June 22, 1941 Hitler makes the decision to invade Russia and the Soviet Union. It was codenamed operation "Barbarossa". 3.2 million men crossed the border of polan into Russia. 148 divisions 19 panzer, and 12 motorized infantry. The battle ground of the eastern front reached 1000 miles. The German casualties reached up to 13.6 million troops.

     On September 15 the german army began the seige of Leningrad, it would not end until january 1994. In october 1941 the U.S. began supplying the USSR.

     Hitler decided that he would need to take moscow in order to win the war. Operation Typhoon, wich was set in motion on september 30, saw 2nd Panzer army rush along the paved road from Orel to the oka river at plavskoye while the 4th Panze army and 3rd panzer army surrounded the soviet forces in two huge pockets at Vyazma and Bryansk.

After the failure of the attempt to capture Stalingrad, Hitler had deferred planning authority for the upcoming campaign season to the German High Command and reinstated Guderian to a prominent role, this time as Inspector of Panzer Troops. Debate among the General Staff was polarised, with even Hitler nervous about any attempt to pinch off the Kursk salient. He knew that in the intervening six months the Soviet position at Kursk had been reinforced heavily with Anti tank guns, tank traps, Landmines, Barbed wire, Trenches, Pillboxes, Artillery and Mortars. However, if one last great Blitskreig offensive could be mounted, just maybe the Soviets would ease off and attention could then be turned to the Allied threat to the Western front. The advance would be executed from the Orel salient to the north of Kursk and from Belograd to the south. Both wings would converge on the area east of Kursk, and by that means restore the lines of Army group south to the exact points that it held over the winter of 1941–1942.