DANUBE CROSSED

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 873, 27 November 1916, Page 7

DANUBE CROSSED

RUMANIANS IN DANGER

WALLACHIAN ARMIES IN POSITION OF PERIL

VENIZELISTS DECLARE WAR NEAR EAST SAID TO BE DECISIVE THEATRE EXPELLED AMBASSADORS ARR IVE AT SOFIA The Rumanian armies in Wallachia are in grave peril. It had been supposed that they would be able to retire to the Alt, and there take up a strong defensive position, but the enemy has crossed the Danube at several points east of the Alt, thus turning this line of defence. An English writer advocates the sending of another quarter of a million British soldiers to the Near East, which would go further to ending the war than victory in any other theatre. He sees in the defeat of Turkey the downfall of the Central Powers. It is said that the new Emperor of Austria is not unfavourable to an early peace, and the attempts of neutrals to intervene are exciting much attention. The Ministers of the Central Powers who were expelled from Athens received a great welcome at Sofia. They say that King Constantine wept when they left, and said he would see them again. The Venizelist Government has declared war on Bulgaria and Germany, in order to prevent soldiers of the National Army with the Allies being shot as francs-tireurs.

HOW TO WIN THE WAR.

NEAR EAST THE DECISIVE THEATRE. DEFEAT OP TURKEY THE MAIN OBJECTIVE. Bj/ Cable. — Press Association. — Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received November 27, 9.5 a.m.) LONDON, November 26. The "Observer" states that the employment of an additional quarter of a million British troops in the Near East would do more to shorten the war than the employment of thrice their number in any other theatre. Victory on the West front would thus be more certainly advanced than by any other method. Turkey is the most vulnerable member of the Central Powers; yet, by her position and supplies, she sustains the strength and cohesion of the whole front—even of the German western armies. Turkey is therefore a base equally vital and assailable. "Were the Balkans once mastered, and the straits, of the Black Sea reopened, Russia, thanks to the more rapid mobilisation and munitionment of her man power, could subsequently assume the entire Balkan business, and, jointly with Italy, the whole war on the eastern side of Europe. Austria would then be doomed, and, with the Berlin-Bagdad connection broken, Germany's staying power would be irretrievably shaken to its foundations. The Franco-British Army could return to the West, while the relief to merchant shipping would be immense, and the gain in connection with food supplies proportionate; but pre-requisite would be the organisation of our whole resources, including the employment of black and yellow labour on a large scale.

EXPELLED AMBASSADORS REACH SOFIA.

TOUCHING STORIES OF FINAL AUDIENCE. CONSTANTINE WEEPS TO PART WITH THEM. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received November 27, 9.20 a.m.) ROME, November 26. The enemy Ministers expelled from Alliens were -welcomed •with great enthusiasm at Sofia. According to the "Idea Nazionale" (Athens) the Austrian Minister stated that King Constantine wept when farewelling bim. The German Minister told a representative of the newspaper "Outro" (Sofia) that King Constantine greeted him at the farewell audience with the words, "We shall meet again soon."