Then on the last day of the month came the announcement from Bucharest that Russian forces had arrived on Rumanian soil and were already crossing the Danube over into Dobrudja, their left wing on the Black Sea coast being protected by ships of the Russian fleet. The commander of this force was General Zaionchovsky, who, together with his staff, had been welcomed in Bucharest by a throng of the enthusiastic inhabitants, women and children hurling bouquets of flowers on the Russians as they passed through the streets. Another peculiar feature of this event was the organization of a brigade of Serbians, interned soldiers who had escaped into Rumanian territory during the invasion of their country the year previously. These now became a part of the Russian contingent. Meanwhile in the north the Rumanians and the Russians had also joined forces, and on August 29, 1916, Berlin officially announced that the German-Austrian forces in that section had been attacked by the Russo-Rumanians in the Carpathians.

On the Danube the Austrian river fleet showed some activity. A monitor shelled Varciorova, Turnu Severin, and Giurgevo, situated on the Rumanian bank, and some small craft were captured at Zimnita. On the other hand, the Rumanians were reported to have begun a general bombardment of Rustchuk, an important Bulgarian port on the river. And on the night of the 28th the fact that the nation was at war was brought home to the citizens of the capital by an aeroplane and a Zeppelin, which sailed over the city dropping bombs, but doing very little harm. During the following month such raids were to be almost daily occurrences, and many were the women and children killed by the bombs hurled down from above.

On the 1st of September, 1916, came the announcement of a really striking victory for the Rumanians: Orsova, where heavy fighting had been raging since the first hour of the war and in which the Austrians were daily claiming success, was finally taken. Here the Austrians held a strong position, against which the Rumanians had hurled one assault after another, until they succeeded in taking two heights overlooking the town, each over a thousand feet high and thus forced the defeated enemy over the Cserna River, a northern branch of the Danube. This success caused some sensation, for now it appeared that the way was opening for an offensive across the southern portion of Hungary which should sever the Teutons and the Magyars from their Bulgarian and Turkish allies.

Badly beaten as they had been by Brussilov, the Hungarians and the Austrians were now considerably shaken. Again, Germany was called on to come to the rescue, as she had done before on the eastern front and in Serbia. Nor could the Germans afford to overlook the call, for there had been much agitation in Hungary for a separate peace. Indeed, Germany had for some time been preparing to relieve the situation as subsequent events conclusively proved. On the following day, September 2, 1916, her first blow was struck.



CHAPTER XXVI

BULGARIA ATTACKS

Up to this time the Rumanians had hoped, perhaps, even believed, that Bulgaria would refrain from attacking in Dobrudja. Not a word had come from Sofia indicating that Bulgaria intended to begin hostilities. But on this day, September 2, 1916, a strong force composed of Bulgarians, Turks, and Germans, which had been quietly mobilizing behind the Bulgarian frontier, hurled itself over into Dobrudja and threw back the weak Rumanian guards. The force with which this blow was delivered was understood a few days later, when it was learned that Germany had sent her best field commander, General Mackensen, to direct operations in this zone.

This territory is of a nature entirely different from the scene of the fighting along the eastern and northern borders of Rumania. Dobrudja forms a square tract of level country, about a hundred miles long and sixty broad, lying just south of the delta of the Danube and along the Black Sea coast. The larger part of it is marshy or low, sandy plain. Here the Danube splits into three branches, only one of which, the Sulina, is navigable. Two railroads traverse this country; the one running from Bucharest to Constanza, an important seaport; another branching off from this line below Medgidia, running down to Dobric, thence over the frontier into Bulgaria. The former was of special importance to the Rumanians, as it was the only line of communication between Rumania and any Rumanian force that might be operating in Dobrudja. It crossed the Danube over a bridge and viaduct eleven miles in length, forming the only permanent crossing over the river below the bridge at Belgrade. This structure ranks as one of the big engineering works in the world, its cost being close to $3,000,000. It consists, first of a bridge of three spans, 500 yards in length, then follows a viaduct eight miles in length, resting on piers built on islands, and finally comes a bridge 850 yards in length, of five spans, crossing the main channel of the river, which here is a hundred feet deep in places. Such is the famous Cernavoda Bridge. Toward this important point Mackensen's first move was obviously directed.

