FALL OF ADRIANOPLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15265, 1 April 1913, Page 7

FALL OF ADRIANOPLE.

ME, SIUtVrAN^ : ACCOtfNf. .. 'FIERCE '■ ATTACKS 0$ Ffc f\T'».' ALLIES' TERRIBLE LOSSES!" CLOS3S QUARTERS WITH ■I TURKS, MOWN DOWN BY MACHINE : ' ; GUNS. ; . By Teleffraph.— AJsoclatiori.—CopyricllJb (Received March 31, 10.15 p.m.) Belgrade, March 31, The Servian soldiers, who took part in the siege of, Adrianoplp ,D.tate Jthe..sufferings of { the. besie|;<jrs were, wpra.fc during. January ai)d,February whenjriheie was > 6i ! of snow on the ground. Many of the men were frost-bitten by the sharp ice, feu*, despite their sufferings they stormed the Turkish positions. One hundred and three thousand Turks surrendered when the first I positions were captured, but the bei siegers were unable to advance j owing to the concentrated fire of three forts. They remained eni trenched until night, when three [attempts .were made-to: storm., Fort Papastepe, scaling the walls ~under the fire, of 24 Turkish machine gufts. Terrible Fi'MUade. I. Papastepe was captured on Wed- [ nesday morning. Edrlj> on Tuead y the Danubian division wis witlan IsOOyds of the Taks being discovered and were subjected to a terrible fusillade of machine guns. This forced the Servians to entrench under fire. One battalion lost 30 per cent, of its strength, although the Turkish fire was erratic. , . The Danubians, at eleven o'clock at night, renewed the attack, although the Bulgarians at firf& refused to go forward o ,f ;.vig to xhiir terrible losses. The Servian bomb throwers, with their officers 10 paces before the companies, crept along cat-like. The Turks discovered them too late, and the bomb throwers rushed fche trenches. All Bulgarian dfflcars Killed. The Turks, on being reinforced, expelled the Bulgarians, who lost all their officers and wVee then. commanded by ntr; coi;imissioned ~.officers,, ; ,■..'■•■■■',,•■ ,-i ;. • • ■■■ .■.-:.■:•■.,'■' • The Bulgarians' retirement exposed the Servians, who retreated /to Mmiza, but were unable to escape owing to the bridge being broken.. Meanwhile the Timok division was in; a serious plight at Fort Tepelar, when at a distance of 500 yds mines were exploded, killing hundreds. /; The Bulgarians retreated, leaving the Servians alone in great danger. fire* Tttrks- brought'" eifelit;tasd]Kjßs 'guns ■- within!Wyds, and made three counter-attacks until they . •• v*erc forced to abandon the fort. : , 1 ALLIES' ■ HEAVY LOSSES. 12,000 KILLED OR WOUNDED. 60,000 PRISONERS. ; . ; Sofia, March Zi), The Bulgarian headquarters..sifcafi estimates that the total number of Bulgarians killed and wounded at Adrianople on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last was 11,000. The losses sustained by the Servians totalled 1200. The prisoners captured number 130,000. They "include 833 officers, of whom 13 are generals, and 650 guns. It is officially stated from Belgrade that Shukri Pasha and 172 officers were within Hadirlik fort when the Servians captured it. They were jaot molested for a day, in order that they ' might formally surrender to General Ivan Off, the Bulgarian officer who was controlling the attack. Shukri Pasha (the defender : of Adrianople) and his seven subordinate generals showed deep emotion during their reception by the Bulgarian commandant at Sofia, who praisad their bravery, and conducted them to' the residence in -which they will remain while in captivity. M. Gueshoff (the Bulgarian Premier) has warmly acknowledged Servians assistance in connection with the capture of Adrianople. i -- i i •'■'•■ ■' i'. ....-, WHAT THE TURKS COULDAVE Horn. ;;;;.;;;;. HELD OUT 20 DAYS LONGER.(Received March 31, 11.30 •a.m. ) :■'','■ .-,..'.. .Sofia, March 31. Shukri Pasha states that he could have held out for 20 days longer al Adrianople on reduced rations. , ■ ORDER AFTER CHAOS* \ . ••v.yft'?- '--:-*' - ":?i' ; ':' ''■•'?..■!'.?.- i,-.".."'.-: "*<!;..'.':''? TURKS LOSE 10,000 "MA (Eecoived Maroh 31, U-30 p.m.) ** Sofia, March 31. General Ivanoff (the Bulgarian officer now in charge of Adrianople) is re-establishing order in the town. The Turkish losses are estimated at, 10,000. BATTLE AT CHATALBJA. BULGARIAN SUCCESS AND REPULSE. DESPERATE BAYONET FIGHT. BRAVERY OF TURKS. (Received March 31, 11.30 p.m. ) London, March'"3l." • Mr. Donohoe, correspondent of the Daily Chronicle, telegraphing lrom Hadem Keui (Chataldja), states that 20,000 Bulgarians attacked and . ■■•. ■ .■'■■• ■ ; ■■-'■■ ' ■/' •

