This Day Yesterday - 295-Germany launched Operation Barbarossa Friday 21-Jun-13 On 22nd June 1941, over 3 million German troops invaded Russia in three parallel offensives, in what is the most powerful invasion force in history. German army groups struck Russia hard by surprise as both countries had signed a "pact" in 1939, each guaranteeing the other a specific region of influence without interference from other. Stalin had shrugged off warnings from his own advisers, even Winston Churchill himself, that German attack was imminent. The Russian army was larger than German intelligence had anticipated, but they were demobilized and by the end of the first day of the invasion, the German air force had destroyed more than 1,000 Soviet aircrafts. And despite the toughness of the Russian troops, and the number of tanks and other armaments at their disposal, the Red Army was disorganized, enabling the Germans to penetrate up to 300 miles into Russian territory within the next few days.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 04:58:01 +0000
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