A renewed surprise artillery concentration woke us abruptly before daybreak. Lieutenant Hausser, my adjutant, and I had bivouacked just above a small hollow where some shells burst alongside the pack animals tethered there. The latter broke loose and stampeded over us and out into the night. Shell after shell struck round about us, several just missing us by a hair's breadth. We waited until the fire began to subside before daring to make the short dash to a hollow which offered us better shelter.
The hostile fire soon ceased but this time several men had been wounded by shell fragments and Dr. Lenz had to take care of them. At daybreak I made my way to the battalion command post and, with hot coffee, restored myself from the night's alarms. Toward 0500 we were ordered to move up the south slope of the Ungureana on a level with the 18th Bavarian Reserve Regiment and to continue the attack.
Under strong harassing fire we crossed the west slope of the Ungureana by moving through communication trenches and by dashing from crater to crater. We felt relieved on reaching the less dangerous wooded south-western slope of the mountain. On arrival, I was ordered to take the 1st and 2nd Companies and drive the enemy from the small wooded plateau half a mile south of the Ungureana summit.
First I established contact with the right of the 18th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, which had dug in about a hundred yards up the slope during the preceding evening. Unfortunately I was unable to obtain information as to the location of the Rumanian positions for no reconnaissance had been made in the direction of the small plateau. For the first time I was able to examine the terrain over which I was to advance and I also checked the map thoroughly. A deep ravine lay between us and the plateau and both were covered with trees and dense underbrush.
I sent a sergeant with ten men and a telephone detail out to locate the enemy dispositions and within fifteen minutes had the report that the strong position on the plateau had been abandoned by the enemy. On receipt of this information, I immediately pushed both companies forward by following the telephone wires in single file and seized the abandoned position and prepared it for all-around defence. I had to bear in mind that hostile forces coming from any direction might want to re-occupy the well-built installations. When I reported to Major Sproesser, scarcely thirty minutes had elapsed since the assignment of the mission. (Sketch 23)
The chief activity during the forenoon was a reconnaissance of the nearly trackless forest region toward the south (Ojtoz Valley) and east, which resulted in the capture of two prisoners. We were relieved on the plateau at noon by the Hungarian Honved Infantry coming up from the west. On orders from the battalion, my detachment, now reinforced by the 3rd Company, was to move off northward through the woods to a position on the high ridge a quarter of a mile southeast of Ungureana. We used the same security measures that we had employed in the morning—a strong reconnaissance patrol with a telephone detail. Once there, we again deployed in a hedgehog defensive position with all-around security, since we had no direct contact on either flank and I wished to avoid unpleasant surprises. The enemy was now known to be occupying very strong positions on the main ridge about half a mile east and northeast of Ungureana.
Following a short artillery barrage, these hostile positions were to be assaulted at 1500 and the enemy driven back beyond the bend of the ridge road—the Trasse— which was about one mile east of the Ungureana. The 18th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment was to attack along the line of the ridge with the Wurttemberg Mountain Infantry Battalion just to the south. My unit would also have a place in the front line for the attack.
While the companies rested and ate in the deep gullies to the west, I sent out several reconnaissance squads to scout the positions which would be attacked in the afternoon. Technical Sergeant Pfeiffer with ten men moved out with the southernmost reconnaissance unit to determine whether, where, and in what strength, the enemy was occupying the ridge running south from the bend in the ridge road.
From the nature of the hostile installation on the plateau, located one-half mile south of the Ungureana peak, I concluded that
Sketch 23
Situation on August 9, 1917. View from the south, (a) Seizure of the plateau, (b) Noon rest, (c) Afternoon attack, (d) Evening position, (e) Enemy counterattack, (f) Attack of the 18th Bavarian Infantry and the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion.
The enemy did not have many well-integrated positions on the slopes farther east. It seemed to me very likely that only the installations on the heights and in the valley were both extensive and interconnected, but that any positions found on the slopes themselves would be few and probably isolated. Here, one could expect to find the weak spot in the enemy defence. Here, for enterprising troops, was the way to quick and effective success.