On September 3, 1916, a Rumanian dispatch announced that Mackensen was attacking in full force along his front below Dobric and that he had been repulsed. But as developed within twenty-four hours Mackensen was not repulsed. On the contrary, he was advancing, as was shown the next day when he had extended his lines to a point eight miles northwest of Dobric, while the full length of the frontier was well within his front. On the following day, the 4th, Dobric was attacked and easily taken, and the combined forces of Bulgarians, Turks, and Germans hurled themselves against the outer fortifications protecting the south end of the bridge at Tutrakan. Fortunately for the Rumanians they were now reenforced by a considerable body of Russians, and the Bulgarians were temporarily checked, the heaviest fighting taking place in the neighborhood of Dobric. But the Rumanians and the Russians were plainly outnumbered, at Dobric they were gradually pressed back, while at the bridgehead they were severely defeated. At this latter point the enemy showed his vast superiority in artillery, which he had concentrated here for the purpose of demolishing the fortifications. After nearly a dozen assaults, each following a furious artillery preparation, the Bulgarians finally, on September 6, 1916, drove the Rumanians back and took the fort. It was at this point that the German and Bulgarian dispatches claimed that 20,000 Rumanians were taken prisoner, but dispatches from Bucharest stoutly denied this. However, as was admitted later, the total losses of the Rumanians could not have been much less.

After the fall of Tutrakan the Russo-Rumanian forces, under the command of General Aslan, retired northward, and a lull came in the fighting on this front which lasted almost a week. On the 8th Silistra too was evacuated by the Rumanians after a spirited defense by the small garrison. When the news of these reverses became known to the people of Bucharest little depression was shown, for the operations against the Austro-Hungarians were continuing successfully for the Rumanians.

In spite of the fact that the Austro-Hungarians had had two years' experience of warfare, and that the Rumanians were new to actual fighting, the former made very poor resistance. With comparative ease the Rumanians advanced beyond Brasso and took Sepsiszentgyorgy and forced the Austro-Hungarians to retreat west of Csikszereda. On the 8th the Rumanians announced themselves in possession of Toplicza, San Milai, Delne, and Gyergyoszentmiklos, while in the sector between Hatszeg and Petroseny they were pressing the enemy severely. Nowhere did the Austrians make any serious resistance: they retreated, as slowly as possible, under the protection of rear-guard actions, yielding over 4,000 prisoners to the advancing Rumanians, as well as a great deal of railroad rolling stock, cattle, and many convoys of provisions. That they were expecting the assistance which was presently to come to them from the Germans seems obvious from the fact that they did not destroy the railroad or its tunnels or bridges as they retired; they apparently felt certain of returning. The peasantry, on the other hand, burned their houses and crops in those sections where the population is Magyar, then fled toward Budapest, which was beginning to fill with refugees. In those sections where the Rumanians were numerous the people, according to the Rumanian dispatches, welcomed the invaders with frantic enthusiasm.

The victorious Rumanians continued toward Hermannstadt, taking Schellenberg on the way. Here a Hungarian army had been defeated in 1599 by Rumanians under Michael the Brave. Hermannstadt, however, marked the high tide of Rumanian victory. At this point the resistance of the enemy began suddenly to stiffen. And then came the report that the Rumanians were observing German uniforms among the opposing forces. Again Germany had come to the rescue. On September 13, 1916, the first German troops to arrive on the scene came in contact with the Rumanians southeast of Hatszeg near Hermannstadt. Within two days the Rumanians were no longer able to gain ground, though for some time longer they sorely pressed their enemies.

Meanwhile, Mackensen in Dobrudja was showing extreme activity. The lull which followed the retirement of the Rumanians from Tutrakan was suddenly terminated on the 12th, when the Bulgarians and their allies attacked Lipnitza, fifteen miles east of Silistria. Here the Rumanians resisted furiously, and after an all-night fight they severely repulsed Mackensen's troops, taking eight German guns. However, this was only a temporary advantage. Some days later the German kaiser, in a telegram to his wife, announced that Mackensen had gained a decisive victory in Dobrudja. While this phraseology is perhaps a little too strong as a description of the situation at that date, the fact was that the Rumanians and the Russians were again forced to retire northward. According to the German reports the retreat was a disorderly flight, but the absence of any reports indicating a large capture of prisoners or material would indicate that the Germans exaggerated their success. At this moment a new loan was being launched in Germany, and it was natural that the military situation should be somewhat warmly colored.

