THE BALKANS
CABLE NEWS
{United Press Mectrie Telegraph — Copyright.)
! THE DEFEAT OF THE TURKS. DUE TO SHEER STARVATION. A HEART-RENDING NARRATIVE. (Received Last Night, 11 o'clock.) LONDON, November 6. The Daily Telegraph's correspondent, describing the retreat of the I\irks after the battle of Lule Burgas, stated the strongest speedily got to the front, while the weak, sick and wounded struggled painfully behind. Thousands of wounded made pathetic efforts to keep up with their comrades. Many fell by the roadside and crawled off the track and died. For three days all were foodless. Every stream was turned into a mud puddle in the fearful straggle to .quench their thirst. The- Turks, at the com-" meuccnt of the campaign, were two thousand officers short, and the loss of officers in the battle being enormous, it was impossible to maintain a semblance of order during the retreat. Looking back from the rising ground at Chorlu, one saw the extraordinary sight of 50.000 stragglers dotted over the plain, men, horses, guns and ox waggons, all converging on the two roads, leading to Chorlu, bent upon reaching the town before the night fell. J f the routed army fails at Chataldja, and falls back on Constantinople the starving hordes are bound to begin looting. The city's forces will be incapable of preserving order. The military authorities at Constantinople, throughout the campaign, deliberately deceived the outside world, hoping that the bravery of the Turks would pull them-through sit the eleventh "hour. The army has been defeated by. sheer starvation, rather than -any other factor. • '-/■-'. -'•- - The Turkish army had no general or. staff f%apu49l» J circus." The greatest battle of modern times wis fought without the smallest preparation' 'to succour the wounded, and the few surgeons lacked every necessity. The artillery had a few hours to supply-ammunition, for whole batta-i lions. The brigades'consisted of ignorant Anatolian peasants, thousands of whom never handled a 7*ifle. The correspondent did not see a machine gun in action',' while the Bulgarians' artillery was matchless, and the ::mmunition supply a masterpiece of organisation, and their machine gun fire was deadly.
REQUEST FOR MEDIATION. M. POINCARE'S ANSWER. (Received Last Night, 11 o'clock.) PARIS, November 6. A request for mediation has been received. M. Poineare repeated his previous answer, that he is prepared to consult tho Powers if the belligerents ■are prepared to accept mediation.
SURRENDER OF SKUTAIiT. DEMANDED BY MONTENJSGRTNS (Received Last Night, 11 o'clock.) CETTLNJE, November 6. Montenegrin and Austrian officers, under a white flag, demanded the surrender of Skutari. Riza Boy, tho Turkish Commander, refused. Tho Montenegrins occupied, Alloso, and Port Sangiovannj Demedua. The Servians and"'Montenegrins have joined forces at Ipek and are marching against Diakova.
LIKELY TO BE ENORMOUS. (Received Last Night, 9.40 o'clock \ LONDON, November 6.' Correspondents state that the mortality arising from 'disease in the Balkans will likely be enormous. Arrangements on both sides for dealing with the sick a.nd wounded are inadequate. Starving non-combatants are rpouring into' Constantinople, where disease will likely decimate them.
BULGARS OCCUPY DERKOS. CONSTANTINOPLE'S WATER SUPPLY. TURKS AT CHATALDEJA, (Received November 6, 8" a.m.), LONDON, November-5. 'J:lie Exchange Telegraph Company's Sofia correspondent states that a large Bulgarian, force has occupied Derkos, 21 miles north-west by north of Constantinople, and cut off the aqueduct on which Constantinople is dependent for its water supply. The Bulgarian troops have occupied the region between Chorlu and Chataldeja, 2G miles west-north-west of Constantinople. completely surrounding one of the Turkish forces. Renter's Constantinople correspondent reports that the Turks are preparing for the defence of Chataldeja, Asiatic troops are constantly arriving there. Fifteen hundred Circassian horsemen have landed. » Nothing short of the Powers* intervention can prevent King Ferdinand's entrv into Constantinople. SOFIA. November 5. The lull in the operations at Chorlu is due to the Bulgarian army, after four days and nights of lighting, being given two days' repose. The period of rest expires to-day, when an. advance will be made on. Chataldeja, with reinforcements from the troops round Adrianople. The kittcr are to be replaced' by Servians. The Second Bulgarian Army, under General Kutinjcff, is marching by way of the coast to the Sea of Marmora, where it will effect a junction
with General Dimitrieff's cqmmamd, near Chataldeja, to which place (26 miles from Constantinople) the main body of the Turks is being withdrawn. ALL DAY BATTLE. ■ 20 s OOO TURKS REPULSED. HEAVY LOSSES ON BOTE SIDES. (Received This Morning, 1 o'clock.) SOFIA, November .6. A battle lasting all day was iouglii ou the..29th. October;, Twenty thousand '.Kirks attcmiited to break through the besiegers at Adrianople. Both sides lost heavily. The Bulgarians by -a violent bayonet charge compelled the Turks to retire within their lines, where supported by their artillery, the Bulgarians did not follow. Refugees, state that at..Adrianqpl© the Water supply-has been cut off, afid the inha.bitaTit& Are dependent on the river for water. They report/that much sickness is prevalent.
MONTENEOJROIS ARMY. BOMBARDMENT OF SKUTARJ. (Received November 6, 9 a.m.) CETTINJE, November 5. The foreign consuls have protested to Prince Danilo, commanding the Montenegrin troops at outside Skutari that shells are falling among peaceful Christians and Mohammedans in the town. The Crowm fcrince ha-s replied that the town is fortified and that neutral buildings ought to be marked with special flag-s. He concludes by mentioning misuse of the white flag by tbe Turks, Montenegrin soldiers being-the victims. The- Reichpost w»ys it is .reported that the Montenegrins are unable to, hold Taraboscfi, have -been dislodged, leaving several guns which they disabled. Tbe. - Montenegrins burned... the Mohammedan village** of Mossi and Missolini, which'hadt been repeatedly attacked. The Turks-have scored a small success.
GREEK OPERATIONS. TURKISH TOWN OCCUPIED. (Received November 6, 9.10 a.m.), ATHENS, November 5. The Greeks have occupied Phara. At Satitizn, near Kossha.ni. 55 miles south-east of Monastir, Turks pillaged the monastery of the and massacred many of the inhabitants. The Turks defeated at Yenidje by the. Crown Prince's army consisted of a Sores division of 25.000 men with thirty finns. The held in, the vicinty is covered with dead, and the roads towards Salonika are strewn with equipment. The army reached Salonika in complete disorder.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19121107.2.23.14
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 7 November 1912, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,017THE BALKANS Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 7 November 1912, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Wairarapa Age. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.