atches, it is to execute some of
the most brilliant moves that have yet been made during the entire
war.

CHAPTER XXX

THE RUMANIANS PRESSED BACK

Meanwhile hard fighting had been going on on the Transylvanian front,
one day favoring one side and on the next day favoring the other. On
November 5, 1916, the Germans regained Rosca heights, which the
Rumanians had taken on the 3d. On the 7th the Russians were pressing
the Germans hard below Dorna Vatra, while southeast of Red Tower Pass
and near the Vulkan Pass the Rumanians suffered reverses, losing a
thousand men as prisoners, according to the Vienna and Berlin
dispatches. But before another week had passed it became evident that
the Teutons were gaining, whether because of superior artillery, or
because the Rumanians had weakened this front for the sake of the
Dobrudja offensive. For each step the Teutons fell back they advanced
two. Not unlike a skillful boxer Falkenhayn feinted at one point, then
struck hard at another unexpectedly. Without doubt skill and superior
knowledge, as well as superior organization, were on the side of the
invaders. By the middle of the month the Rumanians were being forced
back, both in the Alt and the Jiul valleys, facts which could not be
hidden by the dispatches from Bucharest announcing the capture of a
machine gun at one point or a few dozen prisoners at another. A few
days later the London papers were commenting on the extremely
dangerous situation in Rumania.

The Teutons had been pushing especially hard against the extreme left
of the Rumanian line in western Wallachia. On the 15th, after a week
of continuous hammering, the Austro-Germans forced their way down from
the summits after battering down the permanent frontier fortifications
with their heavy mortars. Pushed down into the foothills, the
Rumanians, who were now being reenforced by Russian forces, decided to
make a stand on the range of hills running east and west and lying
south of Turgujiulij, the first important town south of the mountains.
Foggy weather favored the Russo-Rumanians and enabled them to take up
a strong position at this point before being observed by the Germans.
The latter began launching a series of assaults. For three days these
frontal attacks were continued. Finally numbers told; the Rumanian
center was broken. Then the German cavalry, which had been held in
reserve, hurled itself through the breach and raced down through the
valley toward