It is the 22nd of June, 1941, and the German Wehrmacht is launching its Blitzkrieg invasion of the Soviet Union. Army Group North, commanded by Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb and comprising 26 divisions including three panzer divisions, attacks from East Prussia, its objectives the rapid destruction of the Soviet forces opposing it, the seizure of the Baltic states and the capture of Leningrad. Opposite it defending the Soviet frontier are the 26 - including six tank - divisions of the Baltic Special Military District, under the command of Lt. Gen. V.I. Kuznetsov.
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Operation Barbarossa - Central
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It is the 22nd of June, 1941, and the German Wehrmacht is launching its Blitzkrieg invasion of the Soviet Union. Army Group Center, commanded by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock and comprising 51 divisions including nine panzer divisions, attacks from East Prussia and German-occupied Poland. Its main objectives are the rapid destruction of the Soviet forces opposite it, the capture of Minsk, Smolensk and ultimately Moscow. Defending opposite Army Group Center is the Western Special Military District of 36 - including ten tank - divisions, under the command of Gen. D.G. Pavlov.
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Operation Barbarossa - South
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It is the 22nd of June, 1941, and the German Wehrmacht is launching its Blitzkrieg invasion of the Soviet Union. Army Group South, commanded by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, comprises 40 German divisions (including five panzer divisions), fourteen Romanian divisions and a Hungarian corps. The Germans attack mainly from German-occupied Poland, with other elements striking from the Carpathians and Romania. Rundstedt's main objectives are the rapid destruction of the opposing Soviet forces, the capture of Kiev and occupation of the Ukraine. Defending opposite him are Col. Gen. M.P. Kirponos' Kiev Special Military District with 56 (including sixteen tank) divisions, and Gen. Tyulenev's Odessa Special Military District with 14 (including two tank) divisions.
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Operation Typhoon
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Since the end of July, Army Group Center had been holding a more or less static line while its motorized and panzer elements participated in the massive encirclement battles around Kiev. Now, with the armor returned and reinforced by Army Group North's Panzergruppe IV, a new plan - Operation Typhoon - is launched on the 2nd of October to blitz the last 200 miles to Moscow and capture the Soviet capital. But yet to be faced are the autumn rains, the Red Army's Gen. G.K. Zhukov - and Russia's oldest ally, 'General Winter'.
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Moscow Counteroffensive
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It is the first week of December, 1941, and Operation Typhoon - the final advance on Moscow - has spent its last ounce of energy. As the exhausted and half-frozen Germans struggle to survive in the dead of winter, General Zhukov unleashes a massive counterattack on both sides of Moscow, using forces carefully husbanded for the task, including crack Siberian divisions. For Army Group Center, the immediate future looks bleak indeed...
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Case Blue
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As June, 1942, comes to an end, the Germans once again seem invincible. They seize the fortress of Sevastopol and smash a premature Soviet offensive near Kharkov. The latter is made all the easier by Army Group South's troop build-up in the area in preparation for the Wehrmacht's next major offensive: "Fall Blau" (Case Blue). For this operation, the Army Group is split into two separate formations: Army Group A to thrust into the Caucasus, and Army Group B to drive on Stalingrad...
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Citadel and Beyond
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In the summer of 1943 the Germans attempt one last time to regain the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front. They envisage a limited offensive to pinch off and eliminate a bulge in their line around the city of Kursk. To this end they amass some 3000 tanks, including the first production run of the new PzKpfw V Panther. But the Soviets have guessed the German intentions, and busily fortify the salient in depth. When Operation Citadel is launched, the fighting will be more reminiscent of WWI than of Blitzkrieg warfare, but ironically will also result in the greatest tank battle in history. If the Red Army prevails, its substantial reserves will wreak havoc upon their weakened enemy.
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Operation Bagration
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By the summer of 1944 the Wehrmacht is strictly on the defensive in Russia. Hitler decides that the Soviet summer offensive will occur in the Ukraine, and shifts much of Army Group Center's panzer assets south to meet this imagined threat. But the Red Army actually plans to strike at Army Group Center, now comprising the equivalent of about 50 divisions including a lone panzer division. The Soviets have overwhelming superiority in everything: men, armor, artillery and aircraft. About all the Germans have in their favor are strongly fortified positions.