Our reconnaissance to the north reported contact with wired-in positions everywhere, while Pfeiffer, within half an hour of his departure, reported the capture of seventy-five Rumanians and five machine guns. How was this possible? We had not heard a single shot from that direction! On the telephone, Pfeiffer tersely reported: “Enemy surprised taking a break with no watch posted in a ravine six hundred yards southeast of our detachment camp site. We discovered them while going down, attacked them silently with ten riflemen and called on the Rumanians to give up. Unarmed, since they had left their weapons to one side, they had no choice but to surrender, willy-nilly, to our ten men.”
I reported Pfeiffer's success to Major Sproesser and suggested that I take my units and break through the non-integrated enemy positions on the southern slope at the same time the frontal attack was being launched against the crest. I further suggested that if a breakthrough could be achieved, we might try a surprise push against the ridge at the road bend which would put us in the rear of the hostile positions one half mile east of Ungureana. This could force the enemy to evacuate his entire defensive line between Ungureana and the ridge road bend. Major Sproesser passed the proposal on to brigade and shortly thereafter I was ordered to carry out the proposed attack against the positions on the slope with the 2nd and 3rd Companies. Unfortunately I was not given any heavy machine guns.
Soon the unit marched silently down Pfeiffer's telephone line with his squad acting as advance guard. He had failed to locate any other enemy forces. We descended toward the valley and passed through a heavy forest of deciduous trees and thick underbrush. The slope was steep and I was obliged to follow Pfeiffer who led us down into the Ojtoz valley at a sacrifice of twelve hundred feet of elevation.
We were barely a hundred yards from the Ojtoz valley road when I caught up with Pfeiffer and ordered him to start climbing toward the ridge road bend in a north-easterly direction. With Lieutenant Hausser and a few runners I went forward close behind the point. Soon it became apparent that something was wrong, and I hurried forward. In a less dense part of the forest Pfeiffer pointed to some Rumanian sentries about two hundred yards away behind whom we could see the Rumanian positions. The enemy was directing his attention to the open terrain on both sides of the valley road. We left them undisturbed and climbed up a narrow path leading through the thickly wooded, steep, west slope in the direction of the ridge road bend.
It was quite obvious that we would run into the Rumanian positions during our climb, and I therefore ordered the advance guard to take cover as soon as contact with the enemy had been made and to protect the advance of the remainder of the unit. The advance guard was prohibited from opening fire unless attacked by the enemy. My idea was to deceive the Rumanians and let them believe that they had run into a reconnaissance detachment thereby gaining time to complete the ascent and prepare for the attack. By following these precautions I hoped to surprise the Rumanians.
Five hundred feet above the floor of the valley the advance guard was fired on from a position farther up the slope and, as per order, took cover without returning the fire. I quickly disposed the unit for attack with the 3rd Company on the right and the 2nd Company on the left. The thick underbrush made it possible to complete our preparations unbeknownst to the enemy. My attack order was:
—Second Company attacks astride the narrow footpath. The attack is a feint and must deceive the enemy and pin him down by means of rifle fire and hand grenades. Make full use of cover to avoid casualties. Direction of attack is up the west side of the slope. Simultaneously the 3rd Company envelops the hostile positions from the right. I will be with the 3rd Company.”
Some Rumanian reconnaissance detachments found their way into our assembly area and forced us to action before we had completed our preparations. They were repulsed and I immediately ordered the 2nd Company to attack. The company encountered an occupied position 150 feet up the slope. During the ensuing fire and the hand-grenade battle, the 3rd Company and I climbed some three hundred feet to the east passing through thick brush and reached the enemy flank without meeting any opposition. The enemy was in platoon strength and his attention was focused on the frontal fire fight. Our attack forced him to evacuate his position and retire up the slope. We were unable to pursue because of the dense forest terrain, the limited visibility, and the fact that a further advance would have brought us into the 2nd Company's field of fire. Therefore I halted the 3rd Company.
