Rall claimed 12 victories in October 1941 as III./JG 52 fought for air superiority during the First Battle of Kharkov; an autumn offensive to seize the industrialised regions of Eastern Ukraine. On 14 October there was heavy air fighting. Rall claimed an Ilyushin Il-2 over his group's Poltava airfield after being scrambled in the midst of a Soviet air attack. The Germans had failed in the race for the Ukrainian industrial heartland. After the capture of Kharkov and Stalino the Germans found 54 medium and 223 large factories; and all empty. Some 1.5 million wagonloads had been evacuated.