Slain in Thousands

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 144, 5 November 1912, Page 5

Slain in Thousands

The Carnage at Luleburgas

Appalling Shell fira

Wipes Out Whole Battalions

/War Correspondent's Fearful Story

THE TURKISH DEBACLE

THE BATTLE OF KIRK KILISSIA.

CORRESPONDENT'S GRAPHIC STORY-

HOW THE BULGARIANS WON.

MUKDEN OUTRIVALLED.

Constantinople, November 3.

Beceived 4, 9.40 p.nii

London, November 4. Mr. Donohpe, the Daily Chronicle's correspondent with the Turks at Chorlu, one of two English, correspondents caught in the stampede, says that an irrevocable disaster has befallen, the Turks, followed by confusion and a rout unparalleled since Moscow. It was the completest military disaster since Mukden, and the greatest debacle since Sedan. Forty thousand Turks have fallen, while Abdullah narrowly escaped the same fate. Seventy-five per cent, of his artillery are captives. The men melted like snow before the summer sun. The disintegration was soon general and the demoralisation complete. - It was only by handfuls that the army found its way back to Chorlu, the Bulgarian artillery cruelly harassing them and mowing down thousands. The terrible scenes he witnessed have burned themselves on his memory. Throughout the terrible flight the superiority of the Bulgarian artillery was pronounced. The Turks' were unable to withstand the murderous fire, and withdrew slowly. The gunners were dead and the majority of the horses were killed by the 1 afternoon. The Turks were shelled at Luleburgas. The civilians having previously fled, the noncombatants' loss was insignificant. The Bulgarians launched their infantry attacks and stormed the Turks, who withdrew, but the rearguard was caught like rats in a trap.

THE FRENZIED BULGARIANS.

A PELL-MELL OF HORRORS.

EXTRAORDINARY HAVOC.

Received 4, 10,20 p.m.

London, November 4. Mr. Donohoe says two-thirds of the corps, though foodless for two days, stubbornly resisted, and died to a man. At a railway station four miles from Luleburgas the Bulgarians were checked for a. couple of hours. Here the Turkish cavalry were concentrated under Salih Pasha and Feud Pasha. As the Bulgars approached they were exposed to an unexpected raking fire from batteries posted on the hills round the station. The shrapnel tore their ranks. Then Salih's cavalry, dashing from their concealment, swept like a tornado upon the exposed infantry. The Bulgarians turned, and the cavalry rode thein down, causing extraordinary havoc. Elatedly the Turks pursued them, when suddenly the Bulgarian machine guns opened, tumbling Turks and horses in a mangled mass. Few who entered the charge returned. Meanwhile the Bulgars' heavy artillery caused the Turkish garrison to retreat, but few reached the hills. The Turkish artillery then concentrated on the town of Luleburgas. Houses were destroyed and many Bulgarians killed in the ruins. The Bulgars got their artillery into position, and a duel commenced. The Turkish positions were badly chosen, lacking cover and with no trenches for supporting the infantry. A GENERAL STAMPEDE. MURDEROUS MARKSMANSHIP. TURKS MOWN DOWN IN THOUSANDS W T OUNDHD PERISH IN THE COLD.

THE FALL OF ADRIANOPLE.

EXPECTED NEXT WEEK,

Vienna, November 3,

A GREEK SUCCESS.

CAPITULATION OF PREVEZA.

Athens, November 3.

SIIVKET PASHA'S ESCAPE.

Received 4, 11.5 p.m.

TURKISH OUTRAGES.

London, November 4. Mr. Donohoe states that the fourth, last and only ray of hope for the Turks lay in Muhktar Pasha's effort to relieve the pressure by turning the Bulgarians' left. Abdullah Pasha was unable to accede to the second corps' appeal for help at Bunarhissar, where the ammunition was exhausted, nor could the centre company at his request hold their ground! At three on Thursday a general "sauve qui peut"— (every man for himself) occurred. Everything was abandoned in the stampede across the Thracian veldt. Seventy-five per cent, of the wounded were further injured by the shrapnel. OMt of two battalions which arrived at Luleburgas on the day of the battle only six were alive at sundown.

