WHIRLWIND OF FIRE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13069, 8 May 1913, Page 4

WHIRLWIND OF FIRE.

STORMING OF ADRIANOPLE. PARIS, March 31. A correspondent of the Journal sends an account of the storming of Adrianople m a despatch dated Aarianople, March 28. The correspondent says that the collapse, after a forty -eight hour assault, i of the fortress which had resisted the efforts, of. itlte. besiegers. for five months, is soon .explained. " When the I . Allies got within the lines the '.'terrible" Iforts, which' were supposed to have walls of concrejfce of inconceivable, thickness, turned out to be more or less imaginary. The so-called ' indestructible" Aives Taibeh, the key of the defence, was really only of brick construction. During the seige, Shukri Pasha had more heavy guns than the investing armies and oy moving them about, he was able always to crush the fire on the side from which he was attacked. The Bulgarians, however, conceived the idea of attacking from all sides at once, at the same time making preparations for the placing of superior artillery at one' particular point. On March 24, General Ivahoff ordered a. general attack from all sides. The only point where th© fire was slack was opposite Aives Taibeh. There he massed 25,000 picked troops. The first operation was to carry, with' the bayonet, the Turkish advance- positions at Maslak, during , the. night of March 24-25. The next morning the Turkish artillery at Aives Taibeh opened a terrific fire on | Maslak and two. Bulgarian, batteries of quick firers were wiped out. WHIRLWIND OF FIRE. Tho. Bulgarians then unmasked eighty heavy siege pieces and directed an ap- • palling shower of shells on Aives Tai- j beh, which soon, to the isurprise of the ] Bulgarians;, became. & shapeless mass of crumbling masonry. . . - In the meantime the Bulgarian infantry" "crept cautiously forward, ready i to rush. the fort from which the fire had j practically ceased at nightfall. The corespondent, who had entered the fort; after its capture, says it looked as if a; whirlwind of fire had passed. All ' around the earth had been plowed' with) shells. I When the supreme moment arrived General Ivanoff 'ordered the Twentythird, the Fifty-seventh, Fifth, Third and part of the Sixth regiments to advance. The Twenty-third got as far as the barbed wire entanglements, but were checked by the murderous fire of the Turks. The men rested against the entanglements and began to cut away the j wire,, but the Turkish fir© became so intense that they hesitated and began to retreat. Their colonel sprang to the ; front, carrying the colors, and howitzers arrived to .their support. The regiment had already lost 2000 men, but rallied and got through the entitlements by . throwing their coats on the wire. j INTO THE FORT. j The Twenty-third rushed into Fort" Aives Taibeh and immediately the Bui- ( garian field guns and mortors tore up at a gallop and took positions. These and the guns m the fort were turned op ! the other Turkish defences, which, at; tacked on- the flank, made slight resistance. No counter attack was attempted. The garrison: of. the fort ; fled or : surrendered. Thousands of Turkish soldiers 'fled into the city and hid m ', private' houses. Some of them procured civilian clothing. In the meantime, two Bulgarian regiments entered the city m triumph with I colors flying. and bayonets fixed. At 10 o'clock m the morning Shukri Pasha, ' who had hoisted the white flag on the watch tower and set out flags of truce to ask for a cessation of hostilities, was taken prisoner m one of the forts; where • he had sought refuge, before any of his ' messengers returned. The Bulgarians lost only 7000 men and the Servian loss was only 1000, instead of 15,000 ' which it was estimated the storming of Adrianople would cost them. , BELGRADE, March 31. The first trainload of wounded Servians arrived here yesterday from Adrianople. Their story shows that the fighting which preceded, the. capture of [ Adrianople was the most terrible of the war. ; The Turks fought with' the courage of ; desperation, but the perseverance of the Servians and the excellent! | leadership of the commanders resulted ; m their gaining tine day. Some ,<of the men; .were .very severely wounded, but the majority) were suffering only from , slight bullet wounds. ; One of the wounded officers said : ; "The siege was an unbfoken chain of .suffering for the besiegers, which reached its climax m the bitter cold of January and February. The snow lay six fee.t desp and sentries died at their posts. The skin of every soldier was parched by the intense frost, while m the trenches the men's feet were cut by the sharp ice breaking every morning ' under their steps. They. slept ..in-mud- and water, covered only by cajrvas... j- "On some days .doaens! of men were ! frozen to death. There-were, snow plains ! for twenty xnilea. around ; no wood could ;k 6 f ound and even when it was brought i nres were forbidden for fear of belrayiriff .oar position." . . ■ I