10/07/1942

The Don Basin

Fall Blue has begun very well, commander. The Soviets seem to avoid engaging our advancing troops, and they are retreating almost without fighting. Your task is to penetrate the Don Basin and capture the key town of Kalach, on the Don River. With Kalach in our hands, we will be able to consolidate our positions in order to attack our objectives in the Caucasus. Well, now the Fuhrer is thinking that we have to go also for Stalingrad and crossing the Volga River, but until today this is only an option in his mind. I hope that he does not turn this opinion, because everybody in the OKW believes that seizing both Stalingrad and the Caucasus would be almost proibitive.