The news of Romania's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary reached all the Austro-Hungarian top brass two hours after the declaration was filed, and that night it spread throughout Europe.

On the side of the Entente, Britain and France proclaimed the continuation of Romania's entry into the war the next day, and even the Times, which was known for its impartiality and rigor, sang the praises of Romania. Praise Romania for its social harmony, economic prosperity, and people's enthusiasm, and for a time Romania seemed to become a beacon of European social civilization.

For the Allies, especially the Kaiser, the news made him break two of his most beloved crystal cups. Eder's brother-in-law, Karl I, was furious in the palace, and some guards circulated that Karl I associated bad words such as King Edel I of Romania and bitch and prostitute that night. It's hard to believe that being a monarch would say such a thing.

Later that day, Karl I summoned his military ministers at the royal palace to discuss the response to the declaration of war by Romania and Austria-Hungary. The result of the unanimous deliberation was that the Austro-Hungarian army, which was already in Transylvania, immediately set up a defense and hastened the mobilization of the still Russian troops. In order to prevent the thirst of the distant water from quenching the near thirst, and at the same time, the 9th Army (120,000 men), which is still repairing in Budapest, should immediately stop repairing and replenish weapons and ammunition and transfer them to Transylvania.

In addition to military preparations, Austria-Hungary decided to impose martial law in Transylvania in order to prevent the local Romanians from acting as the leading party. Gatherings of ethnic Romanians should not exceed five people, and the Government would confiscate weapons in their possession in the name of security.

It needs to be said here that because of the dissatisfaction with the previous Austro-Hungarian army's inclination towards Germany, and in order to eliminate German influence in Austria-Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl I personally served as the chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff. In Europe, the monarch's appointment as chief of the general staff was also a pioneering achievement, and Austria-Hungary was at the forefront of the world.

However, the outcome of the discussions between Austria-Hungary and Yu that night was overturned the next day.

"Damn, can't your military do anything right, look at the judgment you make. Romania still needed at least three months to prepare, and a month later we received a declaration of war, and yesterday you told me that Taransylvania was impregnable, but now the main passes were in the hands of the Romanians, and a steady stream of their soldiers had set foot on Austro-Hungarian soil. Archduke Friedrich, can you give me an explanation? ”

In the palace Karl I was furious. After receiving the news of the raid of Romania on the night of the declaration of war, Karl I was not well. He feels that he has been fooled by his brother-in-law Edel, which Carl cannot accept. And he concurrently served as the chief of the General Staff, but he could not scold himself, so Field Marshal Friedrich, who had a good temper and did not abuse his power, became his punching bag.

And the Grand Duke Friedrich, who was reprimanded by him, was silent. As the nephew of Archduke Albrecht, the last commander of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Friedrich admired his uncle from an early age, and after the death of Archduke Albrecht, he was trusted by Emperor Franz Joseph I. After the outbreak of World War I he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian army, and on 8 December he was promoted to field marshal. He was basically a nominal supreme commander. He was smart not to interfere in the specific affairs of the army, and the real power of the army was in the hands of the chief of the general staff, Conrad, until February of this year, when Karl I actually took control of the army.

"Your Majesty, it seems that we have made a mistake in judgment at the moment, but we will soon make up for it. We will speed up the redeployment of troops from newly acquired lieves, and we will also bring to Transylvania the armies that are still being repaired in the country. ”

Archduke Friedrich wisely gave the step in the face of Karl I's anger, which is one of the reasons why he was trusted by the Habsburgs.

However, Archduke Friedrich's words made Karl I frown. "Will this affect the preparations of the Italian side?"

In the face of the emperor's inquiry, Archduke Friedrich knew at the time that the emperor was referring to the fear of affecting the Italian front, so he spoke after careful consideration. "There will be some repercussions."

Hearing that it was going to affect the Italian battlefield, Karl I, who was no longer carried away by his anger, thought about it. "Then minimize the impact."

What made the two Austro-Hungarian high-ranking officials extremely concerned about the Italian battlefield was caused by Eder's butterfly. Russia's early exit from the war gave Austria-Hungary and Germany more time to move their forces away from the already calm Eastern Front.

Vienna had few other options as to how to use these forces, and looking around, only Italy was worthy of the Austro-Hungarian army. So in September, the Austro-Hungarian military began to prepare for an offensive against Italy. It was intended to use the troops mobilized from the Eastern Front to launch an attack in an effort to drive Italy out of the war.

Therefore, even if Romania had declared war on Austria-Hungary, in Karl's view, it was still possible to defeat Italy in order to give Austria-Hungary a temporary respite. Therefore, he was extremely reluctant to use his precious troops to the Romanian front, giving the Italian army, which had been repeatedly defeated in the hands of Austria-Hungary, a respite.

