GLORIOUS LAST STAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 February 1916, Page 6

GLORIOUS LAST STAND.

SERBIANS' HEROIC RETREAT. j Famished remnant retires OVER MOUNTAIN TRACKS. In tlie following article, which Edgar Ansel -vlowrer, tlie Rome correspondent of the Chicago Daily News, cabled to his paper from information supplied by Louis Edgar Browne, war correspondent for the same paper, a stirring tale is told of the tragic retreat of the Serbian army, its stand to the last shell, and the retirement of the remnant, barefoot, bleeding and hungry, over the snowcovered mountain tracks to Cettiuge and Scutari:—

Mr. Louis Edgar Browne, your war correspondent, arrived to-dav after having been missing for seven weeks in the interior of Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. He witnessed the stubborn last stand of the Serbian armies and their defeat and rout, and then he accompanied Prince Alexander of Serbia, and Princess Helene on a wild ride across Slontenegro to Cettinje. On several occasions the party went for days without food and had to walk four houra, in some places across deep fields of snow at an altitude of 8000 ft. From Cettinje Mr. Browne, after putting to sea in an Albanian fishing boat, which, being chased and bombarded by Austrian submarines, put back to shore, succeeded in reaching' Durazzo (Albania) on horseback.

He crossed to Italy in an Italian destroyer. When he finally reached Ron;» lie was completely overcome with fatigue. Mr. Browne brought the first complete story of the Serbian campaign, whieli he was probably the only journalist to witness.

| His story follows the Serbian army which two months ago so confidently faced overwhelming numbers of enemy troops on two fronts, but which was un ; able to offer effective resistance to both the Austro-German and Bulgarian forces, which were rapidly driving forward along three converging lines westward through Albania, apparently seeking the conquest of that country's Adriatic ports. These ports are of the highest strategic value to the Allies' cause. THE LAST STAND. The Serbians fought desperately on every foot of the fatherland. In the blood of 200,000 men is written the most glorious page in Serbian history. Montenegro is as yet unconquered, although the German invasion of that mountain land lias begun on a gigantic scale. The Montenegrins, eapped with black-banded fezes, in mourning for the defeat at Kossovo, are again fighting their enemies stubbornly, just as they fought centuries ago against the Turks. The Montenegrins say that it is barely impossible to repel the alien invaders of the Elaek Mountain kingdom. There is confidence among the Serbians that Italy will be able to defend Valona, as Italy has long been wide awake to the danger and lias been preparing studiously to meet it. "It would bo impossible to follow the Serbian army and Government as I have done for the last seven weeks," says Mr. Browne, "without admiring the in-> tense patriotic courage of the Serbian soldiers and people, which was the more admirable because during the last four weeks they have known that Serbia was doomed and certain of defeat and temporary annihilation. "The last stand of the Serbian army was made at Prizrend, where more than ■ 100 guns, mostly of the French 75 (Sin) type, were arranged in a huge semicircle pointed at the Bulgar army. After five days of bloody battle the Serbians, having fired their last shell, spiked their guns and then broke and fWd in disorder through a narrow path where ithe River Drina cuts into the Albanian mountains.

"More tlian SO,OOO Serbians were engaged at Prizrend, of whom about half were taken prisoners. In the fastncs.vs the snow-clad, barren, uninhabited Albanian mountains there exist large hands of Serbians lighting a glorious guerilla warfare unequalled in savage fury even by the ancient Zulus, but that sort of' warfare will hardly be effective against the well-regulated, orderly and marvellously rapid advance? of the Oermano-Bulgar forces. "A description of the flight of the , Serbian forces explains why the remnant of one of the finest .armies'i.i '.he world is unfit for Warfare.

'•Three routes of retivat were jpen to the army after the defeat of Prixrend: The main route through Lumkulns, at the junction of the Black and White Drin livers, another route through the Djakova and Ipek into Montenegro, and the last route from Prizrend southward into Albania, via the old Roman road to Dibra and Elbassan and Duraz--7.0. All three routes were abi.i'utelv impassable for vehicles; each was nothing more than a mule path ov-.'r Mgi', precipitous, snow-bound Mountains

''The last orders of tin General Staff .read: Fall back and usa the three passes.' But the Austro-G'-jfm.in-:, r.nd especially the Bulgars, advme «l so ra.iidlv that the Serbians were, utubl: to cover their retreat, or by. suddenly invading Montenegro the Austrian troops captured Djakovo, and closed the Ipek passes so quickly that scarcely 3000 Serbians retreated that way.

