What was certain was that neither the French, the British nor the Italian Commands intended to send out another man to Macedonia, so that the C.A.A. must count exclusively on the troops actually in the country for the coming struggle. The Italian forces in Albania being about equal to those of the Austrians, there was no likelihood of reinforcements being available on either side.
CHAPTER XV
THE BATTLE OF THE BALKANS
The C.A.A. had succeeded in keeping the secret of its plan of operations up to the very last moment. The enemy, who dominated the lines of access on many parts of the front, could see that an offensive was in preparation, but, according to statements of prisoners and deserters, it had no precise idea as to the front or fronts where the attack was to be launched. It appears that only on September 14th they were convinced that the Serbian sector had been selected, but then it was too late to take precautions. The uncertainty which had reigned until that day had left them hesitating as to which area needed reinforcements. On the 14th, at eight o’clock, a heavy destructive barrage was opened on the enemy lines opposite the Franco-Serb positions. The following morning, at 5.30, the French infantry (122nd Division) advanced to the attack against the enemy positions on the Dobropolje. The enemy’s barrage fire began too late, and after two hours of hard fighting the Dobropolje fell. The French had lost 700 men, losses which were largely due to the failure of the Serbian infantry to co-operate. General Topard, commanding the division, now pushed forward against Hill 1765, behind Dobropolje, where the enemy still resisted, and in the early hours of the afternoon even that position was captured. Further to the left the enemy held out on the Sokol, where the bombardment had not yet destroyed the defences. But its capture was indispensable for the movement of the I Serbian Army, which was to commence on the following day; the Serbians were so much impressed by the difficulties, that the French had to act alone. Two battalions of the French 148th Regiment did not succeed in reaching the summit of the mountain, so that a third was sent up to reinforce them. The soldiers descended into the valley of the Matova, and, mounted on mules belonging to the divisional train, rapidly reached the positions of the first battalion, which renewed the attack, and at 21 hours the Sokol fell. To the right the 17th Colonial Division and the Serbian Shumadia Division took the Kravitza-Vetrenik group, advancing in broken order. The Serbians, creeping from rock to rock, reached the Slonovo Uvo at seven o’clock. In the afternoon they were on the eastern and western slopes of Vetrenik and near the Shlen and the Golo Bilo, where they were joined by the 17th Division on the left. The 17th Division deployed on the plateau of the Kravitza, in spite of the vigorous resistance of the enemy, who, having been reinforced, counter-attacked rapidly, but at 15.30 hours, the highest point of the Kravitza was occupied and the Bulgarian defenders captured or destroyed. In the evening, at 21 hours, the whole of the Sokol-Dobropolje-Kravitza—Vetrenik fortified system was in the hands of the Allies, and the great breach was made. The losses had not been very heavy, 1,700 French, of whom 1,200 of the 17th Division and 500 of the 122nd Division, and 200 Serbs.
It was necessary to develop this success at once so as to widen the breach, and in the night of the 15th-16th the I Serbian Army (General Boyovich) came into action, while Voivod Stepanovich pushed forward the Jugoslav and Timok Divisions, which had been hitherto kept in reserve, beyond the lines occupied by the assaulting divisions; this he was able to do because General Franchet d’Espérey had insisted that they should be kept close at hand, although the Serbian Command wished to leave them much further back. At 15.45 hours the Timok Division passed beyond the outposts of the 17th Colonial Division, and as the trenches captured corresponded roughly to the Greco-Serb frontier, the Serbian troops made a demonstration of sympathy to the French, whose splendid victorious effort had enabled them to re-enter their fatherland. The same day the Yugoslav Division, after a long march, attacked on the Koziak (Hill 1550, north of the Vetrenik), captured Hills 1810 and 1825, lost the former in consequence of a counter-attack delivered by Bulgarian reinforcements which had just arrived, but recaptured it definitely. To the extreme left, the Franco-Serb Group and the 1st Group of Divisions came into action with the attack of the 16th Colonial Division on Zborsko, where the trenches to the west were captured, but the enemy managed to hold the village. In the night of the 16th-17th, on the left of the I Serbian Army, the advance of the 11th Colonial Division began, together with elements of the 3rd Greek Division; while to the right and left of the Cerna (east) a battalion of Senegalese occupied Staravina, the Greeks occupied Zovik.
