[1] In late November 1916, Germano-Bulgarian forces under August von Mackensen crossed the Danube near Zimnicea under the cover of fog and began to march on Bucharest.

Relying upon the Russians to contain the fighting elsewhere, the plan entailed using all of the Romanian Army's reserves to launch a flanking attack on the German forces as they crossed the Argeș River, the last natural barrier before Bucharest.

The French sent a military mission to Romania and its commander, Henri Mathias Berthelot, who had been Joseph Joffre's chief of staff during the Battle of the Marne in 1914 felt that the attack could bring a similar success.

[7] The Romanians suffered a considerable setback when a staff car carrying attack plans accidentally drove into a German position and was captured.

[8][10] Heavy rain and terrible roads were the only things that saved the remainder of the Romanian Army, which began to withdraw towards the Siret River and Russia, where the campaign drew to a close in January 1917.