4. Operation Barbarossa - June 1941
Northern Lithuania

"A Nasty Surprise"

The most destructive land conflict the world has ever known began on June 22, 1941 when Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.  Amassing the largest force in the history of warfare, Germany sent some 3.8 million personnel supported by over 600,000 vehicles and 600,000 horses into the Soviet Union.  Initially German forces made incredible gains, but the deeper into Soviet territory they advanced the tougher Soviet resistance became.  And German intelligence had not picked up on new Soviet tanks like the T-34, KV-1, and shown here, the KV-2...

Tamiya #35375, KV-2