ad carriage going eastward was
crowded to full capacity.

CHAPTER XXXII

BUCHAREST FALLS

On December 6, 1916, the German War Office announced the entry of
Teutonic troops into the Rumanian capital, and what was more important
still from a military point of view, the capture of Ploechti, an
important railroad junction thirty-five miles northwest of Bucharest,
famous for its oil wells and therefore of great value to the
Austro-Germans. As developed later, however, these wells were
destroyed by the retreating Rumanians, and for some time to come, at
least, rendered almost useless.

Whatever the value of Bucharest from a military point of view, there
can be no doubt that its capture was a heavy blow to the Allies. With
it went one-half of Rumania. The mightiest efforts of Russia had been
unable to save the kingdom from the hands of the invaders. Thereby she
had been forced to confess a certain degree of weakness. Nor had
Sarrail in Macedonia been able to divert the activities of the
Bulgarians from Dobrudja to any serious extent. This too constituted a
second confession of weakness.

Indeed the activities, or lack of activities, on the part of the
Allies in Macedonia, in spite of the capture of Monastir, had been
even more disappointing than the inability of the Russians to save
Rumania.

But the disaster to the cause of the Allies was more apparent than
real. As has been demonstrated on the Russian front more than once
during this war, the capture of territory alone has very little
influence on the final result of a campaign. It is not enough to
defeat an enemy; his forces must be destroyed, eliminated, wholly or
in part, and this can only be accomplished by the capture of his
forces. Though the Germans claimed that the Rumanians had lost 100,000
men to them as prisoners, an obvious exaggeration, the Rumanian
fighting forces remained comparatively intact after the fall of
Bucharest. The best of the Rumanian troops undoubtedly remained, for
by this time they were becoming seasoned veterans.

Having taken Bucharest, the German rush noticeably subsided; it lost
its force. This was in part due to the bad weather conditions which
now set in and lasted a week; rain fell in the plains in torrents and
made the passage of troops, and especially of artillery, very
difficult, even impossible. No doubt this also hindered the retreat of
the Rumanians, but the advantage was on their side.

On the 18th it was reporte