The 2nd Company continued to press the retreating enemy repeating its former tactics wherever it met increased resistance. The 3rd Company did likewise, and the retreating foe scarcely had time to halt and turn before he was driven to ground by the rifle fire and hand grenades of the 2nd Company. These renewed outbursts were signals to the 3rd Company to start another envelopment on the right. This type of combat under a burning August sun called for tremendous exertions on the part of the troops who had to contend with their heavy packs as well as with the steep slope. Several men collapsed from exhaustion.
We drove the enemy from five successive positions each one stronger than its predecessor until Lieutenant Hausser and I together with ten or twelve men were the only ones left in pursuit of the enemy. Steady shooting, shouting and hand grenades thrown to one side so that we might avoid their fragments as we charged forward kept the Rumanians on the run as they retreated through the undergrowth. In this way we succeeded in driving them back through a developed and apparently continuous position secured by obstacles, and prevented them from making a stand.
The woods beyond the position were less dense and the hillside while still leading upwards became less steep. We reached a forest clearing bordered on the right by long grassy slopes across which we saw two enemy companies retreating in a north-easterly direction towards the crest of the ridge. Over on the right a Rumanian mountain battery with its pack animals was displacing to the rear, trying to reach safety quickly. We opened fire rapidly from the thickets on the retreating enemy, who, fortunately, was not able to estimate our numbers. When the enemy had disappeared in the nearby woods and in the folds of the terrain, I ordered Lieutenant Hausser to continue the pursuit with all the available men.
As our mountain troops advanced from the edge of the woods, a Rumanian mountain battery on our left flank, located a quarter of a mile away at the northwest corner of the clearing opened up on us with canister and sent a hail of balls crashing through the woods. We took cover behind large beech trees. Shortly afterward the first of the 2nd and 3rd Companies came gasping breathlessly up the slope and I moved them to the right into a hollow which offered cover. (Sketch 24)
We were only about half a mile from our attack objective, the crest-line near the ridge road bend. The enemy's precipitous retreat called for a continuation of the attack regardless of the troop's exhaustion. Sounds of heavy combat had been coming from the Ungureana for some time. The attack of the Bavarians and the other units of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion seemed to be making progress.
Our further advance toward the crest was barred by rifle and machine-gun fire. Even these few moments of respite had given the hostile leaders an opportunity to get their troops in hand and to form a new front.
I was handicapped by not having a single machine gun in either company. By taking skilful advantage of the smallest irregularities of the terrain, we succeeded in moving closer and closer to the crest and to the enemy, who seemed to be well aware of the importance of his position. Anyone who showed himself drew an immediate burst of rifle and machine-gun fire. In this manner Technical Sergeant Buttler received an abdominal wound while observing close beside me.
Twilight began to favour our progress. Shortly before the fall of darkness the Rommel detachment occupied the heights just west
Sketch 24
Evening attack of August 9, 1917. View from the south.
Of the Rumanian crest position, which hitherto had given us so much trouble. Elements of my outfit occupied a small saddle seventy yards from the Rumanian machine gun muzzles but in defilade from them. Here my riflemen deployed themselves on a front facing north and east. Other elements secured the adjacent oak woods on the west where they had the enemy to the north and west.
Of course Rumanian counterattacks tried to drive us from the height, but lively carbine fire forced the attackers back to their starting positions. Since we had pushed a wedge across the ridge road, contact between the Rumanians in positions east and west of us had been broken. The wire line to the battalion, laid with so much effort during the advance and fighting had been cut and I was obliged to use pyrotechnic signals to announce our arrival at the objective to the battalion.
The detachment was silently reorganized in the darkness and we dug in deployed as a hedgehog, since we could expect counterattacks from any direction. I kept a platoon at my disposal in the oak woods close to my command post. We pushed combat outposts forward wherever the situation permitted.
