Romanian armies in the Battle of Stalingrad the Romanian Air Corps were engaged in Operation Wintergewitter, which aimed to create a link with the Axis troops in Stalingrad. The main blow was to be delivered by the German 57th Panzer Corps; on its left flank was the Romanian 6th Corps with the Romanian 7th Corps and the Cavalry Group "General Popescu" forming the right flank. They were stopped 50 km from Stalingrad and, on 18 December, the front held by the 8th Italian Army was broken, with seven Italian divisions and the Italian Alpine Corps being encircled. On 24 December, the Red Army counterattacked, with 149,000 men
The Sun Shines over Our Motherland The Sun Shines over Our Motherland The Sun Shines over Our Motherland «Над Родиной нашей солнце сияет» (Op.90) is a Russian-language cantata written in 1952 by Dimitri Shostakovich on a libretto by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky. Originally titled "Cantata About the Party", it was commissioned to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the October Revolution. In it, the sun is a metaphor for the achievement of the Soviet people under the leadership of the Communist Party. It begins with a lyrical section for boys' chorus and woodwind, followed by a more energetic section for the men's voices. The finale is a triumphant hymn,