In Africa things took a turn for the worse for the Germans while Hitler focused on defeating the Soviet Union although it didn’t look like that yet at the start of the year which the Germans entered optimistic. By the end of 1941 the frontline had returned to El Agheila but the British would counterattack in 1942. Rommel launches another offensive against the British and takes Benghazi by the end of January and established a frontline at Gazala and Bir Hakeim, resulting in the Battles of Gazala and Bir Hakeim when Rommel tried to get through British lines, resulting in another German victory. By June the Axis remain on the offensive and begin an offensive from their “cauldron position” inflicting extreme losses on the British defenders in what would become known as “Black Sunday” which surviving Africa veterans still commemorate on June 13th every year. Tobruk fell to the siege later that month and was an important harbour for the Axis since whoever controlled Tobruk, controlled most of Cyrenaica. With Tobruk secured the Germans could advance beyond Benghazi without having to worry that troops on the Libyan coast could attack in their rear from places like Derna which was subsequently cut off. Tobruk was based on a peninsula which was easily defendable as it could only be accessed via one route which would be defended by a small force. The British used this to their advantage during the siege of Tobruk, forcing Rommel to spend a significant amount of forces trying to cut off supply lines to the vital port city. The first siege in 1941 had failed and Operation Crusader had pushed the Germans away. In 1942 the city would fall to a surprise attack. In late June the Germans attacked El Alamein, resulting in the First Battle of El Alamein. The city itself only had an insignificant railway station but overlooked the Qattara depression and the British chose to make a stand here. They dug in in heavily defended lines which Rommel could only outflank by making a large detour south. A large number troops had been made available because of the strong US presence in the Pacific which relieved pressure on Britain’s Asian possessions. America transferred its heavies from the Atlantic, causing the Japanese loads of trouble and headaches. Churchill considered the North African front more important and thus troops were transferred to drive out the Axis forces. It resulted in a strategic victory for the Allies even though the counteroffensive of Auchinleck’s Eight Army failed but the victory had bought time to regroup and resupply. In the last major Axis offensive Rommel attempted to encircle the Eight Army in what was known as the Battle of Alam el Halfa but Montgomery who had replaced Auchinleck was aware as ULTRA intelligence had broken German codes. He deliberately left a hole in the front to lure in Rommel and the ambush was a success. Artillery and tanks in anti-tank roles on the ridges severely damaged the Africa Corp’s motorized forces. With this failure Rommel wouldn’t be able to launch any offensives any time soon unless reinforcements arrived from Europe. This would culminate in the Second Battle of El Alamein which was a decisive Allied victory and was over by November 5th 1942. They however failed to exploit it by cutting off Rommel who managed to retreat in good order. They did manage to retake Tobruk on November 11th. A few days earlier, on November 8th, British landings had taken place on the Moroccan and Algerian coast but the success was limited. Initially the British believed that the French would not shoot or that resistance would be minimal. French feelings were mixed; they didn’t like the Nazis but held a grudge over the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-El-Kebir. French coastal batteries returned fire and the French ordered their 60.000 men strong force to resist. Some units defected to the resistance but not that many. The British force had a strength of some 85.000 men. The French fleet consisting of the unfinished battleship Jean Bart and an assortment of cruisers engaged the British but they were repelled at the cost of two destroyers. Sniper fire pinned the troops on the beaches and Dewoitine D.520s engaged the British in the air. This was known as Operation Phoenix and the British managed to secure a bridgehead albeit it at a cost. Resistance would continue in the mountains in Morocco, taking up valuable British troop strength.



On the eastern front the Soviet winter offensive continued as the Soviets fought on and attacked between Lake Seliger and Rzhev in an attempt to drive a wedge between Army Groups North and Centre and recapture Smolensk. German soldiers were weary due to the very cold winter and were unprepared for winter warfare but rallied and retained Smolensk. A Soviet paratrooper landing failed spectacularly and the offensive came to a stand still. In the south the Red Army crashed over the Donets river near Izyum with the intent to pin Army Group South against the Sea of Azov. The Germans however managed to counterattack and cut off the overextended Soviet forces in the Second Battle of Kharkov which was a decisive Axis victory with the loss of over 207.000 men out of 640.000 men for the Red Army whereas the Germans, Italians and Romanians lost only 20.000 men out of 300.000 and so the Soviet winter counteroffensive petered out. As spring arrived, the Germans once again started planning a new summer offensive and there was some debate about the objective of this latest offensive. Plans were made to attack Moscow again on June 28th but the plan was cancelled as some 80% of Red Army strength was concentrated around the Soviet capital while only 10% of Soviet forces were concentrated in the Caucasus and Don regions, thus leaving these economically and strategically important areas vulnerable to attack. Stalin however was convinced that another offensive would come in the Moscow region and he remained ignorant of the troop build-up in the Ukraine. As part of this operation Army Group South would attack and secure the Volga and Don regions and the march for the Caucasus and capture the valuable Baku oilfields which were the Red Army’s primary source of fuel although oil rigs were being set up in the Turkmen SSR on the Caspian Sea’s east coast. Reconnaissance flights by the Luftwaffe however revealed that the infrastructure in the region was poor and Halder, still Chief of Staff at the time, came into conflict with Hitler who, in his vanity ordered both operations to take place simultaneously. He grossly overestimated the Wehrmacht’s capabilities. Von Manstein, Paulus and Hoth however recognised that their panzers’ movements would be severely hampered too. Von Manstein managed to sweet talk Hitler into a smaller offensive which would have a similar effect by picturing it as a way to quickly cripple the Soviets. Army Group South would attack the Don and Volga regions, capturing Stalingrad and securing the rivers, and then march for Astrakhan thus cutting the USSR off from the Caucasus and the oil fields there. After several weeks of bickering Hitler approved the plan, envisaging a quick defeat, possibly before autumn of 1942.



By now the aerial war was also tipping in German favour, at least over continental Europe. Because America was only involved in the Pacific theatre, their production rates weren’t put to use in Europe and instead they would darken Japanese skies in about 18 months or so. The bombing campaign, even in night time, as becoming increasingly difficult to keep up for the Royal Air Force (henceforth abbreviated to RAF). It was becoming a battle of attrition as German anti-aircraft crews rose to the challenge each time as did German fighters such as the new Fockewulf Fw-190 which outperformed the Spitfire Mk.5. The bombing campaign against German cities was becoming more costly as bombers suffered heavy casualties, unlike popular pre-war experts had thought who claimed that “the bomber” would always come through. During 1941 raids grew as retaliation for the bombing of London and in the summer of 1942 Britain launched the first 1000 plan raid. Hitler was of course infuriated although it was difficult to do something about it as Germany had lost many men during the Battle of Britain. Only 44 planes had been shot down (although those 44 were not easy to replace without America’s industrial base chipping in as America focused on the Pacific). Fighter production increased with the Bf-109 which engaged fighters as it was able to fly higher and drop in behind them while the Fw-190 would attack the bombers as its performance dropped considerably above 20.000 feet. In total some 6.400 bombers would be lost in the war with 96 over Nuremberg. It caused a firestorm but Nuremberg would become one of the most disastrous raids in RAF history. The bombing during 1942 would be intense but would decrease in numbers in 1943, freeing up German resources for the eastern front. The British made the switch to night time bombing which cut their losses. In the second half of 1942 the effect would be felt as German production rates would slowly increase.



In the meantime certain historically pivotal events would take place such as the assassination attempt on Heydrich. He was scheduled to meet Hitler in Berlin and he was to be ambushed in a hairpin turn by assassins sent by the Czech government in exile. By a stroke of luck, or bad luck if you will, Heydrich’s car broke down a few days before and Heydrich chose to travel to Berlin by plane and the assassins had to improvise. They had had only limited training in creating bombs as they were meant to be marksmen and gun down the SS man so the crude bomb they planted on his plane failed to detonate. It was discovered and Heydrich was frightened by the attempt on his life and strengthened his security and started a brutal crackdown on the Czech resistance. His survival would mean that he would be one of the contenders for the position of Führer after Hitler’s death.



