Chapter 292： Battle of Transylvania (1)

The news of Romania's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary reached all the top officials in Austria-Hungary two hours after it submitted its declaration of war, and it spread throughout Europe that night.

On the side of the Allies, Britain and France greatly promoted Romania's participation in the war to defend the civilized society on the second day. Even the Times, which is known for its justice and rigor, sang a tribute to Romania. Praising Romania’s social harmony, economic prosperity, and people’s enthusiasm, Romania seemed to be a beacon of European social civilization for a time.

For the Allies, especially the Kaiser, this news made him smash his two most beloved crystal cups. Edel's brother-in-law, Carl I, was furious in the palace. It was rumored that Carl I linked Romanian King Edel I with bad words such as a **** prostitute that night. It's hard to believe that as a monarch, you would say such things.

And later that same day, Karl I summoned his military vassals in the palace to discuss how Romania should respond to the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary. The result of everyone's unanimous deliberation was that the Austro-Hungarian army, which was already in Transylvania, immediately arranged a defense and stepped up to mobilize the Russian team back. In order to prevent the distant water from not quenching the near thirst, and at the same time, the 9th Army (20,000 people), which is currently being repaired in Budapest, immediately stopped the repairing state, and replenished weapons and ammunition and transferred to Transylvania.

In addition to military preparations, in order to prevent the local Romanians from becoming the leading party, Austria-Hungary also decided to enforce martial law in Transylvania. The gathering of Romanian tribesmen shall not exceed five people, and the government will confiscate the weapons they possess in the name of public security.

I need to say one more thing here. Because of the dissatisfaction with the previous Austro-Hungarian army's tendency toward Germany, and in order to eliminate German influence in Austria-Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl I personally served as the chief of the Austro-Hungarian general staff. In Europe, the role of the monarch as the chief of the general staff can also be regarded as a pioneering move, and Austria-Hungary is at the forefront of the world.

However, the results of discussions between Austria and Hungary that night were overturned the next day.

"Damn it, don’t your military do anything serious? Look at your judgment. Romania still needs at least three months to prepare. As a result, we received the declaration of war a month later. You told me Taran yesterday. Sivania is solid, but now the main gates have fallen into the hands of the Romanians, and their steady stream of soldiers has set foot on the land of Austria-Hungary. Grand Duke Friedrich, can you give me an explanation?"

Nekal I of the palace is furious. After receiving news of Romania's raid on the night of the declaration of war, Karl I was in a bad shape. He felt that he was being fooled by his brother-in-law Edel, which made Carl unacceptable. And he concurrently served as the chief of the general staff is actually worthy of military power, but he can't scold himself, so when he is good-tempered and does not abuse power, Grand Duke Friedrich has become his punching bag.

And Archduke Friedrich, who was scolded by him, said nothing. As the nephew of Grand Duke Albrecht, the last famous marshal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Grand Duke Friedrich admired his uncle since he was a child. After the death of Duke Albrecht, he was trusted by Emperor Franz Joseph I. After the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian army, and on February 8 he was promoted to field marshal. He is basically the supreme commander in name. He cleverly did not interfere in the specific affairs of the army. The actual power of the army was in the hands of Chief of Staff Conrad. It was not until February this year that Karl I actually took control of the military power.

"Your Majesty, we see that we have made a mistake in judgment, but we will soon make up for this mistake. We will speed up the speed of regaining the lord and mobilize the army, and we will also mobilize the army that is still being repaired in the country to Transylvania. ."

When facing the anger of Karl I, Archduke Friedrich wisely gave a step, which is one of the reasons why he can be trusted by the Habsburg family.

But the words of Prince Friedrich made Karl I Zou frowned. "Will this affect Italy's preparations?"

Faced with the emperor’s inquiry, Grand Duke Friedrich knew at the time that the emperor was referring to the fear of affecting the Italian front, so he discussed it over and over again. "There will be some impact."

Hearing that it would affect the Italian battlefield, Karl I, who was no longer dazzled by anger, thought about it. "Then minimize this impact."

What makes the two Austro-Hungarian leaders very concerned about the Italian battlefield is caused by the butterfly Edel. Because Russia withdrew from the war early, Austria-Hungary and Germany had more time to move their forces away from the already calm Eastern Front.

There are not many other options for how Vienna should use these forces. Looking around, only Italy is worthy of the Austro-Hungarian army. So in September, the Austro-Hungarian military began to prepare for an offensive against the anti-skeletal boy in Italy. It plans to use the troops mobilized from the Eastern Front to launch an attack and strive to drive Italy out of the war.

So even if Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary, in Carl's opinion, defeating Italy can give the Austro-Hungarian Empire a temporary respite. Therefore, he was extremely reluctant to use his precious troops to the Romanian front line, so that the Italian army, which had been repeatedly defeated in the hands of Austria-Hungary, gained a respite.

