When the news that the Romanian army had attacked Cluj arrived at the headquarters of the Ninth Army in Sonate, Lieutenant General Versten was completely stunned.
The Army Chief of Staff who broke into his room with a telegram saw that this was not an option and immediately loudly said in his ear. "Major General Rakoff needs reinforcements. We cannot lose Cluj. We cannot afford such consequences.
"
The words of the Chief of Staff brought Lieutenant General Fan Siteng's thinking back to normal, but when faced with the Chief of Staff's inquiry, he closed his eyes and came back to his senses, and then said calmly. "Now let's first understand the current situation in Cluj, and then
Decide on sending reinforcements."
Seeing that his partner had recovered, the chief of staff did not rush him, because he knew that the current situation had become extremely difficult due to the attack on Cluj, and could even be said to have taken a turn for the worse. Now a good helmsman was needed to lead the Ninth Army to escape this storm.
, it is obvious that currently only Lieutenant General Fan Siteng has such ability.
So the chief of staff told the lieutenant general about the information sent from Cluj. After speaking, the chief of staff did not rush to wait for the lieutenant general's decision.
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng said after thinking for a while. "We know too little information now. We need Major General Rakoff to send another telegram. I will go to the communications office with you to wait for the news."
"You haven't changed your clothes yet."
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng, who was still wearing pajamas, waved his hand and said, "How can I feel like changing my clothes now? I need to go and understand the situation first."
Seeing Lieutenant General Fan Siteng hurriedly walking out of his room, the chief of staff could only ask an officer to pick up the lieutenant general's clothes. After all, the pajamas were too obvious.
By the time the chief of staff arrived at the communications office, the lieutenant general was already asking the communications staff officer to send a telegram.
"Now we need to wait for a while to understand the current situation in Cluj." Lieutenant General Fan Siteng, who was sitting aside and waiting, spoke to his chief of staff about his plans. However, the lieutenant general glanced at the person who sent the message from time to time.
From his eyes, you can tell that he is not as calm as he appears.
"There's news."
Fan Siteng and the chief of staff didn't have to wait long before a communications officer said what they wanted to hear.
"Receive immediately."
The communications officer who was waiting aside immediately ordered.
As the radio waves were gradually converted into words, a telegram from Cluj appeared in front of them.
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng received the latest telegram sent from Cluj, but the content of the telegram made him look very ugly. The chief of staff took a glance and saw that the message sent in the telegram was that most of Cluj was now
Falling into the hands of the enemy, only a few data points such as the railway station arsenal are still in the hands of the Austro-Hungarian army.
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng, who really couldn't bear the news, cursed loudly. "Damn it, how did Rakoff become a major general? Why did he lose Cluj before midnight?"
In fact, most of the responsibility for this issue needs to be borne by the Lieutenant General himself. In fact, Fan Siteng himself also understood that greed blinded him and made him make the decision to destroy Cluj, but now it is time for him to take measures to restore it.
"What should we do now, is it to mobilize troops from the front line to return reinforcements?"
The Chief of Staff's words reminded Lieutenant General Fan Siteng that he needed to respond, even if it was wrong, it was better than inaction.
Faced with the urging of the chief of staff and the waiting of many officers in the combat hall, Fan Siteng was also under heavy pressure, because his own decision was related to the life and death of the Ninth Army. Just when he was having trouble making a decision, he looked at the combat map
Densely marked, Fan Siteng suddenly had other ideas.
"Now send a message to the 11th, 41st, 64th, and 78th Divisions and ask them to immediately assemble their troops and withdraw from the front line."
Faced with Lieutenant General Versiteng's decision to withdraw some troops, the Chief of Staff asked, "Is it Major General Rakoff who is preparing to reinforce Cluj?"
"No"
When asked by the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Versiteng denied it directly, and then pointed to a location on the map and said, "We are not going to reinforce Cluj, let them defend here, and then we need to retreat."
The chief of staff looked at the location pointed by Versiteng with a very ugly expression. Because it is called Dezhi and is located in the northwest of Transylvania. From here further back is the Hungarian Great Plains. It turned out that Lieutenant General Versiteng had no intention of reinforcing Cluj.
Instead, he planned to retreat.
Faced with this unexpected decision of Lieutenant General, the chief of staff said in shock, "Fan Siteng, you have to think carefully."
Fan Siteng, who has been his partner for a long time, understands the meaning of the chief of staff's words. If he retreats like this, then he must be the most responsible for the failure of this battle. But what can be done about this? As long as Cluj is captured tomorrow, they will
The supply line was cut off. For an army whose supply line has been cut off, there is nowhere to fight. It may even be in chaos before the enemy comes over.
So when faced with the chief of staff's concern, Versiteng expressed his reasons. "I know the consequences of doing this, but I need to see the scale of the enemy attacking Cluj."
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng pointed out three fingers and said, "The enemy troops who attacked Cluj were no less than 30,000, and in order to recapture Cluj, we sent reinforcements of no less than 45,000. If we consider recapturing Cluj,
The urgency of Cluj means that the number of troops cannot be less than 60,000, so that it is possible to recapture it in three days."
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng stared into the eyes of the chief of staff and continued. "This is still the most ideal situation. I made this judgment after considering that most of the Cluj city fortifications have been destroyed. And now, there are still people outside.
There are two enemy armies watching eagerly, and the news of the fall of Cluj cannot be concealed. Do you think Romania will give us three days after we mobilize our troops?"
After hearing Lieutenant General Fan Siteng's analysis, the Chief of Staff said with some reluctance, "If Lieutenant General Sam returns for reinforcements, we should have enough troops."
Facing the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Versiteng criticized directly. "Chief of Staff, your radical ideas are very dangerous. Have you considered the consequences if we do not recapture Cluj, which will plunge us and the Tenth Army into destruction?"
Desperate situation. By that time, the Hungarian plains will fall under the enemy's front, which will make the Italian campaign prepared by His Majesty end without any problem, which will bring shame to our family."
Facing Lieutenant General Fan Siteng's words, the chief of staff thought for a moment about the consequences of offending the young emperor.
For this reason, he sighed: "It seems that the only way to sacrifice the defenders in Cluj is to sacrifice them."
Lieutenant General Fan Siteng replied calmly. "There is nothing we can do about it. After all, we need to consider the more than 100,000 people in the group army."
After he finished speaking, he did not forget to mention: "Remember to send a telegram to Major General Rakoff, saying that the reinforcements will not arrive until noon. I hope he can hold the key points and wait for our rescue."
In this way, the defenders of Cluj were regarded as abandoned by Lieutenant General Versiten, and Major General Rakoff, who received the order, used this telegram to encourage the Austro-Hungarian army that retreated to the key point. The same news also made the attacking Lieutenant General Andrew
, allocate half of the troops to defend against reinforcements that are unlikely to arrive.
But lies are lies after all. The Austro-Hungarian army defending key points has been struggling to resist the Romanian attack. They waited until four o'clock in the afternoon, and Major General Rakoff sent the last telegram from the defensive railway station. 'We are about to lose, long live the Empire.'
In the end, Romania only got the body of Major General Rakoff, and Lieutenant General Andrew sent a message to the country that Cluj had been captured and the enemy commander was killed.
PS: Can you please subscribe? There are only a hundred people reading the book now. Is this result too bad?
