While the battle for Kursk was in full swing, a German soldier was looking into the distance with his rifle in the ruins of the battlefield on the Southern Front.

Most of the German soldiers fighting on the Southern Front were armed with Mauser 98K rifles, which was not much different from the equipment of the German army in real history.

Because the former Army Group South, which was renamed Army Group D, although it had strong troops, was not the main offensive force. This is also the reason why the southern front has not completely taken Odessa.

Speaking of Odessa, the battle here has been fought to the end, and the German soldier has been stationed in this ruins for a day.

The battle for the defense of the city, fought to this point, may be even more tragic than Moscow. Odessa also became a tragic battle with a street fighting time comparable to that of the Battle of Moscow. Unfortunately, the final outcome was already predestined, and it was only a matter of time before the Germans occupied it.

Now, in the ruins on the opposite side, a white flag has finally been raised. They had been waiting for this flag for hours.

The last little resistance forces stationed in the city of Odessa finally surrendered because they ran out of ammunition and food, and the soldiers ran out.

At the very moment when they raised the white flag, the German troops on the southern front also began to march forward and storm Sarne.

The main forces of the German Army Group D, which had already captured Lviv, were advancing towards Khmelnitsky.

The most important Odessa had already been captured, and the situation of the German army on the southern front was very good. It's only mid-July, and the Germans have already captured almost a fifth of Ukraine.

As Guderian's Army Group B moved south, the Germans began to surpass the Soviet Zhukov cluster in Ukraine in terms of total strength.

In fact, on the frontal battlefield, the German Army Group D had more than 800,000 troops, although most of them were infantry, but there was no shortage of troops.

And the two wings of these 800,000 German troops were the 400,000 expeditionary force of Italy, and the 400,000 combined troops dispatched by Romania and other client states.

They were faced with about 1.5 million combat troops of the Soviet Zhukov cluster. In this comparison, in fact, the total strength of the Axis powers in the front has a slight advantage.

After all, Zhukov's combat troops now have about 500,000 troops deployed to defend the German Army Group B moving south from near Moscow.

Similarly, the German Army Group B marched south with more than 200,000 troops, and these units were extremely elite, with thousands of tanks, and they were very formidable.

In the Kursk area, the forces that the Soviet army could gather were actually not superior, and Zhukov personally commanded and dispatched, and only then did he raise less than 200,000 troops near Kursk.

Whether from the frontal battlefield or from the Kursk battlefield, the Soviet army did not have the strength to counterattack and could only defend passively.

Sometimes it's very simple, sometimes it's very complicated. For example, the situation in Kursk, from a simple point of view, is actually controlling the situation in Ukraine.

However, from the perspective of complex directions, the outcome of the battle here does not really affect the situation in Ukraine.

Because of the loss of Odessa, Ukraine's Black Sea line is now an area that the Axis powers want.

On the very day that Odessa was captured by the Germans, a warship with the German Navy on its head passed through the Turkish-controlled straits and appeared on the Black Sea.

Although, this is not a large battleship, it is just a destroyer. Even the ships are full of new sailors, and combat effectiveness is not guaranteed.

However, from the perspective of political significance, the warships of the Axis countries began to enter the Black Sea, which means that the strategic balance between the Soviet Union and Germany in the Ukrainian theater of operations has finally been completely broken.

Because the navy moves faster, in a few days, Ukraine will be surrounded on three sides and become the target of German flanking.

"What the Germans say is true? Did they really take Odessa? Standing on the coast, a Turkish officer asked the politicians around him.

Watching a warship flying the flag of another country's country pass through the strait of his own country, his heart really didn't feel good.

The politician sneered, and then replied: "I heard that it was only after the white flag was raised in Odessa that the German Foreign Ministry sent a note to our ambassador. ”

Today, Turkey pursues a policy of complete neutrality. Therefore, his strait must also allow ships of various countries to pass through.

"So, Ukraine is also finished?" The capture of Odessa by the Germans, coupled with the entry of the Axis navies into the Black Sea – at least superficially, the Soviets were already at a disadvantage in Ukraine.

"yes, it's almost over." Politicians are in a very bad mood because Turkey is now facing more and more problems.

Turkey did not enter the war, not because Turkey is peace-loving, but simply because Turkey is not ready to take sides.

The question now is, how will Turkey choose sides...... If it takes refuge in a strong Germany, it becomes a question whether the interests of Turkey, which is surrounded on three sides, can be guaranteed.

But now it seems that it is too late to side with the Soviet Union and defend against the powerful Germany. Even the Turkish combat units may not be able to resist the second-rate German troops under the command of Field Marshal Liszt stationed in the Balkans.

Who would have thought that the German army would attack so quickly and easily take Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union.

All this happened in a short period of four months, so that Turkey did not have time to change its diplomatic strategy, and it is still in a mess.

"That bastard Rommel swaggered south of us, lest we didn't know he was back in the Middle East." The officer also looked resentful when he mentioned this matter.

The effect of the Axis Powers' threat of force was really very alarming, and Turkey was not to mention that even Montgomery, who was stationed in Iraq, was shocked three times a day.

Rommel's fame not only frightened the princes of the Middle East, but also put pressure on all potential opponents.

After all, this man was the ruthless man who led a few thousand soldiers and chased the British expeditionary force from Libya to Egypt. At the same time, he is also the most powerful spokesman of the Führer in the Middle East.

If you add to this Marshal Liszt, who is eyeing the Balkans...... The pressure felt in Turkey is truly enormous.

It was precisely because of this that the Turkish diplomatic service finally agreed to the demands of the Axis powers to pass through the Istanbul Strait.

At the same time, Turkey does not intend to offend the USSR and the United States. Turkey counted the number of warships of the Axis forces passing through the Istanbul Strait, and sent this information to the United States and the Soviet Union free of charge.