A Complete Starter Set of World War II Despite being thrown back from the gates of Moscow in the Winter offensive, the Germans were back on the attack in the Summer of 1942. The Red Army launched offensive after offensive to throw the invaders back, but nothing could stop them from overrunning southern Russia and reaching the Volga river at Stalingrad. In the bitter street fighting of Autumn, the Red Army bled the Germans dry. Then, as Winter set in, they launched another round of offensives that regained all that they had lost.