Fighting of the Stalingrad front units against the 7th Romanian army corps in the Kalmyk steppes in November 20-30, 1942

The paper deals with the fighting of the Stalingrad front units against the 7th Romanian army corps of the 4th Romanian army during the Operation Uranus in November 20-30, 1942. The 7th Romanian army corps kept the defense in the steppes of Kalmykia - Southern offensive of the Supreme Command. The 7th Romanian army corps consisted of the 5th and the 8th cavalry and the 4th infantry division. The following left-flank units of the 51st army of the Stalingrad front fought against the 7th Romanian army corps fought units: the 91st and 302nd infantry divisions and the 61st cavalry division. The 7th Romanian army corps was not at the point of attack of the main forces of the Stalingrad front, and therefore, the Romanian command had the time to orient in the situation and to regroup the forces. Romanian headquarters even issued the order: “Not one step back! It is the only way to provide a base for the forthcoming fighting!” The relevance and scientific novelty of the paper consist in using for the first time the materials from the war diaries of the 4th Romanian army and the 7th Romanian army corps which are stored in the collections of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Military documents indicate that the Romanians were loyal to the allied duty and resisted the advancing Soviet troops where they had the opportunity.