ENEMY ORDER OF BATTLE, SEPTEMBER 15, 1918.
To face p. 227.
The next objective to be reached was the Vardar at its confluence with the Cerna, so as to occupy not only the whole of the triangle formed by the two rivers, but to threaten the communications of the enemy troops south of Monastir and in the Cerna loop, as well as on Lake Doiran. The II Serbian Army pushed on towards the lower valley, crossed the Cerna, with the Morava Division (in reserve) between the two, and the 11th Colonial Division advanced echeloned obliquely so as to occupy as great a part as possible of the area to the right of the Cerna. The enemy grasped the seriousness of the situation, and the Command of the XI German Army gave orders to resist at all costs on the Kuchkov Kamen (Hill 1800 north of the Koziak). On the 17th the attacks of the II Serbian Army on that position and further east on the Topolatz, on the Studena Voda (Hill 1201), developed. The enemy resistance was desperate, and their counter-attacks were sometimes successful, but the Serbian advance continued irresistibly, and the enemy abandoned one position after another, losing a great deal of material. General Russoff, Commander of the 2nd Bulgarian Division, was relieved by order of the German Command, and succeeded by General Nikoloff, but neither this change of Command nor the sending of some feeble reinforcements could hold up the advance. On the same day the I Serbian Army attacked the Mount Beshista-Pandeli-Trezia line; on the 18th the Danube Division captured the important bridge of Razim Bey on the Cerna, and the entire army commenced a vast turning movement to occupy the whole of the right bank of the river from Selo-Monastir to Polosko. The Bulgarians defended themselves obstinately, hoping to save their vast depots filled with supplies, but being unable to succeed in this object, they were forced to fall back, burning the bridges between Polosko and Cebren, and everything they could not remove. On the 18th-19th the Danube Division created a bridgehead at Razim Bey on the Cerna, which it afterwards consolidated so as to co-operate with the French and Greeks on the left bank. It was, however, necessary to complete the operation by reaching the middle Vardar, as a frontal advance by Ghevgheli offered serious difficulties. The Serbian Cavalry Division, commanded by Colonel Georgevich, which had been brought to the immediate rear of the Serbian main lines, was now pushed forward to Kavadar, the important road centre a little to the south of the confluence of the Vardar and the Cerna. This was the extreme point reached by the Armée d’Orient in the autumn of 1915. But the advance of the Serbians had been very rapid, whereas the forces on their flanks were still on their old positions, so that an apparently dangerous salient had been created. At the same time the C.A.A. had received information from reliable sources that some German reinforcements had arrived on the Struma front; in fact, a Greek patrol had captured some prisoners of the 256th Reserve Regiment, a unit now identified for the first time in Macedonia, and which was believed to be in Roumania. This and other information concerning German movements led to the belief that an attack was being threatened against the right flank of the Armée d’Orient, which was held only by Greek troops without heavy artillery, and therefore regarded as the weakest sector. For a moment the Staff of the C.A.A. contemplated the possibility of suspending the offensive, and even of recalling the more advanced troops, but after short reflection, and in consequence of the earnest insistence of the Serbian Command, General Franchet d’Espérey decided to stick to his original plan. The advance thus continued; the Morava Division occupied Mount Chaterna, and crossed the Belasnitza torrent, the Yugoslav Division occupied Mount Rozden and advanced on the village of Mrzetzko; the Timok Division, after a lively engagement, captured the Studena Voda and the Blatetz; the I Group of Divisions, having overcome the enemy’s resistance at Zborsko, captured all the positions in that area and occupied Nonte and Mount Preslap. On the 19th, the line attained was the following: North of Nonte, north of Mount Blatetz, north of Rozden, Mrzetzko, course of the Belsnitza (which had been crossed at various points), Vrbetzko, course of the Cerna, passing by Vprchani, the bridge head of Razim Bey, then in a south-westerly direction towards the front of the 11th Colonial Division on the left of the Cerna. But the Serbian Cavalry Division had pushed ahead a great deal further towards Kavadar with such rapidity that the C.A.A. could no longer follow its operations. On the 20th the Danube Division was deployed along the left