Sofia, November 3

The second corps caught six Bulgarian spies, courtmartilled and shot them. Mr. Donohoe, continuing, states that the Turks lost heavily, but their severe bombardment caused the Bulgars to temporarily evacuate Luleburgas. Towards evening, however, the Bulgarians' advance became more rapid. The infantry pushed forward with incredible speed, while the artillery took up positions as coolly as in peace manoeuvres, and knew the range to a nicety. The marksmanship was as superb as it was murderous. The Turks were poorly supplied with ammunition, most of which was expended in the morning's battle. Many of the Turkish gunners stood by their guns, unable to reply, and awaited death, which came swiftly, while the Turkish front was 9iarrassed by a terrible fire. As time progressed it became simplv a carnage, men falling in I hundreds. "The appalling shell fire destroyed the morale of the Turks. As night came the Bulgarians fell on the foodless and sleepless men, for the Bulgarians seemed endowed with relentless energy. The dead encumbered the ground. Doctors were few, and ambufances none. The greater portion of the wounded perished during the bitterly cold night. The retreat for perhaps an hour was orderly, but pressure at the rear reduced the vanguard to a rout. Two hours after sunrise the Bulgarians loarned what had happened to Abdullah's army, and started in pursuit, and occnp:-" 1 . Sakljoz without a shot being fired in ux.'cnce.

FAILURE OF GERMAN TRAINING.

Berlin, November 3.

SHELL FACTORY BLOWN UP,

Received 4. 11.30 p.m.

CetUnje, November 4. Owing to the carelessness of a workman the shell factory at Old Antivari caught fire and blew up, killing five.

A German officer with the Turks at Kirk Kilissia asserts' that the Moslems had half won the battle when, for some unknown cause, they began to retire. The failure began with a weak Redif regiment of Asiatics, whose panic was communicated to the rest, culminating in a pell-mell flight. There was absolutely no' truth in the reports that Mukhtar Pasha was a coward or clumsy. The officer states that he is one of the bravest and best soldiers the Turks possess. The reports that he was recalled and disgraced are untrue.

Tne same officer describes the incident in which the Turks fired on one another. "Despite the darkness, we poured lead into the enemy, whose flashes were occasionally visible when the rain held off. Firing continued nearly all the night. We were losing pretty heavily, but were advancing, Finally, with the dawn, we fell on the ground to rest, having won the battle, but were staggered to find, not dead Bulgarians, but Ottomans. The conviction dawned on us that we had been fighting our own men. The Bulgarians evidently soon discovered tnat something had upset our formation. Soon after daylight they attacked the weakest point of the half-trained Redifs. These broke and ran."

Turkish newspapers bitterly comment on the change in the views "of Europe with regard to the status quo since the Allies' success.

Abdul Aziz will shortly be courtinartialled.

Twelve thousand wounded from the Thracian battlefield have arrived.

Turkish reports of a Greek defeat near Vodena alleged that the Greeks were caught between the Salonika Turks and a Monastir force; and reports also assert' that the Montenegrins were repulsed at Scutari with two thousand casualties.

A bomb exploded in the Government Konak at Dimotika, causing much damage.

The Eeichspost says that the fall of Adrianople may be expected next week. Capitulation might < be hastened, but King Ferdinand has discountenanced a ruthless bombardment.

The Reichspost emphasises the heroic assaults on the Turkish centre at Kavakdere, during the second day of the Banarhissa battle. Undismayed and unshaken by the appalling Turkish fire, the Bulgarians captured the heights at the fourth charge.

The fifth division, marching on Monastir, camped near Molbankei. They repulsed a Turco-Albanian night attack, and in turn attacked and routed the Turks at dawn. The latter had one thousand infantry and two hundred cavalry killed, and lost seven guns. The town of Preveza has capitulated.

