@mainah
Makes no difference, Italy can sink it and then your fleet is free to attack novgorod.
Its actually not a bad move, buy some fleet G1 to threathen a SeaLion attack.
Might as well use said fleet to help with barbarossa, you can actually save a lot of IPC’s if you start transfering art+inf to novgorod each turn iso using tanks and mechs.
Coupled with the factory with just 3 transports ( 2 more then the setup ) you can compete with the moscow factory in terms of buildup.
And you get it the turn you DOW so you lose your 5peactime ipcs but you immediatly gain the novgorod ipcs.