Battle of Yozgat (World of Sultans)

The Battle of Yozgat (Turkish: Yozgat Savaşı, German: Schlacht von Yozgat) was fought between the 5th, 9th, 18th and 22nd Armies, and 5th and 8th Armored Corps of the Imperial Ottoman Forces and divisions and Panzer groups of the Eastern Army of the German Wehrmacht, as well as the 5th and 9th Romanian Armies.

The Germans had trouble fighting in central Turkey, since it was home to Turkey's strongest defenses. Adolf Hitler had assumed that his rapid success conquering the Ottoman Empire had crippled Ottoman military morale, and that the Ottomans were soon going to contemplate on a surrender. So Hitler decided not to unleash a massive blitzkrieg on the central Turkish defenses.

As the Germans approached the city of Yozgat, the Ottomans made no hesitation to attack the invading Germans full-force. The Ottomans and Germans fought it out for a week and two days, with German scout groups getting killed. With the Germans suffering high casualities, and losing their tanks to Ottoman armored divisions, Hitler's field marshals begged him to send reinforcements to Yozgat.

However, Hitler refused to send reinforcements since he was waiting for Syrian approval to establish a military base there and use it to launch the final offensive to crush Turkey's central defenses. The Ottomans sent another reinforcement into the town proper of Yozgat, expecting a reinforcement blitzkrieg, since the Ottomans were beginning to suffer heavy losses and were on the verge of retreat.

However, with the four-day delay in receiving the news of the Russian capturing of Hitler's diplomats surprised the Ottomans. Therefore, commander Mohamet Abdulracek ordered the reinforcements in the actual town to the frontlines, where they renewed their defensive efforts. Because of Hitler's refusal to send reinforcements, the Germans could no longer take the strength and ferocity of the Ottoman defensive attacks, and finally retreated.