Operation München (i)

Munich

'München' (i) was the German and Romanian operation within 'Barbarossa' for the recapture of Bessarabia, ceded by Romania to the USSR in the previous year, and into southern Ukraine by means of an advance across the upper part of the Prut river and the Dniestr river into south-western Ukraine in the direction of Vinnitsa (2/24 July 1941).

Under the overall control of Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt’s Heeresgruppe 'Süd', the operation was undertaken by General de corp de armatâ Petre Dumitrescu’s Romanian 3rd Army 1 and General de corp de armatâ Nicolae Ciupercă's Romanian 4th Army 2 flanking Generaloberst Eugen Ritter von Schobert’s German 11th Army 3, with 325,685 Romanian troops and 672 aircraft as well as five German divisions and 420 aircraft.

The Soviet defence, under the supervision of Marshal Sovetskogo Soyuza Semyon M. Budyonny’s South-West Direction, comprised the 364,700 men and 1,750 aircraft of General Major Ivan V. Tyulenev’s South Front, which comprised General Leytenant Andrei K. Smirnov’s 18th Army and General Major Matvei V. Zakharov’s 9th Army.

In just over three weeks of fighting, the Romanians and Germans achieved their objectives despite the sturdy defence offered by the Soviets, who had superiority in armour, in the process suffering the loss of 4,271 men killed, 12,326 men wounded and 6,168 men missing while inflicting on the Soviets losses of 8,519 men killed or missing, and 9,374 men wounded.

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The 3rd Army comprised General de divizie Gheorghe Avramescu’s Mountain Corps (1st, 2nd and 4th Mountain Brigades, 8th Cavalry Brigade and General de brigadâ Olimp Stavrat’s 7th Division) and General de divizie Mihail Racovita’s Cavalry Corps (5th Cavalry and 6th Cavalry Brigade) which had been subordinated directly to the 11th Army.
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The 4th Army comprised General de divizie Vasile Atanasiu’s III Corps (General de divizie Nicolae Sova’s Guard Division, General de divizie Marin Cosma Popescu’s 15th Division and General de brigadâ Ermil Procopiescu’s 35th Reserve Division), General de brigadâ Gheorghe Leventi’s V Corps (General de divizie Gheorghe Potopeanu’s Border-Guards Division and General de divizie Nicolae Dascalescu’s 21st Division), General de divizie Aurelian Son’s XI Corps (two fortress brigades) and the 4th Army Co-Operation Command.
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The 11th Army comprised General Erik Hansen’s LIV Corps (Generalleutnant Ludwig Wolff’s 22nd Division, Generalleutnant Hans von Tetow’s 24th Division, Generalleutnant Karl Adolf Hollidt’s 50th Division and Generalleutnant Rudolf Sintzenich’s 132nd Division supplemented by the Romanian 4th Mountain Brigade), General Hans von Salmuth’s XXX Corps (Generalleutnant Philipp Müller-Gebhard’s 72nd Division, Generalleutnant Walter Wittke’s 170th Division and Generalleutnant Johan Sinnhuber’s 28th leichte Division) and General Joachim von Kortzfleisch’s XI Corps.