On September 17, 1916, the Rumanian dispatches indicated that the Russo-Rumanian forces in Dobrudja had fallen back to a line reaching from Rasova, south of Cernavoda some ten miles to Tuzla, twelve miles south of Constanza. Thus the situation was quite grave enough. Meanwhile, some days before, General Averescu, who seemed to have been doing so well on the Hungarian front, was sent to Dobrudja, in the hope apparently that his superior abilities would save the situation. He arrived on the 16th, together with considerable reenforcements which had been drawn from the northwest, where the Russians were supporting the Rumanians. Further Russian contingents had also arrived, and on the following day, the 17th, Averescu turned suddenly on Mackensen and gave him determined battle. This was the heaviest fighting which had so far taken place in this section. Again and again Mackensen hurled his Bulgarians and Turks against the Russo-Rumanian lines, first battering them with his huge cannon. At Rasova, on the Danube, his attacks were especially heavy. Had he taken this point he would have been able to flank the Rumanians at Cernavoda, capture the bridgehead there and so cut all communication between the Rumanians in Dobrudja with Rumania itself. The battle raged until the 19th all along the line, with no definite advantage to either side. But on that day reenforcements came to Averescu. That night he began to advance. The mightiest efforts of Mackensen's forces were unable to check him. At dawn the Bulgarians began to retreat, setting fire to the villages through which they retired. In this battle the Rumanians were plainly victorious. No doubt they were in superior numbers, for Sarrail's offensive in Macedonia had grown extremely formidable and the Bulgarians had been compelled to rush down reenforcements from the Dobrudja front. At any rate, Mackensen was forced to retreat until he established his re-formed lines from Oltina, on the Danube, to a point southwest of Toprosari, thence to the Black Sea coast, south of Tuzla. For the time being the Rumanians were much elated by their success. But, as time was to show, it was merely temporary.



CHAPTER XXVII

THE GERMANS ARRIVE

The center of interest in the campaign now became the Hungarian front. As has already been stated, by the middle of the month the arrival of German reenforcements had checked the advance of the Rumanians, and now the situation along this front assumed an aspect not quite so encouraging to the Rumanians. Some little progress was still made in this direction in the third week of the month; after a few slight engagements the Rumanians occupied Homorod Almas and Fogaras, the latter a town of some importance halfway between Brasso and Hermannstadt. During these operations nearly a thousand prisoners were taken. Finally, on the 16th, they reached Barot, dominating the railroad between Brasso and Foeldvar, some thirty miles beyond the frontier.

Meanwhile German troops had reenforced the Austrians at Hatszeg, in the valley of the Streiu. Here on the 14th a pitched battle was begun in a mountain defile, which lasted two days and resulted in the defeat of a force of Magyars. On the 18th General von Staabs, commanding a large force of German troops, attacked the Rumanians in the Hatszeg sector, and after a very hot fight thrust them back. And at about the same time German forces began attacking the Rumanians in the Gyergyoi Havosok and Kalemen Hegyseg ranges of the Carpathians.

On the 21st a Berlin dispatch announced that the Teutonic forces had carried the Vulkan Pass and cleared it of the enemy. On the following day, however, the Rumanians were still fighting at this point and three days later forced the Teutons back and reconquered the lost territory, as well as the neighboring Szurduk Pass. By the 28th they had recovered ten miles of lost ground within the Hungarian frontier, driving the Austrians and the Germans before them.



A month had now passed since the outbreak of hostilities and the Rumanians were still holding a large conquered territory, nearly a third of Transylvania, or about 7,000 square miles of country. They were in complete occupation of four out of fifteen administrative departments and a portion of five others. Up to this time 7,000 prisoners had been captured. Meanwhile large forces of Germans continued arriving and reenforcing the enemy's lines, and now the determination of the Germans to devote their best energies to the punishment of Rumania was indicated by the fact that this northern army was under the command of General von Falkenhayn, formerly chief of the German General Staff.

On September 26, 1916, the Germans began their first really serious advance, the point of attack falling on the Rumanians near Hermannstadt, about fifty miles northeast of Vulkan Pass. For three days the Rumanians made a heroic resistance against a great superiority in men and heavy cannon on the part of the enemy. On the third day the Rumanians found themselves entirely surrounded, their retreat through the Red Tower Pass being cut off by a column of Bavarian Alpine troops who had scaled the mountain heights and occupied the pass in the rear. Rendered desperate by this situation, the Rumanians now fought fiercely to escape through the ring that encircled them, but only a comparatively few succeeded in reaching Fogaras, from which town another Rumanian force had been trying to make a diversion in their favor. In this action, according to German accounts, the Rumanians lost 3,000 men, thirteen guns, ten locomotives, and a quantity of other material. This battle, called by the Germans the Battle of Hermannstadt, enabled them to occupy again the Red Tower Pass. On October 1, 1916, they had continued beyond this pass and were attacking a Rumanian force south of it, near Caineni, on Rumanian territory. Thus, with the first of the new month the Rumanians were on the defensive in this region.



