68 years ago.

[Vaccum John]

Exactly on 22nd of June 1941 – World War II: As Nazi Germany began its invasion of the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian Activist Front took the opportunity to start an uprising to liberate Lithuania from Soviet occupation and establish a new government.

 

[Teo Smith]

Operation Barbarossa:
The codename used by Nazi Germany for its invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.

 

[Teo Smith]

Wao, over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 kilometer front (1800 miles). The planning for Operation Barbarossa started on 18 December 1940; the secret preparations and the military operation itself lasted almost a year, from the spring of 1940, through the winter of 1941.

 

[Vaccum John]

Ha, I see someone's here a bit clever

Strength of Germans and their minions:
around 3.9 (including reserve) million:
3 600 tanks,
4 389 aircraft
46 000 artillery pieces
Strength or Russians:
about 3.2 million initial (later 5 million more)
12-15,000 tanks
35-40 000 aircraft (11 357 combat ready on 22 June 1941)

 

[Xenophon]

It's still the 21st here, I have a thread all set to go for this, since you jumped the gun, I will have to post it now.

 

[Teo Smith]

I do have 21st here as well amigo, but seems like johny lives a bit easten to us, hm?

 

[Xenophon]

I'll hold it till tomorrow.

 

[Vaccum John]

In Ireland it's already twenty second. Where are from?

 

[Xenophon]

Ny, usa.

 

[Vaccum John]

"We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down”

Adolf Hitler

 

[Xenophon]

It was the culmination of everything Hitler had preached and wanted for over 20 years.

He would finally have his 'living space' in the east.

Bad news for him was the Russians had no intention of letting Germany take them over.

 

[Vaccum John]

Your right there buddy, but Furer was very self-confident about it all:

"When Barbarossa commences, the world will hold its breath and make no comment.”

Adolf Hitler

 

[Xenophon]

One of the biggest shocks the Whermact received was the KV-1 heavy tank.

The Germans had not even suspected its exsistance, they thought the Russians used only light tanks in battle.

 

[Xenophon]

Even worse, the Russians had a fast hard hitting medium tank, which turned out to be teh best tank in WWII, the enequaled T-34:

 

[Xenophon]

Germany's inferior PzkwIII L had a 50mm main gun compared to the Russian 78mm guns of the KV and T 34 series.

 

[Xenophon]

In the air, the Soviets were heavily inferior, over a thousand I 16 Rata fighters would be destroyed in the intial stages of the attack.

 

[Vaccum John]

Well, T-34 was brought to fame because they won many battles with that, but Germans had better tanks in quality. Unfortunately, T-34's were so many that Nazi didn't even had so much ammunition to shoot them all .Panthers and Tigers were the best, but against countless Red army were in a tight place. Of course, T-34's were great too, they were best adjusted to the warfare those battles required.

 

[Xenophon]

The Nazi BF 109 F was a superb fighter plane and incredibly deadly in the hands of the luftwaffe experten.

 

[Vaccum John]

Of course, Luftwafe excelled in the air, until Hitler commanded them to attack UK like headless chickens which exhausted their power and lost so many great pilots.
FW was the best fighter of the WW2, am I right?

 

[Xenophon]

'Best fighter' is a relitive term, it was the best interceptor Germany used in strength until the ME 262 jet fighter.

The American P-51 Mustang C could outperform a FW 190 at any altitude.

The best is really of a time and place, as the title passed back and forth during the war.