It is reported that the Bulgarians surrounded Shevket Pasha's division on the heights east of Serij. After desperate fighting the Turks broke through and iled to Chataklja. During the fight at Luleburgas the Bulgarians captured eighty guns and ICO ammunition waggons. The Turks, during the retreat from Babaeski, massacred two hundred of all ages and both sexes at Alavali, and eyes were gouged and heads Bplit. A SERVIAN VICTORY. Belgrade, November 3. Boletinatz, a famous Arnaut chief, with 15,000 followers, has surrendered to the Servians at Mitrovitza. THE AFTER-SETTLEMENT. THE BULGARIAN VIEW-POINT. Paris, November 3. Le Temps publishes an interview with the Bulgarian Charge d'Affaires, who says that popular sentiment will not allow the Allies to restore the freed people to Turkish rule. Europe must not repeat the Berlin Congress, and adjourn the final liquidation of the subject. M. Poincare has submitted to the Powers the form which the intervention should take. It is understood that it meets with general approval, although Austria desires to negotiate separately with Servia. AUSTRIA'S INTERVENTION. ■ St. Petersburg, November 3. M. Sazanoff has authorised a statement noting Austria-Hungary's declaration as to eonlining herself to the economic interests, which he believed could bo satisfied without prejudice to the Slav States. Buda-Pcsth, November 3. The Pester Lloyd says that Austria is fully determined to adhere to her policy "of territorial abstinence.

All efforts have failed to extract from General Von der Goltz the reason of the failure of his Turkish pupils. German experts assert that the fault doer not lie in the tactical lessons, but in the wretched individual work of the officers.

BRITISH BATTLE FLEET. London, November 3. . The battle fleet has arrived at' Gibraltar, and was immediately ordered to the Levant. ROUMANIAN PREPARATIONS. Bucharest, November 3. The Cabinet has approved of large credits for various army services. EGYPTIAN' RED CROSS. Cairo, November 3. The Egyptian Red Cross is sending a mission to the Balkans. DUTCH TAKE A HAND. The Hague, November 3. The cruiser Guelderland has been ordered to Smyrna. TURKS' LAST STAND. Sofia, November 3. The remnant of" the Turks is making a stand between Seraj and Chorlu. The bombardment of Adrianople is proceeding. SALONIKA IN DANGER. Athens, November 3. After fighting all Friday, the Greeks captured Yenidge, fourteen miles from Salonika. WARSHIPS FOR BLACK SEA. ■; Constantinople, November 3. The Powers have requested the Porte to": permit a warship of each nation to pa'ss the Dardanelles. Wangled story of European diplomacy. an elementary lesson.

The continued story, entitled "The Balkan Crisis," which has been running in the papers for years, has been such a success (declares 'an American writer) that it will probably go on from sequel to sequel.

Those who have read each chapter as it came out have found it as interesting as though it had beei. written by Doyle, Vance or Oppenheim, but some people cannot bear to read a continued story, or, having missed a few chapters, have lost tra«k of the plot and feel a vague irritation at the sight of the word "Balkan" us, reminding them ; of something they ought to know about, but do not. Why did the announcement in February, 1900, of a proposal to build a hundred and twenty miles of railroad through the Sanjak of Xovibazar, where it was undeniably needed, set two provinces free, bring two others into permanent subjection, give Turkey a constitution, and keep all Europe shivering for fear of a war ever since?

