From time to time I see people saying “Germans should have done this and that and they would have taken Moscow” . Thinking about it, conquering Moscow wouldn’t guarantee victory for Germans, after all Napoleon did also conquer the city.
Considering that losing entire Ukraine wasn’t fatal for war effort and Soviet efforts to move war industry to Urals, I can see Soviet continuing the fight, even if all major cities were lost. Add the fact that nazis planned to murder all Soviet citizens, German victory sure doesn’t seem as likely as often stated.
But then there are morale dropping effect from losing said cities, potential panic and losing resources and factories. So would taking Stalingrad, Moscow and Leningrad have defeated Soviet Union, maybe two cities out of three, or would have the struggle gone on, no matter what?