Qin Chuan guessed correctly, the Soviets, including Stalin and Zhukov, did not expect the role that helicopters could play in the Caucasus Mountains.

This may be a little difficult to imagine, because if the helicopter takes into account the characteristics of the helicopter, that is, it can hover and land, then it can basically be judged that it can airlift troops and supplies to the Caucasus, and even as long as there is a suitable location, such as opening up a large enough landing field, the helicopter can land on it.

But the helicopter is still new to this era, and all the tactics it uses are the first of its kind...... So it's like Columbus erecting an egg, you didn't think you could do it until you knew it, and when you knew it, you realized that it was normal or of course it could be done.

Before that, the helicopter was only used for rappelling sandbanks, for "rat's nest" capture, and for mountain warfare for the first time, or for the Soviet army had never experienced it, so it was not surprising that it was not known.

Therefore, the Soviet troops landed in Klenovka from the Black Sea in a step-by-step manner...... The Germans were too limited to defend too much, so they had to voluntarily abandon large areas, including north of the Caucasus Mountains.

Klenovka is a small and inconspicuous port north of the Caucasus Mountains, which is not even connected by rail...... However, even if there was a railway, the Soviet troops would not use it, because there was no doubt that the Germans would destroy and dismantle it when they withdrew.

Because there were no German troops stationed, the Soviets easily captured the port.

The first thing the Soviets had to deal with was the ubiquitous landmines, which made Zhukov feel a little ominous, because the fact that there were so many mines here seemed to mean that the Germans had guessed that the Soviets would land here.

But even so, Zhukov did not stop him.

The Soviets advanced along the coast of the Caspian Sea, captured an important port, Makhachkala, and turned it into a logistical supply base for the Soviet army...... Soviet supplies could be transported from the north through the Caspian Sea and then to the front line to sustain the Soviet offensive.

Of course, the Soviets immediately began to repair the railways and roads connecting the port. Because there was a serious shortage of rails and sleepers, and at the same time, the Soviets wanted to repair as many rails as possible before the real cold came, and even removed the sleepers and rails of some of the feeder railways on the east bank of the Volga River and transported them to the Caucasus.

It should be said that the Soviets have never been good at disguising their strategic goals.

The Soviet army at this time had two possible offensive directions:

One is to continue south along the Caspian Sea, bypassing the Caucasus Mountains and attacking Baku directly along Gubjian and Chilik.

The other is to attack the Caucasus Mountains.

The Soviet army's actions to build railways and highways in the direction of the Caucasus Mountains clearly told the enemy that they had chosen the latter.

However, this seems to be normal, because if you choose the former, you must have tanks and other heavy equipment to coordinate to be able to charge the defense line built by the German army, otherwise it will be tantamount to death.

The large transport ships of the Soviet army were almost lost as early as the Battle of Stalingrad, and it was difficult to transport heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery, so they could only choose the Caucasus Mountains, which did not need or could not use heavy equipment.

Zhukov was confident in this offensive because he formed five fairly combat-ready mountain divisions, or arguably suitable for fighting in the Caucasus Mountains:

These five mountain divisions were based on the three mountain divisions that had escaped from the Caucasus, namely the 9th, 20th, and 242nd mountain divisions, supplemented by the 22nd and 39th divisions of the Progressive Corps...... These two infantry divisions came from Siberia, and they were accustomed to living and fighting in cryogenic conditions.

One of the pieces of evidence is that their boots are always one size bigger, so that they can stuff straw, batting, etc. into their boots to keep warm. And the German military boots always fit well, and if you stuff something into them, the boots will look too crowded.

Of course, Qin Chuan and the others don't need these special boots, they have hiking boots with crampons, as well as snow-capped equipment such as fur waterproof military uniforms, thickened gloves, and ice axes.

Looking at the complete set of snow-capped mountain equipment of the First Step Corps, even Major General Freko showed jealousy in his eyes.

"You know what?" Major General Freko said: "Only the most elite mountaineering commandos in our division have equipment like this, and their equipment is even inferior to yours, such as military uniforms......"

"Don't envy us for that, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "There is a price to be paid for owning these equipment!" ”

Major General Freko nodded in agreement.

The battlefield is a fair place, and having more advanced equipment means being thrown into the most dangerous places, as well as more brutal battles...... The German military is not fools, they are not going to show off for equipping the 1st regiment with these equipment with a lot of money and then letting them stay in the rear.

Then the troops were pulled out for training.

The training course sounds simple, it is to move to a high ground a kilometer away to build fortifications, and the whole process is accompanied by an officer of the mountain division who is familiar with the area.

But it's not that easy to do.

"We must pay attention to the snow ditch!" The officer of the mountain division said to Qin Chuan and the others: "You know, in some places in the summer it is a deep ditch, and the soft snow layer will block the upper part of it and make it look no different from other places, but if you step on it...... Congratulations, you can be freed from this hellish world! ”

The officer of the mountain division was called Christian, captain staff officer, a native of Hanover.

Qin Chuan knew so much about him, because he didn't seem willing to talk about anything other than the mission.

Later, Qin Chuan learned from Major General Freko that Christian had some Jewish blood, and the specific situation was unclear to everyone, so Christian was always cautious, which seemed to be very useful in the Snow Mountain Battle.

It took the group more than two hours to reach the designated area breathlessly, where they built fortifications and fired live ammunition......

Then the problems arose, the mortar could not be fired, because the barrel was too tight due to the heat expansion and cold contraction.

The mortar hurried to throw the mortar to the other side of the trench, but it did not explode, perhaps because the shell got stuck and froze before it could touch the bottom firing pin.

"It's right to throw him away!" "If you try to bring it back, it's going to bang when you're not ready,......" Christian said.

"You'll be free from this hellish world!" Werner finished speaking for Christian.

This phrase has become Christian's mantra.