Battle of Păuliș
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Battle of Păuliș | |||||||
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Part of Battle of Romania, World War II | |||||||
Heroes Monument in Păuliș | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Romania Soviet Union | Hungary | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Alexandru Petrescu | József Heszlényi | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
"Păuliș" Detachment
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1st Armored Division 6th Reserve Infantry Division | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,800 men[1] Soviet armored units | ≈20.000[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
377 men[citation needed] | 1,287 men, 23 tanks[citation needed](Romanian estimates) |
The Battle of Păuliș took place in September 1944 in
Background
Advancing on the northern bank of the
Initial clashes
The first assault by the Hungarian troops, carried out with two infantry battalions supported by tanks, was repulsed by the 2nd and 6th Companies of cadets. Five more attacks were subsequently carried out against the Romanian defenders, but by nightfall the Romanian units were firmly holding their positions. The Hungarians lost 18 tanks and 3 armored vehicles, all destroyed by the 4 anti-tank guns of the "Păuliș" Detachment. The following day the Hungarians concentrated their attack on the 1st Battalion of the 96th Infantry Regiment, at Hill 471. After a strong artillery preparation the Hungarians forced the Romanian troops to fall back on successive lines of defense, being stopped in the Cladova Valley only after they seized the villages of Cuvin and Ghioroc. On the morning of 16 September, a surprise Romanian counterattack, without artillery preparation and carried out by the 5th Company of cadets, managed to destroy a large part of the Hungarian force which had broken through the defense perimeter the previous day.
Climax
The climax of battle was reached on 17 September, when the Hungarian command committed all available forces in the attack. After a 45-minute artillery preparation, the Hungarians managed to breach the Romanian lines south-east of Miniș, where they clashed with the 3rd Company of cadets at Hill 365. The attempt to overrun the Romanian unit failed.
On the 19 September, reinforced by Soviet units of the
See also
- Pe aici nu se trece, 1975 Romanian film that features the Battle of Păuliș
References
- ^ a b "Acum 70 de ani, 1800 de români au luptat eroic cu 20.000 de maghiari, în bătălia de la Păuliș". Ziarul Timișoara (in Romanian). September 20, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2020.