This effectively guaranteed the destruction of the German Sixth Army. This led to fighting in Romania’s capital of Bucharest between German and Romanian forces. In a coup, Michael overthrew the Antonescu regime and declared for the Allies, prompting Romanian forces to switch sides. Romania had been under the control of fascist Prime Minister Ion Antonescu. On August 23, a new enemy appeared in the rear of the Sixth Army in the form of King Michael I of Romania. This left the four corps of the German Sixth Army encircled by two Soviet fronts for the second time in the war. The following day the Third Romanian Army surrendered. By August 24, the Third Ukrainian Front’s Forty-Sixth Army had surrounded the entire Third Romanian Army. ![]() The Third Ukrainian Front struck out from its bridgehead across the Dniester River hitting the Third Romanian Army. The Third Ukrainian Front had even greater success. Oberleutnant of the Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division in Romania, 1944. By August, only 40-45 Axis aircraft remained. In April 1944, Axis aircraft had deployed between 200 and 255 aircraft around Bucharest and Ploesti. Additionally, the Fifteenth Air Force attacks on the Ploesti refineries that summer had reduced the combat strength of Luftflotte IV. This led to more fighter sweeps against airfields at Focsani, Cariova, and Ploesti. On August 2, the Soviets requested more attacks against Axis airfields. This led to an air battle with German fighters that resulted in 20 German fighters being shot down at the loss of two P-38s. In another sweep on July 26, American fighters strafed Galati and Zilestea. The Americans destroyed 41 airplanes on the ground and another 15 in the air at the loss of five P-38s. On July 22, 1944, the 306th Fighter Wing attacked five airfields in the area: Zilistea, Buzau, and three satellite fields. On June 6, 1944, the Fifteenth Air Force began an air suppression campaign with an attack on the Galati airfields, destroying eight German aircraft on the ground and damaging another 11. In the air, joint Soviet and American intelligence concluded the Germans had concentrated over 1,000 aircraft in Romania. In total, Army Group South Ukraine had 905,000 Axis troops along with 170 tanks and assault guns. ![]() These two army groups formed Army Group South Ukraine. Deployed to its west was Army Group Wöhler, under the command of Colonel General Otto Wöhler. Army Group Dumitrescu, under the command of Romanian Colonel General Petre Dumitrescu, covered the east flank to the Black Sea. ![]() Romania’s air space was defended by German Luftflotte IV, commanded by Colonel General Otto Dessloch. They poured considerable resources into the defense of Romania. After the campaign, the Wehrmacht became convinced that the next major Soviet offensive was going to occur in southeast Europe. Axis forces had repelled the Second and Third Ukrainian Fronts in their first invasion of Romania during the First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, which took place from April 8 to June 6, 1944. While the Soviets were in the midst of steamrolling German Army Group Center, the southern end of the Eastern Front was a different story. German self-propelled gun in Romania, March-April 1944.
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