CHAPTER XXVIII

THE RUMANIAN RAID ACROSS THE DANUBE

On the following day general attention was again attracted toward the Dobrudja by a feat on the part of the Rumanians which for the moment gave the impression that she was about to strike the enemy an unexpected and decisive blow. A day or two before a Turkish and a Bulgarian division had been severely repulsed near Toprosari, south of Tuzla. Immediately there succeeded a general assault along the entire line to which Mackensen had retreated on the 20th, but though thirteen guns were captured, he did not again give ground.

Suddenly, on the morning of October 2, 1916, the Rumanians threw a pontoon bridge across the Danube at Rahova, about halfway between Rustchuk and Tutrakan, and well in the rear of Mackensen's line. Before the small Bulgarian forces stationed at this point were aware of what had happened they were completely overwhelmed by the Rumanians, who were streaming across the bridge. All the villages in the neighborhood were seized and for twenty-four hours it was expected that Mackensen was about to suffer a sensational repulse. But apparently the Rumanians lacked the forces necessary for the successful carrying out of what would have been a brilliant stroke, or possibly the Bulgarian forces which appeared here against them were larger than had been expected, for the next day they announced that the force which had been thrown across the river had again retired, unharmed, the object of its demonstration having been accomplished. According to the Bulgarian accounts their retreat was forced because of the appearance of an Austrian monitor, which began shelling and destroying the pontoon bridge, and that before the retreat had been completed the bridge had been destroyed and a large remnant of the Rumanian force had been captured or killed. In general, however, the fighting during these first few days of the month gave neither side any advantage, and again the situation calmed down to comparative inactivity.

That the retirement of the Rumanians was well ordered is shown by the fact that even the Berlin dispatches claimed very few prisoners, in addition to a thousand taken at Brasso, while the Austro-Germans had lost considerably over a thousand. On the 6th Fogaras had been relinquished. North and east of Brasso the Rumanians had also retreated. On the 8th Berlin announced that "the entire eastern front of the enemy was in retreat." This was, in general, quite true, except that for a few days longer they still held their positions in the valley of the Maros.

Aside from the advantage in his superiority of numbers, Falkenhayn also had at his disposal the better railroad accommodations. A line running parallel with almost the entire front enabled him to shift his forces back and forth, wherever the contingencies of the situation made them needed most. By the 12th he was facing the Rumanians in the passes. Heavy fighting then began developing at Torzburg, Predeal, and Buzau Passes. Finally the Rumanians were forced back toward Crasna on the frontier. A critical moment seemed imminent. Averescu, who had defeated Mackensen, was now recalled from the Dobrudja and sent to take command of the Rumanian forces defending the passes behind Brasso.

By the middle of the second week of October, 1916, the Rumanians had lost all the territory they had taken, except a little in the northeast. The German-Austrian pressure was now heaviest in two areas: about the passes behind Brasso and before the Gyimes Pass in the northeast.

In the latter region, on the 11th, the Rumanians had retired from Csikszereda and from positions higher up on the circular strategic railroad in the valley of the Maros. Before Oitoz Pass they resisted fiercely, and for a time were able to hold their ground. But it was in the passes behind Brasso that Falkenhayn's weight was being felt most severely. On the 12th the following description of the general situation was issued from Bucharest:

"From Mount Buksoi as far as Bran the enemy has attacked, but is being repulsed."

On the following day came better news than the Rumanians had heard for some weeks. The Germans had not only been checked in the Buzau and the Predeal Passes, but they had suffered a genuine setback there, being forced to retire. This victory was important in that Predeal Pass had been saved, for not only was this pass close to Bucharest, but through it ran a railroad and a good highway, crossing the mountains almost due south of Brasso at a height of a little over 3,000 feet. On the next day, however, the Rumanians were driven out of the Torzburg Pass and forced to retire to Rucaru, a small town seven miles within Rumanian territory. Falkenhayn's forces were now flowing through the gap in the mountain chain and deploying among the foothills on the Rumanian side of the chain. Here the situation was growing dangerous to an extreme degree. Only ten miles farther south, over high, rolling ground, was Campulung, the terminus of a railroad running directly into Bucharest, only ninety miles distant.

