In the Balkans

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 20, 29 December 1915, Page 5

In the Balkans

CONCENTRATION OF BULCARS ON DANUBI AN FRONTIER. [United PkesS Association,] (Received 12.55 p,m.) Rome,' December 28. Thirty thousand Bulgarians from the Serbian frontier, have concentrated on the Danubian frontier at Xobrudama, and dug twelve series of trenches. GUNS AND AMMUNITION FOR CONSTANTINOPLE. ■ (Received 12.55 p.m.) Rome. December 28. The Messagero’s Bucharest correspondent states that numerous trains conveying ammunition to Constantinople, and including two forty-two centimetre howitzers intended for the Egyptian operations, have been carried on the Belgrade-Sofia-Constanti-nople line.

THE BULGARIAN COMMISSARIAT STATE OF THE SERBIAN RAILWAY. i * i i (Received 12.55 p.m.) Salonika, December 28. Bulgarian deserters report that the army is suffering from dysentery,; and are badly fed and clothed, the whole commissariat arrangements being deplorable. A French engineer has received an expert report showing that the damage to the Serbian railways delays the German offensive. It has been found necessary, to carry supplies from Kumanovo by mules along the mountain tracks. The” Germans cannot possibly repair the lines within six months. - I ■ <

CREEK FRONTIER UNCROSSED. V BULCARS TO REMAIN ON SIDE OF THE FENCE. (Received 12.55 p.m.)' Bucharest, December 28. M. Toncheff (Bulgarian Minister of Finance), in an interview, said .the Bulgarians had been ordered not to cross the Greek frontier. GENERAL CASTLENAU’S OPINIONS. “FRANCE IS SURE.” [United Press Association.] New York, December 28. General Castlenau, interviewed by an American correspondent at Athens, said that the situation at Salonika was excellent, and he had rarely seen an emplacement lend itself better to defence. It also provides most favorable conditions for the offensive; ■ Asked whether the Allied forces contemplated an offensive from Salonika in the spring he repjied: “The spring will tell.” It was impossible to discount the exigencies of the military situation so far ahead. Should an offensive from Salonika bo decided upon'it would be under peculially favorable conditions.

Asked liow soon the war would be finished, he replied: “That does not matter. The material thing is victory, and that is certain sooner or later. In France every Frenchman and every Frenchwoman is ready to go'the whole way for a complete triumph. There will be no weakening. France is not only determined; France is sure.” General Castlenau, speaking at a luncheon, said; “My only fear is that the enemy may not attack us. If they do they will get a reception such as they did not receive when they tried to call on me at Nancy.,” General Castlenau, conversing with the British Minister, said he considered that the position at Salonika is absolutely impregnable. General Castlenau has departed homewards, z Malta. Deeember 28. Vessels with 326 Serbian orphans haye arrived at Marseilles. ,

MISCELLANEOUS: ITEMS.

London, December 28

Military'writers insist on the necessity of prompt action at Salonika. Colonel Moraht says that it is a strategic necessity to cut off and attack the Anglo-French base, otherwise there will be no permanent safety of the German communications between Belgrade and Constantinople. He argues that the Anglo-French position cannot be hold, and that the fortifications of Salonika will not resist modern guns.