Stalingrad falls, the German drive will be directed on Baku...