Chapter 304： Defending the Deva (5)

Both parties are preparing for this. The train from Targuzhu to Deva has never been cut off, and the Southern Army used time to grab supplies and troops. Moreover, in the northern and prominent central part of Transylvania, the Romanian army attacked desperately.

For this reason, Lieutenant General Sam in Cluj gave orders to the defenders in both directions to do everything possible to delay the enemy forces in both directions. For this reason, the Austro-Hungarian defenders in both directions kept harassing the Romanian troops on both sides by sabotaging the roads, blocking and sneak attacks, which made them very annoying.

However, the most important thing for Lieutenant General Sam is to stop repairing the Ninth Army that came from Budapest. After waiting for three days, Lieutenant General Sam personally greeted the arrival of the vanguard of the Ninth Army at the train station because his commander-in-chief Lieutenant General Karl Van Stern also arrived.

"play music."

As Lieutenant General Van Stern stopped the train steadily on the platform, the military band of the Tenth Army played cheerful music. Lieutenant General Sam wore Lieutenant General’s gown and waited for his arrival at the station. In the music, Lieutenant General Van Stern walked off. train.

Seeing the Lord's arrival, Lieutenant General Sam walked over with a smile and enthusiasm.

"Long time no see, Fan Siteng."

"Yes. Long time no see, Sam."

"I heard that after I was transferred to Cluj, you performed very well on the Russian front, and even the Emperor praised you."

"I just happened to be lucky."

"I held a welcome reception for you today. I have invited a lot of gentlemen and celebrities here to participate. I will take my car for a while and let us relive the past."

When the two asked about the cold, the other personnel who followed Lieutenant General Fan Siteng also walked out of the train station under the support of Lieutenant General Sam. The reception convoy of Changlong outside the train station was waiting for their arrival, and the commanders of the two army groups got in a car.

With the start of the convoy, a group of people left the train station, and the two lieutenants sitting in a car naturally switched from chatting to the current war situation.

"Sam, I learned from the battle report that you and the Romanians are not ideal in fighting. Can you tell me about the characteristics of these Romanian troops? This can also prepare me for it."

Facing Lieutenant General Fan Si Teng's inquiry, a gloomy expression flashed across Sam who was sitting with him. "The combat is not ideal" This is Lieutenant General Fan Si Teng's already very euphemistic statement, in fact it is terrible, as the direct party, how could he not know.

Regarding the characteristics of the Romanian army, this was sorted out by the division commander's report that his subordinates fought, but considering that the current results are basically defeats, Lieutenant General Sam has made certain changes to this.

For example, Major General Arz of the 35th Division's introduction to the Romanian army made him worried. Look at what he wrote, the Romanian army is very good at surprise attacks, and its basic officers are extremely high-quality, even after suffering extremely high casualties, they can still launch an effective offensive. Moreover, the configuration of artillery and machine guns in its divisional firepower is extremely high. In the end, it was concluded that a Romanian division can withstand the attack of two Austro-Hungarian divisions.

This kind of report shows that the report that has been defeated by the Romanians is completely useless. Lieutenant General Sam told Van Stern about the characteristics summarized by multiple reports. "Regarding the characteristics of the Romanian army, according to my understanding, its basic tactical unit is the division. At the division level, their artillery and machine guns are relatively high, so their firepower is much higher than that of our division-level troops."

"And because Romania has maintained a standing military system for a long time, its soldiers and officers are much higher than us in tactical combat skills, so we do not have an advantage in the basic organization." Said Lieutenant General Sam explained here. "In the previous battles, our battalion company was generally not its opponent. At this time, it was basically relying on its strength to repel it."

The words of Lieutenant General Sam made Lieutenant General Van Stern feel a little uncomfortable. He didn't expect the Romanians to be so difficult to deal with, so he couldn't help asking at this moment. "Don't they have any weaknesses?"

Facing Van Stern’s question, Lieutenant General Sam hesitated and said. "It's not without it. At present, they seem to have fewer heavy artillery and have very high requirements for supplies. The other is that we have the advantage of terrain, and the other is that they have a small number of troops."

Facing Lieutenant General Sam’s answer, Lieutenant General Van Stern, who was sitting with him, said with a smile. "Thank you for your explanation, it allows me to better understand the next opponent."

However, in Lieutenant General Fan Si Teng's heart, he was a little confused about this. Because Lieutenant General Sam said these characteristics he was very familiar with, except that there are fewer heavy artillery, isn't this the normal pattern of the Germans fighting alongside him on the Eastern Front. Sam applied the characteristics of the German army to the Romanians, which made him wonder if Sam was confused by his opponent. Of course, I can't speak my doubts, but the situation mentioned by Lieutenant General Sam needs to find a chance to play against the Romanian.

And Sam didn't know his description of the Romanian army at all, and his colleagues around him felt that he was exaggerating. The group rushed to the headquarters of the Tenth Army in the eastern suburbs of the city. There were enough houses for the Ninth Army to settle down.

In the Cluj City Hall that evening, Lieutenant General Sam invited celebrities to hold a welcome dinner for Lieutenant General Van Stern and other senior officers of the Ninth Army. The rich food such as caviar, veal steak, and Bordeaux wine made the guests very satisfied. In accordance with the usual practice, Lieutenant General Fan Si Teng issued his generous statement of defending the local area, which also made him warm applause.

"Thank you for your warm hospitality."

After the speech, Lieutenant General Van Stern, who was returned to his seat, thanked him when he saw Lieutenant General Sam rush over.

"You are welcome, I want to tell you one thing when I come over." Sam looked at Lieutenant General Van Stern and said.

"what's up?"

Facing Fan Si Teng's question, Sam glanced at no one around and said. "Tomorrow I plan to lead my army to the south."

"So urgent?"

Fan Si Teng is still a little surprised at Lieutenant General Sam's decision This is too anxious.

Facing Fan Si Teng's surprise, Sam explained. "I can't give the Romanians too much time to prepare. If it weren't for the need to wait for you to take over the defense of Cluj, I would have led the army to leave.

The words of Lieutenant General Sam made Fan Si Teng feel the pressure. He and Sam had almost the same status, knowing that this was brought about by the bad situation before. Now it seems that only defeating Romania can make Sam recover.

Fan Siteng, who knew what his colleagues needed, patted his shoulder and said. "Then I wish you victory this time."

"Thank you."

Early the next morning, Lieutenant General Sam took the assembled eight divisions and drove to Deva. This time he would wash his humiliation with the blood of the enemy. This action of the Tenth Army immediately attracted the attention of Romania. At noon that day, the telegram about the Tenth Army's assembly and marching towards Deva was placed on the desk of General Salamik, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army who had just arrived in Deva.

Now, around Deva, Romania and Austria-Hungary are about to start a battle.