Being able to arouse the anger of the general on Mount Pule, the importance of Deva cannot be doubted.
On the same day, the news that the Romanians captured Deva also spread within the Allied Powers. Among them, Romania also requested that the Battle of Salonika be launched as soon as possible to contain Bulgaria. In view of the amazing combat effectiveness shown by Romania in the past few days of the war,
, Britain and France also held consultations on the matter. Both sides expressed their willingness to speed up preparations before the war, and could not let their allies face the surrounding Allied forces alone. The United States, as the new Big Three of the Allied Powers, expressed its willingness to expedite pre-war supplies.
My own meager strength.
While the Allies offered various rewards for Romania's capture of Deva, there was also criticism within the Allies.
After hearing the news, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria was surprised and said to his closest ministers, "Oh my God, the Austro-Hungarian army is so fragile. Fortunately, they are fighting Transylvania. If Romania starts from
If we attack from behind, we will probably have no choice but to be defeated."
In Vienna, the news that Deva fell into the hands of Romania also made Karl I furious. He completely ignored the image of the king and cursed his brother-in-law, King Edel I of Romania. "This villain deserves to go to hell, a shameless liar."
, they captured Deva from our hands, which is unforgivable, are our Ninth Army not ready now?"
Facing the wrath of Emperor Karl I, Friedrich openly explained: "They are not yet prepared. They are still short of weapons and ammunition, and the personnel have not been replenished."
However, Archduke Friedrich's explanation did not make the young emperor feel better. He stretched out three fingers and gestured. "Tell the Ninth Army that I will only give them three days. When three days are up, they must immediately set out to reinforce Transylvania."
.”
After talking about reinforcements, Karl I said with a look of disgust on his face. "Send a telegram to Lieutenant General Sam and ask him what's going on and when the Tenth Army can counterattack and retake Deva."
Karl had reason to be angry about the disastrous performance of the Tenth Army in the Romanian attack. In the first few days of the war, faced with the attack of three Romanian divisions, the eight divisions of the Tenth Army under the command of Sam performed poorly.
, making Karl wonder if this was still the commander he trusted who had performed well on the Eastern Front?
Faced with the emperor's anger towards Sam, Archduke Friedrich, who had been maintaining the relationship between Habsburg and the army, did not want to persuade Karl I anymore. Because even he felt that Lieutenant General Sam, who commanded the Tenth Army, had performed quite well.
It was unbearable and completely failed to play the role a commander should have.
However, although he was very dissatisfied with Lieutenant General Sam's performance during this period, Karl I still knew the importance. He would not do such a thing as changing generals before the battle. It just depends on the performance of the Lieutenant General.
Well, if the desktop is so bad, then replacing the commander to reduce the losses will be considered.
But Archduke Friedrich, as Minister of War, felt that he still needed to do something, so he said to the emperor. "Your Majesty, I think we should send a telegram to the Tenth Army to reprimand them, at least so that they can know the attitude of the empire.
.”
Archduke Friedrich's words made Karl feel that they still made sense. He was not suitable to replace the commander due to the war situation, but he could not let them betray his trust in vain. So he said to the archduke.
"This is a good suggestion."
After finishing speaking, Karl I looked at Archduke Friedrich and said, "If we continue to request reinforcements from Germany to help us repel the Romanians in Transylvania, what do you think of this proposal?"
Faced with the emperor's inquiry, the Grand Duke said after careful consideration, "Your Majesty, are we asking for German support now in too hasty a manner?"
Karl understood what the Archduke meant. It had only been less than a week since the Romanians declared war. It would be too hurtful for Austria-Hungary to ask Germany for help twice. Moreover, if the army got the news, it would be considered as losing the emperor.
If you lose trust and lose morale, you will lose more than you gain.
After persuading Emperor Karl I, a reprimanding telegram was sent from Vienna to the headquarters of the Tenth Army.
"General, this is...this is a telegram from Vienna."
In the headquarters located on the outskirts of Cluj, a staff officer carefully placed the reprimand telegram drafted by Archduke Friedrich in front of Lieutenant General Sam. He knew that the Lieutenant General was not in a good mood recently, and he still
It would be better to avoid provoking him less, but the telegram from Vienna in his hand has become a hot potato.
"Let me see, what did Vienna send me?"
Lieutenant General Sam borrowed the telegram and read it, but to his surprise, the Lieutenant General didn't seem to pay much attention to it and didn't show any emotion. This made the secretly observing staff officers leave with confusion.
Looking at the reprimanding telegram sent from Vienna in his hand, Lieutenant General Sam didn't feel angry inside. This was impossible. But as a soldier, especially a senior officer, he couldn't be angry because of this, because it was indeed his dereliction of duty to lose Deva this time.
Here he also had to admit that the Romanians really impressed him. Compared with the Russians he encountered on the Eastern Front, the Romanians were less arrogant and rude, and more rigorous and bold.
Take this battle in Deva as an example. As an experienced soldier who has been in the army for many years, Lieutenant General Sam thought that he still had no problem with his command. The initial capture of Petroshani by surprise was the result of a sneak attack that took advantage of the time difference between the declaration of war.
, and he immediately arranged for five divisions to approach. If he doesn’t talk about the results and only talks about the process, no one can say that his response was wrong.
However, the Romanians took advantage of their well-trained weapons and forcefully used their troops to the limit to break through the two divisions of Deva. They took advantage of railway transportation to transport one division and block the three divisions attacking from the flank. Then they used
There was a time difference and he captured Deva before the reinforcements from his three divisions arrived. This series of operations fully demonstrated the opponent's superb commanding skills, making his opponent also applaud him. But now his shortcomings are also exposed.
, that is, lack of troops in a short period of time. Although the opponent can receive a steady stream of reinforcements through the railway, there is a limit to this. And he will use the troops obtained far beyond the opponent's limit to crush the opponent with overwhelming force. This is his
Preparing gifts for your opponents is also a conspiracy.
At this time, an officer knocked on the door and came in. "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, the generals have all arrived."
