Hearts of Iron III: Dies Irae - GötterdammerungOn 28th of March 1942, 1.4 million highly trained and equipped German soldiers and 3000 planes unleashed their fury on the Soviet lines. This invasion was called "Operation Barbarossa". The Soviet forces were caught with their pants down and could not stop the German wave of blut and eisen coming from the west. 17 days into the campaign, the germans are advancing fast. Hitler has launched four spears into the russian bear. One from the baltic sea with a massive amphibious attack outside Leningrad, one from Eastern Prussia trying to link up with the marine-sturm forces through the baltic states, one from Poland piercing towards Minsk and one south from Romania trying to reach Sevestapol and Stalino.
A month later, the spearhead around Leningrad and the forces from Prussia are connected and starts encircling the city of Leningrad and forcing thousands of disorganized soviet troops into the city.
Though heavily outmanned, the Germans have no problems holding the siege. Years of training, high-tech equipment and weapons and fighting on the western front has made the Germans invincible. From the Baltic coast, five battleships are sending deadly rain with killing accuracy on the defenders
On the 25th of May, the defenders of Leningrad surrendered. The Germans took 623 000 Soviet prisoners.
Like sheep being herded, the slow soviet forces in the centre are encircoed by fast moving panzers from Panzerarmee Preussen. Pockets of thousands of Soviet troops are surrounded and destroyed.
The soviets have many heavy tanks, but they are useless against the blitzing light panzer 35(t) and medium Panther tanks with their superb KwK 42 L/70 cannons. Like glue, the Pripet marches are slowing the soviet down, unable to retreat from the giant pincer closing on them.
23th of June 1942. The Wehrmacht is cutting through the Soviet lines like butter. Stalin is paralyzed. His armies are in panic and they cannot halt the flood of men and machines. Even though he advanced into Finland, his forces were cut of by the elite paratroopers of Germany (Brandenburger and Brigade Hermann Göring). In Berlin, Hitler plans out new routes of attack. He hopes that the war will be over by Christmas.