A. invasion F. drag on B. bringing ...to a halt G. catching...off his guard C. stand in the way H. campaign D. reckon with I. launching E. conquest J. declaration When Hitler decided to launch his ( 1 ) of Russia, he thought that nothing could ( 2 ) of his armies. ( 3 ) , it seemed, was inevitable. He had surprise on his side, ( 4 ) Stalin by ( 5 ) his attack without a ( 6 ) of war. Hitler expected the ( 7 ) to last only a few months. In the event, it was to ( 8 ) for much longer. Like Napoleon before him, he had made a fatal mistake in failing to ( 9 ) the severity of the Russian weather. Many German soldiers were to die from the cold as winter set in, ( 10 ) the German advance .