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Im Inneren eines Hospitalgebäudes. Ehem. Heilanstalten Hohenlychen.
Sepiatönung
An old shoe. Inside of a hospital building. Former 'Heilanstalten Hohenlychen'.
Sepia tone
The original photo was of a beach shot near where I live. The alligators live in Florida, not Wisconsin. Photoleap was used to create this image.
After withdrawing from Bessarabia, VII Corps was responsible for holding a 150 km stretch of the Prut River that ran between Lunca Banului and Galați. However, with the 14th Division still besieged at Cetatea Albă, the VII Corps was especially weak, and, when the 26th Army crossed the Prut near Murgeni, containing them seemed to be an impossible task. After they communicated their situation to 3rd Army’s headquarters at the end of the first day of battle, the Royal War Council urged that this now vital sector needed to be reinforced. However, with no more ground forces in reserve, it was decided that this sector would be supported by the 1st Bomber Group.
The 1st Bomber Group consisted of four, 12-plane squadrons, flying IAR 82 "Şoim" medium bombers. At the time, it was the largest active bomber formation, with half of the 2nd Bomber Group’s men still being trained and a 3rd Bomber Group still being organized. As such, the Royal War Council was hesitant to field the bombers during the Battle of Bessarabia, but decided to now that the war was coming further into Romania.
On the 22nd, the men of the 1st Bomber Group took off from the airfield at Braşov and headed for the Soviet bridgehead. Despite their inexperience and the Şoim’s crude bombsights, the bombers successfully destroyed the two pontoon bridges that had been built, along with other high priority targets like the 173rd Rifle Division’s headquarters and an oil depot, all without losing a single plane. The Soviet response was that of pure shock. Up until that point, they were under the impression that Romania had no dedicated bombers, only fighter-bombers.
The squadrons of the 1st Bomber Group would fly a total of 17 sorties over the next two days, eventually leading to the destruction of a third pontoon bridge, 27 tanks and 39 trucks in exchange for 3 bombers downed and 7 heavily damaged. This continued bombing, combined with artillery from VII Corps, inflicted heavy casualties against the 8th Rifle Corps, as well as destroying most of the equipment of the 17th Pontoon Bridge Regiment. By the time the Red Army Air Force allocated fighter cover to the bridgehead on the 23rd, the 26th Army’s hopes of getting their heavy equipment across the Prut in time to encircle the Romanian 3rd Army had effectively gone up in smoke. As the 8th Rifle Corps stayed in their bridgehead, the rest of the 26th Army was withdrawn and forced to consider an alternative solution for crossing the Prut.
-Side Note-
I wrote this back in August, but was so daunted by how to arrange the scene that I just... didn't make it. Hopefully, there won't be any more delays with the alt history timeline.
As the Romanians began falling back from northern Moldavia, the 2nd Army consolidated their forces around the town of Târgu Frumos, less than 50km west of Iași. As the Soviets moved closer, it was decided that the 1st Tank Destroyer Battalion and the remainder of V Corps’ cavalry would be sent south to the crossroads at Săbăoani to secure their escape route. Shortly after giving the order to evacuate the wounded, elements of the Soviet 12th Army had begun probing attacks against the Romanian western flank.
The Stavka had ordered the 12th and 9th Armies to complete the encirclement of the Romanian force by linking up just south of Târgu Frumos. However, coordination and communication between the two armies was poor. 12th Army’s 17th Rifle Corps briefly succeeded in taking the road leading south from the town early on the 26th, but were forced back before they were able to dig in. 9th Army, which was only just finishing up the siege of Iași, wouldn’t join the attack until the next day. These scattered, uncoordinated attacks meant that the Romanians could focus their full strength on these attacks one at a time, and were able to calmly organize their evacuation.
After realizing that coordinating the two armies was proving to be nearly impossible, the Soviets decided to turn their attention towards inflicting casualties on the retreating forces before they got away completely unscathed. The Romanians anticipated this, and did their best to organize defensive strongholds along the route. Any available high ground was occupied by artillery batteries, and any wooded area along the road concealed a machine gun nest. Unfortunately, more than half of the 80km road from Târgu Frumos to Bacău was on flat, open terrain, which would only be loosely screened by the few remaining cavalry units. Despite the cavalry’s best efforts, Soviet forces frequently broke through this screen, wreaking havoc on the Romanian columns. One of these attacks routed most of the 10th Infantry Division, who then abandoned most of their heavy equipment and retreated due west to Piatra Neamț. However, all of these attacks would eventually outrun their supply lines and be pushed back by the next Romanian unit that came upon them, keeping the road open.
Still unsatisfied, the Stavka ordered one last assault on Târgu Frumos itself, where an estimated one-third of 2nd Army’s forces were still located, on the 28th. By that point, the Romanian rearguard was significantly weaker, and it did not take much for the Soviets to break through and enter the town itself, engaging the defenders in bitter street fighting. By the end of the day, Târgu Frumos had been almost completely surrounded, but a breakout spearheaded by the remnants of 2nd Tank Division led the surviving Romanians to safety.
Aside from the occasional strafing run or failed attack on Săbăoani, the march to Bacău from there on was fairly uneventful for the Romanians. By the end of the 29th, the last units had successfully reached the foothills of the Carpathians, from which the 2nd Army would make their last stand.
Over the course of the Prut-Siret Operations, 2nd Army had suffered 6,000 killed or captured (although they gained about 3,000 men who broke out from Iași), with another 3,600 wounded who were safely evacuated, while inflicting similar losses on the Soviets. The Royal War Council would later look back in highsight and debate whether or not the situation would have played out more favorably if 2nd Army had tried to hold out longer before retreating or even attempt to counterattack, as the Soviets were vulnerable from overextending their supply lines. While 2nd Army’s command was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, it was clear that their habit of putting up token resistance before retreating en masse, regardless of how well it preserved Romania’s precious manpower, was having a demoralizing effect on the troops. Shortly after 2nd Army began digging in around Bacău, its Chief of Staff remarked, “Hopefully, the men will prove they can fight as well as they can run.”
-Side Note-
Has anyone noticed that I've used the same dark tan layered plate set up for the past 5 scenes?
Register photo/ERIN MCLAUGHLIN
Best group costume winners, from left, Courtney Astolfi, Michelle Pletcher and Alissa Widman-Neese react to the cold water during the Polar Plunge at the Thirsty Pony in Sandusky on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015.