However, following the Romanian defeat in the Dobruja, the 2nd and 12th divisions were transferred to the south. The transfer of Culcer's two divisions started before 9 September. On the 9th, Major Radu R. Rosetti from the Romanian headquarters stated to General Andrei Zayonchkovski - the Russian commander in Dobruja - that the 2nd and 12th Divisions "were coming from Transylvania". The remaining 11th Division in the Petrozsény sector was commanded by General Ioan Muică. Culcer also involved himself more directly in local operations by sending the command of the I Corps - the group of Romanian 1st Army divisions operating in Transylvania - to Nagytalmács (Tălmaciu/Talmesch), to direct the operations of the two divisions located there. Initially, the I Corps directed operations in both the area around Petrozsény (Jiu Valley) and the area around Nagytalmács (Olt Valley). General Ioan Popovici, commander of the I Corps, arrived in Nagytalmács along with his staff on 16 September. The three divisions of the German 9th Army concentrating at Szászsebes (Sebeș/Mühlbach) could be enveloped by the Romanians from the region of the two mountain passes, and - according to German planning - this was the possibility to be dealt with first. The German-led Central Powers force disposed of an exceedingly strong concentration of howitzers and mountain guns, amounting to an overwhelming superiority in artillery. The task of throwing back the Romanian forces in the area over the frontier was accomplished between 14 and 22 September (Battle of Nagybár and First Battle of Petrozsény). On 21 September, a Berlin dispatch announced that the Vulcan Pass was taken by German forces. However, on the following day, the Romanians were still fighting at this point. On 22 September, the two German battalions remaining in the area stormed the Vulcan Pass. The remainder of the German forces were shifted to another sector of the Transylvanian front. This shifting of forces began during the night of 22-23 September, as the Germans appeared to have imagined that they had finished off their opponents. The Central Powers force left behind to mask the Vulcan and Szurdok passes thus remained mostly Austro-Hungarian, consisting of the 144th Brigade reinforced by two German battalions and two batteries.