In the Balkans

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 47, 25 October 1915, Page 5

In the Balkans

News. ; Thet'news that daily comes tp h;i,nd is becoming more arfd more puzzling and difficult for itv-vu main reasons} the unreliability ,of the Balkan] Goyevrrrents and thfji apparent cpniusion, oi ihtvjiamea v>i : districts ao r l lawns,j In illustration of, .the,, first, point,, the, history;of. Yranya may he taken as_,ai}, example. The Bulgarians reported that they had taken this town and were in [possession of the railway.' Then came the ether side. of. the story that they had been driven out. The Germans'! then reported that the town was in Bulgarian > possession, and that the t barbs had been wiped fiUt' to a Finally • cames. the, undoubtednnews>that Vrauya.was never "held"...ruby '.,;the Bulgars, meaning thereby ;i thab j.they .reached ,the, town but were driyen- .out > very ' speedily. This fall of- Ytles, (or i Kupruju) was Claimed by t the. Bui-, garianjs and. admitted by the Ser£*a.t«r. comes the that the town has not fallen, but that a picked body .of troops from the Bulgarian army attacked but were driven out by French troops. To-morrow will probably ome the news that the Bulgars have really taken Veles and have driven the Allied troops out of Gyevgeli. This is of course ridiculous to our view, but the enemy have every reason to claim great sucesses in order to influence ''Slippery Greece" and "Silent Roumania." The limit of the enemy (that is the Bulgarians) imagination is apparent U boundfess, iind in the daily course of events we may surely find some remarkable statements. An instance of the second point

n instance of the second point (that regrettable confusion of the names of districts and towns) occurs in a Petrograd message to-day. The message which comes through the High Commissioner states that the Russians captured numbers of the enemy at Komarovo. The only Komarovo that can % found is a town in Bulgaria on a railway that funs from the Danube in to the inland of Bulgaria. Now this is not the place really meant to lie sent through, but there is no doubting the word. One may say that such is ■possible inasmuch as Russian participation in the Balkans could be done via Komarovo by using the Danube which is an international waterway. To further illustrate this point reference to Slatina shows that this town is in Roumania many miles from the Serbian frontier. This is similarly a ridiculuous position unless the Roumanians have come in on the German side. - These two points manifestly show that difficulty in dealing with the news. The first point shows that the public should not look upon unconfirmed Bulgarian or German reports about the Balkan operations with alarm, as they are in most cases reports merely of the phase in the fighting for any point that is favorable to themselves. The Bulgarianreports about Vranya and Veles are sufficient evidence of this. It must also be remembered that where it can be done Athens will report even the truth in a manner least favorable to us. Messages that are from Bucharest that are not mentioned as German claims are fairly reliable.

The Russians are commencing operations against the Bulgarians hy the bombardment of Varna and Burgas, Bulgaria's. Black Sea ports. This news was only to he expected,

and ere "this the 'horrors of naval •bombardment have been driven home 'to the inhabitants by the Russian fleet. Varna is the chief sea-port of Bulgaria and also' famous in history as the port from which the i British 'army' sailed 1 for the Crimea. Vlaroa has ja 1 great'%affic iu grain-and"a population of over '20,000. Some: two months'ago"''or more the Bulgarians were reported to have fortified ' this-p'ort-i' with long range guns. In the btlief ease, 'Biirgals 1 serves the 'south-; erit ■portion of Bulgaria," where ,there is' a fine' 'harbor' 'and' a - population oi 'over 12,000:' Important-'railways, the only ones in fact, 1 run from these two ports to the interior. Whether the bombardments will be followed by the landing of troops is hard to say, but a"'foVce' 0f'200,000 or even less Would do a lot of damage, and would divert, a . larger part of the Bulgarian army ahd 'bring' about \m { instant "failure"' of the' German the knstant' 'railure ' 'of thV'GermanBulgarian'plans, 1 and'of the 1 whole German move. Failure of the ■■Bulgarians spells disaster for Mackensen, and ;complete'iln:cess"of tile• Allies' <HA> ' h&vi had the position in hand -from 'the I beginning," and whose successes have given the He direct to the croanimg I Northclifle press 'at Home: The |Bulgarians are short of ammunition and can only gain trivial temporary successes by the use of rapid and isolated cavalry raids and by the use of the comitadjis, or irregular troops. Then, added to' the- Russian menace, comes the news of the Allied bombardment of Dede-Agatch, which may also be followed by the landing of troops. The Bulgars must have large bodies of troops told off to watch the various theatres, and they cannot be in dangerously strong force anywhere, but are in the unfortunate position of fearing attack from three quarters, not "knowing whether these attacks will be delivered in rotation or simultaneously. Bulgaria has pitted herself against all the great allied Bowers,' arid as the Serbs are keeping out the only friends Bulgaria has, and has prevented the companions from linking up their forces, Bulgaria must face the might of her powerful enemy alone. Moreover, she runs the risk of attack by her greedy neighbours. Greece and Roumania. who are watching vulture-like till th e prey is bled to death and will rush in to feed off the .carcase. Bulgaria composed her own I death-dance, and must needs dance to it herself, as probably the Allies .designed. Bulgaria's fate is sealed, and the fate of the Turks at Gallipoli must follow sooner; or lator.

The German newspaper, Lokal Ansseigejr, in a pointed way sums up tho position in Northern Serbia. Tt says that!the booty won by Mackensen is practically nil, and that to turn the Serbs out of their fortified positions will be a terribly expensive business. This means ; that the Serbs have held their positions, and that except for the evacuation of Belgrade, the Germans have really gained nothing. This .statement is a unique one, for tho German newspapers, except those that have been suppressed, have never

so openly spoken out. .This summary of the position is strengthened by the I Petit Parisien's correspondent's report that the Serbian success in the Timok Valley has been confirmed, and the attempted junctiouing of the Bulgarians and the Germans has failed, and the enemy have been thrown on the defensive, awaiting reinforcements. And here lies the critical ! point in the whole of the Balkan drama. Have the Germans the troops to spare? They are being heavily punished in the West, where eight attacks in five days have been severely handled by the. Allies. In the Courlaiul district (Russia), where alone they have lately met with slowbut steady success in the attack on Riga, they are reported to-day as hav*a ing been defeated at Dome Ness right , at the head of the Gulf. To gain Riga, 'the enemy attacks must be heavily re-inforced, or else they will be decisively defeated and outflanked by the Russians, who are stronger than the Germans estimated. The Austriany cannot' do much towards sending reinforcements to Serbia, because the rapidly developing campaign of Ivanoff in' Galicia will occupy their unremitting attention. The Italians are also driving a big offensive that will occupy the Austrian reserves. It , looks as if the expected reinforcements * will be a long time arriving, and even if they do arrive they cannot be very considerable. And' reinforcements for the Serbians are at hand, and will prove sufficient to keep the enemy out of Bulgaria for ever. The Allies are in for a race, and the odds arte dead

SERBIAN SUCCESS IN NORTH. AUSTRO-CERMANS ON DEFENSIVE. AWAITING REINFORCEMENTS. "United Press Association. (Received 9.20 a.m.) ' Paris, October 24. The Petit Parisien's Athens correspondent states that the Serbian success in the north is confirmed. The Austro-Gcrmans were Uiiable to junction with the Bulgarians and have assumed the defensive pending reinforcements. .......