Editing Axis powers (section)

====Germany's main European ally (September 1943 – August 1944)====
After the September 1943 [[Armistice of Cassibile]] with Italy, Romania became the second Axis Power in Europe.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMk-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|title=Joining Hitler's Crusade|first=David|last=Stahel|year=2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781316510346 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The Romanians shared in the spoils of [[Operation Achse]], {{Lang|it|[[Regia Marina]]'s}} 5 [[CB-class midget submarine]]s in the Black Sea being transferred to the Romanian Navy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8h7OAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|title=Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regia Marina 1930–1945|first=Maurizio|last=Brescia|year=2012|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=9781848321151 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Romania also captured 496 Italians, mostly naval personnel (2 of them later died). Before the month was out, Germany had agreed to systematically supply the Romanian Army with German military vehicles, via the Olivenbaum I-III and Quittenbaum I programs. Deliveries started in November 1943, and by August 1944, Germany had supplied Romania with 10 times more armored vehicles ([[Panzer III]], [[Panzer IV]] and [[Sturmgeschütz III]]) than during the entire pre-Cassibile period. Having acquired the license to produce the [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]], Romania planned to assemble 75 from German parts. Deliveries began in May 1944, but only 6 were completed before Romania left the Axis in August 1944. Eleven more were completed by the end of the war with the remaining 58 completed after the war. In 1944, Romania had also gained access to certain ''[[Wunderwaffe]]n'', such as the [[Werfer-Granate 21]]. The first Romanian-made [[Fiesler Storch]] was completed in October 1943, followed by 9 more by May 1944. From March 1944, Germany also contributed to the design and construction of the M-05 and M-06 prototypes of the Mareșal tank destroyer: [[Alkett]] contributed to the Romanian design team and [[Telefunken]] radios along with [[Böhler]] armor were provided. The [[75 mm Reșița Model 1943|75 mm Reșița gun]] (production started at the end of 1943) used the projectile chamber of the German [[Pak 40]]. Technology transfers between the two countries were not necessarily one-way, however. On 6 January 1944, Antonescu showed Hitler the plans of the M-04 prototype of the [[Mareșal tank destroyer]]. In May 1944, Lieutenant-Colonel Ventz from the ''[[Waffenamt]]'' acknowledged that the ''Hetzer'' had followed the Romanian design. German-led [[Army Group South Ukraine]] could not take major operational decisions without securing [[Ion Antonescu]]'s approval, even as late as 22 August 1944 (the day before [[King Michael's Coup|he was dismissed]]).{{sfn|Axworthy|1995|pp=152–153, 158, 174, 217, 219, 229–232, 236, 249 and 265–266}} An entire German army ([[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|the 6th]]) came under Romanian command in May 1944, when it became part of Romanian general [[Petre Dumitrescu]]'s ''Armeegruppe''. For the first time in the war, German commanders came under the actual (rather than nominal) command of their foreign allies. This Romanian-led army group had 24 divisions of which 17 were German.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e__d6mE5ocsC&pg=PA163|title=The German Defeat in the East 1944–45|first=Samuel W.|last=Mitcham|year=2007|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9780811733717 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAKmUiGeTyoC&pg=PA57|title=Professional Journal of the United States Army|date=July 30, 1985|publisher=Command and General Staff School|via=Google Books}}</ref>