Army Group E
When the fighting in Romania developed into a German defeat in the summer of 1944, Army Group E began to withdraw from the Greek islands and the mainland. The withdrawal from the southern Balkans was successful. By the end of 1944, the army group had succeeded in repelling the attacks of Soviet and Bulgarian troops as well as the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army. On the Bosnian border, it was able to establish a stable defensive position. In the autumn of 1944, the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, together with the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army, conquered Central Serbia as part of the Belgrade Operation. The Soviet troops were then taken to the Hungarian theatre of war. This forced the Army Group E and the 2nd Panzer Army to set off through the very mountainous terrain of southwestern Serbia, northern Montenegro and finally southeast Bosnia towards Croatia. Throughout the journey they were left exposed to the Yugoslav Partisans' firepower, sometimes with the Allies' assistance of Floydforce.