The second area targeted by the Germans was that South of the Bran Pass (, ). General Curt von Morgen's I Reserve Corps operated in the region. The defenders consisted in the 12th and 21st Divisions of the Romanian 1st Army, at the time commanded by General Nicolae Petala. Although the Pass itself was cleared on 12 October, the town of Câmpulung and the heights beyond it also had to be captured in order to achieve a breakthrough. Although Rucăr was captured on 14 October by the 8th Austro-Hungarian Mountain Brigade, further efforts to press on faltered at Dragoslavele. The Romanians repulsed an attack on the 26th and counterattacked on the 27th, taking 300 prisoners. Having retaken the initiative in this sector of the front, the Romanians pressed on their attack and - on the following day (28 October) - recaptured the village of Lerești. The village had been taken by the Central Powers a short while prior. Von Morgen argued that much more of the Romanian Army could have been captured if a breakthrough would have been achieved at Câmpulung. He insisted that this would have achieved "a real victory, a Cannae, a Tannenberg".