22nd June, 1941 : The Germans have broken the pact, concluded in August 1939 with the Soviet Union, by invading Russian soil. This Operation (Barbe-Rousse, or
Barbarossa) meets with great success in its early days.
The Blitzkrieg, after having almost annihilated the Red Army (3 million prisoners captured in a few months, thousands of vehicles captured or put out of action), has however been halted during the Winter at Moscow and Leningrad.

But this coup, an uncontestable success for the Soviets, proves to be only a short respite for a country which has lost whole agricultural and industrial regions, vital for the survival of its population. Meanwhile, the Red Army and the industrial machine are rebuilding in the East, in the Ural...

This gives the German high command, in the Spring of 1942, the choice of relaunching assaults to the north and the centre, or towards the South and the East, neglected during the first phase of attacks. The omnipresent Hitler intervenes directly in the tactics of the German high command, and he opts for the South.

He looks to descend towards the Caucus, seizing the industrial towns of the Volga and the Don (especially Stalingrad), and to cut off the Caspian oil routes. To do this, he first needs to get rid of a thorn that has been in the side of his army to the South (the German Army has been split into 3 groups - on in the North, one in the Centre, and one in the South): Crimea, and its harbour fortress, Sebastopol. General von Manstein, with his 11th Army, is assigned the task of taking the Peninsula in the Spring of 1942.
(see image)

With relatively reduced forces, and a lot of boldness, he manages to dispose of the majority of Soviet forces there. Next, Sebastopol...