THE TURKISH COLLAPSE Part of the Serbian r st Army had advanced to Prilep on Nov. 5 and had then halted for the remainder to come up in line, for Prince Alexander, who was in command, hoped to fight a decisive battle before Monastir with the whole of the troops that could be made available. The Turks had taken up a strong position north of the town and there they proposed to stand their ground. In the circumstances, Prince Alexander, whose impedimenta took time to cross the hills out of the Vardar valley, was not prepared to commit his army to the attack before the r4th. The date was subsequently deferred to the 18th, his plan being to deliver a frontal assault, while at the same time turning both of the enemy's flanks.
As it happened, however, the isolated Serbian division told off to operate against the Ottoman left, delivered a premature night attack on the i 5th, and had then to resist resolute Turkish counter-attacks during the succeeding two days, unsupported; but it managed to keep the enemy at bay, and when the battle was finally launched on the r 8th, the Serbians were completely successful. The Turkish Army broke up. Half of it was killed, wounded, or captured; the other half made its way, in units or small parties, to the only friendly stronghold now left open Yannina, in Epirus (Scutari was closely invested by this time). The victory of Monastir proved to be decisive, and all that re mained for the allies to do in the western theatre of war was to march through Albania to the sea, occupying various points for police purposes, to reduce the two fortresses of Yannina and Scutari, and to take steps to meet the possibility of Austro Hungarian intervention. Serbia and Montenegro therefore joined in the armistice that was signed on Dec. 3, as already mentioned, between Bulgaria and Turkey.
The Greek government, anxious to complete the occupation of Epirus and the capture of Yannina, were not parties to this sus pension of hostilities. The operations north of the Gulf of Arta, in difficult country, had made somewhat slow progress at first; but on Nov. io Greek troops had arrived near Yannina, and with in a few days a loose blockade had been established, which had not, however, prevented some of the Turkish fugitive detach ments from entering the place after the battle of Monastir. A great part of the Hellenic field army was brought round by sea from Salonika during the winter, so as to ensure the fall of the fortress as soon as the weather should again become favourable for active operations.
between the belligerents were set on foot in London shortly after the armistice ; but these were abruptly terminated on news arriving of a military coup d'etat having been carried out on Jan. 23 at Constantinople, in which the existing government was overthrown and Nazim Pasha, the commander-in-chief, was murdered. The military government that had been set up denounced the armistice within a few days, and hostilities were resumed on Feb. 3, although Ottoman field armies had ceased to exist in Europe except within the Chatalja lines and the Gallipoli peninsula. The story of the second phase of this war is merely the final instalment of the sieges of Adrian ople, Yannina, and Scutari. An effort was, it is true, made by the Turkish field forces in Thrace to debouch from the lines of Chatalja and Bulair with a view to relieving Adrianople, and this led to heavy fighting locally; but the Bulgarians held their own on both fronts, so Adrianople was perforce left to its fate by the Ottoman military authorities.
The terms of the armistice had not admitted of the revictualling of this extensive stronghold, which remained blockaded during the truce, and by the time that hostilities came to be resumed the garrison was already finding itself short of certain supplies. The investing forces at this time were composed of the Bulgarian 2nd Army, which had taken up the duty in the first instance, and of the Serbian 2nd Army, which had been transferred from the western theatre of war after the victory of Kumanovo. But al though it soon became evident from attempts at sorties and in creased desertion that the garrison was weakening, lack of trans port and of artillery delayed preparations for an assault till the middle of March, and by that time the besiegers had been re inforced by three Bulgarian divisions which it was found possible to transfer from their former position before the Chatalja lines.
The fortifications around the city of Adrianople consisted of a number of substantial, but very conspicuous, forts, with a girdle of infantry redoubts further out, the whole forming an extensive perimeter ; but the only really modern works were a certain number of batteries, distributed in the intervals. The infantry redoubts, moreover, were open at the gorge—a serious source of weakness. The garrison at the time of the assault numbered about 50,000, and the allies chose the eastern side of the fortress for attack. A preliminary intensive bombardment of the works was carried out on March 24, and that night the whole of the advanced line on the eastern side was stormed. On the following night an assault was delivered upon the main position ; but this was brought to a standstill by the Turkish wire, except at a point where one of the forts was captured by a single regiment. Although the com mander of the regiment found himself at dawn to be isolated, he promptly struck out right and left against the rear of the works on either hand, and he thus cleared the way for unit of ter unit that had been held up by the frontal wire, so that within a few hours the whole line of eastern defences was in Bulgarian hands. Attacks were also being delivered at other points, and about mid day on the 26th, the Turkish commandant surrendered uncon ditionally. The assault had cost the allies about 9,500 casualties.
had fallen three weeks earlier to a success ful general assault delivered by the Greek troops under the Crown Prince. This took place on March 5 and the Turkish garrison, numbering about 30,00o wounded and unwounded, surrendered next day; at the end of March only Scutari remained to be taken. The Turkish commandant of this latter fortress had refused to recognize the armistice because its terms did not provide for his revictualling; but little actual fighting took place during the months of December and January. On Feb. 7, however, a de termined assault on important defences on the eastern side of the stronghold, which was only partially successful, was made by the Montenegrins ; another was delivered next day, which made no progress. But on the gth, the trenches were carried after a fierce combat, and the besiegers thereby gained a footing within the Ottoman line of defence. They, however, found that they could advance no further at this point.
A Serbian contingent had arrived shortly before this to take part in the siege, and the activities of the allies were now trans ferred to the south-western side of the fortress—its western side rested on Lake Scutari. Not until March 31 and April i, however, was an assault attempted in this quarter, and then the undertak ing failed. The Serbian general took over the chief command after this rebuff, but jealousies, military and political, speedily arose, and on April 16 he and his forces took their departure. The Montenegrins had now to take over the whole of the besieging line, and the stronghold seemed safe from further assaults in con sequence, but it nevertheless suddenly capitulated on April 2 2. The Great Powers had, however, decided that the place was to belong to the new State of Albania, and, under pressure from them, the victors were obliged on May 6 to evacuate it.