Operation Barbarossa

In June 1941, the Germans had launched the largest assault in human history. The whole eastern side of Europe would open up into the bloodiest front in the war. Despite being former allies, both nations and rulers felt that each others presence was an issue. Neither side would settle for anything less than the other being below their boot. Hitler's attack had initial success with blitzkrieg utterly decimating the Russians and driving them back hundreds of miles.

The Germans were ruthless and the Russians undying. Millions of Russians would be pulled from all over the nation to be fed to the Germans as cannon fodder. Weapons such as the Mg-42 would rack up kill counts in the hundreds of thousands. All of this was fine to the Russian leaders though. The Soviet Union had the largest population in the world and was not about to let the Germans into Moscow. They were prepared to do anything despite this, including burning down Moscow as they had done with Napoleon. The Russians were no strangers to fighting a losing war. Never were they afraid to use scorched Earth and in this scenario it proved imperative. Russian scorched-earth tactics, mixed with factors such as stretched supply lines, everlasting Soviet reinforcements, and the winter cold had seen the German offensive slow gradually. No more were they blowing through Soviet lines and decimating cities where ever they went. Upon reaching Stalingrad the German offensive halted.

Despite initially winning the battle, the Germans found themselves in a stalemate with the Russians. The Soviet Union poured millions of Soldiers into the city for months and so did the Germans. All tactics went out the window and fighting became door to door, window to window, rubble to rubble combat, similar to what you would see in a game like World at War. The Germans would come to lose this battle and they never got any farther than this point. Stalingrad was a bust and Barbarosa a failure.