page_title: Siege of Odessa
section_title: Before the battle
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Odessa / Before the battle
caption_attribution_description: USSR Medal "Defense of Odessa" From Hebrew Wikipedia: [1]
context_page_description: The Siege of Odessa was a siege battle during World War II. It was part of the Eastern Front area of operations in 1941. It was done by Romanian forces and the German Army's 11th Army. They attacked the city of Odessa in the Soviet Union.
  Due to the strong fighting of the 9th Independent Army and the Separate Coastal Army, and the Black Sea Fleet forces in Odessa, it took the Romanian army 73 days of siege and four attacks to capture the city. They had 93,000 casualties. The Red Army had 41,000 casualties. Some historians say the Red Army had 60,000 casualties.
context_section_description: On 27 July 1941, Hitler sent a letter to General Antonescu asking for Romanian troops.
  On 8 August, the Romanians ordered the 4th Army to capture Odessa.
  They thought the city would surrender quickly. However, Odessa was a heavily fortified city. It had trenches, anti-tank ditches, pillboxes and other defences.
  Overall, the Red Army had some 34,500 men and 240 artillery pieces in the area. Airplanes included two seaplane squadrons and one bomber squadron.
  The Romanian 4th Army planned to attack Odessa. The 5th Corps would go north then turn south.
caption: About 38,000 Soviet personnel were awarded the Medal "For the Defence of Odessa" from 22 December 1942.
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