But Falkenhayn made no further progress that day. In the neighboring passes he was held back successfully while his left flank in the Oitoz Pass and his right flank in the Vulkan Pass were each thrown back. All during the 15th and the 16th the fighting in the passes continued desperately, the battle being especially obstinate before the railroad terminus at Campulung, up in the foothills. At about this same time the Russians in the Dorna Vatra district, where they joined with the Rumanians, began a strong offensive, in the hope of relieving the pressure on the Rumanians farther down. This attempt was hardly successful, as the German opposition in this sector developed to unexpected strength. On the 17th Falkenhayn succeeded in squeezing himself through Gyimes Pass and reaching Agas, seven miles inside the frontier. At about the same time strong fighting began in the Red Tower Pass. The battle was, indeed, raging at a tense heat up and down the whole front. It was now becoming obvious that the Central Powers had determined to make an example of Rumania and punish her "treachery," as they called it, even though they must suspend activity in every other theater of the war to do so. Not a little anxiety was caused in the Allied countries. The matter was brought up and caused a hot discussion in the British Parliament. In the third week France sent a military mission to Bucharest under General Berthelot, while England, France, and Russia were all making every effort to keep the Rumanians supplied with ammunition, in which, however, they could not have been entirely successful.

The Rumanians, on their part, continued defending every step forward made by the enemy. On the 18th they won a victory in the Gyimes Pass which cost the enemy nearly a thousand prisoners and twelve guns. At Agas, in the Oitoz region, the Austro-Germans also suffered a local defeat. Nor had they so far made very marked progress in the passes behind Brasso. There seems to be no doubt that had the Rumanians been able to devote all their forces and resources to the defense of the Hungarian frontier, they would probably have been able to hold back Falkenhayn's forces. But Mackensen had forced them to split their strength.

On October 19, 1916, the situation in Dobrudja again began assuming an unpleasant aspect. On that date Mackensen began a new offensive. Since his retirement a month previous he had remained remarkably quiet, possibly with the purpose of making the Rumanians believe that he had been more seriously beaten than was really the case, so that they might withdraw forces from this front for the Transylvania operations. This, in fact, they had been doing, and when, on the 19th, he suddenly began renewing his operations, the Russo-Rumanian forces were not in a position to hold him back.

After a vigorous artillery preparation, which destroyed the Russo-Rumanian trenches in several places, Mackensen began a series of assaults which presently compelled the Russo-Rumanian forces to retire in the center and on the right wing. On the 21st the Germans reported that they had captured Tuzla and the heights northwest of Toprosari, as well as the heights near Mulciova, and that they had taken prisoner some three thousand Russians. This success now began to threaten the railroad line from Cernavoda to Constanza. This line had been Mackensen's objective from the beginning. On the 23d a dispatch from Bucharest announced that the Rumanian lines had retired again and were barely south of this railroad. Having captured Toprosari and Cobadin, the Bulgarians advanced on Constanza, and on the 22d they succeeded in entering this important seaport, though the Rumanians were able to remove the stores there under the fire of the Russian warships.



On the same date Mackensen began an attack on Medgidia, up the railroad about twenty-five miles from Constanza, and succeeded in taking it. He also took Rasova, in spite of the fierce resistance which the Rumanians made at this point. In these operations Mackensen reported that he had taken seven thousand prisoners and twelve guns. Next he attacked Cernavoda, where the great bridge crossed the Danube, and on the morning of the 25th the defenders were compelled to retire across the structure, afterward blowing it up. Thus the railroad was now in the hands of Mackensen. The Russians and the Rumanians had been driven across the river or up along its bank. But it would be no small matter for the enemy to follow them. With the aid of so effective a barrier as this broad river it now seemed possible that the Rumanians might decrease their forces very considerably on this front, still succeed in holding Mackensen back, and turn their full attention to Falkenhayn in the north. Of course, there still remained the northern section of Dobrudja, passing up east of southern Rumania to the head of the Black Sea and the Russian frontier, along which Mackensen might advance and get in behind the rear of the main Russian lines. But this country in large part constitutes the Danube delta and is swampy, and is certainly not fitted for operations involving heavy artillery. Moreover, Mackensen was now at the narrowest part of Dobrudja, whose shape somewhat resembles an hourglass, and a farther advance would mean an extension of his lines. Aside from this, by advancing farther north, he laid his rear open to a possible raid from across the river, such as the Rumanians had attempted on October 2, 1916, unsuccessfully, to be sure, but sufficiently to show that the whole bank of the river must be guarded. The farther Mackensen advanced northward the more men he would require to guard his rear along the river. For the time being, at least, the river created a deadlock, with the advantage to whichever side should be on the defensive. The Rumanians might very well now have left a minimum force guarding the river bank while they turned their main forces northward to stem the tide of Teuton invasion through the passes.