bank of the Cerna from Razim Bey to Godiak, the Morava Division from Godiak to Polosko, the Yugoslav Division on the Drachevatzko Brdo and on the heights north of Brusani, the Timok Division to the north-west of Radina and at the village of Bohila, while its divisional cavalry (not to be confused with the Cavalry Division) was descending into the valley of Boshava. News was received that the Cavalry Division was already in Kavadar, and had reached Marena and Sopot; soon afterwards it reached the Vardar at Negotin, and cut the Uskub-Ghevgheli railway. The I Group continued to advance, and on the 21st detachments of the 16th Colonial, the Greek Archipelago and 4th Divisions captured Mounts Dzena and Yarena, the chief points of the Eastern Moglena; there only remained Mount Porta, obstinately held by a Bulgarian detachment. But even this position fell soon after. The I Group now descended from a height of 2,000 m. to 100 m., reaching the Vardar and Demir Kapu. The same day the river was reached by troops of the II Serbian Army between Demir Kapu and Krivolak. The 122nd Division and all the heavy artillery was now being transferred towards the Cerna loop, with a view to new operations in that area. The speed of the advance had shown the diminishing combative spirit of the Bulgarians, who, in spite of the fact that the famous second and third lines did not exist, might have resisted on the many extremely strong natural positions. The number of prisoners captured was not very large, about 6,000, and the guns a little more than 100. It therefore seemed as though the Bulgarians were anxious to save their artillery and keep their army in being in order to defend themselves on positions further north, perhaps on the frontiers of Bulgaria.
In the morning the attack was commenced on the right flank with the object of preventing the enemy from sending reinforcements against the Serbs, and from threatening the salient that the advance of the latter had created. West and north of Lake Doiran the enemy had concentrated some of the best Bulgarian regiments, with three in reserve and two to the north-east of the lake. As we have seen, the British XII Corps was spread out to the west of the lake, comprising the British 22nd and 26th Divisions (Generals Duncan and Gay), the Greek Serres Division (in all 27 battalions), and the French 2nd bis Zouave Regiment, with a great deal of artillery, including nearly all the medium and heavy calibre guns not employed on the Serbian front. To the north-east there was the XVI Corps, comprising the 28th British Division (General Croker) and the Greek Cretan Division. After a very intense bombardment, lasting several days, the attack was launched at 5.15 hours on both sectors. The objectives of General Wilson’s attack were the same as those of the attacks in the spring of 1917, and the enemy positions were of immense strength. The hard rocky ground, as General Milne wrote in his dispatch of December 1, 1918, makes the consolidation of newly won positions very difficult, and gives overwhelming advantage to the defender in trenches that have been the work of three years, while deep cut ravines hold up progress and afford every opportunity for enfilading fire.
Soon after six o’clock, the Greeks on the right had stormed the enemy positions up to Doiran Hill, and had taken many prisoners, while on the left the 66th Brigade advanced on P ridge “with consummate self-sacrifice and gallantry.” The enemy had here three strong lines of defence, teeming with concrete machine-gun emplacements, whence they could mow down the advancing columns. After very severe fighting the 12th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, and the 9th South Lancashire, supported by the 8th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, reached the third line. But the devastating machine-gun fire and the explosion of a mine, which held them up for a little, made it impossible for the attacking force to hold their positions and obliged them to fall back on their lines of departure. The brigade lost 65 per cent. of its effectives, including two battalion commanders, Lieutenant-Colonel Clegg Hill and Lieutenant-Colonel Bishop, who fell at the head of their troops. In the centre British and Greek forces attacked the positions between the Grand Couronné and the P ridge, and, in spite of the enemy’s desperate resistance and machine-gun fire, penetrated about one mile, and reached the lower slopes of the Grand Couronné. But the failure of the attack on the P ridge made it impossible for them to retain their ground, and they were forced to fall back, “the last to leave being the survivors of the 7th Battalion, South Wales Borderers—19 unwounded men and one wounded officer.”