Comments by "Gorilla Disco" (@gorilladisco9108) on "How Nazi Germany could have Defeated Russia... (HITLER COULD HAVE WON!!)" video.

The Bolshevik at a point in the Russian civil war was evicted from Moscow, yet they kept fighting and in the end they were victorious. Losing the capital was nothing to them. Taking out Stalin on the other hand, might fracture their leadership and German could defeat them piecemeal.
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@polarvortex3294 Close to victory, if you suppose Soviet Union would collapse soon after they lost Moscow and Leningrad. But if they persisted, then Germany would have to fight the war on horseback, with sword and archery. While capturing Moscow and Leningrad were a significant symbolic victory, Germany soon would have to deal with the consequence of no more oil available to them. Without oil from Caucasus, not only Germany war machines would stop to operate, their war industries also wouldn't produce anything needed by modern army. All while Soviet Union would still be able to have oil and produce weapons and ammunitions.
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According to TIK, another reason why Hitler invaded Russia was to get their oil in Caucasus. It was his generals who diverted it into conquering Russia by trying to take Moscow. Only after it's stalled, he managed to order them to start the original plan. The oil was a very urgent matter to Germany because at that moment of history, they only had reserve for several month that had to be rationed between civilians and military. While he could keep the supply going by playing nice to Stalin (while Stalin himself also hate the west), his ego refused to become a puppet on Stalin's string.
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So, Germany took Moscow, then what? Napoleon took Moscow, and he accomplished nothing. White Russia took Moscow, but they were wiped out eventually. Stalin government wouldn't be collapsed just because he lost Moscow. He would only need to move his government deep into Siberia and continue to fight from there indefinitely. And that's not something Germany could do because ... oil. You see ... After Britain declared war and blockaded sea lanes, Germany only had enough oil for several month. Without oil, their tanks would not be able to move. They would have to go back to World War 1, use horses to go around. Not to mention their industries would stop, no more ammo and ration for the soldiers. That's why the original plan was to go to Caucasus first, solved the oil problem, then walked with ease across Russia. But the generals had brilliant agenda of took the Moscow first and treated the oil problem as trivial. By the time Hitler told them to redirect to Caucasus, Germany oil reserve was only weeks before it run dry.
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@polarvortex3294 And what capturing Moscow and Leningrad would accomplish? Germany situation was desperate because they were about to run out of oil. Did they plan to fight Soviet Union on horseback? Using sword and archery?
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Capturing Moscow was futile. Napoleon did it, and he's out of supply soon after, led his empire to crumble. Even the Bolshevik at one point in their revolutionary war was driven out of Moscow, but they survived and later took it back. German oil situation was immediate concern. Hitler's original plan was to take the Caucasus oil, then used it to conquer the rest of Moscow. The initial drive toward Moscow happened because his generals managed to persuade him that Moscow was (as your description) important hub, and they could took it quickly and knocked Stalin down. It was his civilian officers that reminded him of the dire oil situation which was the main reason for invading Soviet Union in the first place. And also there were complains from the army itself about lack of supplies, which could be resolved if German could get oil from Caucasus. That's why he changed his plan again and diverted his army toward Caucasus.
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@Kethploy Moscow was not uncapturable. Napoleon did once. The problem was both Napoleon and Wehrmacht could not establish sustainable supply line. It's worse that Wehrmacht started their invasion in the midst of their logistic chaos.
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