these formations were in deplorable shape, with at best 73% of necessary manpower, with the 1st Infantry Division going as low as 25% and an almost nonexistent arsenal of heavy antitank guns. The 4th Army occupied a line running approximately from Staraya Otrada to Sarpa, which provided the perfect spot for Marshal Georgy Zhukov's southern strike at the start of Operation Uranus. On 20 November 1942, the Romanian Fourth Army was attacked by the Soviet 57th and 51st Armies, with the main blow in the sector of the 6th Army Corps. In all, the Romanian Army lost 158,854 men (dead, wounded and missing) between November 19, 1942 and January 7, 1943. On February 10, 1943, Constantinescu-Claps was relieved of his assignment and replaced by Constantin Sănătescu. He retired from the Army in 1943. In spite of his rank and unlike many other Romanian generals, he never received any German medals and was in conflict with Conducător Ion Antonescu due to his anti-fascist stance. After King Michael's Coup of August 1944, Constantinescu-Claps received the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class, and was promoted to general (reserve) in September 1944. Once the Communist regime was established in Romania, he was arrested in September 1951, and incarcerated at Văcărești Prison. Accused of giving the order to execute four Soviet partisans at Bilyayivka, he was condemned to 15 years' imprisonment in September 1954. One year later he was exonerated and released; he died in 1961 in Bacău. He was married to Henrietta, née Răileanu, a descendant on her mother's side of the Sturdza and Rosetti families; the two had a son, Radu Constantinescu (1919–1998). In 2019, a street in Buzău was named after Constantinescu-Claps. See also Axis order of battle at the Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Romania during World War II Romanian armies in the Battle of Stalingrad References External links 1884 births 1961 deaths People from Bacău County Carol I National Defence University alumni Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Romania Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania Knights of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave