Diabolic X

May 1945. After days of violent fighting, Soviet troops enter into a devastated Berlin. But how did it come to this? 1939. The German and Soviet invasion of Poland crushes the last hopes for a peaceful resolution of political tensions. Great Britain and France have no choice but to declare war on Hitler. Meanwhile, Hitler makes a bold, fearsome plan for the invasion of France.

In 1945, Germany is crumbly on both fronts. The Western Allies cross the Rhine and take most of Germany, while the Red Army quickly advances into Berlin. After Hitler's suicide, Germany surrenders and is divided among the allied powers.

After a careful campaign of disinformation that throws the German defenders off-guard, the Western Allies finally land on Normandy. After fierce fighting, they establish a foothold in Europe. France is liberated.

Their attack on the Soviet Union having failed, the German Army suffers a series of counter-offensives on the Eastern Front. Hitler's constant orders to stand ground backfire, and the Wehrmacht's losses are huge as the Soviets advance West.

Allies turn the tide in the Atlantic, where initially German U-Boats harass freely convoys to supply Britain. The Kriegsmarine calls off their submarines. The route to bring American soldiers who will land on D-Day is clear.

Italy's failed attacks in the Mediterranean region draw in the Germans.

Japan attacks the USA on 7 Dec 1941. For the next 6 months, they continue to have successful attacks. However, by the end of the battle for Guadalcanal in Feb 1943, they are completely on the defensive.

The German invasion of Russia from Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941 to Kursk on 5 July 1943

Germany makes critical errors during the bombing of Britain.

Country after European country falls before the unstoppable German blitzkrieg.

The activities of nations after World War I that lead to World War II.

9. War Against Japan The war in Europe is over. However, in the Pacific East, the United States is still fighting the Japanese, who consider surrender the greatest humiliation for a soldier. Stalin promises to help Roosevelt, but the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Japan suddenly alters the calculus for the Allies. Despite the devastation, the Japanese military vows to fight on.

8. Battle of Berlin Germany has without question lost World War II in Europe, but Hitler, by now a heavily medicated and deluded character, refuses to give up hope; he orders the roughly one million German soldiers left in the ruined city to defend Berlin, now a strange mix of combat veterans, teenage boys from the Hitler Youth, and old men from the People's Army.

7. The Battle for Germany Germany is retreating on all fronts and suffering defeat after defeat. The breach of Germany's pre-War borders now seems inevitable. Desperate, Hitler orders all males between the ages of 16 and 70 to enlist and fight for the fatherland. Nazi ideologues put faith in victory and the Nazis seem to vanquish and suppress all forms of doubt and resistance in the last months of the Reich.

6. Secret Intelligence of the Red Army Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the Polish and British have succeeded in de-coding the top secret German military codes known as "Enigma." This information, referred to as "Ultra" by the Allies, becomes vital for the Allies' military situation in North Africa, the Soviet Union, and Northern France.

5. The Partisan Movement By 1943-1944, as the Germans are desperately struggling to hold their ground, they are increasingly hindered by the Soviet partisans, which contain many former Red Army soldiers that had been cut off behind enemy lines. The Germans responded with intensive counter-insurgency campaigns and brutal reprisals against the civilian population.

4. War in the Sea Hours before the start of Operation Barbarossa, the Germans, along with their Finnish allies, begin mining the Gulf of Finland to prevent any naval evacuation of Soviet troops and ships. When Operation Barbarossa begins, Axis U-boats begin pounding the grand Soviet Navy, primarily based at Leningrad.

3. War in the Air On 22 June 1941, German pilots were the first to see the sun rise. Before the day was over, the Soviet Air Forces had lost almost 2,000 aircraft. The early German air superiority gave a significant boost to German confidence, and severely damaged Soviet military capability and morale. The air wars over the USSR would be some of the biggest and toughest in military history.

2. Operation Bagration By summer 1944, Germany has undeniably lost the battle of the USSR. After the Soviet victories at Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Leningrad, the Soviet Union, with its practically unlimited resources of manpower and matériel, begins to rapidly push the Germans back toward the German border. On 22 June 1944, Stalin launches Operation Bagration, named after a Russian hero of the Napoleonic Wars.

1. The Liberation of Ukraine Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, is, after a lengthy battle, back in Soviet hands. But now they have to clear the Germans and German allies out of the Crimea and liberate the rest of Western Ukraine. Hitler declared the Crimea a "Festung," meaning it should be held at all cost and to the last man. The German 17th Army was effectively destroyed in the process.

8. The Battle for Caucasus Ewald von Kleist has broken through to the Terek river, slap in front of the vital oil fields of Grozny and Baku. Only freezing temperatures in the Caucasus prevent von Kleist's 1st Panzer Army from breaking through to Ozoni Kizi and Tbilisi. The Soviets launch a desperate counter-attack that holds the Germans back.

7. The Battle of Stalingrad After the failure to take both Moscow and Leningrad, Hitler sets his sights on the oil fields in the Caucasus. If captured, the Red Army will lose 70%-90% of all its oil resources. Therefore, the famous city on the Volga, Stalingrad, must be "held at all costs." The German General Staff thinks taking the city will be a matter of a few weeks, but events steadily turn against the Germans