We had no contact with the battalion. Apparently the frontal attack in the afternoon failed to achieve the desired result. Between the ridge road bend (we were about 550 yards east of it) and Ungureana, lively fighting continued to rage. Consequently we were about eleven hundred yards behind the hostile front.
In a pup tent I dictated my combat report to Lieutenant Hausser by the glow of a flashlight. Lights could not be shown anywhere without drawing immediate fire. Meanwhile the mountain soldiers performed an especially valiant deed. Lance Corporal Schummacher (2nd Company) and a comrade carried the seriously wounded Technical Sergeant Buttler in a shelter half down to the Ojtoz valley (1100 feet difference in elevation). From there they carried their sergeant during the night to Sosmezo to a doctor who operated immediately and thus saved his life. In the dark night and considering the difficulties of the terrain and the length of the trip (eight miles as the crow flies) this was a tremendous accomplishment, a splendid example of soldierly fidelity.
Before the report was finished, I was relieved of the heavy worry regarding the situation at daybreak on August 10, for a reconnaissance detachment sent out in a westerly direction had made contact with elements of the 18th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. The latter, supported by artillery, had attacked frontally in the afternoon with the other elements of the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion, but had been unable to make much headway against the enemy, who defended his positions most tenaciously. Then, through the noise of fighting and later by the light signals, the success of the attack by the Rommel detachment had become clear to friend and foe. To avoid being cut off, the Rumanian had evacuated his positions between Ungureana and the ridge road bend under cover of darkness and had retired in a north-easterly direction toward the slopes leading down to the Slanic valley.
Before midnight the combat report was sent by runner to the battalion on the Ungureana. At the same time I ordered a new wire line to be laid. The night was cool, and I was so cold in my sweat-soaked clothes that I got up at 0200 and moved about to keep warm.
With Lieutenant Hausser I went to the front line and reconnoitred the hostile position, which lay opposite us to the east on a small wooded height (in the so-called oak copse) about ninety yards away.
Since I had forbidden unnecessary shooting because of the supply difficulties, the enemy was most incautious. His sentries marched their posts as if under the most peaceful conditions and were most conspicuous against the eastern horizon, which was becoming lighter. It would have been simple to shoot them but I wished to defer this to a later time. When it became fully light, we could see that the Rumanians to the east were holding a broad front with a nearly continuous line of positions running from Petrei peak through the oak copse toward the north.
Observations: The fire attack of the Rumanian artillery in the night of August 8 and 9 in the area where the Rommel detachment lay in reserve caused a few losses. These losses would have been reduced had the troops dug in.
On August 9, combat reconnaissance by scout squads behind which telephone lines were laid proved excellent in the wood-covered mountains. I could call the scout squads at any time during the advance, get information in a few minutes, could give new orders or recall a part of the squads, or could by moving along the telephone line of the successful scout squad, quickly advance and occupy the position with my main body. The runner system, usually timeconsuming in the mountains, was avoided. A preliminary condition, to be sure, was an abundant supply of telephone equipment.
In the difficult attack in the forest up the steep slope, the enemy, located in a higher position, was deceived as to our main attack by a lively fire, shouting and hand grenades, and was induced to dispose his reserves incorrectly. The thrust by the 3rd Company against the flank and rear then led to a quick success. In the same way five such positions were taken one after another, though the final garrison was two companies strong. The attacks followed each
Other so quickly that the enemy had no time for regrouping.
In spite of the enemy's superiority in number and armament—the Rumanians had numerous machine guns and mountain guns at their disposal— the Rommel detachment, by taking advantage of the smallest irregularity of the terrain, succeeded in capturing and defending the crest of the heights eleven hundred yards behind the hostile front. The enemy was thus compelled to vacate his positions opposite the 18th Reserve Infantry Regiment and the Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion during the night.
After a successful attack the Rommel detachment dug in quickly with allaround security. Without having dug in it would have suffered heavy losses from hostile fire and from the enemy counterattacks. Our losses were 2 dead, J severely wounded, 10 slightly wounded.
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