On 21 November, Army Group South and the Austro-Hungarian Tenth Army fought a major battle at Deva. Four days later, on 25 November, the Austro-Hungarian Ninth Army intercepted Army Group North near Sonat, and a major battle ensued.

For a time, the two battles of hundreds of thousands of people attracted everyone's attention, and Eder, as the king of Romania, was of course very concerned about this. Not to mention the current situation of the Romanian army has become very delicate, so at this time, His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff, who is mainly in charge of the war, has been recruited to the palace.

"My Chief of the General Staff, how is the situation of the war now?"

After Prishan rushed to the palace to greet him, Eder asked directly.

In the face of the king's inquiry, he explained. "Your Majesty, the current situation is still within the expectations of our General Staff. The reason for this situation is also expected. ”

Eder could only believe the chief of the general staff's explanation, but he still raised his concerns about the situation. "But the casualties of the troops in this kind of fight will not be small, and now the losses are all the elite soldiers we have trained for many years, and I am afraid that the time will face a rapid decline in the combat effectiveness of the troops."

The main reason is that the elite of President Chiang suffered heavy casualties at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War in World War II, which led to the image of almost collapsing later. So Eder was a little worried about this, and the Romanian army had not yet faced the German army on the Eastern Front, and he was a little afraid that the casualties would be too large to withstand the German attack in the next battle.

In the face of Eder's questioning, Prieshan certainly knew why. The main reason is that the Romanian follow-up mobilization troops have not followed up, but the active standing army has moved too quickly, resulting in a situation in which the Romanian army fights more with less in Transylvania.

In fact, the deep-seated reason is the expression of the military's anxiety about the current enemy on all sides, which also has a lot to do with the Romanian army's combat thinking. Nowadays, the mainstream idea is to keep the enemy from outside the country, and Romania is no exception, so when making plans, try to keep the enemy near the border. Romania's entry into the war was surrounded by enemies, which led to the army's penchant for using its forces to the limit in the execution of operations, which had a lot to do with the lack of domestic troops.

In the face of more than 3 million troops in Austria-Hungary, more than 1 million troops on the German Eastern Front, and 600,000 troops in Bulgaria, Romania's current mobilized troops are only a little more than 1 million. If you don't use your forces to the limit, you will probably not be able to hold it, and then the achievements of Romania's construction in more than ten years will be ruined, which will be unacceptable to the army with the sword of the kingdom. Therefore, whether it is the staff officers who make the plan or the commanders on the front line, they will be accustomed to thinking about using a small number of troops to achieve the maximum results. But for now, it seems that the elite trained for many years can still support the plans of staff officers and commanders.

As the executor of the army, Plieshan of course also knew these reasons, and he could only tell the truth when he was questioned by the king. "Your Majesty, the current battle in Sorat is part of our plan."

Hearing Prishan's words, Eder spoke with great interest. "Go on."

"The whole plan was this, at first we intended to gather the Northern and Central armies to launch an attack on the Austro-Hungarian Ninth Army in order to capture Cluj. Later, we learned that the enemy's Ninth Army had 200,000 men, and our two armies combined were only 250,000, and the advantage in strength was not great. The enemy is on the defensive, and there are many fortifications around Cluj, so the casualties will not be small if our elite soldiers capture it. Moreover, Cluj is connected to Hungary by rail, but if it cannot be captured quickly, it is likely to lead to a war of attrition, which we do not want to see. ”

Hearing this, Eder nodded, with 250,000 troops against the 200,000 troops of the Austro-Hungarian army, even if it did not perform well on the Eastern Front, it was not so easy to defeat the opponent. Not to mention that there is a railway connection to the rear, once it cannot be taken quickly, the Romanian soldiers cannot afford to consume it at all.

Seeing Eder nod in approval, Preshan continued. "Later Lieutenant General Fereit came up with a plan."

Eder's mind immediately came up with the image of a resolute officer who was preoccupied with matters such as officer training and reticent in military meetings after he was promoted.

"Lieutenant General Fereit believes that there will be heavy casualties if we attack Cluj by directly converging the two armies in this way. Moreover, if Austria-Hungary had follow-up army reinforcements, it was very likely to bring defeat, so he thought that the enemy needed to be mobilized. So after consulting with Lieutenant General Andrew, he used the Northern Army he led as a bait to lure the Ninth Army to attack. Then Army Group Center took advantage of the emptiness of its forces to seize it in one fell swoop. In the current battle situation, it seems that Lieutenant General Fereitt's plan is already halfway there. ”

Listen to the words of Prishan and listen to His Majesty the King's heart. However, there are some concerns that Eder, who knows a little about military affairs, points out. "Army Group Center, with a huge force of 100,000 men, it is impossible for the enemy not to pay close attention. And as long as the enemy notices, then it is also very possible to send troops to delay the pace of Army Group Center, and then get out of the battle. ”

Eder's analysis, Presan explained with a smile. "We have anticipated this, so our response is to have Army Group Center draw elite troops and march to Cluj in a stealthy posture, while the rest of the troops continue to reinforce the Sonat."

At this point, Prieshan said a new piece of news. "Our intelligence officers in Cluj found that the enemy had only one division left to defend, which shows that our plan was successful. Now all we need is Army Group Center to send troops directly into Cluj, and we will be able to take wherever we can. ”

Edel was hopeful about the news he had said, and he asked. "So, we'll be able to capture Cluj soon?"

Eder's words made Preshan a little embarrassed. "There are still a few small issues that need to be addressed."

"What's the problem?"

"Yesterday Lieutenant General Andrew sent a telegram that Austrian-Hungarian planes were scouting over them every day, which made him unable to make a move to divide his troops for the time being."

Preshan's words made Eder a little anxious. "Don't you think of a solution?"

Prieshan replied. "We intend to send planes to drive away these Austro-Hungarian flies immediately, but the front-line airfields are not ready."

Preshan's words made Eder care. "Why can't the airport be used?"

"The runway and fuel for the field airfield are ready, mainly aircraft parts and maintenance ground crews are still on the way."

Hearing the question that troubled Prishan, Edel thought of a way to do it in the afterlife. "It is completely possible to let the plane take it directly, the fighter sits in two people, and the bomber carries the accessories first. We need to guarantee that the sky is free of Austro-Hungarian eyes. ”

Eder's suggestion, after returning to the General Staff, immediately arranged for the waiting 3rd Wing of the Romanian Army Aviation to carry out Eder's proposal. As a result, hundreds of planes immediately brought ground support and accessories for transfer, and the field airfield, which had already received the order, immediately arranged for these planes to stop.

When the Austro-Hungarian planes came to reconnoiter the next day, they were immediately intercepted and expelled by the Romanian group. After a disproportionate exchange of fire, the Romanian fighter planes were firmly in control of the skies. Next, it is necessary to see the performance of Army Group Center.