3 o BALKAN WAR 



right), while the 3rd Corps was in reserve in rear of the right. Abdullah Pasha's plan 

 was to remain on the defensive on the left at Lule Burgas, while his right wing, supported 

 it is said, by some troops landed at Midia, took the offensive towards Kirk Kilisse. 



The Bulgarians attacked on the 2Qth with the ist Army, reinforced by 3 brigades 

 from the troops investing Adrianople, against Lule Burgas, and with the 3rd Army against 

 Viza. The Turkish positions in the open country on the left were poorly entrenched; 

 their troops had been for days without food, and ammunition was scarce. From the 

 first their artillery was overwhelmed by the better served guns of the Bulgarians. On 

 the 3ist their left centre (ist Corps) gave way, and on November ist the whole left 

 wing fell back in some disorder to Chorlu, abandoning a great part of its artillery. The 

 3rd Corps in the hilly and wooded ground, on the right flank gained some success on 

 October 3ist, but on November 2nd it too was driven back. The Bulgarians only pur- 

 sued for a short distance, and the Turks retreated slowly towards the Chatalja lines, 

 covered by a cavalry division. This battle ended the first stage of the war in Thrace, 

 which had cost the Turks about 30,000 killed and wounded and at least 20,000 missing. 



F\)r reasons which remained obscure the Bulgarian Army or at any rate its right 

 wing halted on the battlefield till November yth; this delay was concealed at the time, 

 and reports were disseminated in the Press of a vigorous pursuit, and of a second victory 

 near Cherkesskeui. Actually the Turkish rearguard did not leave Chorlu till November 

 6th; on the following day the Bulgarians advanced on both sides of the railway; on the 

 loth/nth their right wing drove the Turks out of Rodosto in spite of the fire of a Turk- 

 ish warship; by the i3th they had pressed the Turks back across the Kara Su. 



The Chatalja lines, in which the Turkish Army was now assembled, were a position 

 of great natural strength extending along a chain of heights across the peninsula from 

 sea to sea, protected on either flank by lakes, and in front by a swampy river valley. 

 The defences consisted of about no works of various dates, armed with heavy guns and 

 providing several tiers of fire. Owing to the absence of pursuit, the Turkish army had 

 largely recovered from its disorganisation, and the arrival of Asiatic reinforcements had 

 to some extent replaced the losses suffered at Lule Burgas. But cholera had broken 

 out and was making ravages among the troops and refugees in rear of the lines. 

 On November iyth the Bulgarians unmasked their batteries and commenced an 

 attack with the ist Army (3 divisions) on the Hamidieh forts west of Hademkeui, and 

 with the 3rd Army (4 divisions) against the Turkish lines south of Lake Derkos. The 

 Bulgarian artillery, consisting chiefly of field batteries, was unable to silence the enemy's 

 fortress guns on the higher ground. The Turkish warships rendered effective assistance 

 on the southern flank. After gaining ground on the night of the i7th/iSth, the attack- 

 ing troops were either withdrawn or driven back across the Kara Su, and the action 

 was broken off by the Bulgarians under cover of an artillery cannonade on the igth. 

 The bulk of the Bulgarian forces was withdrawn west of Chatalja village, and billeted 

 in villages along the railway, covered towards the east by entrenchments about Chilskeui 

 and Kalissakeui. 



Meanwhile, negotiations for an armistice had been commenced at the instance of 

 Turkey. The Allies demanded as guarantees the surrender of the besieged fortresses 

 and the evacuation of the Chatalja position, conditions which the Turks, elated by their 

 success, refused even to consider. Hostilities were resumed on November 2ist, but 

 discussions were again commenced on the 24th, and no serious land fighting took place 

 in this quarter till the signature of the armistice (Dec. 3rd). 



The reports of an intended attack on the Dardanelles led the Turks to assemble 30,- 

 ooo troops in the Gallipoli Peninsula, where Torgut Shefket Pasha was appointed to 

 command. Some Kurdish and Hamidieh cavalry were shipped across the Sea of 

 Marmora to operate in the Kuru Dagh and Tefkur Dagh hills, north of the Peninsula. 



Meanwhile, in the central theatre of war, General Todoroff with the main body of the 

 7th Division had advanced from Demirhissar on Sulonica, reaching that town just after 

 its capitulation to the Greeks. Portions of this army then occupied Kavalla (Nov. 

 1 5th) and Serres (Nov. 2oth). 



