and believing that no help would reach him, Popovici decided to save what was possible by retreating south down the pass. He formed his units into 3 columns, with a center of supply wagons, ambulances, artillery pieces, livestock and trains, with the infantry on the outside. The 44th Infantry Regiment comprised the vanguard. The 23rd Division was ordered to hold the enemy to the north for as long as possible, the same orders being conveyed to the 13th Division by Popovici's Chief of Staff. Around 10:30 pm, with Popovici in the lead, the column headed south. Popovici had given the strictest orders for silence, but once the Alpine Corps spotted the Romanians and put them under fire, his panicked soldiers shouted and cursed at their animals, which bolted. Military police and gendarmes were unable to keep order. In this chaos, infantry columns stopped and waited for hours, while wagon columns galloped south at full speed. At Vöröstorony (Turnu Roșu/Rothenturm), artillery had to be used to blast away a barricade of dead horses and wagons assembled by the Germans. "The cries of the wounded, the machine-gun and rifle fire, the bellowing of the animals and the roaring waters of the Olt all echoed in the narrow passage, adding to the hellishness of the scene.". At 5:30 a.m., the wagon column was halted by machine-gun fire coming from the Lunci Point railway station. The vanguard regiment and two artillery batteries did not succeed in dislodging the Germans. The Romanians offered cash prizes to clear the Germans. After an hour, and only after the Romanians assaulted the buildings and bayoneted to death everyone inside, did the shooting cease. The Romanian column resumed its march south. At 2:30 p.m. on the 29th, Popovici's column staggered out of the pass and into Câineni and safety. For the Romanian infantry, it was a question of infiltrating back by various border paths across the Făgăraș Mountains, east of the Olt River. Relief attempt by the Romanian 2nd Army (28-29 September) As the I Corps remained almost under siege, the leaders of the Romanian Army were compelled to attempt its relief. The 2nd Army - 3 divisions strong at the time - attacked on 28 and 29 September, driving against the flank of the German 9th Army among skillfully retreating German and Austro-Hungarian forces. During the early morning of the 28th, von Schmettow reported that the Romanians had