CAUCASUS ZONE

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 November 1942, Page 6

CAUCASUS ZONE

A RUGGED RAMPART The main Caucasian chain, called the “Greater Caucasus,” in contrast to the southern chain called the “Lesser Caucasus,’” runs from the Strait of Kerch, which links the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea, to Baku on the Caspian. It is about 770 miles long and has a maximum width of 140 miles. The west part is not so high as the central portion, but drops sharply to the Black Sea. The difficulties of the mountainous terrain account for the Black Sea littoral having been by-passed by the Germans, but thrusts are developing towards Novorossisk and Tuapse. To the south, three roads traverse the 'ranges, although that over the central section to Tiflis is the only one that has been discussed as a military road. The others, starting from a point near which the advanced elements of the German army reported to have reached, are the Sokhum road running east and west, and the one which goes south-east to Kutaisi on the railway between Tiflis and Poti. NATURAL FORTIFICATIONS On all, the rugged nature of the country and the narrow passes make natural fortifications, and the tribesmen of the region, with centuries of war behind them, would make formidable defenders of them. The conquest of the whole of the northern shore of the Black Sea makes it impossible for Batum or Poti to ship oil and minerals to any Russian point of distribution, hence Baku and any controlling point on the Volga are now much more important strategical prizes. Yet there remains one strong incentive to the Germans to secure Poti and its hinterland, for there exists, as explained by Mr. Rolf Singer, a Havard University botanist in the National Geographic Magazine, the world’s largest deposits of high-grade manganese, the metal required to hardening steel. The railway down the Kvirila Valley of Georgia normally carries this manganese ore for export. To-day, this freight may take the long railway journey to Baku for shipment up the Volga. The Germans might be expected to make a desperate effort to secure these manganese dposits at the earliest moment. However, the Russian fleet stands in the way of a sea-borne expedition. BAKU’S OIL DERRICKS Describing his railway journey eastward through Georgia, Mr. Singer writes: “After Tiflis, the landscape becomes steadily drier, the woods gradually vanish, and the train travels for almost a whole day to the Caspian Sea. In the night shadows of | this waste land, we saw a strange forest, the first in 1100 miles. It turned out to be a forest of oil derricks extending about 10 miles northeast of the so-called ‘Black city’ of Baku. Almost half a million of Baku’s 810,000 inhabitants live directly or indirectly from petroleum. “Baku has the character of a modern industrial city. It is surrounded by pleasant new suburbs with parks and playgrounds. Donkey-rid-ing peasants, for whom time is still the cheapest thing on earth, are a picturesque contrast amid the rushing. buses and electric suburban trains. The variety of Caucasian nationalities gives the city a gay stamp. PRESENT BATTLE ZONE.

“The railroad continues northward along the shore of the ‘bluest of all seas,’ as the Russians like to call the Caspian, past the wheatfields, and herds of cattle in Daghestan, past fishing boats and picturesque old cities. Most memorable of these hoary towns is Derbent, vivid against the mountain slope, with its innumerable motley-coloured towers and walls.

“From Makhach Kala, capital of the Republic of Daghestan, and the northernmost of the .coastal oil fields, it is 550 miles over the North Caucasus steppes back to Rostov. Over this vast area the train traveller sees pastures, herds, lambskin caps, hilly steppes, Cossack settlements with sunflower plantations, tractors and combines working on broad fields, and here and there Red Army soldiers manoeuvring. Here he is most aware of the vast monotony of the Russian landscape, the endless distances. After a bumpy night, he looks out of the window and sees seemingly the same grazing horse, the same small hut he saw at twilight alone against the violet profile of the distant heights.”