THE BALKANS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15449, 30 November 1915, Page 7

THE BALKANS.

THE INVASION OF

SERBIA.

UNCONQUERABLE

SPIRIT OF SERBIA AND

MONTENEGRO

(Received November 30th, 12.15 a.m.) ROME, November 29.

COMPREHENSIVE GERMAN i ..". - CLAIMS. . FIRST AIM ACHIEVED. OVER 100,000 SERBIANS CAPTURED. By Ctble.—Prm Aawcutlon,—Copyright.) (Received November 29th, 8.5 p.m.) AMSTERDAM, November 28. An official communique eays:— "Wo occpj'ed Rudnik, south-west of ;•] Mitrpvitea, capturing 2700 Serbians. [,•• "Oar main have now closed. With the flight of the meagre remnant of tho Serbian Army to tho Albanian, mountains, our first aim—to open communication with Turkey via -' Bulgaria—is achieved. "Over 100,000 Serbians havo been captured, while tho German losses are moderate." ?HB AUSTRIAN STATEMENT. MANY PRISONERS TAKEN. AMSTERDAM. November 28. Ad Austrian communique says:— "Knee the occupation of Mitrovitza , 11,000 Serbian soldiers havo been brought in, and also 3500 civilians who we liable for service." SERBIANS FORCED TO RETIRE. ; SALONIKA, November 28. He Anstro-Gcrman advance has comprfHsd tho Serbians to relinquish their " offensive in the Kachauik and TJskub districts. Their only hopo of junctwning with tho Anglo-French forces bow is via tho Dibra heights. . Tie Serbian force, which was victoni--004 at Leskovatz has been obliged to abandon tho ground conquered, and is ■• ••mating under difficulties. On tho JKoer hand, tho Monastir detachment Msprpgrcssed towards Prilop. . Thß Bulgarians at Fskub aro awaitiig Aostro-German reinforcements. • .DESPERATE FIGHTING AT KOSSOVO. V HEAVY BULGARIAN LOSSES. (Received November 29th, 11.5 p.m.) ROME. November 29. The battle at Kossovo continues. Tho Bulgarian losses are colossal. Fugi*jra affirm that thirty thousand wounded hav e reached Sofia. King Peter, despite his grave illness, ' *N«8 on going into tho fighting line. ««has.several times declared that he • *«1 die by hi 3 own hand. All the s Ne archives have been burned. fresh strugrJo for the possession , *ATttshevo has beguu. The Bulgarians ««e been reinforced, and are attacking "<8 harassed Serbians. FRENCH ARTILLERY AT -MONASTIR. (Received November 29th. 11.0 p.m.) ! SALONICA, November 29. j German cavalry Im* appeared before _ Teles. Advices from Monastir on Thursday "«ed that the .situation had improved. F °nr thousand recruits had joined the S*"T«m. and a French battery had nrn*ed, and was co-operating with tho •'ttrbians in the direction of Prilop. RAILWAY TUNNELS DESTROYED. j RAPID REPAIRS IMPOSSIBLE, i (Received November 29th. 8.0 p.m.) PARIS, November 23. I Tbo Serbian Minister states that ail l ae tunnels, of which there are many, on «w railway line from Nish to the Bul- . SMian frontier have been destroyed, *°d tho lino cannot be repaired rapidly.