"But will this make Romania presumptuous, and may cause the local Romanian people to have thoughts that they shouldn't have."

In the face of Archduke Friedrich's concerns, Karl I spoke pointedly. "We are under attack, is it to ask our allies for help. And now that there is no war on the Eastern Front, it is relevant to ask Berlin for help. ”

Hearing the words of the emperor, Archduke Friedrich felt that His Majesty had changed a lot recently, and you must know that when he succeeded to the throne last year, the emperor was not satisfied with Germany's criticism of Austria-Hungary, and would rather replace the chief of the general staff, General Conrad, but also ensure the power of the Habsburgs in the army, and would not ask for help from the German army unless absolutely necessary. It's not a fight yet, so let's call for reinforcements first.

This, of course, also has to do with the experience of Karl I. At first, the new emperor thought that he would be able to withdraw from the war with a separate peace negotiation, which had caused heavy casualties to Austria-Hungary. But Britain and France categorically rejected Carr's hopes for peace talks, so the young Austro-Hungarian emperor knew that Britain and France would not let Austria-Hungary go. Of course, the Habsburgs, as their royal family, could not let the Entente go. So now he is fighting to protect his family and country, there is no peace talks, he either wins or loses the war, and now he has no choice.

In the afternoon of the same day, a telegram from Austria-Hungary for help was sent to Berlin, and this time Austria-Hungary asked for reinforcements in a rather small tone, directly saying that it needed 200,000 reinforcements. It was accompanied by a telegram demanding that Germany fulfill its obligations to declare war on Romania.

Soon because of these two telegrams, the Kaiser called a meeting of government officials and the military to discuss.

After everyone had read the two telegrams, Wilhelm II asked. "On the issue of declaring war on Romania, no one else has any other opinions, right?"

Everyone present had no opinion, out of affection for Austria-Hungary and the betrayal of Romania (which the Kaiser considered to be a betrayal), no one would disagree with the declaration of war, and the reason why war was not declared at the first time was because there were many things that had not yet been concluded.

Seeing that the simplest telegram had been perfectly resolved, Wilhelm II inquired again. "And what about Austria-Hungary's request for reinforcements?"

As soon as the Kaiser's words fell, Quartermaster Ludendorff spoke. "Your Majesty, now we need to prepare for the offensive on the Western Front in the coming year, and we really can't draw many troops to help the Austrians, and at most we can draw about 30,000 people from two divisions."

In addition to preparing for a new offensive against France after the New Year, Austria-Hungary's various small actions were also one of the factors. Now that the Austro-Hungarian army has not officially fought and asked him to send reinforcements, isn't it disgusting to him?

However, Ludendorff's remarks aroused opposition from the government, especially Foreign Minister Zolf, who spoke at the beginning of Ludendorff's words. "Your Excellency, I do not agree with you. Austria-Hungary, as an ally, and in the face of an attack by Romania, we cannot but help it. And we have also helped Austria-Hungary before, and the number of 30,000 troops is too small, so it is better not to send reinforcements. ”

"It's better not to send that."

"Alright, let's stop arguing."

Seeing that Ludendorff was about to fight with Zolf, the Kaiser stood up at this time. He looked at Hindenburg and spoke. "Chief of the General Staff, how many troops should be sent to reinforce Austria-Hungary."

Hindenburg, named by the Kaiser, came up with a new idea. "Now it seems necessary to send a sufficient number of reinforcements to help Austria-Hungary attack Romania. However, I don't think it is necessary to send them to Austria-Hungary to help them. ”

"Marshal, if you have any ideas, please tell me."

Hindenburg's idea of what he was thinking was becoming clearer, he began. "We can flank Romania from the Ukrainian side and achieve the measure of pinning down the Romanian army."

"Will this make Austria-Hungary unhappy with us?"

Hindenburg explained. "No, Austria-Hungary is asking for reinforcements to relieve the pressure on their army, and it seems that they do not want to delay preparations for Italy, so we will be able to do so. We can completely find a way to deal with the troops currently stationed on the Eastern Front, and we will not delay our operational plans on the Western Front at all. ”

That's when Prime Minister Hadlin sounded another concern. "Will this cause the Russian government to repent?"

Faced with the Prime Minister's inquiry, Hindenburg explained. "This is not at all, these people in the Soviet and Russian regimes do not dare to turn against us now, and they will abide by the terms they signed in an orderly manner, because there are too many opponents in Russia."

In the end, after discussion, Germany replied to Austria-Hungary that they would send 240,000 troops under the command of Mackensen, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, to flank Romanian Moldova in order to contain its army, and cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian army's plan to capture Romania.

Although the plan was quite good, it required twenty days of preparation because the scattered German troops needed to regroup and replenish their ammunition.