THE SERBIAN ARMY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14190, 6 January 1917, Page 8

THE SERBIAN ARMY.

GLORIOUS WORK IX THE I BALKANS. I HIGH COMPLIMENT BY COM- , MANDER OF ORIENT. ARMY. FIGHTING IN MOO LENE RANGE AND ON KAIMACALAN RIDGE. [By Gordon Gordon-Smith. — Received ,7 -.. by Mail.] 'Headquarters of Serbian Army, Salonika, November 18. When the history of the operations of the army of the Orient comes to be written, there will bej no more glorioua page in it ' than that whioh will record the share borne by the Serbian hrmy. King Peter's army, which the Central Powers fondly believed twelve months ago to be beaten and vanquished, to-day again faces the enemies with, courage undismayed aiid with an uncrushable confidence in the* justice of its cause and its A coming victory. General Sarrail, the commander-in-ohief of the army of the Orient, paid the -Serbian army tiie high compliment of assigning to it, as its 'field of action, tli« most formidable portion of tlie line, the towering mountain range of Moglene, a natural fortress of -' 'almoSt impregnable, strength. The average height of the mountains is about 5000 feet. It was in this region that fillty'2s,ooo of the Serbian army began the attack on the Bulgarians. On that day. the Serbs drove b'ack the enemy •from certain positions in the Moglene range, notably the villages of Pojar aiid Strujsino. On the following day the Bulgarians brought up reinforcements and for twenty-eight hours a violent bailie ranged. Both sidles repeatedly attacked with the bayonet, but in spite ofy eyetry effort, . the Bulgarians were powerless to regain the lost positions. SERBIAN GUN FIRE PRECISE. The vigor and the precision of the Serbian artillery fire proved too much for the enemy. But, at the same time, the success of the Serbians was only ■partial, ; for though/ they, succeedied in gaining a footing on the rocky sides of the, mountain range,, the- Bulgarians still held the summit. The operations in the lastj week of July were therefore chiefly of* a preparatory character and pavedthe way for tlie second phase. * Duringthe first half of August, there was a lull. So hostilities were resumed on August 17. On that: date the Bulgarians began a furious- offensive along the whole .front. On . the one hand they attacked the Serbian positions on the Moglene Rnage, toying to hurl the Serbs back on the plain and, on the other hand, they the tpwn of Fiorina with, the' object.'of drjviing the Serbian army at thai point to' the; other side of the Ostrovo. MISSION OF FIRST BULGARIAN ARMY. y.The Bulgarian plan was revealed by documents found, on Bulgarian officers taken prisoner. The attacks was .intrusted to the first Bulgarian army. Its mission, was to drive the Serbs from their positions on the Moglene range and to occupy a line running from the Lake of Ostrovo. along the base of.' the mountains. If the plan had succeeded, the Serbian army 'would have been forced.to fall back on the entrenched camps of Salonika., as,, in the. plain, they would,, not' have found positions capable of pro. jpnged .. d'ef enqe.' ...... This offensive was begun j us-t ■at the moment ' Riiman ia entered the war and the eventual desire of the Bulgarians was" to inflict a crushing defeat on the Serbians so as to be able to send troops from the Macedonian front to reinforce its army on the Dobruja front. The effort, however, proved disastrous- Not only did their attacks on the Serbian positions) at Katunatz and Pojar, though executed by over 7000 men, fail 'completely by the Bulgarians were: driven from certain of their positions by various Serbian counter-attacks.. By, August 21 they had been driven; almost completely from Mount Vetrenik and Mount Kulairus and all they held was -u few positions on the crests. The. Serbian success on tbe Vetrenik was particnilarly important, as it is one bf the highest points of the Moglene range. On August 22 the slopes of the mountains were in the hands of the Serbs while crests were still held by the enemy. STORMED WAY UP STEEP PRECIPICES. : The fact that King Peter's soldiers stormed their way up thei rocky sides Of these precipitous mountains, speaks volume^ for their dash and tenacity, arfiT'tiie' brilliant fashion in which they were led. The "Bulgarian lossels were very great. " On the first' dav of their offensive, they had' 400 killed and 600 wounded. Tlie following day, entire regiments were .deciminated. Bulgarian dead lay heaped, up by hundreds. Their losses Were so / great that their troops were completely ; discouraged and they partly "abandoned , jthe offensive. The successful defenp^ibl.-thej-'Sierbs was of the greatest imp6rtahoe> ; If . the enemy had stiodeedeqV in piercing the Serbian lines, -thS* positions Of the Serbian troops in*' "the"" neighborhood of the Lake of Ostrovo -would have been critical. The Bulgarians were, however, mucli more Successful in the direction of Fiorina. ' They were able, to seize that town, as well as the important position of Molka Nidge, which lies behind it. Fiorina £H T , 6 £jy occupied by a weak Serbian advanSs' guard, which was* "unable.' to re-gist-the onslaught of the Bulgarian main body. A Serbian division sent to tlie assistance of>.the troqp& hqlding Fiorina for several days withstood the 'attack of two. and a half ' ' Bulgarian ' divisions. Finally the Serbian troops were forced-, to fall back on the country, between the Lake of Petroko and the' -.Lake of .Ostrovo, BULGARS BOUGHT SUCCESS DEARLY. The intention of the Bulgarians was to prevent the Serbs establishing their position at this point, and to drive them to the opposite side o'f the Lake of Ostrovo. But as soon as they came in contact with the Serbian main forces, the Bulgarians met with such resistance that they. -were brought to a standstill. They had, therefore 1 ,- to content themselves with their partial success at Fiorina. and Molka Nidge. But as they lost .10,000 to 12,000 men in the opera-' ti6ns their' successies were dearly bought, Tlie Serbs also lost heavily in tliis desperate struggle, having about- 5000 men hors de combat.' But their partial, success at FlPrfria did not justify the Bulgarians in taking a single battalion from the' Macedonian front to /aid the troops 'facing the Rumanians in tho Dobruja. This marked the end of the second phase in the operations on the Macedonian front. ■ ' ■' "Tlie third phase was entered . on September 12. On that date the Serbian left wing, reinforced by French and Russian troops, undertook a strong offensive; toward Fiorina. At the same time a Serbian attack on the Moglene front was begun, but this wasi merely a distraction, the real attack being on the Fiorina line. After two days of artillery preparation 'the Serbs, by a vigorous attack, carried the Bulgaian positions*, Tnot only at Malka Nidge but at Mola Reka. HURLED BACK IN DISORDER. %he position at Malka Nidge has been stoiigly fortified by the Bulgarians on plans made bj** Gorman staff officers. There was a succession of trenches with redoubts for the guns, dug-outs and lilies of barbed wire. The assault of the Serbs was made with such irresistible force and the surprise of the Bulgarians was so grelat that the latter were hurled back -in disorder, abandoning forty guns and a large quantity of material of all kinds. The losses of the Bulgarians at this point are estimated at about' 2000 men. It was not a mere check entailing tho loss of a position, but it wa»-.the defeat and destruction of a portion of the Bulgarian army. Driven back from Malka Nidge, the Bulgarians retired on tfie line Kroso-Grad-Sovic-Starkov-Grob-Kaimakcalan, which lies foK thoi most part along the GraecoSerbian frontier line. But the Serbs did not give the Bulgarian army rest even on tins new line. On September li they gained a footing on the Kaimakcalan. and on the 18th they occupied the highest crest. It was then that the' long and bloody struggle for the possession of the mountain began. The Bulgarians knew that as long as they held' 'the Kaimakcalan they could pre-,