The operation was launched on July 12th 1942 and the Battle of Voronezh was a prelude of things to come. The city fell by July 25th,securing a crossing over the Don and Hoth’s 4th panzer army marched south-eastward down the river Don and in the direction of Stalingrad and soon Paulus’ Sixth Army arrived to bolster the effort. Rostov which had fallen in the winter offensive was recaptured in early August which was around the same time that German forces reached Stalingrad and the 4th and 1st panzer armies and the Sixth Army converged on the city and this was also the first offensive in which all European Axis powers took part. Italy and Romania provided troops to cover German flanks which were stretched in a salient and were thus vulnerable as they could be cut off. Even smaller Axis countries such as Croatia and Slovakia provided troops although their forces were attached to the Sixth Army and were under Paulus’ command. Especially the Romanians performed well and their 3rd and 4th armies managed to successfully clear the Azov Littoral. There was some tension between the Hungarians and Romanians over Transylvania and Hitler therefore decided to have them separated by the Italian Eighth Army. On Halder’s advice Axis forces advanced more slowly and on a broader front as a counter to Soviet flanking operations (although Hitler believed the Red Army to be incapable of that). They advanced on Chuikov’s 62nd Army which consisted of 187.000 men at the eve of battle while Axis forces consisted of some 270.000 men. Paulus, a more cautious man than his superior Von Manstein, attacked the city which by now as devoid of supplies but neglected to cross the Volga, allowing the Soviets to set up artillery positions on the eastern bank. The harvest had been taken away east and important factories had been stripped and moved although some continued production of T-34s. Von Manstein ordered Paulus to cross the Volga (without asking Hitler first since that would take took long and this had to be done), surrounding the 62nd army. As Stalingrad was so important ideologically. By now the Luftwaffe had completely stopped shipping on the Volga and possessed air superiority. This was known as Operation Jupiter, nicknamed the Battle of the Flanks. Soviet tank divisions attacked the weaker Romanian and Italian forces on Germany’s flanks and especially the unmotivated Italians buckled, forcing Germany to divert troops from other places. East of Stalingrad German reconnaissance squads were already less than 100 kilometres away from Astrakhan. In the Battle of the Flanks the Soviets were getting bogged down as German resistance stiffened. Paulus withdrew to the outskirts of Stalingrad and laid siege to the city instead as the city was effectively surrounded anyway like the Germans had wanted to do to Moscow as well. Here they succeeded although Stalin authorized troops to be transferred to be transported to the Volga front. Shipping over the Volga was increased, in spite of withering Luftwaffe attacks, to supply the 62nd army. Stalin ordered Stavka to come up with a plan to save the city. Zhukov’s forces briefly reached the city and several units of the 62nd Army managed to get away but Chuikov and over a third of the 62nd remained as the Germans cut them off. The entire Sixth, Eleventh and Seventeenth Armies were deployed in the region along with the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies. This force totalled some 1.200.000 men and the Red Army was not yet able to mount operations over an area that large as they, even though their weaponry was equal to the Wehrmacht’s, were still somewhat lacking in their logistical capabilities and were forced to decrease tank production to build more trucks (Lend-Lease had completely dried up and the Soviet Union was beginning to feel the effects). Surrounding Stalingrad was well within the Red Army’s capability but protecting the oil supply was more important right now. The operation ended on October 11th 1942 with the fall of Astrakhan to German forces.



