Volume two "Counter Strike", part five "Operation Wormwood". (DRAFT). Over the snow-covered January steppes between the Dnieper and the Seversky Donets, the ghost of the 1941 suddenly rose. Only now Soviet aviation dominates in the water, and Major General Berezhny’s mechanized brigade is rushing forward in the German rear. Guderian's Kampfgruppe, hastily assembled from reserves, was crushed. German communications leading to Army Group South are completely cut off. Finally holding Lozovaya and Pavlovgrad, the brigade opens the Soviet-German front at Izyum. And the southwestern front is no longer commanded by the stupid Marshal Timoshenko, but by the talented Lieutenant General Vasilevsky. There will be no Stalingrad cauldron in this story, but the Stalin cauldron will happen exactly one year earlier. Stalino, that’s what Donetsk was called back then. Part six “Throw to the North.” (DRAFT). Some of the ships of the formation from the future should be transferred north to the Arctic. The fate of the PQ convoys, Lend-Lease supplies and the need to paralyze the activities of the so-called Arctic squadron force the Soviet command to hurry. A young promising diplomat A.A. was called from America. Gromyko. Now after Soviet victories on land and at sea. After the Turks let the Italian fleet pass. Gromyko must wrest permission from President Inenu for the passage of Russian warships. If he copes, he will replace the elderly Molotov at the highest post in Soviet diplomacy. If he fails, he will end up in the Lubyanka, as was the custom in those years. Part seven, “Deceptive Silence.” (DRAFT). The Guards Separate Mechanized Brigade is preparing for new exploits and achievements. An air group from Kuznetsov is developing the LII airfield in Kratovo. A special ship group goes out into the Atlantic, confusing everyone they meet with a combination of Vndreev and Soviet naval flags. In the depths of the waters, invisible and imperceptible, the Sverodvinsk nuclear submarine is rushing at 30 knot speed towards the coast of Venezuela. So far everything is quiet, but this is only for now. Part eight "Rugs for Aloizych." (DRAFT). The Guards Separate Mechanized Brigade continues to prepare for new exploits and achievements. Everything is going as usual. Designers are designing, foreign diplomats are building versions, and German intelligence is plotting. But the “Big Ear” of radio intelligence and experienced GRU specialists make it possible to punish arrogant Teutons more than once for their love of stamps and beer. The era of new years is approaching..