THE BALKANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1916, Page 5

THE BALKANS .

CROSSING THE DANUBE. | ROUMANIAN HAZARDOUS EXPERIMENT. SARRAIL'S VICTORIOUS OFFENSIVE. (Received Oct. G, 11 p.m. I London, _~)et. 0. Mr. Hilaire Belloe, the war critic, points out that the Roumanians surprised 3eneral Maekenscn by unexpectedly Clossiiig the Danube marshes, utilising a belt of sandbanks amid the meres. The sandbanks forn? a natural causeway uniting the. villages of Tomigil and Floranda. The magazines 'it Bucharest are only an hour's railway journey away, and the Roumanians were able to secretly pile up munition stores. It wa; a hazardous experiment, but the approach to the Danube was masked by a belt of marshy woodland. Thus Maekenscn was ignorant of the concentration until ihe Roumanians were across the Danube. They now hold tne bridgehead near Rahovo. The Bulgarians, realising the effect of the news of Maekensen's danger, upon Greece and other neutrals, published a lying communique claiming that they had lispersed fifteen Roumanian battalions at Rahovo. . MeanwhiU .there is excellent news of General Sarrail's offensive to recapture Seruia. The British are threatening the enemy railway communications between Rupel and Seres, the Serbians are on the right, the French in the centre, and the Russians on the left. They continue to advance and are within live miles of iMonastir. before which the Bulgarians occupy .1 line of defences. After the Bulgat counter-attacks were broken, the Serbian advance assumed the character of a pursuit. The Serbians have already regained 250 square kilometres of Serbian territory. ROUMANIAN PLANS. RETIREMENT FROM BULGARIA. FIRST OFFENSIVE IS TRANSYLVANIA, Received October 7, 12.10 a.m. Bucharest, Oct. fi. A communique states: Our forces, which crossed the Danube between Rustclmk and Tntrakai, having concluded their demonstration, retired to the left bank. Violent fighting continues on the whole Dobrudja front. We captured the enemy fortifications in the region of Parajd, between Brasso and Dornawatra, after three days' fighting. Renter adds that it is thus clear that the Roumanians have started a fresh offensive in Central Transylvania INCREASING BULGARIA'S FERTILITY GERMANY LOOKING FOR FOODSTUFFS. Received October 7, 12.10 a.m. London, October 7. The Morning Post's Budapest correspondent states that Germany is sending an immense number of agricultural machines to Bulgaria with a view to endeavouring to increase the fertility of the soil. Thousands of scientific men are advising and urging the primitive Bulgarians to adopt modern methods. Germany greatly fears the prospect, of the cutting of the Constantinople lailway, and is concentrating heavily with the object of preventing that occurring. [ ENEMY'S HANDS TIED. I CHASTISEMENT OF ROUMANIANS | POSTPONED. | Received Sept. 7, 12.10 a.i~. Berne, Sept. 6. The war correspondent of the Vienna iZeit telegraphs that Austrian headquarters state that the impossible must not be expected on the Roumanian front. General Brusiloff's latest offensive tied hrge forces, and it may become necessary to postpone tht chastisement of Roumania. Rather must we be satisfied to stem the tide of the Roumanian onslaught against Hungary. BRITISH SUCCESS A GOOD ADVANCE. SEVEN SERBIAN VILLAGES ÜBERATEL ■ London, October 5. The War Office, reporting on Salonika, states that the fighting at Jenakoj ended on Wednesday with our complete success. We occupied the whole village, both north and south of the Seres Road, and spent the remainder of Wednesday consolidating our new positions from the Orljak Bridge, along the Seres P.oad to Jenakoj and thence back to the river through Karakzakoi and the villages. Lowland Scottish and Irish battalions especially distinguished themselves in the recent fighting. The enemy suffered heavily. The Salonika correspondent of the Echo de Paris reports that seven Serbian vil■ages were liberated at nightfall of 'Wednesday, and the whole Bulgarian army is in full retreat towards new lines which have been prepared about five miles south of Monastir. After defeating the Bulgarians on Mt. Nidza, the Serbians carried out a lightning offensive, occupying Kenali. With the Russians on the left, while the French artillery and infantry were holding the centre, they pushed forward upon the Monastir plain. The Bulgars abandoned the hills and villages. A French communique states:—The Balkan battle continues favorably on the whole front. The Allies' advance guards have begun to cross the Cerna. In the region of Dobroveni, on the Brod, the Allies are progressing, despite hail of shells on the slopes of Mont Sbaba. and liave reached Buf Popli,