For over a week this seemed exactly what the Rumanians were doing. On November 4, 1916, the situation along the Rumanian front in the mountains looked extremely well for King Ferdinand's armies. At no point had the Teutons made any appreciable headway, while in two regions, in the Jiul Valley and southeast of Kronstadt, Bucharest reported substantial gains. Berlin and Vienna both admitted that the Rumanians had recaptured Rosca, a frontier height east of the Predeal Pass.



CHAPTER XXIX

MACKENSEN PRESSED BACK

On November 6, 1916, came the news from Bucharest that the Rumanian and Russian forces in northern Dobrudja had again assumed the offensive and that Mackensen's line was giving way; and that in retiring his troops had burned the villages of Daeni, Gariot, Rosman, and Gaidar. Full details of these operations were never issued, but as day after day passed it became obvious that the Russo-Rumanian armies were indeed making a determined effort to regain the ground lost in Dobrudja.

On November 9, 1916, it was announced through London that the Russian General Sakharov had been transferred from Galicia and was now in command of the allied forces in Dobrudja; that he had succeeded in pushing Mackensen's lines back from Hirsova on the Danube, where a gunboat flotilla was cooperating with him, and that Mackensen was now retreating through Topal, twelve miles farther south, and was only thirteen miles north of the Cernavoda-Constanza railroad. On November 10, 1916, an official announcement from Petrograd stated that "on the Danube front our cavalry and infantry detachments occupied the station of Dunareav, three versts from Cernavoda. We are fighting for possession of the Cernavoda Bridge. More than two hundred corpses have been counted on the captured ground. A number of prisoners and machine guns have also been captured. We have occupied the town of Hirsova and the village of Musluj and the heights three versts south of Delgeruiv and five versts southwest of Fasmidja." On the following day the Russian ships began bombarding Constanza and set fire to the town which, according to the Petrograd reports, was burned to the ground. At the same time a Russian force advancing southward along the right bank of the Danube occupied the villages of Ghisdarechti and Topal. On that same date Sofia also reported heavy fighting and an enemy advance near the Cernavoda Bridge. Two days later, on the 13th, an indirect report through London stated that the Russians had crossed the Danube south of the bridge, behind Mackensen's front. This was not officially confirmed, but apparently another attempt was made to strike Mackensen's rear from across the river.

Meanwhile the Russo-Rumanian line was pressing Mackensen's front back, hammering especially on his left wing up against the river, until he was a bare few miles north of the railroad and thirty miles south of the point farthest north he had been able to reach. Here he seems to have held fast, for further reports of fighting on the Danube front become vague and contradictory. At any rate, the Russo-Rumanian advance stopped short of victory, as the recapture of the Cernavoda-Constanza railroad would have been. That Mackensen's retreat may have been voluntary, to encourage the enemy to advance and thereby weaken his front on the Transylvanian front, seems possible in the light of later events. Also, it was possible that his forces had been weakened by Bulgarian regiments being withdrawn and sent down to the Macedonian front, where Monastir was in grave danger and was presently to fall to the French-Russian-Serbian forces. From this moment a silence settles over this front; when Mackensen again emerges into the light shed by official dispatches, it is to execute some of the most brilliant moves that have yet been made during the entire war.



CHAPTER XXX

THE RUMANIANS PRESSED BACK

Meanwhile hard fighting had been going on on the Transylvanian front, one day favoring one side and on the next day favoring the other. On November 5, 1916, the Germans regained Rosca heights, which the Rumanians had taken on the 3d. On the 7th the Russians were pressing the Germans hard below Dorna Vatra, while southeast of Red Tower Pass and near the Vulkan Pass the Rumanians suffered reverses, losing a thousand men as prisoners, according to the Vienna and Berlin dispatches. But before another week had passed it became evident that the Teutons were gaining, whether because of superior artillery, or because the Rumanians had weakened this front for the sake of the Dobrudja offensive. For each step the Teutons fell back they advanced two. Not unlike a skillful boxer Falkenhayn feinted at one point, then struck hard at another unexpectedly. Without doubt skill and superior knowledge, as well as superior organization, were on the side of the invaders. By the middle of the month the Rumanians were being forced back, both in the Alt and the Jiul valleys, facts which could not be hidden by the dispatches from Bucharest announcing the capture of a machine gun at one point or a few dozen prisoners at another. A few days later the London papers were commenting on the extremely dangerous situation in Rumania.

