The reserves were the 27th Pioneer Battalion and the 6th Rosiori Regiment for the 6th Corps and the 57th Pioneer Battalion and 57th Recon Group for the 7th. The rest were under 50%, with the 1st Infantry Division going as low as 25%. The 5th and 8th Cavalry Divisions had 57% and 64% respectively. The strength of the Romanian divisions was also a problem: the 18th Infantry Division had the best situation, having 73% of the necessary manpower. The 5th Cavalry, the 1st, 4th and 18th Infantry Divisions covered fronts between 27 and 41 km, the 2nd and 20th Infantry Divisions covered 18 km, respectively 20 km. Thus the 8th Cavalry Division covered a line of 100 km. In practice it was about 300 km long because of the terrain. The front of the 4th Army was 270 km longвЂ¦ on map. The command point was installed at Kotelnikovsky. It also had air support from the Fliegerkorps VIII.

At its disposal were the 15th, 16th, 17th Observation (IAR 39) and 114th Liaison Squadrons (Fleet 10G). It was composed of the 6th Corps (1st, 2nd, 4th, 18th and 20th Infantry Divisions) and the 7th Corps (5th and 8th Cavalry Divisions). Constantin Constantinescu, occupied a line south of the city, between Straya Otrada and Sarpa. On 19 November 1942, when the Soviet offensive commenced, the 3rd Army had 152,492 Romanian troops and 11,211 German troops. There were only 48 heavy AT guns, efficient against the T-34 and KV Soviet tanks, thus resulting a density of one gun at every 2.875 km. It also had the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 8th Motorized Heavy Artillery Regiments and the 41st Independent Motorized heavy Artillery Battalion. In November came the German 48th Corps (22nd German Panzer Division and 1st Romanian Armored Division) and was also put in reserve. The 2nd Long Range Recon (Do-17M) and 112th Liaison Squadrons (Fleet 10G) were assigned to the 3rd Army. It had in reserve the 7th Cavalry and 15th Infantry Division. The 3rd Army was made up from the 4th Corps (1st Cavalry and 13th Infantry Divisions), the 5th Corps (5th and 6th Infantry Divisions), the 2nd Corps (9th and 14th Infantry Divisions) and the 1st Corps (7th and 11th Infantry Divisions), in a single echelon, from west to east. Dumitrescu requested several times to be allowed to eliminate these bridgeheads, but the German command disapproved. To make things worse, the Soviets had two bridgeheads over the Don at Serafimovich and Kletskaya. A division had to defend a front of an average length of 17-22 km. It had to defend a front 138 km long, between Lugovsky and Sukhoy Donetsk, way beyond its possibilities. The command point was placed at Cernashevskaya. Petre Dumitrescu, was transferred from the Caucasus and replaced 5 Italian and 2 German divisions, between Blij Perekopa and Bokovskaya. Its mission was to provide air support for the 3rd Romanian and 6th German Armies. These were engaged immediately: on 16 September the 7th Fighter Group, on 25 September the 5th Bomber Group and, on 4 October, the 1st Bomber, 8th Fighter, 6th Fighter-Bomber and 3rd Bomber Group arrived. In the same time arrived also the first elements of the Romanian Air Corps.

After the fall of the city, they were going form the вЂњMarshal AntonescuвЂќ ArmyGroup together with the German 6th Army. In September 1942, the 3rd and 4th Romanian Armies started to take up their positions around Stalingrad. The 3rd Army into the Ukraine and the return to Romania вЂ“ 1943-44 The 3rd Army in the Ukraine and Crimea - 1941 Operation MГјnchen - retaking Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina - 1941 Military Operations Generals Memoirs, Journals Media WW1 Forum Home Organization OoB Aeronautics Weapons Decorations WorldWar2.ro - The Battle of Stalingrad - 1942

Viata in transee primul razboi mondial