June 1942

Eastern Front

The thunderous detonation of 1,300 artillery pieced break the Crimean dawn. By the end of the battle the 11th Army and the VIII Air Corps will have dropped more than half a million rounds on the port. Manstein commits the full weight of his artillery to smashing the strongly build Soviet defenses, easing the difficult task for the infantry in the coming battle. The VIII Air Corps is heavily committed on the first day of battle, flying hundreds of sorties over the burning city. Fierce artillery fire continues for a week before the main attack will be launched.