This was a disastrous defeat for the Soviet Union, one from which they wouldn’t recover even though the Turkmenistan oilfields would partially compensate for the loss of Baku and Grozny. Stalin declared a total war, his equivalent of a holy war. This had just turned into a struggle for survival for the Soviet Union, more so since Stalingrad fell in late December 1942 after a prolonged siege although guerrilla resistance against the Nazis continued as their atrocities continued; the last bastion in the Volga region was gone and the Germans now controlled shipping from the Volga into the Russian hinterland and no help from Britain was forthcoming as Britain was still fighting in Africa and German forces had ready made defences in the mountains in Tunisia and the Vichy French were resisting British forces in Algeria. The Fall of Stalingrad came at a cost as many Axis forced had been bogged down and had depleted Army Group South’s strength and reserves in one of the most vicious battles of the eastern front in which the Soviets had forced the Axis to fight for every street and building. All buildings overlooking squares or cross roads were bristling with machine guns and Germans gad fought for every room and the Mamayev Kurgan had switched owners several times. In the end Army Group South outnumbered the 62nd Army and the Luftwaffe bombed them into submission. Stalin proclaimed Stalingrad a Hero City. Chuikov would die in captivity and he was posthumously bestowed the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Lenin Order (ironically he would likely have been executed if he had escaped back to the USSR for incompetence). Fall Blau was a complete success. Stalin blamed Churchill for not opening a second front in Europe but he didn’t grasp reality; Britain could not invade Europe, not without eliminating Axis air power. He also accused the British of letting the USSR fight the Germans on their own so the USSR would be destroyed and Britain could waltz into Europe. This was obviously a figment of Stalin’s paranoia but it was true that Churchill had no love for communists but the Nazis were a much graver threat in his eyes. There were some improvements. The Wehrmacht was now at the limit of its logistical capabilities and would likely not advance much further east and so the USSR’s bad infrastructure now proved to be a bonus for them. Also the T-34 was showing up on the battlefield in significant numbers as was the KV-1 and both were more than a match for the panzer IV, the most numerous German tank on the eastern front. A strategic stalemate ensued as the Red Army was broken due to fuel problems and the German army unable to advance much further (at least not where it mattered) and was embroiled in a guerrilla war because of their own ethnic cleansing, looting and suppression of any manifestation of Ukrainian nationalism. During the winter both Soviet and German forces regrouped to make a stand or deliver a final blow respectively. Stalin knew he had to enforce a decision and prospects looked bleak.



Throughout early 1943 the British attempted to dislodge the Axis who were in an increasingly tenuous position and Rommel was in no position to attack and his supply lines were constantly being attacked by the Royal Navy and the RAF from Malta and Egypt. The British found themselves in a troubled logistical situation as well since the Libyan desert had a limited infrastructure and Rommel managed to hold on to the harbour of Tripoli and because American supplies remained limited to Lend-Lease because Roosevelt’s hands were tied. Axis codes had been broken a long time ago and it was suspected by the Germans but German code breakers dismissed it as impossible since their code was “unbreakable”, especially as new versions of Enigma were being developed. The Axis managed therefore managed to hold onto its defensive lines in Libya and Morocco since circumventing/outflanking German lines would be too much of an effort in the Libyan desert and the Moroccan Atlas Mountains where the French held on. The mountains were well defendable but Vichy French forces were less motivated than their German and Italian patrons. Also, the British army was decidedly of better quality and broke through French lines and the French were forced to retreat in the face of local air superiority (in spite of the French Dewoitine D.520s who took down quite some Spitfires with them) to lines further east, re-establishing themselves one hundred kilometres west of Algiers by early May 1943. The French force by now consisted of some 125.000 men with some 210 tanks, 500 aircraft, 10 or so warships and 11 submarines. The aircraft slowed the British down as they were equal to their British adversaries in performance and the warships sporadically shelled British forces advancing along the coast although the RAF repelled them.



As the Axis sat out the winter, they pulled themselves back together as did the USSR to the best of its abilities. Fortunately for the Red Army and Stavka it was quite obvious where the next offensive would come, Moscow. The Soviet capital was the only target of any value left within reach of German forces and large numbers of troops were redeployed to defend Moscow but first another offensive would be initiated to shrink the large bulge north Moscow which protruded deep into German frontlines and was a threat for any offensive aimed at Moscow. The Soviet leftwing was situated north of Rzhev and the rightwing was close to the city of Demyanks which was frontline city and only barely behind German lines. On May 25th 1943 the Germans launched Fall Schwarz (Case Black) but is much better known under the name Battle of the Bulge, named after the bulge that the Germans wanted to remove as it threatened Smolensk and Vitebsk. Soviet resistance was strong as they knew this was a prelude to another drive for Moscow since an attack south from this bulge could sever German armoured spearheads from the main body of the attack and envelop them but they were experiencing fuel problems because they were still cut off from Baku and Grozny. Zhukov launched a vigorous counteroffensive which stopped the German advance about 50 kilometres away from the Volga but it wasn’t good enough and Hitler decided that the bulge was small enough and that the threat was neutralized. German losses were heavy as well though because of the introduction of the T-34/85. Russian losses were increased because of the introduction of the Panther and Tiger tanks. The Panther had been developed in response to the T-34 and had the same slanted armour. It was however heavier due to thicker armour and possessed a long 75 mm gun. The Tiger had been in development earlier and thus sloped armour was not incorporated into its design but its armour was nonetheless difficult to penetrate even in the best circumstances and the rear was only really vulnerable. Its 88 mm gun, which had been designed as an anti-aircraft gun, could penetrate the T-34’s armour at any distance. Both however, despite their strength, broke down often because they were underpowered. The Germans already possessed several hundreds of them. Also, the siege of Leningrad was finally broken and fighting erupted in the city itself. There too the Soviets would fight until the end.