carried advanced positions at Bojuk Tohekmedge by a briybhet charge in a rainstorm on Friday night. The Turks at daylight bombarded the !'positions making it' impossible to entrench them. Si*- thousand Turks, in th« blinding n'ttin., trotie'd the plateau and although exposed to a withering fire stormed the muddy slope. \ A desperate bayonet fight! resulted and the Bulgarians were driven down the other slope. The fog prevented further fighting. , i It is officially 'stated'that the Bulgarians left 1000 dead at -Bo • Tohekmedge.' i ':''.■•'•:',■',■•;"•■.''. ;.-;T". '■..,..' '' --'"'"■; ■.'.'■« THE OIIATALDJA LINES. , The Chataldja fortifications, where the l • .Tmkieh-and' Buknrian Armies .now face * each other, stretch in an irregular hno about miles long from Lake Dcrkos, ( close to the Black Sea coast, to Lake ( Bojuk Tchekmedgo, an inlet of the Sea' of' Marmora.'' Along a land-front of some 15 or 16 miles are disposed a series of rs- ( doubts and field-works,' : ' 30. in number, ] : which, from their commanding natural ( . fcittirttion along a ridge 600 ft high, constitute a; formidnl.le defence of the capital. 1 In the rainv season the. , swamps and J • marshes which extend almost parallel with \ , the line of forta would the ap- , proi'.ches alinoft inaccessible The-railway J'rom Adrianople to Constantinople trni wrs.'s the lin«s at Chatalja ■ -«nd Bagh- 1 . chfltoh. ■ The lines themselves were de- i ' signed by von Bluhm Pasha in .1877, at 1 the beginning of the Russo-Turkish war, and- in 1878 the Russians for a time lay in . I front of them; In recent years they have ; been considerably strengthened. It ia known that many of the.. guns in them were taken to Adrianople, but these may ! have been replaced by heavy guns from the ':' Bcsphome. I AUSTRIA READY TO FIGHT TROOPS ON HERZEGOVINA BORDER. (Received 'Mf.«.rf:h SI, 11.30 p.m. ) j ? - > , , 1' . Yisnna, March 01. Austria is mobilising three Army , . Corps oa the Herzegovina frontier. [ • ' "~ • 1 SI.GE OF SCUTARI. f ; . i. ■ ' STILL PROCEEDING. c London, March 31. '' A c , i , «p«>oh from Cettinie states ~ .ihii-s in iyin) of the ..collective Note ; from the Powers the Montenegrins are still heavily bombarding Scutari. n I POWERS' PEACE' TERMS. J .!!■■■ ...UH - ' BULGARIA NOT SATISFIED. i MODIFIED BOUNDARY - ' SUGGESTED.' March 30. , „ Reuter.'a Sofia correspondent reD ports that Bulgaria will agree to the a Powers' peace proposals, except that she will not fall in with the suggest s tion to fix the new frontier, line of Turkey from Enos, on the 3 Sea, to Midia.'on the Black Sea. Bulgaria is willing, however, to aci cept a frontier line from Midia to • the head of the Gulf of Saros, 35 or c 40 miles further to the eastward from e" "Erioa! This would still! leave the e Sea of Marmora, the ■Dardanelles; and the Gallipoli Peninsula in the hands of Turkey. Bulgaria also insists on the payment by Turkey of an indemnity if she is to be held responsible for a portion of the Ottoman debt. ), • .■■ ■ ~-.,.,..— TBE-'ALUm' MODIPIBD DEMANDS. The Note in which the Powers set forth the terms on which they, were prepared to meditate to bring about peace was presented a few days ago. The terms <{ stated were as follows : — J (a) The Turkish frontier to extend from I Enos, at tha mouth of the Maritza, to t Midia, on the Black Sea coast, i (b) No war indemnity to be paid. (c) Future of the and Albania , to be left :n the hands of the Powers. " (d) The Turks to abandon Crete. In the previous conditions of peace put i forward by the allies {and reiected by i Turkey) early in March, it' was proposed that the new Turkish frontier should extend from Rodoato (on the Sea of Mar-- " mora) to Midia (on the- Black Sea). The i- adoption of this line would have confined ft Turkey in Europe to Constantinople and A a small strip of territory with.a frontage ? of about 70 miles to the ■ Sea of Marmora, II and of about 60 miles to the Black Sea. o The frontier proposed- by the Powers i- leaves Turkey in possession of the ' peninsula of Gallipoli and. the Dardanelles r (which' she would have ' lost had she acceded to the previous demands of ; the l " allies),- and also-about -.miles -of the ri toast, Of-, the : .-JE!gean Sea. Roughly, speak- [. ing, the' territory that would -..be left to n Turkey if the Powers'. advice we're acj cepted is about' double the. area that the d allies in their former terms proposed to h, allow the Porte to- retain. The allies viously demanded the cession of tho ASgean ~ islands .have already < been .occupied '" by the Greeks ? as well aa tho payment of '" an "adequate ' "ridennity. h From to-day's cablegrams' it appears that the allie-, whilst claiming more territory than the .Power?) proposo to give them, are now wUline. to modify their P terms to the extent of relinquishing the fc demand for the possession of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles. The waters of the Gulf of Saros : wash tho western shore of the •peninsula of GallipoJi, which, if the latest proposal is given effect .to,. would ' remain just within th» Turkish boundary. No part of the northern shore of the J2gean Sea would, however, be left to Turkey if the amended demand is conceded. d ■■—■—■>■■«■«■.