GEN SARRAIL'S ATTACK ON THE BULGARS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 281, 25 November 1915, Page 5

GEN SARRAIL'S ATTACK ON THE BULGARS.

ENERGETIC OFFENSIVE AGAINST HEAVY ODDS. ' DESPERATE BATTLE ON THE CERNA RIVER. Climes and Sydney Sun Services.) LONDON, November 24. Writing from Salonika, Mr. Ward Price, the wax correspondent, cays:— "The French are the only allied troops who have so far been in action. The engagements indicate the energy of General Sarrail, commander of the expedition, in grappling with an eleventh hour situation. Subordinate generals hesitated to attack boldly a superior enemy in difficult country with special handicaps, without waiting for the -whole force to be transported up country. General Sarrail immediately took the offensive, aiming at helping the Serbians and forging a way through Babuna Pass, near Prilip. At one timo the French troops were within ten miles of effecting a junction with the Serbians, but circumstances prevented this. "The Balkan campaign hangs on a single line of railway, grass-tracked, parallel to the Vardar River. Whoever possesses this line will be able to stop access to Central Macedonia. General Sarrail's first act was to seize this point. The French have established a ilrong bridgehead on the east side of the Vardar, but there is another weak point higher up the line. HAZARDOUS MARCHING AMID THE MOUNTAINS. The French effort to join up with the Serbians in the most difficult country, meant hazardous marching over slender wooden bridges in mountain denies, which were the sole line of retreat. Finally they were able to attack the Bulgarians entrenched in positions in the mountains parallel to the Cernn River, which formed a gap" at Babuna Pass, where the Serbians were holding the main Bulgarian army. Thero was a desperate battle. The French were three times outnumbered, and the Bulgarians were constantly sending forward reinforcements, and had splendid artillery positions. The French attack failed to carry the key to the position because of lack of reinforcements." Writing in the London "Daily Chronicle," Mr. Benwick describes a visit to the French front. He says: "The mountains at night presented a weird spectacle, fires dotting the hilltops and eearchlignts sweeping the valley approaches. I visited Hill '160,' the key to the important Hill '516.* The lower eminence was pock-marked with shell holes, and shrapnel bullets could be gathered in cart-loads. Hundreds of abandoned rifles were lying on the hill. From the trenches I got a good view of the Bulgarian lines near the villages of Kosturino and Islis. There are daily duels between snipers in trees, and at other points of vantage there are fierce combats. FRENCH SEIZE AN IMPORTANT BRIDGEHEAD. "The Rayhsehcke, a tributary of the Cerna, marked the farthest point of the French advance. The French hold a strong position on the important bridgehead at Foysarts. This is the controlling point of communication between the French positions on the Apohangel Heifhts, facing Gradsko, on the NishSalonika railway. It also dominates the route to Kuprili. "The enemy attacked the Frewh position. I distinguished the whereabouts of the artillery by the smoke rising from the hillsides. Then ■ the French infantry advanced with rifles and machine-guns. It was slow work, but eventually the top was reached. Then there was a brief but fierce bayonet encounter, and the enemy was dislodged."