The Teutons had been pushing especially hard against the extreme left of the Rumanian line in western Wallachia. On the 15th, after a week of continuous hammering, the Austro-Germans forced their way down from the summits after battering down the permanent frontier fortifications with their heavy mortars. Pushed down into the foothills, the Rumanians, who were now being reenforced by Russian forces, decided to make a stand on the range of hills running east and west and lying south of Turgujiulij, the first important town south of the mountains. Foggy weather favored the Russo-Rumanians and enabled them to take up a strong position at this point before being observed by the Germans. The latter began launching a series of assaults. For three days these frontal attacks were continued. Finally numbers told; the Rumanian center was broken. Then the German cavalry, which had been held in reserve, hurled itself through the breach and raced down through the valley toward the railroad, thirty miles distant, preventing the fleeing Russians and Rumanians from making any further stands. On the following day, the 19th, the cavalry had reached the Orsova-Craiova railroad and occupied it from Filliash, an important junction, to Strehaia station, a distance of twelve miles.

Two days later came the announcement that Craiova itself had been taken by the Teuton forces. This town is the center of an important grain district on the edge of the Wallachian Plain. From a military point of view the importance of its capture was in that it was a railroad junction and that the Germans now held the line of communication between the Orsova region, constituting the extreme western portion of Wallachia, and the rest of Rumania. As a matter of fact, as was to develop a few days later, the Teutons had broken through the main Rumanian lines, and in doing so had clipped off the tip of the Rumanian left wing. Some days later the capture of this force was announced, though it numbered much less than had at first been supposed—some seven thousand men.

But now a new danger suggested itself. The Teutonic invasion was heading toward the Danube. Should it reach the banks of that river there would be nothing to prevent a juncture between the forces of Falkenhayn and those under Mackensen, thereby forming a net which would be stretched clear across Rumania and swept eastward toward Bucharest. Falkenhayn had only to clear the northern bank of the Danube, and nothing could prevent Mackensen's crossing; as was presently to develop, this fear was not without foundation. On the 24th came the announcement from Berlin that Falkenhayn had captured Turnu-Severin on the Danube and that Mackensen's troops had crossed in several places and effected a juncture with Falkenhayn's men. Farther north the Rumanians were reported to be falling back to positions along the Alt River, a swift, deep stream in its upper reaches which broadens out into many arms down on the plain and forms a difficult obstacle to an advancing army. At Slatina the bridge is over four hundred yards in length. This, apparently, was to be the new line of defense, running north and south. Still farther north, in the Carpathians, in Moldavia, the Austro-Germans were developing another strong offensive, and here, near Tulghes Pass, where the Russians held the line, a pitched battle of unusual fury developed, bringing the Austro-Germans to a standstill for the time being, at least. Again there came reports from Petrograd of activity along the front in Dobrudja, but this appears to have been at the most nothing but a demonstration to distract Mackensen from effecting any crossing farther up the Danube at a point where he might flank the Rumanian lines along the Alt. Throughout the countries of the Allies it was now generally recognized that Rumania was doomed, unless the Russians could send enough forces to rescue her.

On the 26th official dispatches from both Berlin and Bucharest stated that Mackensen had crossed the Danube at Zimnitza and was advancing toward Bucharest. The German statement had him in the outskirts of Alexandria, only forty-seven miles from the capital, and reported that the Rumanians were retreating eastward from the lower Alt. On the following day Berlin announced that the entire length of the Alt had been abandoned by the Rumanians, which was confirmed by a dispatch from Bucharest. This retreat had been forced by the crossing effected by Mackensen's troops to the rear of the line, threatening its flank and rear. That the danger to Bucharest was now being felt was obvious from the fact that on the following day the Rumanian Government and diplomatic authorities removed from Bucharest to Jassy, about two hundred miles northeastward, near the Russian frontier. On this date, too, it was reported that Mackensen had captured Giurgiu, which showed that he had advanced thirty miles during the past twenty-four hours. From Giurgiu there is direct rail connection with Bucharest: this line Mackensen could use for transport service, thus increasing the danger to the Rumanian main army that it might have its retreat cut off. Having abandoned the Alt line, the next logical line that the retreating Rumanians should have attempted to hold was the Vedea, another river running parallel to the Alt and emptying into the Danube. Here, too, there was a railroad running along the river bank, or close to it, which would have served as a supply line. But it was just this railroad which Mackensen had captured at Giurgiu. Once more he threatened the Rumanian flank, and so a stand at the Vedea became also impossible. Certainly the Teutons were now moving with extraordinary rapidity, and there was undoubtedly some truth in the Berlin statement that the Rumanians were fleeing eastward in a panic-stricken mass. Great quantities of war material were abandoned and captured by the advancing Teutons. It is significant, however, that neither Berlin nor Vienna were able to report the capture of any great amount of prisoners.

