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.

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