"But will this allow Romania to be presumptuous? It may cause the local Romanian people to have thoughts they shouldn't have."

In the face of Archduke Friedrich’s concerns, Karl I mentioned it if he had anything to do with it. "We have been attacked, do we want to ask our allies for help? And now there is no war on the Eastern Front, then it is important to ask Berlin for help."

Hearing the emperor’s words made Prince Friedrich feel that his Majesty has changed a lot recently. When he succeeded to the throne last year, the emperor was dissatisfied with Germany’s guilt of Austria-Hungary. He would rather replace General Conrad, the chief of staff. It is necessary to ensure the power of Habsburg in the army, and it is not necessary to ask for help like the German army. Now that we haven't played a game yet, this can be called reinforcements first.

This is of course also related to Karl I's experience. At first, the new emperor thought he could withdraw from the war that caused Austria-Hungary to suffer heavy casualties through separate peace talks. But Britain and France categorically rejected Karl's hope for peace talks, so the young Austro-Hungarian emperor knew that Britain and France would not let the Austro-Hungarian Empire go. Of course, as its royal family, the Habsburg family, the Allied Powers could not let it go. So now he is fighting to protect the family and the country. There is no peace talks, either winning or losing the war. Now he has no choice.

In the afternoon of the same day, a telegram for assistance from Austria-Hungary was sent to Berlin. This time, Austria-Hungary asked for reinforcements, and it directly said that it needed 200,000 reinforcements. There was also a telegram requesting Germany to fulfill its alliance obligations to declare war on Romania.

Soon because of these two messages, the Kaiser convened a meeting with government officials and the military to discuss.

After everyone had read these two messages, William II asked. "No one has any other opinions on the issue of declaring war on Romania, right?"

Everyone present did not have any opinion. Out of fancy of Austria-Hungary and Romania’s betrayal (the German emperor considered this to be a betrayal), no one would disagree with the declaration of war. The reason for not declaring war in the first place is that Because there are many things that have not yet ended.

Seeing that the simplest telegram was perfectly resolved, William II asked again. "So what about Austria-Hungary's request for reinforcements?"

As soon as the Kaiser's voice fell, Ludendorff, the quartermaster chief, spoke about it. "Your Majesty, now we need to prepare for the offensive on the western front in the coming year. There are really not many troops that can be drawn to help the Austrians. At most, we can draw about 30,000 people in two divisions."

For Ludendorff to react to such a big reaction, in addition to preparing for a new offensive against France after the New Year, the various small actions of Austria-Hungary are also one of the factors. Now the Austro-Hungarian army has asked him to send reinforcements before they formally fight. Isn't this to disgust him?

However, Ludendorff's remarks aroused opposition from the government, especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs Zolf mentioned in Ludendorff's voice just after Ludendorff's voice. "Your Excellency, I don’t agree with you. As an ally, we have to help Austria-Hungary when facing Romania’s attack. Moreover, we have also helped Austria-Hungary before. The number of 30,000 troops is really too small. It’s better not to send reinforcements."

"It's really better not to send that."

"Well, stop arguing."

Seeing that Ludendorff was about to stand up with Zolf, the Kaiser stood up at this time. He watched Hindenburg speak. "Chief of the General Staff, you said how many troops should be sent to strengthen Austria-Hungary."

Hindenburg, named by the Kaiser, had a new idea. "It now appears that a sufficient number of reinforcements need to be sent to help Austria-Hungary attack Romania. But I don't think it is necessary to send them to Austria-Hungary to help them."

"Marshal, if you have any ideas, please tell me."

Hindenburg became clearer and clearer about his ideas, he said. "We can attack Romania from the Ukrainian side and achieve a move to contain the Romanian army Will this make Austria-Hungary dissatisfied with us?"

Faced with inquiries, Hindenburg explained. "This won't be true. Austria-Hungary is requesting reinforcements to relieve the pressure on their troops. They don't seem to want to delay preparations for Italy. Then we can do it easily. We can think of ways from the troops currently stationed on the Eastern Front. , We will not delay our battle plan on the western front at all."

At this time Prime Minister Hedlin sounded another worry. "Will this arouse the repentance of the Soviet Russian government?"

Faced with the Prime Minister’s inquiry, Hindenburg explained. "It's not at all. People like the Soviet Russian regime still dare not turn their faces with us. They will obey the terms they signed, because they have too many opponents in Russia."

Eventually after discussion, Germany replied to Austria-Hungary that they would send 240,000 troops to the east, commander-in-chief, Mackensen, to flanks Romania's Moldova in order to contain its army and cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian army's plan to capture Romania.

Although this plan is quite good, because the scattered German forces need to regroup and replenish ammunition, this plan requires 20 days of preparation time.