"We need only kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down."
--Adolph Hitler
Famous last words.
I remember being stunned by the numbers reading about it as a kid. When it comes to military operations Operation Barbarossa has no equal in history. Number of combatants involved, sheer physical scope, hatred and ruination, the Russo-German War of 1941-45 was staggeringly immense. I recall reading that Eisenhower was shocked when he flew over the devastation while flying to a victory celebration in Moscow. Not a house left standing for hundreds of miles.