August 1, 1941
Alright, LOTS to talk about this time, so let's get right to it.
Barbarossa was launched. Below you can see the deployment my forces. I can see 5 German tanks, 2 Tacs, and 3 fighters. Many of the Axis minor units have been railed up north, with much of the German firepower concentrated in the south. This tells me that the northern action is mostly a diversion, and the majority of the Axis effort will be in the south. So I will concentrate my forces in the south as well, maintaining a single line of infantry in the northern forests and behind the river in the center. Four German tanks set off by themselves and attacked Vinnitsa, so I moved a whole mess of troops and tanks to Kiev. If Frank's tanks get too far ahead of the main body next turn, I will ambush them and attempt to destroy them. I don't think Frank expects me to amass such a large force in one place so soon, so maybe I can surprise him. And if he advances cautiously, then I will simply withdraw behind the river and wait for winter before launching my attack. Either way, those forces in the south should soon see some serious action. Because of the importance of the theatre, Zhukov is deployed to lead the army, while another general (Konev??) takes command of the center and Timoshenko commands the northern army from his base in Leningrad. Also of note, my doomed 3-step corps by Vinnitsa reestablished supply for several of the cut off garrisons. That should slow the Axis down a little bit by making the garrisons harder to kill. Here are the screenshots.
Also of interest is the situation in the Atlantic. Frank attacked my stragglers with a horde of subs and sunk two DDs, though at a heavy cost to the subs. The BB was damaged. The deployment of the subs looked funny to me, as if Frank was leaving me an alleyway for the BB to escape back to England. I got suspicious, decided that he probably had a hidden sub lurking there, and decided to take the other way out. ZoC would have prevented the BB from making it back to port no matter which way I went. At least now the BB is in range of both my strategic bombers. Only one of them was in range this turn, but it knocked 4 steps off a sub. I may even be able to sink one next turn if Frank goes after the BB. Here’s hoping!
The Royal Navy’s sacrifice is not in vain, however. All five transports made it through, and will go through the Persian Gulf transport loop next turn. The British fleet, on the other hand, will sail into the Med and try to wreak havoc on the Italian Navy and the forces on the ground. I may
finally be able to transport the Malta fighter to the Middle East. Either way, I don’t want to risk another encounter with all those subs until I get more ships. To that end, the USA began construction on 6 DDs. I usually don’t like to invest much in the US Navy, but Frank has forced my hand with his massive sub fleet. As soon as possible I will construct naval labs to increase their ASW tech. I will probably have to spend all of 1942 building up for a major strike in Italy or France in 1943. In the meantime, I will hopefully be able to clean up the Med, retake Egypt, and move into North Africa.
And last but not least, we come to Iraq, where the British are no longer afraid to engage the enemy, since reinforcements will arrive shortly. My fighter received Dog Fight Lv. 2, and Stalin has graciously sent a Soviet fighter and bomber to the theatre to make absolutely certain the Germans don’t get their hands on the oil fields. If Frank pushes his luck here I will attack if the situation looks good.
. The RN bugs out of the death zone, though one of my DDs follows a bad path and runs into the hidden Italian sub. Instead of moving in a parabola, move in a straight line! It's the quickest way to get to the destination! I'd discharge that captain if I wasn't so sure he was going to end up shark food next turn. 
These transports are getting to Iraq this time, no matter how many subs I have to fight! 
