A Cornered Wolf The Air Assault on Rastenburg 1944

“I would not hesitate to risk two parachute divisions…if with one blow I could get my hands on the whole [enemy] high command”. —Adolf Hitler, Conference Minutes, September 17, 1944. Historically the Soviets became aware of the existence of Hitler’s military headquarters in Rastenburg, Prussia (nicknamed “The Wolf ’s Lair” by the German military—Wolf was Hitler’s codename) from prisoner interrogations during Operation Bagration. In August 1944, Soviet reconnaissance planes overflew the zone, dropping leaflets with lists of German personnel working there, urging them to defect now, or be held accountable. What if, earlier, the Soviets had dropped…something else? A Cornered Wolf is a “what if” game that explores what could have happened had Stalin decided to launch an air assault (Операция «