vent- tlm! Serbs r from debouching, on tKe Cerna Reka a ltd on the plain of Monastir either; by -Fiorina or the Moglene front. " ; . ... BLOODIEST FIGHT OF* THE - CAMPAIGN. , '„,= .':.... The Kaimakcalah". ridge was "the ceil-' tral position of the Bulgarian defense on this side; of Cern.i 'Reka. When, therefore, tho Serbs succeeded' iii seizing the highest crest of the-' Kaimakcalan which was at the Same tirhe 'tlie /riosit' 'elevated 1 point 'on the whole front, ''it became a necessity " for ihci Bulgarians to'"' drive; them . from it at aiiy; cos*t. With thi** in, view, oil September . _23, they'.' res\iihed the struggle w'ith^' fresh,- troops' brought from four different, division*; and Wgan a desperate attack on theYSeYbjai} 1 positions on' "the '■ KairhakcaTan: .Tlie ' struggle be^anoii September, 'rekclieft }ts. fiercest; phase 'on September / 26. yThia. was the bloodiest' batU^df the:' whole Ca-inpajg-n.^. 'T^/Vesult.^of effort whs,' ho^eveiv The enemy, only succeeded;, in getting a in; tlie Serbian .advanced trenches. * This. I small success had, however, been - ' 'so; that 1 "they Were* 'incapable-' of further effort. Tli'ey tv'eie completely ex-' hausted by ■ their, vain attacks 'oil the. Serbia'n positions.. Tliedr co'inp'anies of 280 men had shrunk . to "ninety bayonfets, and of 15 officers per battalion ' orily "foifr* br "five were left. The" second; Bulgarian regiment had 73 officers , .arid 3ooo meii placed hors de combat. : "'. " ', '-, ! BULGARS FLED IN CONFUSION. In addition, to. Aieing exhausted, the Bulgarians were'' demoralised; The. soldiers refused, to make, further saults /which they saw '.'could only enp. by their being annihilated. It is known positively that the. first battalion of the* 45th Bulgarian.* Regiment {Refused to, obey when ordered' to attack the Serbian positions. In- these 'circumstances,the power of Czar FerdinandV troops to resist the Serbian's dounter-attack maybe imagined. On September. 30, the. Serbs were in .complete, .possession- of the Kaimakealah. They Bulgarians^ fled , in confusion, abandqning, five "guns. For , some days . there*' was some, intermittent' fighting around j some ol thp;" smaller** hill's in ' the ; neighborhood of Kdimakcalan, biit. after that. mpuntaiii was '.captured the enemy was less able to maintain tJie .line 1 they '/had. occupied after the retreat f rom ' Malka ■ v; , . : ;On' Ootober 3 they voluntarily ahandpned the .. positions of . Sarkov-Grpb, Sovidt* and Kmspgrad, • The .Serbian troops, wjhiclr were f ollow/i n g close" on the ir" heela. crossed the Creek frontier, passed on to Serbian territory and t debquoii£o on .the .Cerna fteka,. which they traversed at various points, reaching; the But- 1 Q*arian lines which directly defend IVtoriisrtir. the fall of .wlpph,, as, the result of' the operations of the ' "last " ' few. days. can not be long delayed.