Rus withdraws forces mostly to Kar, leaving 1 inf in Cauc.
Ger attacks to take it, but leaves bulk of the force in Ukr. 1-2 inf in Cauc. Ger gets $3 more.
GBR attacks Cauc. wins with a few ground units. no money.
Jpn attacks Cauc. Gets $3 more, holding with a larger force.
USA attacks Cauc weakens the Jpn force, and then retreats.
Rus attacks Cauc, wins it back. Gets $3 more.Sure Ukr is worth $3 for whoever holds it at the end of their turn. Reality I would expect a piece of land fought over that much in such a short amount of time to be stripped of value until after a rebuilding time.
The game example shows the Ukr is actually worth more for all of the fighting. $3 for the Allies + $6 for the Axis
The English don’t need to take Cau… So the Japs won’t win that extra 3 ipc’s. Just take it with the US for Rus, because the US has far more units at that stage of the game.
In case the UK liberates Cau, it is fine as well, because you force the Japs and after that the Germans to spend forces on those easy IPC’s wich takes away pressure on Rus. (Not a real lot, but in the long run it adds up)
Strategy wise, you are correct.
That fictional series of events was intended to highlight another area where the game does not reflect reality. In a real war, land needs some time to recover value after trading hands. The original poster wanted to show that the USA actually had much more of a historical production advantage vs Jpn.