Matt Doeden - At Battle in World War II: An Interactive Battlefield Adventure

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YOU are fighting in World War II (19391945). It is an epic battle between powerful armies and navies across the world. New weapons and technology have made this unlike any war ever fought. Fleets of airplanes, giant warships, and armored tanks dominate the battlefield. Soldiers carry weapons that fire faster, farther, and more accurately than ever before.

What choices will you make on the battlefield, with your life and the lives of your fellow fighters on the line? Can you survive and triumph in one of the biggest wars ever fought?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page. After you finish one path, go back and read the others. Use your devices back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice. Then try a different link for a new adventure.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through history.

War rages around the globe. On one side are the Allied forcesthe United States, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, China, and other countries that fight with them. On the other side are the Axis nationsGermany, Italy, Japan, and the countries that support them.

From the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean to the muddy trenches of central Europe, millions are fighting battles that will decide the future of the world. It's been called the War of the Nations and the Great Patriotic War but most commonly the Second World War or World War II.

An estimated 15 million soldiers from around the world died fighting in World War II. Another 25 million were wounded.

In Europe, German leader Adolf Hitler wants to conquer the continent. He and his Nazi Party are committing terrible acts in Germany, Poland, and other nations under their control.

In Asia, Japan is on its own mission of conquest. Japans attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii has opened a new chapter in history. Now the war is being fought on two fronts.

The battlefields are filled with new weapons and technology. Powerful machine guns can fire hundreds of rounds a minute. Heavy tanks roll over everything in their paths. In the sky fighter planes engage in high-speed dogfights. Destroyers, aircraft carriers, and other warships battle for control of the oceans.

Danger lurks everywhere. In the Soviet Union, soldiers try desperately to hold back the 1942 German invasion in the Battle of Stalingrad. In 1944 Allied troops in the deep woods of Belgium try to fight off a surprise attack in the Battle of the Bulge. And the final battle of the war in the Pacific, the Battle of Okinawa, is being fought between U.S. and Japanese forces in 1945.

Every battle hangs in the balance. Where will you choose to fight?

Thick black smoke hangs over the ruined city of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. The city was once a proud symbol named for the nations leader, Josef Stalin. But now it is little more than a pile of smoking rubble.

Its late 1942. For months Germany and the Soviet Union have fought over this city. Its been a bloody battle. German leader Adolf Hitler believes that victory here will break the Soviet army and drive them out of the war. The famed German 6th Army has 250,000 men, compared to the Soviets 20,000. The Germans are better trained, better equipped, and better supported.

The Battle of Stalingrad dragged on for six bloody months.

The sound of an airplane overhead breaks the silence. You dont even have to look up to know that its German. The German air force, known as the Luftwaffe, is the most powerful in Europe. Their fighters rule the sky. They bomb the city at will and gather intelligence on the location and movements of Soviet troops.

The German 4th Air Fleet was a dominant flying force over Stalingrad.

The German bombs have destroyed the city. Any wooden buildings were instantly demolished. The rest of the city is full of empty buildings and piles of rubble. More than 40,000 civilians have already lost their lives.

It seems the Germans have every advantage. And yet the battle for the ruined city rages on. Every collapsed building and cratered road becomes a place for the enemy to hide behind. The Soviet forces are stalling for time. Help is coming, if only they can hold out long enough.

Stalingrad is your worst nightmare. As a member of Germanys famed 6th Army, youve known nothing but success so far in the war. But your tactics, which have been unstoppable on open fields of battle, are worthless inside the tangled rubble of the city. It seems everything you know about warfare is wrong.

You creep along the outer edge of an apartment building. Around the corner you see the banks of the Volga River. The river is the key to the city. The Soviets are desperate to control it. They cant supply their troops without it.

Gunfire rattles in one of the upper floors of the building. Your commander has ordered your unit to take control of it. But that wont be easy. The Soviets have dug in deep, and youll have to fight for every inch.

Youve got your trusty G41 semiautomatic rifle over your shoulder, as well as a few hand grenades clipped to your belt. You're ready for a fight.

The open frame of the buildings front door looms ahead. The door itself has been blasted away. You can see scorched pieces lying on the ground. Its time to go inside.

Theyre calling it Operation Uranus, says Sergei, your commanding officer. Over his shoulder, you can see the smoldering ruins of Stalingrad.

Germany has put all of its strength into the city, Sergei continues. Hitler has placed weaker, poorly equipped Romanian troops farther north. We will break through this line and circle back. A second attack will break through south of the city. When we meet up, well have the Germans surrounded.

The attack is about to begin. Youre in command of a Soviet T-34 tank. Its a powerful fighting machine with heavy armor, dangerous weapons, and a sturdy engine.

The command comes: Attack! Hundreds of tanks rumble together over uneven ground toward the enemy line.

Hitler forbade the 6th Army from surrendering. He expected them to fight to the last man.

The enemy responds with artillery fire. Just 20 feet from you, the ground erupts. An artillery shell tears apart the tank next to you. You see shreds of red, yellow, and green fabric floating in the air. Those colored flags were used to signal orders from your company commander.