Thirty years ago Russia set out to divide up and dispose of the estates of Turkey, whom she had long before dubbed "the Sick Man of the East." Having had something to do with making him sick, nobody had a better right to be his executor. There had been insurrections in the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1875 onwards. The Servians took up arms the following year. Bulgaria, showing signs of uneasiness, was ravaged by the Bashifoazouks, massacring men, women and children 'by the thousand. Russia listened to the cry of her fellow Slavs and took up arms in their defence and her own interest. The invading army had hard work fighting its way down through Bulgaria, although it outnumbered the Turkish two to one, but finally it reached Adrianople, and the capital lay defenceless before it. At San Stefano, almost in Constantinople, the conqueror dictated his terms, which were these: Bulgaria to be made an autonomous though tributary principality extending from the Black Sea to the European territory conquered by Russia; Montenegro, Servia and Roumania to be independent. That is, the Turkish Empire was to have pieces trimmed off all along the edge and be cut in two by Bulgaria, leaving to the Turk in Europe a little bit around Constantinople and the detached provinces of the Macedonian and Albanian regions. Russia was get back Bessarabia, lost by the Crimean war, and would ultimately get access to the Mediterranean by the Bulgarian pathway. England went wild at the news. TJie Houses of Parliament were besieged by a mob howling for war. The crowds in the music halls sang the chorus which gave us a new wordj "We don't want to fight, but, by Jingo, if ire do, We've got the men, we've got the ships, we've got the money, too."

Beaconsficld was the idol of the Jingoes. He sent the British fleet to Constantinople and ordered the Sepoys to eniuask for Europe. When Bismarck called the Congress of Berlin in 1878 to revise the treaty of San Stefano, he went in person with Lord Salisbury and came back triumphant, bringing "peace with honor." You remember that big picture of the Congress. Never such an array of notables on one canvas. Never such a solemn farce. For, as we now know, the affair was settled beforehand or privately. The secret treaties of Great Britain with Russia and with Turkey came to light by accident and treachery soon after. The secret treaty between Austria and "Turkey in regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina was disclosed only a few years ago. England got the island of Cyprus as payment in advance for her intervention. France got from England the promised free hand in Africa, whence her Saharan empire and Morocco.

In the session of June 29, Count Anbrassy rose and complained of the trouble and expense that the insurrection of Bosnia and Herzegovina had caused Austria-Hungary, -whereupon the Marquis of 'Salisbury, as though struck by a bright idea, proposed that these two provinces should he "occupied and administerei by Austria-Hungary," which the Congress approved. Bulgaria was cut down to a strip between the Danube and the Balkans. Eastern Roumelia became a semi-detached province, with the Prince of Bulgaria as Governor-General. The way of diplomatists sitting around Prince Bismarck's table put together the dissected map; Turkey was arched over by a scries of practically independent States, Eastern Roumelia, Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro, reading the names from right to left, in the Oriental way. The keystone of the arch was the Sanjak (or county) of Novibazar. This was driven in by the Congress of Berlin as a sort of wedge to keep Servia and Montenegro apart.' The treaty of San Stefano had brought them close together, and by giving Montenegro ports on the Adriatic, had practically given Servia a passage to the sea. Novibazar was left under- Turkish administration, but Austria was given the right to garrison the territory, and—hereby hangs this tale—to maintain military and commercial roads there.

When Austria in 1908 announced her intention to take advantage of this right •by putting through a railroad from her Bosnian frontier to connect with the railroad from Salonika, thus giving a direct route to the Aegean, she touched the keystone of the arch and shook the whole "edifice set up by the Congress of Berlin. A new factor in the Tnr.ld-ri problem made its appearance—the Turkish people. The Committee of Union and Progress (with some stress on the word

"Union") took alarm, and the revolution broke out, prematurely but not unsuccessfully. The patriotic Young Turks i««k eontrol of the Government. Austria announced her intention of making the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina formal and permanent, and offered to relinquish her claim on Novibazar in compensation. Servia and Montenegro declared their intention of making war rather than allow the permanent alienation of these provinces. Nothing would have pleased Austria better, but the | Powers compelled Servia and Montenegro to quieten down and submit to the inevitable. Russia, who was naturally the most inclined to interfere on their behalf, as she did thirty years before, -was checked by a threat from Germany. Turkey having no interest in the creation of a strong federation of Serb States to the west, accepted £2,200,000 and Novibazar as compensation for the loss of the title of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, joining in the grab game, seized the Orient railroad in Eastern Roumelia, belonging to the Turkish Government, and crowned himself at Turnova Czar of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia. Turkey condoned this insult also, in consideration of some £4,800,000, which Russia will pay her and collect from Bulgaria. So runs the story, briefly, badly told.