The Milan newspaper "Sccolo" states that M. Pasiteh, Premier of Serbia, communicated Marshal von Mnckensen's peace overtures to tho Cabinot, saying:—"Our way is marked out. Wc will be true to the Entente, and die honourably." It is understood that Marshal von I Mackensen made similar overtures to Montenegro. King Nicholas replied offering to send his army to die with tho Serbians at 'Kossovo. CETTNJE, November 29. King Nicholas, in a proclamation, exhorts his people to remain calm in face of the danger threatening Montenegro. Ho says:—"Tho Serbians have "been foroed to withdraw to the Montenegrin mountains, where the forces of both "kingdoms will fight valiantly from mountain to mountain." MONTENEGRO THREATENED. THE ENEMY RECONNOITRING. ROME, November 23. A Montenegrin communique says:— "The enemy is busy reconnoitring, but is concealing the direction of his main action, for which ho has been preparing for some days." AMSTERDAM, November 28. The German newspapers state that tho Austro-Germans will soon undertake tho vigorous conquest of Montenegro. It is anticipated that Montenegro will soon be without ammunition. THE ALLIES' CAMPAIGN. FRENCH FORCES WITHDRAW. ACROSS THE TCHERNA. PARIS, November 28. A communique says: — "Our aviators bombed Bulgarian encampments at Strumnitza village, and also at Ishtip. / j "In view of tho present situation of the Serbian armies our troops on tho ' left bank of the Tcherna river havo been withdrawn to the right bank. The transfer was accomplished without difficult." PARIS, November 28. The "Journal" says that tho Bulgarians have abandoned the attempt upon Monastir in order to concentrate their efforts on the, Lower Tcherna, towards Vardar. agfiinst tho French, who menaco large Bulgarian forces. The -'Petit Parisicn" states that Bulgarian attacks on the British at Valandovo melted under the fire of tho British batteries. (Received November 29th, 11. 5 p.m.) LONDON. November 2P. The Paris correspondent of "The Times" says the British have taken over tho Doiran-Kutchorino section of tho Allies' lino, from til© French. The Serbians are concentrating in the Kossovo region.

THE ALLIES' POSITION

(Received November 29th, 5.10 p.m.) LONDON, November 2S.

Mr Ward Price, writing from Salonica, says the British troops aro now in the first line, face to face with the enemy, in country as different from the polder* of Belgium and the slagheaps of Lens as the potteries district of England is from the highlands of Scotland.

j The French, early jii November, after I a stiff encounter, drove the enemy up the ravin o and across the valley to the northward. They were making good their position along the crest abovo tho village when, on tho night of the lCthTthe Bulgarians attacked with considerable energy, creeping down the gullies on their *ido of tho valley, and noiselessly scaling the bteep slopes opposite, their feet shod with leather moccasins. The French trenches were of an elemoutary character, the rocky soil making digging almost impossible, and thcr had no entanglements in front of their position. Thrco hundred dead Bulgarians • were lying under tho next morning, having boon killed with

the bayonet while trying to rush the low parapet. . ~ The vallev., aro strewn with yellow maize, which the peasantry have been forced to leave to rot. Partridges, hares, and woodcock abound. One needs to see the British in this unfamiliar setting to realise why wc are a great colonising race. Neither the grandeur of tho scenery nor the sombro history of the country distract them from setting about their mattcr-of-faet military duties. Already they have well-beaten paths along the hillsides, where the inhabitant; had never before troubled to make a track. From tho railhead we have the best road in Macedonia :n a lino of supply. The men from Gallipolj Peninsula, with it s heat and flies, find it an almost unbelievable contract. TTntij now the ten thousand Bulgarians faring Us have been satisfied to leave us alone. They apparently hold a scattered line of trenches, blockhouses, and hangars along the ridges parallel with ours. Their patrols occasionally meet ours fn the valley at night time, the enemy frequently seizing tho opportunity to surrender owing to the shortness of food. A TERRIFIC BLIZZARD LONDON, November 28. A terririe blizza-rd is raging in that district of th 0 Balkans where tho Allied hoadquarter.s arc situated. Correspondents fctate that the- snow is lying deep on the ground, and that the men have been plunged abruptly into a fierce winter. Only a few can be billeted in the mountainj villages, and the remainder are com pel led to shelter in tho trenches and in a few tents and dug-outs. Where the. tents are exposed, they have been blown to 1 pieces. The blizzard has made transport operations more difficult. Neither f)ido can see the other's trenches across the valleys. Tho early winter is the most severe for ten years. ROTJ3IANIAS ATTITUDE. ROME. "November 28. The ''Corrierc Delia Sera" says that a portion of the Austro-German forces has been withdrawn from Serbia and sent to Ru&tchuk. M ; Bratiano, Premier of Roumania, has intimated that he cannot allow tho passage of Austro-German troops below Rustchuk, on the Danube. Roumanian troops at Giurgevo havo been ; transferred to Oltenitsa, and tho Rou- | maniau territory bordering on the : Danubo has been declared a military zone.