>>9063567During the siege, the German,Italian, Hungarian,and Romanian armies protecting ArmyGroupB's north and south flanks had pressed their headquarters for support.The Hungaria2ndArmy was given the task of defending a 200km section of the front north of Stalingrad between the Italian Army and Voronezh.This resulted in a very thin line, with some sectors where 1–2 km tretches were being defended by a single platoon.These forces were also lacking in effective anti-tank weapons. Zhukov states,'Compared with the Germans, the troops of the satellites were not so well armed, less experienced and less efficient, even in defence
The northern flank was defended by Hungarian and Romanian units,often in open positions on the steppes.The natural line of defence,the Don River,had never been properly established by the German side.The armies in the area were also poorly equipped in terms of anti-tank weapons
The preparations for the attack could be heard by the Romanians,who continued to push for reinforcements,only to be refused again.Thinly spread, deployed in exposed positions, outnumbered and poorly equipped, the Romanian 3rd Army, which held the northern flank of the German 6th Army, was overrun.
. Ultimately, however, Romanian armoured warfare proved to be a tactical success, as the Romanians destroyed 127 Soviet tanks for the cost of their 100 lost units. Romanian forces destroyed 62 Soviet tanks on 20 November for the cost of 25 tanks of their own, followed by 65 more Soviet tanks on 22 November, for the cost of 10 tanks of their own. More Soviet tanks were destroyed as they overran the Romanian airfields. This was accomplished by Romanian Vickers/Reșița 75 mm anti-aircraft guns, which proved effective against Soviet armour. The battle for the German-Romanian airfield at Karpova lasted two days, with Romanian gunners destroying numerous Soviet tanks. Later, when the Tatsinskaya Airfield was also captured, the Romanian 75 mm guns destroyed five more Soviet tanks.
