Petre Dumitrescu - The Beginning of The End

The Beginning of The End

The German forces within Stalingrad were in dire need of assistance, and German High Command transferred many of Dumitrescu's troops to the besieged city, meaning that the Third Army now had fewer troops to defend an increasingly large front with. This was ameliorated, to a certain degree, by High Command's decision to incorporate all Romanian forces in the southwest of the Soviet Union into the Third Army. High Command, however, chose to ignore Dumitrescu's reports about Soviet buildup in the southwest, as they did with his repeated suggestions to attack the Soviet bridgehead at Kletskaya.

In November 1942 the Red Army launched a devastating attack in the southwest, breaking through the Romanian line and forcing Dumitrescu into retreat.

For a brief period, the Third Army dug in near the Chir river, but Soviet troops pushed them back. In December, 1943, the decision was made to strategically retreat westwards.

After the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Dumitrescu's plan was to reach Bucharest and avoid any engagements with the Red Army along the way. However, Red Army troops ambushed Dumitrescu. When what remained of the Third Army arrived in Bucharest, the Soviets had captured more than 130,000 Romanian soldiers.

By this time, however, as with the rest of Romania, Dumitrescu had turned against Nazi Germany and had captured more than 6,000 German prisoners of war.