BALKANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 March 1916, Page 5

BALKANS.

FIGHTING AT GHEVGELI, ZEPPELIKS ATTEMPT TO EEACH •- SALONIKA. if. . ;. ,i |Mint' March 26, B.S pjn^. %f?\ Salonika, March 25. fighting between Ghevgeli and Doiran tobttnued on Friday with greater intending to develop into a general Action on the fchole line, , Twenty-two French aeroplanes bombed 'fh» Germna camps. The enemy is diseasing greater aerial activity. ZepJwjuis frequaitly tried to reach Salonika, kat failed; \ a- ROUMANIAN ARMY. '' M/- • C . thrived MarcH 28, 5.5 p.m. ... . Athens, March 25. 3pumanifc : > has completed forty new r«|mientß, taking an army of I*2o regi- . £W>ts of 3800 men each. HANGED. • w .Itfudon, March 24. Tne Times' cbrrespondent at BucliarUt says tbaty.,the morning after Enver fasha returned to Constantinople three ..Armenians were hanged in the open spice before the Ministry of War <ljtrged >jfith being revolutionaries. BULGARIA DISILLUSIONED. v

Allies. If she does, it is all up with Bulgaria. In 1913, when Bulgaria was hurling herself in vain against the Servian and Greek armies on the Vardar and Bregalnitza, the Roumanians invaded her territory with an army 400,000 strong. The Roumanian engineers threw two bridges over the Danube in 24 hours. It is true they were not opposed. But at the present time Bulgaria has no large force to spar,e for the protection of the Danube, and, covered, by powerful artillery, the Roumanians should have little difficulty in crossing. They would then occupy Plevna, as they did in 1913, and then they have an open road to Sofia. We shall then reap the full advantage of our occupation of Salonika. Our armies would be reinforced by the 130,000 Servians who have been brought from Albania. If Roumania decides to strike, we shall, in fact, have an overwhelming superiority in numbers in the Near East. Neither must we overlook the fact that Greece would probably come in with us if Roumania strikes from the north. Having obtained the possession of the line of railway, Salonika-TJskub-Kumanova-Nish, there are several routes open for the invasion qf Bulgaria proper. There is the direct road from Kmnanova vta Egri Falanka through the mountains to Sofia, only about 60 miles in length, and there is the southern route through Oupnica, which was chosen by the Greeks in 1913. Bulgaria would thus be crushed between two hammers, and her capital threatened from the north, the west, and the south. The Bulgarian armies would have to capitulate or else retreat into Rumelia and Thrace in order to keep in touch with the Turks. Having cleared Bulgaria, we could then consider the crossing of the Maritza and the invasion of Thrace. Adrianople would be our firat objective. Once that fortress is in our hands there is no strong military 'position until! the line of Cataldja, 20 miles from Constantinople, are reached. But if the Turks are driven-back on Cataldja it means abandoning the GallipOli Peninsula, or else the forces on the peninsula would have to hold the neck at Bulair, cut off from all communication with Constantinople except by sea. That route is made precarious or impossible by the activity of our submarines. I am looking into the future, but these things are almost certain to come to pass. The heroes of Gallipoli and the reinforcements now in Egypt or training may yet participate in the final' taking of Constantinople."

\' ~ HAD ENOUGH OF THE WAiL \ fffi "■•'.' ......... —. . j Mr. Benwlcfc, the Salonika correspondent of the' London Daily Chronicle, 'W;#es to hie paper:—"A reliable observ- j >»r wit), has just mched here from Buigaria tells me gome interesting things about the state of affairs in that country. '&..#?» that no secret ie now made pf the fact that the war has been, 'ai far, a very expensive affair. It cannot no/w be hidden from the people that thejoases in- the fighting against the 'Sertphs, 'French and English amount in all to 150,00 ft men out of a total of > 430,000. The national leaders told the i£ country at the commencement of the war" that tnj struggle was only, to achfate Bulgaria's just and national ambitions and to relieve Bulgarian Macedonia from foreign rule. Now that Bulgaria lis in possession of that region, •lid ' much i'more,' the general feeling Itraong the population, and throughout tlit army fa particular, is that the counhad enough of the war. "My informant," Mr. Renwick continues, "is in a position to confirm the recent Tep'oiftg that the Bulgarians v sinmgly object to taking part in the titjMK on tho Allies' position here unto* they guaranteed very liberal :ompensation, such as, at least, the possession of Salonika. The seriousneßS of taking part" in an attack on the Allies » fully evident to well-informed fffttgari, And large numbers of people are thoroughly convinced that the con- • tinuancc of the war will mean utter ruin for thfe country. The relations ytween German and Bulgarian officers Continue to Be very bad. So greatly do the- Germans 4ear that they will lose hold on the Bulgarian army that German officers hive been placed in every regiment. The war has resulted in much."poverty throughout the country. The traveller also obtained information from Turkey. The Turks, he says, as well as the Bulgers, are beginning to see ttat Germany ie exploiting them. The Berlin-Constantinople line is being used to take Bulgarian corn and Turkish grain to Germany. This is causing in both tountrics & great deal of discontent and not la little want. Bulgarians *nd Tnrks both .entertain a wholesome fear Of the coming Russians. In Turkey numerous signs of a great change in opinion are .evident, and a feeling is growing in favor of peace, as the people now recognise to a very large extent that nothing can be gained by prolonging Turkey.'* Swtinuance in the war." OFFENSIVE FROM SALONIKA. SMA : BffING BULGARIA. Discussing possible future spheres of action forth* Australian and New Zealand troops, Mr. Ashmead Bartlett *Ht» to the Mirror (Sydney) as foilows:—"Thwe may be no immediate change in the strategic position in the s»w But null*?. JfW^J" l Ut