Following the failure of the offensive and due to the Central Powers counterattack, which led to the occupation of most of the country's territory, the Second Army, along with the remnants of other Romanian military units, were forced to retreat into the region of Moldavia, the only Romanian territory unoccupied by enemy forces.

The Second Army, among other units, underwent a process of reorganization and modernization in the winter of 1916–1917 as part of French General Henri Berthelot's mission to revitalize the exhausted and decimated Romanian military.

[3] The Central Powers advance towards Moldavia was hampered by bad weather and poor infrastructure and as a result hostilities were only resumed in the summer of 1917.

Field Marshal von Mackensen launched a counterattack on 6 August 1917, which led to the Battle of Mărășești; the Romanians managed to resist against repeated German attacks until 8 September, when both sides ran out of fresh units.

The motto of the Romanian Army during the battle was "Pe aicea nu se trece" (English: "You shall not pass").

[7] In June 1947, the Second Army was once again disbanded and units formerly under its command were transferred to the newly formed 2nd Military Region, headquartered at Bucharest.