Axis - Hungarian 2nd Army (and 2nd Corps)

[SaSTrooP]

2. MAGYAR HADSEREG
2nd Hungarian Army

Lieutenant General Lajos Veress von Dálnoki

Story of the 2nd Hungarian Army is rather dramatic one. Pride of Royal Hungarian Army, it advanced along the Germans in their late gains during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. In 1942, 2nd Hungarian made itself famous during valiant fights around the Don river in the south. As result, it advanced as flank guard security of the German 6th Army commanded by general von Paulus. Hungarians were targeted by first stage of Soviet Operation Little Saturn, as a southern pincer movement, that also struck Romanians. Underprepared for harsh winter and suffering from attrition, underequipped for a battle against future world power, 2nd Hungarian Army did not broke – it held, but then cracked open after Soviet tanks drove through them. After a month, 2nd Army lost 60% of personel, literally dozens of thousands of troops, as well as even 90% of heavy gear. The size of defeat was stunning for Hungarian public opinion and as result Hungarians successfully demanded on the Germans the need of nearly complete withdrawal of hungarian forces back to the homeland. Here, the 2nd remained forgotten in military structures, while smaller (though better equipped) Hungarian Army was being rebuilt. The reformation of 2nd Army appeared as an idea back in early 1944, when Szabolcs II Plan was introducedas an attempt to modernize the armed forces since Soviet threat was looking on the horizon. Szabolcs II Plan was never fully completed though. With Romanian about-face in August 1944, 2nd Hungarian Army was immediately reactivated and attached with units of various quality coming mostly from 1st Army that manned the safer Arpad Line. The 2nd Army was expected to execute a limited offensive before Allied armies will shift through Romania, particularly because in such a case Hungarian Transilvania will be in direct threat and Hungary proper – right afterwards.

Note: some thoughts on Hungarian names and reading, which is easy, but confusing at first. S = Sh (like in „Sharp”), Sz = s, cs = tsch (like in „Czech”), zs = g (but like in Gillete brand). Hungarians – similarily to Germans – build advanced words via connecting of several words describing one particular, eg. dreadful Panceloshadosztaly be: Pancel (armour), -os (posesive, so Pancelos is armoured), then hadosztaly mean simply a division (Had for general word for army, -osz again as posesive, taly means literally bowl, but it is also a measurement unit, like a bunch of something). So in fact it is pancel-os-had-osz-taly, read with English fonetics as several words: „pantzel-osh-had-os-tally”, literally the „armoured bunch of men”.