5 kilometers southwest of Balta
April 23, 1936
Three men stood at the table, leaning over the map spread across its surface. Between them, these three men had twenty divisions under their command, yet not one of them held a higher rank than that of Major General. Purkaev and Ryabyshev were commanders of 82nd and 83rd Rifle Corps, part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Though these two corps comprised only a single division each, due to STAVKA’s insistence on tailoring up and coming officers to deployments rather than drawing from its already great array of officers, these two men together directed the entire front. The 2nd Ukrainian Front consisted of seven corps at the time, comprised of seven divisions. Of these, three corps were deployed at Vinnitsa on the border with Poland, they were the 13th, 16th and 69th Rifle Corps. The rest of the front—the 10th, the 82nd and the 83rd Corps—was at Mogilev Podolski and overlooking the Romanian border. Also at Mogilev Podolski was a fourth corps, the 4th Motorized Rifle Corps.
The third man at the table was Tamruchi of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. In addition to commanding the Front’s 9th Corps, he was also the man who directed the entire front and its seven corps and seven divisions; these were the 9th, 85th and 86th Rifle Corps at Balta and the 6th, 7th and 8th Rifle Corps at Odessa, which was also where the 5th Motorized Rifle Corps had been deployed. The 3rd Ukrainian Front, like the 2nd, was also short on manpower and had only seven divisions spread across seven corps. Tamruchi, however, had the additional burden of coordinating another force as well; this was the 2nd Shock Army. The 2nd Shock Army was comprised of six divisions spread across three corps, the 3rd, 5th and 8th Shock Corps. As with both the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts and the majority of the Rifle Corps within them, the 2nd Shock Army did not have any commanders.
And it was with such stretched command resources that the Soviet Union would invade Romania and attempt to reclaim Bessarabia.
Their three divisional staffs were to coordinate one and a half Fronts and an Army. It was fortunate for them, then, that the Romanians were throwing virtually all their resources in striving to halt the German advance. To their border with the Soviet Union the Romanians had consigned two weak cavalry divisions, neither of them stronger than a brigade in actuality. The thin Romanian defenses quite naturally made a difficult task much easier, and the three generals at the table were properly thankful for it.
Purkaev stared at the map, his eyes tracing the German advance into Romania. “As you two know, we have three objectives. These are the cities of Beltsy, Chisinev and Ismail. These the Romanians stole from us after the Great War and we must retake them!”
Sighing and scratching his chin, Tamruchi spoke up. “Yes Purkaev, we know. The question is whether or not we are satisfied with our operational plan as it is now. We know that Stalin has placed some arbitrary value on Chisinev. Thus, Ryabyshev and I will take seventeen divisions and attack straight across the Prut River. At the same time, your three divisions will cross the Prut to the north and attack toward Beltsy. Given that each of our forces will have motorized elements, conquest should be quick.”
“Reports show that the are around Beltsy is muddy, this will undoubtedly slow down the 4th Motorized Rifle Corps to a crawl. Given how strict our timetable might be after the fall of Chisinev, as that removes the requirement that the Germans conquer it, then we will perhaps have only days to occupy Beltsy and Ismail. I am worried that this may not be enough.”
Ryabyshev, who had been examining the map silently during the exchange, spoke up. “Yes, you’ve brought up these concerns earlier. However, the Germans seem to be stuck, their positions have not changed in days, possibly in over a week. A breakthrough for them seems increasingly unlikely. We have time to conquer your mud, which in any case is also days-old intelligence. It’s probably not even there any more.”
Purkaev grunted. “My lookouts say differently.”
“It’s too late anyway, Litvinov has stated that the declaration of war will be delivered at 0500 and it’s already 0430. We cannot actually change anything without seriously upsetting our timetable worse than mud could in any case. Our troops have finished moving into their jump off positions. One word from each of us and the invasion will go ahead.”
Stepping backwards away from the table, Tamruchi stretched and yawned. “I wouldn’t mind giving the word now and then going to sleep for half an hour. My aide could wake me up once the artillery starts, if that itself doesn’t wake me first.”
He glanced at his two compatriots before continuing. “You know, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ll make the arrangements with my staff outside right now.”
Purkaev opened his mouth as if to say something, but Tamruchi was already striding out the door. Ryabyshev shrugged. “He does have the right idea, admittedly. We can do nothing more now but wait, and sleep would come well to us after many long nights of hard work planning this. I think that I will give the final word as well, set for 0500, and sleep as well.”
Soon, Purkaev was left standing alone in the room as Ryabyshev also walked out. He bit his lip and looked at the map. The mud greatly concerned him, he doubted that he would be able to occupy Beltsy before the Germans marched into Bucharest. He had seen the latest intelligence, that supposedly the other two commanders had also taken note of: the Germans had defeated Romanian forces in Sibiu and Brasov. The highway to Ploesti and Bucharest had been torn open and the Soviets had only a week or two to act, if even that long. Purkaev sighed, sometimes he worried that Ryabyshev and Tamruchi simply could not see, or refused to. He was worried that they were not good generals.
He did not know how long he stood there, but eventually he too gave the order. He did not go to sleep, however, but went outside and looked toward Beltsy. The artillery was already thundering its chorus.
The invasion of Romania.