The attack forced the Axis back 1,300 miles across the desert. Then, the British and Americans landed troops at Algiers, Oran, and Casablanca in French North Africa on Nov. 8, 1942. The invaders met little resistance and quickly drove inland. American forces met their first defeat at the hands of the Germans in the battle of Kasserine Pass. They rallied, though and pushed through. On April 7, US troops met the British army from El Alamein as it advanced from the east. The Allies forced 250,000 Germans and Italians to surrender near Cape Bon on May 12, thus driving the Axis from North Africa.
Hitler then attacked Stalingrad, a city in southern Russia, in hopes of getting into eastern Russia and around Moscow. Both sides sent all the forces they could muster while still having enough to hold the lines up north. Unfortunately for the Russians, it was summer now, and the Germans once again had the upper hand. They advanced into Stalingrad without much trouble, but the Russians were fought back hard to keep the city. They fought for Stalingrad street by street, house by house, until they had worn the German invading force down. Then, they sent armies north and south of Stalingrad to surround the German army. The Germans tried to retreat, but a lot of them were trapped in the pocket. The Germans tried to break out many times, but they never did. The Germans starved and eventually surrendered. Again, both sides suffered heavy losses.
The rest of German Army retreated west. The Russians followed them and the German lines eventually held. The Germans tried to look for another way to hit back at the Russians, and they were eventually drawn to the Kursk area. Kursk was a bulge in the German line, with 70 miles of Russian territory between two German armies, Kursk was a great chance to hit the Russians hard. The Germans" plans though, were delayed by constant bickering between Hitler and his generals and the Russian weather.