"Romanian Nightmare at Stalingrad" Topic

"As morning broke on November 19, 1942, the soldiers of Romania's 3d Army shivered in their trenches along ridges south of the Don River in southern Russia. Some winter uniforms had arrived but not nearly enough. For two months the soldiers had been protecting the left flank of German 6th Army, which was locked in a death match with Red Army defenders in the rubble of Stalingrad southeast of the Romanians' position. The warm, beautiful autumn was over; the first snow had settled atop bunkers and pillboxes on November 16. More snow arrived around midnight November 18-19, and the morning sun was hidden behind a thick, frozen mist.

At 7:30 a.m., Soviet Katyusha rockets came whooshing through the fog, their terrifying sound joined within minutes by the shriek of shells from 3,500 artillery guns and heavy mortars. The Romanians' nightmare had begun…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Excellent read!!

"German 22d Panzer, ordered to counterattack, discovered that mice nesting in the tanks' straw camouflage had chewed through electrical wires, as if even Russian rodents had joined the Soviet partisan effort."

Happy you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Excellent read indeed!

A very well written article. The best single overview I have read of Romania's role in the lead-up to Barbarossa, through the early campaigns (Operation München, not labelled as such in the article) and up through the crushing losses on both flanks of Stalingrad.

When you look at the large numbers of troops that the Romanians provided to the German war effort, and how tenacious those troops were in defense when facing attacks by Soviet infantry, and how determined (although hopeless) the Romanian tank men were, you can get some appreciation for how fully the Germans botched the possibilities of coalition warfare.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Glad you like it too my friends! (smile)

Amicalement
Armand