The news that Bulgaria had withdrawn from the war caused considerable shock within the entire Allied Powers.
In Vienna, Berlin and Istanbul, many people were talking about this matter. One of them said that this was the first boney rice card to fall.
As a government agency in charge of power, voices about negotiating with Britain and France to reduce losses also appeared in their ears.
In this regard, the Allies also privately tested the attitude of Britain and France, but no negotiation was reached because the gap between the two parties was too large.
But now that Bulgaria has withdrawn from the war, the Allies have discovered that the situation in the Balkans has suddenly fallen into a rather passive and bad situation.
After Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania joined the Allied Powers camp, and Bulgaria withdrew from the war, the situation in the Balkans was now completely decided by the Allied Powers. The link between Germany, Austria and Turkey was cut off, and the situation was quite unfavorable to the Allies.
For this reason, Berlin and Vienna have also put aside their own petty thoughts and faced this difficult moment together.
So with the cooperation of the German and Austrian general staffs, a plan to defend against the attack of the Allied Powers was formulated.
In this plan, which combines the essence of the staff ideas of the two countries, the German-Austrian coalition will currently defend the Allied offensive at Niš and Lujeca in the southern mountains of Serbia. For this reason, Austria-Hungary needs to increase its troops by 150,000 to complete this plan.
. Both Germany and Austria had no objections to the entire plan, but there were still some minor disputes over where to deploy the troops.
Because when formulating the plan, the German General Staff suggested that Austria-Hungary withdraw troops from the country for repairs, but Austria-Hungary did not agree. In the view of Austria-Hungary, the troops that were withdrawn for repairs suffered heavy casualties on the front line, and their weapons and equipment were relatively lacking.
The personnel are also not in good mental condition, so it is best to be transferred from the frontline troops.
Austria-Hungary chose to deploy the Ninth Army from the Hungarian region to confront Romania in Transylvania. This decision made Germany think it was too dangerous. If Romania broke out of the Transylvanian Plateau, the Hungarian plains would be
Facing the danger of war.
Do you feel that the painting style is wrong? Germany is more concerned about its safety than Austria-Hungary. In fact, these are all obvious reasons. Germany’s inner thought is that Austria-Hungary needs to put pressure on the Romanian army in Transylvania.
Make sure there are no threats to Marshal Mackensen's flanks.
Austria-Hungary is deploying Hungarian troops for the Italian battlefield, and the renovated troops can also be urgently deployed to the front line. Austria-Hungary intends to retain some of its reserve forces, whether it is deployed in the northern Italian battlefield or reinforcements in other directions in the future.
Face it calmly.
However, in the end, Austria-Hungary's decision prevailed, after all, it was its troops that needed to be used.
Turkey was much more nervous than Austria-Hungary. After Bulgaria withdrew from the war, not only the Third Army withdrew to defend the Dardanelles, but even the Sixth Army, which was preparing to be transferred to the Syrian region to fight against the Allies, also stayed in Istanbul.
For a time, Turkey gathered nearly 400,000 troops near its capital. This frightened the Allied Powers, fearing that Germany, Austria and Turkey would also attack from a flank. Therefore, after the defeat of Bulgaria, the Greek troops from the Allied Powers were transferred to
Adrianople was prepared for a possible Turkish invasion, while the rest of the Allied forces paid attention to the movements of the German and Austrian troops.
For a time, the changes in the situation in Bulgaria made both parties feel that they were in conflict with each other, and the situation became more delicate.
However, this is not a big impact on Romania, because domestic supplies are abundant.
Since the signing of the Armistice Agreement in Thessaloniki, supplies from the Allied Powers have been flowing along the Bulgarian railway to supplement the consumption of the Romanian army. According to subsequent statistics, within three months after Bulgaria withdrew from the war, as many as 120
Tens of thousands of tons of military supplies were sent to Romania. Of course, along with the supplies, there were reinforcements from the Allied Powers.
A colonial division from France and two British Indian and Australian and New Zealand divisions have rushed to Romania to relieve the defensive pressure of the Romanian army in Bacau.
Yes, the German army, led by Marshal Mackensen, did not find any loopholes in the Romanian army. However, it still relied on its outstanding front-line officers, experienced combat soldiers, and fierce firepower to defeat Courtois.
The Moldavia Army Group led by the General was retreating steadily, causing His Excellency the General to abandon Roman and Iasi one after another.
Large amounts of conscripted troops were devoted to defending against the German invasion, and many conscripted soldiers did not survive the first battle.
According to statistics from the General Staff, the Romanian army has suffered close to 100,000 casualties in the battle with the German army. Among them, insufficient training of recruited soldiers and a lack of junior officers are the main factors.
Of course, General Courtois, as their commander, also has certain responsibilities, but who made him face Marshal Mackensen, the most outstanding master of mobile warfare in the German army. This made the General afraid to take risks for fear of letting his opponent
Seizing the opportunity to tear down the defense is not so wonderful.
However, after Bulgaria withdrew from the war, the pressure from the German army was much reduced. Especially when the British and French troops appeared on the Bacău front line, the German offensive gradually decreased, and many times it was just perfunctory. It seems that the Germans also knew
, they no longer have the possibility to quickly capture Romania.
Of course, the consumption of personnel and materials of the German army is also a major factor, especially the consumption of materials. As the commander-in-chief of the German army on the Eastern Front, Marshal Mackensen has the most say on this point. After Romania declared war, Marshal Mackensen said one month later
During the preparation time, the main focus was on arguing with the logistics department about military supplies.
Because Ludendorff was preparing for the offensive on the Western Front, the materials supplied to the Eastern Front before that were not enough for combat readiness. Mackensen could only maintain losses by reducing the amount of training. However, after Romania declared war, the amount of movement of materials did increase, but
It is still not enough for half a year of combat readiness. (This is the combat standard prepared by Mackensen after he became the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front)
Even when Marshal Mackensen led the army to attack Romania, he still did not meet this standard (only five months of combat readiness). Therefore, he always hoped to find loopholes in the Romanian army's defense and exploit them. For this reason, he also deliberately
He sold several loopholes to lure the Romanian army to attack. However, the commander of the Romanian army was not fooled, so Marshal Mackensen could only use the advantages of firepower and elite troops to fight against the enemy city by city.
The management effect is good, but the consumption of ammunition is too high. Just yesterday, the logistics officer informed the Marshal that their ammunition was only one-third of the amount before departure. This sentence immediately caused the German offensive to stall.
The attacking German army was unable to move, and the defending Romanian army was also unable to move. The huge casualties and material consumption also made Romania miserable, so at this time in Moldavia, where the fighting was most intense, the war also calmed down.
As for Transylvania, which has become much quieter, the officers and soldiers can even take a break.
