On June 22, 1941, the largest land invasion in history took place.
Three million German soldiers, 3,000 tanks, and 2,500 aircraft stormed
across the border of Poland into the USSR. The surprise attack took
place at 3:00 in the morning, and it caught the Soviet forces completley
unprepared. The vast majority of the Soviet airforce was destroyed on the
ground. The few planes that got into the air were obsolete, and they
were promptly shot down. The German advance was rapid. Before long,
the german forces had advanced hundreds of kilometers into the USSR,
and had captured millions of unprepared Soviet troops. The German army
was almost at Moscow. A Soviet defeat seemed inevitable.
However, something then came that the Germans could not stop: winter.
Hitler figured that winter clothing was not neccesary, as he thought
his army could capture capture Moscow before winter set in. He was wrong.
Everything was effected. Troops forze in their summer clothing. Oil froze
inside the tanks. Aircraft could no longer fly. A mere 5 miles from
Moscow, the German army could see the spires of the great buildings.
However, they could not anvance any further. The German army had
stopped dead.
Back when the German army was far away from Moscow, The Soviet
industry was alarmed at their rate of progress. Many Soviet factories,
peice by peice, were moved east over the Ural mountains to protect
them from German bombing. These factories began building new tanks
and aircraft for the obsolete Red army. When the German army was
stopped outside of Moscow, the Red army, which was used to fighting
in the harsh Russian winters, launched a massive counter-attack. The
exhausted German forces were no match. They were pushed back before
finally hunkering down for the winter.
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During the winter of 1941, little happened. The German army was pushed
back from Moscow before they dug in. In the spring of 1942, Hitler had
changed his plan. Instead of going straight for Moscow, Hitler decided
to send his armies south, toward the Caucasus oil fields and the Soviet
industrial city of Stalingrad. It was here tht the bloodiest fighting of
World War II would occur.
As the snow melted, German forces were mobilized once again. They began
a new push south towards the oil feilds, and it looked like a success. If the
Germans captured the Soviet oil feilds, they would have the fuel, and resources,
to complete their push to Moscow. The bulk of Hitler's army re-routed south.
Their targets were the Caucasus oil feilds and Stalingrad, a large Soviet industrial
city on the Volga river. Two large German armies, intended to make the push together,
split up. The 6th army group south was assigned to complete the push on to Stalingrad.
This was a difficult task. Stalingrad was pretty far away, and it was heavily defended.
When the 6th army arrived, it began fighting the Soviets. The combat was some of the
most intense that mankind has ever seen. After many months of brutal fighting, the
Red Army won a descicive victory over the German 6th army. With new vehicles and
aircraft, the Red Army pushed Germany out of Stalingrad. They surrounded the German
army, cutting off their spplies and escape route. Starved of food, ammunition, and
other supplies, the 6th army had no choice but to surrender. Nazi Germany had
been defeated. The next 3 years were the same. A weakly resisting German army,
hindered by a lack of supplies and manpower, being completely overwhelmed
by the collosal Soviet forces. Germany would, indeed, never see the glory that
it expected to see. The end of Germany would be the Battle of Berlin.