SALONIKA.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1916, Page 5

SALONIKA.

THE OFFENSIVE BEGUN, HISTORY OF THE CAMPAIGN. An offensive from the Salonika mr theatre has long been anticipated, and some military critics if note express th« belief that it is this attack, affording as it does an opportunity of taking the enemy in the Hank, which will be the decisive factor in tlm war. Certainly the Germans have expressed great uneasiness at the presence of an army at Salonika. They have attributed the landing of the French army there, aid its continuance after the Serbian debacle, to French strategy, and their angry comments upon General Sarrail's force have in themselves been sufficient proof of the usefulness of the expedition and its menace to German hopes. The town of Doiran stands on Serbian terrbi tory, but the railway station is two« miles to the eastward, on the SalonikaUcdcagattli railway. During the later stages of the Serbian retreat this area ' was held by the Anglo-French forces, tut jit the beginning of December the Buigftriau and German forces, under Teadorov, began an advance upon the French outposts at Kavadar, 25 miles north-east of Strumnitza, and Sarrail V** gan a retirement on the Greek frontsur, passing, after hard fighting, through thej Demirkapu ravine. The British meantime held the ground among the lulls west and south of Lake Doiran, with their right crossing the Salonika railway, Teodorov struck at them with hie left wing, composed of two army corps, and: the British w cru driven from their fir»t lino of trenches ov> December li. Thay Totirctl at I' l * mte of two milea a day, from Lake towards the Vardar Valley, tho jvyh ■: pttalions of the New Army doing oirt.'ouhvij fine work in tho retreat. By Oi__.mber 12 the Frewfli had crossed tin- Gr, .k frontier at Ghevgeli, the British, vju'.-r Mahou, who were protecting their flank, retiring with them. They took up a position, the British holding the right front along a very strong line, hiving good communications and capable of being reinforced at will. There were eight Allied divisions in tie field, aud any Bulgarian invasion could be held long enough to provide for tha creation of a new Torres Vedras on. the sea. That line has since bec-ii securely; held and gradually extended by the ■outrunning of new Wenches and strong of« fensive and defensive outposts, whilst patrols have scoured the country for miles beyond the line, and aeroplanes have kept the Allies well informed of tla enemy's dispositions, General Saxtail having at times done his own scouting.. The Bulgars tried, to force the hands of a couple of months ago by, seizing the Pnpet Paijs, m the Belfl&ii Mountains, north-east of Doiran. &nj <sl4 vancing on Denmhissar and (seres, At the same time another force crossed tha Mesta River and also the Struma, audi advanced in the direction of Kavflla, A significant fact about this movement) is that the territory which they threats ened on both sides is that which Bulgaria has always claimed as her own,j but which Greece got as the result of tha Graeco-Serbo-Roumanian victory over Bulgaria in the second Balkan war. Xbis very River Mesta, or ICarasu, that tho Bulgarians crossed, became, below the; place of crossing, a frontier barring the Bulgarians from what they regarded aa their own. It is said that, in the heginning of last year, when Venizelos was trying to get the Balkan League reconstituted, and on the side -of the Allies, he was ready to try to persuade Greece' to surrender part of this territory, %nd| perhaps even Kavaal itselt, in order ten tiling Bulgaria,iu. This and tho Bur< rounding territory is, as a matter oB fact, one of those debatable regionswhich may be claimed as naturally |r<f longing to the countries on either «ida of it. There is no natural frontier Una following a racial cleavage, and Greek' and Bulgarian authorities disagree aa to which is the biggest element iu the gomlation.

The Allies were not to 1)6 Slurried, tow- ! ever, and they took no step to prevent' the invasion, stating that it was a matter for the Greek Government. The Allies' fortified line was too strong to offer any inducement for an attack, and , the Mulgara did not attempt to continue their march into the defended ter* ritory. Meantime the Serbian army of 130,000 veterans, well equipped, thoroughly trained and eager for fight, Wtte ti'ought round to reinforce the AlUes t whose full strength is a matter of conjecture—probably ovei 200,000 nien, and a week ago the first movement against, the enemy's lines was opened, when l the Serbs began to feel the Bui* gar strength round Doiran is a prelimi inary to the present operations. With the Serbs to assist him, 2Q,000 Albanians and Montenegrins in revolt aaginst the Austrians and Bulgaria™, and the Roumanians anxioua to come in as soon as it can he shown that they suffer no danger of a Buglarian invasion' it cannot but .be said that Sarrail has his opportunity. A strong attack in the Vardar and Strmnnitza Valleys, and an advance in Macedonia, give the able French Ipader a chance of scoring a great victory in the Vardar Valley, offering a threat which the Austro-Germans will have to meet. And they can only meet it by weakening their forces in the main theatres of war. ,