Combat on the Russian Front

[Mad Russian]

Romania was the only Axis Minor country to support the German invasion with it's entire military organization.

Huge oil reserves and a long border with the Soviet Union made Romania a very valuable ally for Hitler. The Romanian oilfields supplied half of Germany's need for oil. When Russia occupied Bessarabia it put Soviet forces only 100 miles from those oilfields.

The Romanian Mountain and Cavalry Divisions were the most consistently useful Allied formations. They achieved several operational successes. Several were in operation from 1941 through early 1945(with Red Army formations). They were normally very experienced and often retained an offensive capability although their weak artillery normally wasn't enough to support the units by themselves.

Good Hunting.

MR