CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 68, 19 November 1915, Page 5

CURRENT WAR TOPICS.

The disposition of the Ausfcro-Ger-man armies is' somewhit difficult to trace, 'but reports of the fighting in various' directions point that the original' disposition into three armies remaihS,’ Although there sterns to he no cohesion On account of t he'rough country*'and the weakness' df> ,: erich army! - The invaders ’tsime at throe or* at’least and from the Drina'in ! the west via Vishegradi The Belgrade army divided and one portion came straight up the Morava Valley, while the other wont in an easterly direction along the Danube towards Yidin, where they functioned after hard fighting with the Bulgarians hear Zaitchar or Parachiu. From here the two armies advanced on Nish which was entered by the Bulgars from the' south-east with another army. *Rns : army 'wSs *se verely dealt with by the Serbs, and to be effective main German-Bulgar army north of the Jas. Trebatz mountains. They have claimed several times at different placer,.,td have, effected, this iuucr tioh, but * nothing definite ‘ llak heard of them, In any case, granted that the junction avbs effected, the whole three armies after severe, dealing at the hands of the Serbs have been compeliled to and are now held up ■by the Serbs between Nish and Kruchevatz. The Serbs render advance in the mountain pass* es hazardous* by means of guerilla, tactics, by which they pounce suddenly upon the enemy at unexpected times and places. These armies are certainly, held up or else they would have been at Uskub long ago. The other enemy army is held up at the Kachanik Pass by the Serbs and at Tetovo or Kalkandeleu, about -h miles west 'of Uskub. The Bulgarian army at Uskub is directing its main energy in an attempt to drive the Serbs into Greece by way of Mouastir.

The weak spot in the whole of the Serbian defence is where the Bulgarians have made a determined attempt to crush the Serb's at Prilep and Monastir. Here they are reported to have entered Prilep. But this report is not borne out by the result of the big fight on the C rna Reka which ended in an undoubted French success. That being so, it is hard to reconcile the reports of the retreat of the Serbian arrfty to Ochrida, which is close to the Albanian frontier. Perhaps the inhabitants of Monastir and the other towns are leaving the zone of hostilities, and * correspondents are getting a touch of the panic which seized a correspondent sometime ago when he reported that all was up with Serbia because Monastir had been taken. It is a coincidence that when the enemy were near Monastir recently the same kind of reports came through from apparently the same sources. The position seems to be that the reports of to-day regarding the Bulgarians are belated reports of their advance before they were met by the French on the Crua Reka and repulsed. The result of that battle is , that the French are -40 miles or more neaiei the Serbian maiu army, and that being so it is doubtful if the Bulgars have, made a recovery from their defeat. In any case, the French bai the road to Monastir, and the fall Monastir would necessitate the defeat of the French. The idea that these reports are belated is strength- . cued by one of the reports itself. It states that the Bulgarians effected a

• junction at Tetovo, and then marched (fifty miles to Prilep, ivalked in there, and sent the Serbs scuttling to Ochrida. And all that in one day! The latest report about Tetovo Ayas that the Serbs had,,recaptured it.. Therefore tp make. thp abnormal advance ’of fifty miles* .in .a day and drive back a hardy straight-hitting army, and eat up the French forces- in the act is rather too strong.. The probability is that the reports from the Bulgars are befated and describe the fighting that led, to their defeat, at the hands of the French, and the i recapture of Tetoyo by ; the/Serbs., Ferocious fighting is reported in ; the Bn luma Pass Avhile Allied re-inforcements are arriving at Monastir. These re-infprce-meuts 1 are;-probably the French Avho defeated the Bulgars at .Crna. The report of their arrival coming after thp report of the,battle they aa’Ou adds tb the idea that the reports of the doings of the Bulgars' are belated. Moreover, 1 these repbvts are not-official but .begin ’“lt is reported.” The victory! ait Grna is''reported as “official” by the High ; (Commissioner andi in hi French comTminiqne. The writer prefers, to credit ftie latter-reports. 1

From the Dardanelles'' comes the newg that the British have renewed th« offensive, and the 52nd Division have captured 280 yards of trenches at Ktithia-nulla. The re-opening of the offensive is probably the result of the presence of Earl Kitchener “somewhere in the East.” Moreover, it is an answer to those scuttlers who wanted the campaign abandoned as it was useless going on with it. The failure of the big attack that was obviously, meant to be decisive in August has taught many lessons, and defects 'both in methods and command-ers-—excluding Hamilton—have been the subject of searching inquiry. It was apparently lack of men and the blunder of the nameless commander at Suvla Bay who took a ( week to do what he was to have done in two days that made the one look at the Narrows short for our gallant men, who. actually crowned Sari Bair and were within rifle range of Maidos. It is contrary to British spirit to cave in after one failure, and we feel sure that the next attack will not be a repetition of the last, one. To abandon the Peninsula would be an insult to the men who have got a grip on it and have hung theiie against heavy odds for months.