THE CHATALDJA LINES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 287, 3 April 1913, Page 6

THE CHATALDJA LINES.

BULGARJA.V POSITION DESCRIBED. The Chatalja position consists of a line of'fortifications extending across the Tlii'itfkin peninsula from Lake Buyuk Tclukmedclie, on the Sea of Marmora, to Lake Dcrkos, by the Black Sea, at a point about twenty-five miles west of Constantinople. Along a land-fr<mt of some liftein or sixteen miles are disposed a serious of redoubts and field-works, thirty in number, which, from their commanding natural situation along a ridge fICIO feet high, constitute a formidable defence of the capital. In the rainy season, the swamps and marshes which extend almost parallel with the line of forts would render the approaches almost inaccessible. The railway from Adrianople to Constantinople traverses the lines of Chatalja and Baghchetch. The lines themselves were designed by von Bluhm Pasha in 1877, at the beginning of the Russo-Turkish war, and in 1878 the Russians for a time lay in front of them. In recent years they have been considerably strengthened. It is known that nuny of the guns in them were taken to Adrianople, •but these may have been replaced by heavy guns from the Bosphorus. imagine two high roof ridges, and between them a stretch of flat roof; on each ridge an angry cat; and there is a vulgar picture of the battle position at Chatalja. A correspondent of the ' "Morning Post," lately with the Bulgarian army, last month gave.an interesting description of the Chatalja'lines. He said:— "I had the good fortune,to. see the whole extent of the Bulgarian position. Having won permission to join the Third Army, I rushed from Kirk Klisse through Chorlu to Silvivi towards Chatalja. "i left Silvivi on the morning of November 14, having been informed there that the Third Army was not at Chatalja, but at either Avjenli or Eral ji rind see the right flank. That was all the more reason to push on to Chataljl and see the right flank. An artillery officer gave me a friendly welcome ihere, and escorted me into the lines. Through a great gorge we passed into the little valley where Chatalja village rests. On our right was the Sea of Marmora, stretching a marshy inlet quite close to the village. On this inlet the Bulgarian right flank rested. ' The posiuVrt it this point I could sec, was intended purely to be a 'holding' one. But I was struck, even so, by the care wih which the Bulgarians dug themselves in. Every gun, every limber had its pit or epaulment. All guns were in edncealed positions, tucked away behind folds of the giant hills. The' infantry trenches were the best I had seen in the campaign, and were masked by plants of Turkish tobacco. After I had spent a couple of hours examining the Chatalja flank of the Bulgarian position, the commandant discovered that my credentials were for the Third Army, on the left (lank, and I was passed along the lines to there. As I did not hurry, being anxious to sec as much as possible of the Bulgarian dispositions and of the Turkish entrenchments confronting us, night fell before I reached Ermenikioi, and I spent that evening at Arjenli, in the centre of the Bulgarian position. "The next morning a blundering guide allpwed me to go to the extreme left flank on the Black Sea before it dawned on him that my proper" place was at the Staff Headquarters, two miles nearly behind the lines. On the left flank T was struck again by the care With which the Bulgarians had entrenched."

PLEVNA RECALLED. OSMAN PASHA'S DEFENCE. The gallant and successful defence of Adrianople was recognised early in the war by the Turkish Government, and at the end of November the tile of Ghazi (victorious) was conferred upon Shukri Pasha, the commander of the garrison, in appreciation of his splendid work. The Bulgarians anticipated an early fall of the town when the siege commenced, but five months have elapsed since they invested the city. This long defence recalls in some measure the historic events which took place round Plevna in the Busso-Turkish war of 1877, when Osman Pasha's great feat of arms proved what the Turkish soldier could do when his patriotism is aroused and liis back is to the wall. Plevna was invested on October 24, 1877. Osman Pasha had a force of 42,000 men, but he was handicapped'by a shortage of food and sickness in the ranks. The garrison held out for seven weeks until December 10, when it capitulated. The second and third cities of European Turkey (Salonika and Adrianople) have now fallen into the hands of the allies. Other important towns which have been captured include Uskub, Monastic and Janina.