'•The invasion of Dibi'.t by Bulbar bands armed witli mountain batWes dosed the Dibra route, .mil only tin: Lnmkulns Pass was loft for 1 lie !vti'rat of 70,000 men. For 20 mi'.?-! in the Drin Pass three men cannot walk abreast, and the army retreated -sna';?like in double-file, the line extending for mile after mile.

"At the entrance to the pass :20 miles from Prizrend were 70,000 strugs'ing to enter and escape from 11? enemy. The Lnmkulns Pass is like .1 funnel. The Drin River deelinino; into the plain of Prirend dashes through a. narrow £orge. The Serbians all tried to set through the pass at the same time.

THE PASS CLOSED. "Five days after the defeat at Prizrend 3-5,000 men had entered the pass, and thou the Rnlgav artillery got th? range of the entrance to the pass. After that all attempting to enter ivere killed. For five hours the artillery wreaked terrific slaughter on the lionresisting Serbians. "Then the Serbians threw down Mip'ir rifles, and the Buigvs took back to Prizrend 46,000 Serbs as prisoners. "Those who escaped began at Lumk'ilus a struggle for life worse than the struggles to escape the Bulgar shells. Xapoleon's retreat from Moscow must have been like the flight of the Serbians. Here the first contingents were composed mainly of men with infected wounds and feet covered with blisters. Darin? starvation, they arrived at Scutari !3 days after leaving Prizrend. Thoy had gone through a voritablc hell. I doubt if any but the giant Serbian figlitei'3

could have done it. When the men left I'mrend they hart three days' supply of bread, and when that was finished they had nothing more except whs,t they found by the roadside. ; RAW HORSE MEAT. "When a horse fell from exhaustion the soldiers immediately skinned it and ate chunks of raw meat torn with their bayonets from the carcase. I saw many .soldiers eating raw horse flesh with apparent relish. One soldier made soup of a donkey's leg bones. "On the route were only a few scattered Alba-man one-room houses, occupied by from 12 to 20 persons, consequently there was absolutely no shelter available against the zero weather. For a considerable part of the journey the .snow was a yard deep. During the first days of the journey knife-like stones in the mountain mule path cut the soldiers' shoes into shreds. Then they discarded their shoes and trudged barefoot, leaving dark red stains in the 6now. NME STREAMS WADED. "They waded nine streams so deep that the water came up to their armpits. The men's clothing froze, hut they did not dare to stop to build fires. Fearing death from hunger they plunged on day and night. Many horses arrived at Scutari with the first few contingents, but they were absolutely broken, starved beasts, and all lame. Later no horses arrived at all, as they had been killed for food.

"The Austro-Germans had already invaded Montenegro on three sides, their forces outnumbering the defenders by more than two to one. The enemy is equipped with a great number of light mountain machine guns and apparently has unlimited quantities of ammunition and also plenty of food. "In Cettinge I saw King Nicholas of Montenegro. He told me that the Royal family would remain in Cettinge to quiet tho fears of the people, although Prince MJrko was about to leave for Italy. He added that his soldiers would defend their land to the last foot of ground, that he had confidence that the Aystrians and Germans would not pay the price necessary to conquer a country of snowbour.d mountains. The King said his soldiers could keep out the enemy, no ms.tter how great their numbers, if onl/ they had ammunition enough. "The general belief of the Serbs is that their old soldier King will die on the battlefield like a hero rather than go into wile. The Crown Prince of Serbia arrived at Scutari after a ten days' ride with no baggage but the toothbrush, soap, towels and coxpb carried in his saddlebags. Everything else he left in the hands of the enemy. With him wero one officer and one private of the regiment of Horse Guards. The rest of his following were lost on the road."