Now it was time for the USSR’s death struggle as Hitler ordered the attack on Moscow which was dubbed Operation Friedrich der Grosse, after the Prussian king who happened to be one of the best field commanders in German history. The Germans would once again attempt to encircle the city as they would lose their mobility advantage in urban warfare as they had experienced when they took Warsaw in 1939. For the purpose of the attack Hitler shifted forces from Army Groups South and Centre, including all panzer battalions equipped with Tigers and Panthers. Zhukov was assigned with the task to defend the city once again and he used whatever fuel reserves he had for this task. He created three defensive belts around the city in preparation for a battle of attrition which the Red Army could win due to sheer numbers. These lines consisted of anti-tank ditches, anti-tank obstacles and extensive networks of trenches and bunkers. The date for the operation was set on August 1st 1943 and Hitler held hopes that the city would fall before the winter which would make things a lot easier. It was not to be as German panzers quickly ran into T-34s north and south of the city which drove back German pincers who had already suffered casualties at Mozhaisk, a major stronghold which had set the Germans back for at least a week. This forced the Germans to enter the city. The government by this point had evacuated long ago, during the First Battle for Moscow in 1941. The Germans had gathered some 1.300.000 men, 3.750 tanks, 12.250 artillery pieces and 2.200 aircraft, the largest force ever assembled for one single purpose and the largest military operation in German history. The Second Battle for Moscow started with a huge artillery bombardment to cripple the city’s defence and the bombardment crept toward the Kremlin and the famous Spasskaya Tower received several hits but it remained standing, a symbol of hope for the Soviet people. This operation could not fail because if it did, Germany would not recover from the losses. German forces fought their way through the rubble and were forced to fight the Soviets from house to house. Soviet forces occupied strategic buildings on street corners and squares and barbed wire entanglements blocked the streets. German soldiers joked that after they had taken the living room, they still had to fight for the kitchen. Stalin was forced to flee the city as the situation was becoming too dangerous. Morale plummeted and a mass exodus started of civilians fleeing east. Resistance toughened and the fight continued into autumn and winter. On November 11th 1943 the USSR requested an armistice with German Panthers only 400 metres away from the Kremlin and it was about time as German losses were soaring even though they were winning. Germany couldn’t keep this up and were about to request peace as well as they were nearing exhaustion. The Germans and their allies had suffered some 417.000 casualties in the streets of Moscow but it was finally over and propaganda in Nazi Germany went nuts. As much as Stalin wanted it, the Red Army could fight no longer, the USSR was broken. The Russian bear was defeated at the hands of the German eagle.



Because of this decision Britain stood alone and even though they were winning in Africa, they wouldn’t be able to liberate Europe any time soon and it would come at too high a cost. The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica still reigned supreme in the skies over most of Europe and Germany was already transferring Luftwaffe combat veterans from the eastern front to Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. By now the Africa Corps barely held on in mountain positions in Tunisia which were much easier to defend but as the Luftwaffe’s increased presence in the Mediterranean theatre became more apparent. After breaking through German-French-Italian lines in Tunisia, Britain too requested on armistice on December 29th 1943. After nearly four and a half years the war in Europe was finally over, peace reigned and the swastika reigned over Europe.