 Falkenhayn initially wanted to commence the assault on 5 November, but the "substantial setback" inflicted by the Romanians during the first battle in the region caused the starting date of the operation to be changed to 11 November.The Romanians had blocked Falkenhayn's assaults in the Carpathians for more than two weeks, made him pause for another two, before finally achieving a breakthrough on the Western flank of the front in almost one more week.In total, it took Falkenhayn from 12 October to 17 November (36 days) to achieve a breakthrough.