The news of the Austro-Hungarian army's disastrous defeat in Transylvania shocked the top Austro-Hungarian leaders with the capture of Cluj.
Among them, the most uncomfortable one is the Kingdom of Hungary. As one of the pillars of the dualist empire, Budapest is somewhat afraid of the Romanian army approaching the Hungarian Plain. After Cluj was captured, its Prime Minister Tisza (Hungary has a separate prime minister, Austria
In addition to the monarch, government, and parliament, the Hungarian Empire had already sent three telegrams to Karl I, hoping to obtain enough troops to protect Hungary.
This made Karl I, who had been gathering troops and supplies to prepare for the Italian campaign, very dissatisfied. When Lieutenant General Sam's Tenth Army also retreated to Adela, the telegram from Budapest reached a peak, and in just a short time
Within seven days, a total of five telegrams requesting reinforcements arrived in front of Emperor Karl I.
For this reason, Karl I was very dissatisfied. He even complained personally when discussing the war situation in Italy with the Minister of War, Archduke Friedrich. "Don't these Hungarians have any strategic vision and can't see that the Romanians may pose a threat to Hungarian territory?"
When the emperor complained about the panic of the Hungarian people in public, Archduke Friedrich persuaded him like he was relieving the siege. "Your Majesty, many people in Hungary have already seen it. But ordinary people do not have such a vision, so for the sake of
To appease these people, Budapest will inevitably make a move to request reinforcements..."
At the end, Archduke Friedrich said, "Furthermore, the Great Hungarian Plain is one of the few grain-producing areas we have, so we need to treat Budapest's request with caution."
Facing the Minister of War's persuasion, Karl I felt helpless. The Kingdom of Hungary was too important in the empire's territory. Whether it was soldiers, food, or political considerations, the feelings of the Hungarians needed to be taken into consideration. Therefore, Karl I thought again and again, and reluctantly took the pain from himself.
A detachment of troops prepared for battle was used to satisfy the Hungarians' wishes.
Of course, the reinforcements that were unwilling to be transferred by Karl I were not considered to be elite. It would be good if they were not given to the newly formed troops. Therefore, after almost a year of formation, the 16th Group Army, which had been serving as a reserve force before, was withdrawn.
, as reinforcements for Hungary.
There are no major problems with this group army. Apart from poor training intensity (poor quality of soldiers, mainly due to the increased recruitment age of the Austro-Hungarian General at that time) and fewer artillery, machine guns and other support weapons, there are no major problems.
The problem is, there may be some deficiencies in offense, but there are still plenty of mistakes in defense.
Of course, the mobilization of an army group of more than 100,000 people is a major event, including the preparation of wagons, the preparation of daily necessities for people to eat and horses chewed, and the calming of the soldiers' emotions, etc. All of this needs to be done. These will also be exposed to those who are interested, and Romania is
One of the most enthusiastic people about the situation of the Austro-Hungarian army is of course Italy, which is famous for its repeated defeats.
When the news that Austria-Hungary had dispatched the 16th Army as reinforcements to Hungary reached Bucharest, Romania was rejoiced. It seems that the focus of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is now on Italy, which is excellent news. For this reason, on Plje Mountain
It will be possible to boldly transfer the Romanian elite currently gathered in Transylvania to fill the vacancies in other directions.
For example, the 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 12th Guards Divisions have arranged train transfers close to the Bulgarian front line. This is in preparation for the upcoming Bulgarian campaign. The 6th, 9th, 16th and other divisions have
, and also because of concerns that the German offensive was moving towards Moldavia.
A large number of troops were transferred out, and of course a large number of troops were transferred to Transylvania, such as the 34th Division, the 47th Division, the 61st Division, the 69th Division, etc., and a large number of newly formed troops were arranged
To take over the vacancies of transferred troops.
Therefore, the transportation situation in Romania is now busier than after the war. This especially made Director Torres of the Transportation Department of the General Staff Headquarters in charge of this matter tear out a lot of hair.
One more thing to say here, according to the Romanian military's division of establishment, the troops formed by the militia and a small number of active soldiers are organized into divisions of thirty to fifty-nine. The troops are composed entirely of conscripted soldiers and a small number of officers.
, were all designated as division-level establishment after sixty.
So you can see a situation where major generals, lieutenant generals are division commanders, and colonels and lieutenant colonels are also division commanders. However, according to the military's default rules, of course, the standing divisions command the newly formed troops, and when there is a lack of standing divisions, the divisions formed by the militia will command
A division formed by the reserve forces.
Of course, in addition to the deployment of troops, the group army commander responsible for commanding the operation also made new arrangements. Among them, Lieutenant General Freit, who proposed to lure the Austro-Hungarian Tenth Army to attack and send troops to attack Cluj, has resigned from the post of group army commander.
In consideration of his keen battlefield insight, Freit will serve as the commander of the Bulgarian Army. He will be responsible for joining forces with the allies to attack Bulgaria in order to withdraw it from the war.
Lieutenant General Andrew, who previously served as the commander of Army Group Center and personally captured Cluj, will also be sent to Moldavia to serve as deputy to General Courtois. The main consideration is because he has served as the commander of the raid mission.
, more or less have some experience in defending possible German raids. This also shows that the current Romanian military is afraid of the elite German army led by Marshal Mackensen, the master of mobile warfare.
As for General Salamik, he is responsible for the overall defense tasks in the newly captured Transylvania region. This is also fully considering that the old general fought against the Austro-Hungarian army in Deva for so long with inferior military strength.
He made outstanding contributions to the rapid capture of Cluj. Of course, the old general suffered some hidden losses in preventing the enemy's Austro-Hungarian Tenth Army from retreating, but this does not matter, as long as the combat purpose is completed, he is a good commander.
.
Of course, in addition to this, the various units of Army Group South suffered a lot of casualties and were in urgent need of repairs. This is also a major factor. Because at present, the only place that can get the opportunity for repairs and perform defensive tasks is the Transylvania region.
General Salamik had previously served as its commander, so it was only natural that he would continue to be responsible for commanding the Transylvania Army formed with Army Group South as its backbone.
Of course, as an inducement to quickly capture Transylvania, Lieutenant General Ankodar, who was responsible for capturing Deva, was also promoted. Now he has become the deputy commander of the newly formed Transylvania Group Army. From high to division commander
Lieutenant General Ankodar was already satisfied with his position as deputy of the Army Group. Originally, he thought he would get a promotion after the war, but he did not expect that he would have the opportunity now. You must know that promotion during the war and post-war are two different concepts.
He can become a member responsible for commanding and completing strategic plans in war, which is much better than commanding a division in combat. The former is the one who formulates and implements military plans, while the latter is the executor. This is the difference in status.
