Two days later came the announcement that Craiova itself had been taken by the Teuton forces. This town is the center of an important grain district on the edge of the Wallachian Plain. From a military point of view the importance of its capture was in that it was a railroad junction and that the Germans now held the line of communication between the Orsova region, constituting the extreme western portion of Wallachia, and the rest of Rumania. As a matter of fact, as was to develop a few days later, the Teutons had broken through the main Rumanian lines, and in doing so had clipped off the tip of the Rumanian left wing. Some days later the capture of this force was announced, though it numbered much less than had at first been supposed—some seven thousand men.
But now a new danger suggested itself. The Teutonic invasion was heading toward the Danube. Should it reach the banks of that river there would be nothing to prevent a juncture between the forces of Falkenhayn and those under Mackensen, thereby forming a net which would be stretched clear across Rumania and swept eastward toward Bucharest. Falkenhayn had only to clear the northern bank of the Danube, and nothing could prevent Mackensen's crossing; as was presently to develop, this fear was not without foundation. On the 24th came the announcement from Berlin that Falkenhayn had captured Turnu-Severin on the Danube and that Mackensen's troops had crossed in several places and effected a juncture with Falkenhayn's men. Farther north the Rumanians were reported to be falling back to positions along the Alt River, a swift, deep stream in its upper reaches which broadens out into many arms down on the plain and forms a difficult obstacle to an advancing army. At Slatina the bridge is over four hundred yards in length. This, apparently, was to be the new line of defense, running north and south. Still farther north, in the Carpathians, in Moldavia, the Austro-Germans were developing another strong offensive, and here, near Tulghes Pass, where the Russians held the line, a pitched battle of unusual fury developed, bringing the Austro-Germans to a standstill for the time being, at least. Again there came reports from Petrograd of activity along the front in Dobrudja, but this appears to have been at the most nothing but a demonstration to distract Mackensen from effecting any crossing farther up the Danube at a point where he might flank the Rumanian lines along the Alt. Throughout the countries of the Allies it was now generally recognized that Rumania was doomed, unless the Russians could send enough forces to rescue her.
On the 26th official dispatches from both Berlin and Bucharest stated that Mackensen had crossed the Danube at Zimnitza and was advancing toward Bucharest. The German statement had him in the outskirts of Alexandria, only forty-seven miles from the capital, and reported that the Rumanians were retreating eastward from the lower Alt. On the following day Berlin announced that the entire length of the Alt had been abandoned by the Rumanians, which was confirmed by a dispatch from Bucharest. This retreat had been forced by the crossing effected by Mackensen's troops to the rear of the line, threatening its flank and rear. That the danger to Bucharest was now being felt was obvious from the fact that on the following day the Rumanian Government and diplomatic authorities removed from Bucharest to Jassy, about two hundred miles northeastward, near the Russian frontier. On this date, too, it was reported that Mackensen had captured Giurgiu, which showed that he had advanced thirty miles during the past twenty-four hours. From Giurgiu there is direct rail connection with Bucharest: this line Mackensen could use for transport service, thus increasing the danger to the Rumanian main army that it might have its retreat cut off. Having abandoned the Alt line, the next logical line that the retreating Rumanians should have attempted to hold was the Vedea, another river running parallel to the Alt and emptying into the Danube. Here, too, there was a railroad running along the river bank, or close to it, which would have served as a supply line. But it was just this railroad which Mackensen had captured at Giurgiu. Once more he threatened the Rumanian flank, and so a stand at the Vedea became also impossible. Certainly the Teutons were now moving with extraordinary rapidity, and there was undoubtedly some truth in the Berlin statement that the Rumanians were fleeing eastward in a panic-stricken mass. Great quantities of war material were abandoned and captured by the advancing Teutons. It is significant, however, that neither Berlin nor Vienna were able to report the capture of any great amount of prisoners.
By the first of the month the Teutons had almost reached the Arges River, the last large stream that ran between them and the outer fortifications of Bucharest. Behind this river the Rumanians finally came to a stand, and now Berlin, instead of describing the precipitate flight of the enemy, spoke only of the hard fighting which was going on. At this time the German War Office also announced the capture of Campulung, which opened the road through the Torzburg Pass.
That Russia was now making strong efforts to relieve the pressure on the Rumanians before Bucharest became obvious on December 1, 1916, when it was reported from Petrograd that a Russian offensive had been begun on the Bukowina border and was spreading down along the Rumanian frontier south of Kirlibaba, along a front over two hundred miles in length. Here, according to the report, the Rumanians, in cooperation with the Russians, captured a whole range of heights in the Buzeu Valley southeast of Kronstadt, while the Russians themselves reported similar progress. At the same time Berlin, while also touching on the severity of the fighting in the north, reported that the Russians were hurling themselves against Mackensen's entire front in Dobrudja. The German reports admitted that here and there the Russian attacks effected slight local gains at tremendous cost. Whatever the actual facts, this offensive movement came too late to have any material results; Bucharest, at any rate, was doomed.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER XXXI
THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER ARGECHU
On December 3, 1916, what appears to have been a desperate battle from the German reports took place along the river Argechu in the region before Bucharest. This is a mountain stream which, from Piteshti to southwest of Titu, is sometimes a hundred yards in width and at some points twenty meters deep, though fords are found at frequent intervals. At this time, however, the river was well flooded and only the bridges were available for crossing. At this point strong detachments of Bulgarians, Austrians, and Germans coming together from the north, east, and south met with resistance from the Rumanians on the other side of the river. For an entire day the Rumanians held back the enemy, then suddenly broke and fled so abruptly that they had not time to destroy the bridges, over which the invaders streamed after the retreating Rumanians, capturing several thousands of prisoners.
On the following day the left wing of the Austro-Germans captured Tergovistea. At Piteshti the First Army of the Rumanians made another brief stand, but was driven back beyond the Titu junction of railroads from Bucharest to Campulung. South of Bucharest Russian and Rumanian forces also offered a stout resistance, but were finally compelled to retire when the enemy's cavalry cut around in their rear and threatened their line of retreat. During this one day the Germans claimed to have taken 8,000 prisoners, the Danube army capturing also thirty-five cannon and thirteen locomotives and a great amount of rolling stock.
It was not the battle along the Argechu, however, which was the cause of the immediate danger to Bucharest. The blow which decided the fate of the Rumanian capital came from the north. The real danger lay in the German forces coming down from the passes south of Kronstadt. Already Campulung was taken and the Argechu crossed in the north. Then the invaders streamed down the Prahova Valley, which begins at the passes and runs down southeast behind Bucharest. The Rumanians now had the choice of evacuating their capital or having it surrounded and besieged. Bucharest was a fortified city, but the Germans carried such guns as no fortifications built by the hand of man could resist. Antwerp had been the first demonstration of that fact.