FALL OF ERZERUM.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17098, 22 February 1916, Page 7

FALL OF ERZERUM.

THE RUSSIAN PURSUIT. SUCCESS SOUTH OF ERZERUM. MUSH CAPTURED. By Telegraph-Pie" AssocUtion-Copyright. PETROGRAD, February 20. A communique says:-We captured north-west of Erzerum the remains of the 34th Turkish Division, with Srfrteeni puns, and also the remnants of ?£££s« the Erzerum Road. One of our corps during the assault on Eizemm captured 240 guns. ZC W? cSied by assault Mush and Akhlat. The" enemy continues his flight.

RUSSIANS ADVANCING.

MABCH ON TREBIZOm SURRENDER OF TURKISH DIVISION. (Received February 21, 9.30 p.m.) PETROGRAD, February 20. *Now the key to Armenia has bee" taken the Russians arc sw, ttlyoocups hiff the stricken land. They IxoW ine valle of Mush, eighty-three, nues outhward of Erzerum, where m September the Kurds and the. Turkish gen darmes drove Armenian and children into barns and burnt thorn. Large bodies of beaten Turks are le portel h*L»*J**j| S3* making for ivliaiput, aim *> , The Eleventh Army Corps « >etieat ing westward towards Emngan. Uno relment already has been captured The Russians apparently have succeeded in breaking the conncctm bo tween the three, army corps composing the Third Turkish Army- JI e Grand Duke Nicholas has transferred his heaa quarters to Erzornm. n,vkion The surrender of the 34th Diusion is explained by the fact that it was un aware of the fall of Erzerum and *M hastening to join the main bods of the Turkish "forces near the Black beft, which hastily abandoned P osjt jj on * *™i is retreating by the coast road tonal" Trcbizond, the Russians pursuing, IMJ were subjected to. the constant the Russian warships. The next stioilg ly fortified positions behind Erzerum are at Sivas, but the retreating columns are badly scattered. A division has been ordered to go to Trebizoud to ie»iw the Russian attempt to seize, this Tamable port before the Gonna 11s and luiks are able to reorganise their forces. i«>e Russians ought to be firmly established on the Armenian plateau. This Russians arc making every ettort to save the vestiges of the ancient Armenian civilisation, but only two monasteries arc left standing in the . PJ?" vince of Van. Thousands of valuable manuscripts have been destroyed. j

GRAND DUKE'S STRATEGY.

FURTHER DETAILS OF VICTORY. PETROG RAD, F'ebrua ry - o ', Military critics point out tha j capture of Mush and AklilaL f ‘ , v . affects the Turkish position. 11 cO , pletely cuts their communications tween north and south and des • all possibility of the forces junction gThe Grand Duke is warmly pu^dtoi infusing new energy into tie troop

and rousing them to deeds recalling the splendid episodes of the early days of the war. His strategy was admirable. First there was a sudden sharp knock, sending the Turkish centre flying to • the fortress, and then simultaneously a thrust forward from the north-east and a closing in on the south-east. There was no time to lose. Strong reinforcements were advancing from Thrace. The, Krupp gun-defended heights- of Erzerum were scaled and stormed with the bayonet despite tho fact that the Germans seemed to have achieved complete technical supremaov.

The artillery captured at Erzerum included 150 eight-inch Krupps.

TURKS OUT-GENERALLED.-LED TO FATAL DISPERSION OF FORCES. . (Received February 22, 1.10 a.m.) LONDON. February 21. Fighting in the Erzerum •campaign •nas utterly different from that in Europe. There are no ' trenches, and the troops operate on the roads. Forces a few miles apart may be separated by a mountain range as completely as if in different hemispheres. The Russians' success was largely due to mnnffiuvering, which mystified the GermanoTurkish officer.?, and led the commanders to a fatal dispersion of the Turkish forces. The Grand Duke Nicholas and General Yudenitch at first did not contemplate an assault on Erzerum. but on the breaking of the Turkish centre there came an opportunity for the sudden stioke. Details are still unknown. Some heavy guns Avero laid on sledges and were hauled by man-power over the mountains in deep snow. The night attack on Fort Tafta was carried out without firearms. The Russians in the starlight crept silently over the suow and rushed the fort with the bayonet alone. The Siberians then attacked the great fort Tchabandede. the fall of which caused a disorderly Turkish rout. Hand to hand fighting on the frozen marshes north of Erzerum and the storming of the southern ridge proceeded simultaneously. The horrors of the Turkish retreat were increased by the burning of the town and the merciless hail of Russian shells. The Siberians rushed fort after fort from frontal positions, though 80,000 Turks under Achmet Pasha were defending the town. Kiamil Pasha vainly ordered two other army corps to hasten to Erzerum, but the Pussians, assisted by a, blizzard, surrounded one division in a defile and compelled' it to surre'nder.

ASIATIC TURKEY MENACED

MILITARY CRITIC'S VIEW. LONDON. February 20. M. Naudeau, in a message to the Paris "Journal" from Petrograd, s nys:—"The fall of Erzerum leaves Asiatic Turkey exposed to Russia. Erzerum commands all the roads to Armenoa, Mesopotamia, and Persia."

GERMANY'S PLAN.

TURKS WILL NOW REMAIN IN ASIA. PETROGRAD, February 20. Germany's policy in Turkey, with a view to controlling the centre of the Empire during the war, is to weaken it by dispatching Turkish troops to the furthest extremities and beyond the frontiers. The fall of Erzerum implies that the Austro-Germans must rely exclusively on themselves, awd the Bnlaaxians in

the Balkans, as the Turks are restricting themselves to the defence of Turkey.

THE TURKISH REPORT. "NOTHING OF .IMPORTANCE." AMSTERDAM, February 20. Turkish communiques continue to announce that nothing of importance has occurred in tho Caucasus.

TURKISH LOSSES. FIVE CORPS ANNIHILATED. ROME, February 20. The "Sccolo's" Petrograd correspondent savs that five Turkish army corps were annihilated at Erzerum. fugitives and remnants of the army are approaching the desert beyond SiVas. SERIOUS TROUBLES. CONSTANTINOPLE SIMMERING. GERMANS GUARD THE PALACE. ROME, February 20. Constantinople advices state that serious troubles broke out on Thursdav. Crowds demonstrated in the streets and squares, denouncing the war aud the Young Turks. German police attacked the demonstrators. Ine German garrison is reported to be guarding the Palace and Ministerial offices. German-subsidised papers seek to minimise the fall of Ezerum. It is alleged that the troops hare refused to proceed to Armenia. Disorder is also reported at Smyrna and Beirut.