webnovel
avataravatar

Chapter 466 Baku Oil Fields

The next day, Wilhelm summoned Kesselring and Richthofen and issued a command.

"Develop a combat plan for bombing the Baku oil fields."

Baku is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea on the Absheron Peninsula, with an area of about 2,200 square kilometers. It's an ancient city, with its history traceable back to the 5th century, becoming the capital of the Khanate of Baku in the 18th century. It was annexed by Russia in 1806, became the capital of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1920, and until the early 20th century, it was a backward city, devoid of trees and full of dust.

In the early 1870s, the Russian government abolished state monopolies, leading to explosive growth in private enterprises. The first drilling rig started operating between 1871 and 1872. By 1873, there were over 20 small operational refineries. Before 1873, the Russian market for oil (kerosene) was largely dominated by the United States.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Baku oil fields became the world's highest-yielding oil fields, turning Baku into the industrial center of the South Caucasus and the oil base of Russia. Since then, Baku has been known as the "oil city."

In the original timeline, 1940 was the peak of oil production in Baku, accounting for 71.5% of the Soviet Union's total production (expanding the scope to the area near the Caucasus mountains, the oil produced here accounted for 90% of the Soviet Union's total). After this peak, Baku's crude oil production began to decline, but until 1950, it remained the Soviet Union's largest oil field, with its output at 39.2% of the Soviet total (although in the 1950s, due to declining reserves, its share dropped below 2% by the 1980s).

During the Soviet-German War, the Baku oil fields became a critical point. If the Soviets lost this oil field, their tanks and planes would be rendered useless. If the Germans captured it, they would have no rear concerns. German high command even considered the strategic importance of taking Baku to be greater than that of Leningrad or Moscow.

Soviet leaders were well aware of the German intentions. Stalin warned the newly appointed Deputy Minister of the Oil Industry that if the Germans took Baku, he would receive a bullet. Under duress, they had to destroy the oil fields, but if he couldn't restore production immediately afterward, he would get another bullet.

The German focus on the Baku oil region even alarmed Britain and the United States. Britain considered bombing the oil fields in the Caucasus to prevent them from falling into German hands because they knew if Germany occupied the Caucasus oil, they could increase production several times over in a short period; not only would the Soviet Union suffer, but Britain would be finished as well.

Britain advised the Soviets to completely seal off Krasnodar north of Baku (with nearly 1,300 wells there), arguing that if neither could use the oil, Germany would be the one to collapse first due to resource scarcity. The Soviet Union had other resources to fall back on due to its vast size.

The Soviets poured large amounts of cement into each oil well, creating giant cement plugs about 20 meters deep. By the time the Germans reached the oil-producing areas of the Caucasus, they were faced with wells that produced no oil.

Germany, undeterred, brought in advanced oil drilling rigs, with high command ordering that the wells be reopened at all costs. "Unfortunately," the Germans' efforts were in vain; none of the 1,300 wells produced oil.

Before the Germans could take control, the Soviets had already blown up the refineries, leaving Germany with no oil to use. Their only option was the laborious task of drilling new wells, but the Soviets ensured this wouldn't happen by sending four Siberian divisions south to thwart Germany's plans.

At this point, Wilhelm no longer saw the Baku oil fields as significant, deciding that when the time was right, he would preemptively destroy them.

Kesselring asked, "Your Highness, can we pass through Iran?" No matter if departing from Romania or Western Ukraine, the round-trip flight distance exceeds 3,000 kilometers, which is barely manageable for the He 117 bombers. But if they could use Iran, it would be much simpler. Iran and Azerbaijan are adjacent; the straight-line distance from Iran would be no more than 300 kilometers, allowing even the Stuka, with its short range, to participate.

Wilhelm thought for a moment and nodded. "That should be no problem. Also, prepare a plan to bomb the Second Baku oil fields."

After the Soviet "Second Five-Year Plan," the coal lobby had largely won the "coal-oil war," but Stalin did not abandon his policies. Under Stalin's strong push, oil exploration continued in the Soviet hinterland, hoping to increase oil production and change the energy structure of the Soviet Union. The exploration teams focused on the area between the Volga and Ural Rivers. At the 18th Congress of the Communist Party, a resolution was passed to "establish a new oil base between the Volga and the Urals—the Second Baku."

Despite resistance and lack of cooperation from interest groups at the time, exploration and development of the new oil fields proceeded at a leisurely pace. To show high expectations, Soviet leaders named the new oil fields in the Volga-Urals region the "Second Baku," which eventually covered an oil-producing area of 700,000 square kilometers.

However, while the prospects were one thing, reality was another. In the original timeline, by 1940 (the year before the Soviet-German War began), only a few small oil fields were discovered in the Second Baku, with a total production of 1.8 million tons, accounting for just 5.8% of the Soviet Union's output, far less than Baku.

On one hand, the infrastructure of the Volga-Urals oil region was still in its infancy; on the other, although the oil reserves were vast—320 million tons were discovered in the Dumaz field in 1937—the main oil layers were buried in much deeper Devonian strata compared to the shallower Carboniferous strata of Baku, and the oil here was denser, more viscous, and higher in sulfur content. Considering economic costs, the short-term benefits were not significant, so under the constraints of limited funds, prioritizing the development of the Second Baku was not feasible.

When the Soviet-German War broke out, and Germany advanced southward, Azerbaijan was briefly occupied in 1942, forcing the Soviets to adopt a scorched earth policy, evacuating personnel and vital equipment to the Volga-Urals region, destroying all facilities in the Baku oil region to prevent Germany from using its oil resources.

This action significantly bolstered the strength of the Second Baku. Even during the most resource-scarce times of the war, Soviet engineers continued exploration and production here. In 1944, the Mukhanov oil field was discovered in the Second Baku, with reserves of 220 million tons, and by 1945, production had increased by 52% from 1942.

"The Volga-Urals oil region?" Kesselring said with some difficulty. "Your Highness, this distance exceeds the operational radius of the He 117 bombers. Even with the Me 264, such a deep penetration into Soviet territory would likely result in heavy losses."

The Me 264 can be considered the German version of the B-29 bomber. Its design goal was clear: to take off from Germany, cross the Atlantic, and bomb the U.S. mainland. The first flight was on December 23, 1942 (the B-29 first flew on September 21, 1942, and both had very similar appearances, with the main distinguishing feature being single vs. double vertical stabilizers), but due to the deteriorating war situation and resource scarcity, to allow Messerschmitt to focus on producing fighters, the Me 264 project was canceled in 1944.

"That's true," Wilhelm nodded. "Then let's deal with the Baku oil fields first. The expansion of production in the Ural oil region will take time; it's not an immediate concern."

Next chapter