By the first of the month the Teutons had almost reached the Arges River, the last large stream that ran between them and the outer fortifications of Bucharest. Behind this river the Rumanians finally came to a stand, and now Berlin, instead of describing the precipitate flight of the enemy, spoke only of the hard fighting which was going on. At this time the German War Office also announced the capture of Campulung, which opened the road through the Torzburg Pass.

That Russia was now making strong efforts to relieve the pressure on the Rumanians before Bucharest became obvious on December 1, 1916, when it was reported from Petrograd that a Russian offensive had been begun on the Bukowina border and was spreading down along the Rumanian frontier south of Kirlibaba, along a front over two hundred miles in length. Here, according to the report, the Rumanians, in cooperation with the Russians, captured a whole range of heights in the Buzeu Valley southeast of Kronstadt, while the Russians themselves reported similar progress. At the same time Berlin, while also touching on the severity of the fighting in the north, reported that the Russians were hurling themselves against Mackensen's entire front in Dobrudja. The German reports admitted that here and there the Russian attacks effected slight local gains at tremendous cost. Whatever the actual facts, this offensive movement came too late to have any material results; Bucharest, at any rate, was doomed.



CHAPTER XXXI

THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER ARGECHU

On December 3, 1916, what appears to have been a desperate battle from the German reports took place along the river Argechu in the region before Bucharest. This is a mountain stream which, from Piteshti to southwest of Titu, is sometimes a hundred yards in width and at some points twenty meters deep, though fords are found at frequent intervals. At this time, however, the river was well flooded and only the bridges were available for crossing. At this point strong detachments of Bulgarians, Austrians, and Germans coming together from the north, east, and south met with resistance from the Rumanians on the other side of the river. For an entire day the Rumanians held back the enemy, then suddenly broke and fled so abruptly that they had not time to destroy the bridges, over which the invaders streamed after the retreating Rumanians, capturing several thousands of prisoners.

On the following day the left wing of the Austro-Germans captured Tergovistea. At Piteshti the First Army of the Rumanians made another brief stand, but was driven back beyond the Titu junction of railroads from Bucharest to Campulung. South of Bucharest Russian and Rumanian forces also offered a stout resistance, but were finally compelled to retire when the enemy's cavalry cut around in their rear and threatened their line of retreat. During this one day the Germans claimed to have taken 8,000 prisoners, the Danube army capturing also thirty-five cannon and thirteen locomotives and a great amount of rolling stock.

It was not the battle along the Argechu, however, which was the cause of the immediate danger to Bucharest. The blow which decided the fate of the Rumanian capital came from the north. The real danger lay in the German forces coming down from the passes south of Kronstadt. Already Campulung was taken and the Argechu crossed in the north. Then the invaders streamed down the Prahova Valley, which begins at the passes and runs down southeast behind Bucharest. The Rumanians now had the choice of evacuating their capital or having it surrounded and besieged. Bucharest was a fortified city, but the Germans carried such guns as no fortifications built by the hand of man could resist. Antwerp had been the first demonstration of that fact.

The plan of holding the city had also several other objections. From a military point of view the city was of little value. Its retention would have had a certain moral value, in that it would have shown that the Rumanians were by no means entirely defeated, but as practically all the nations of Europe were now on one side or the other of the fighting line, this political effect would have found few to influence. To defend it, moreover, would have meant its complete destruction, and sooner or later the defending force would have been taken prisoners. There was no chance of saving the city from Teuton occupation, such occupation might be delayed, nothing more. Rather than waste a large force in a futile defense, the Rumanians decided to evacuate the capital without any effort to stay the advancing enemy at this point. This decision seems to have been taken some time before the city was in actual danger. The civilian population was leaving the city in a steady stream and every railroad carriage going eastward was crowded to full capacity.



CHAPTER XXXII

BUCHAREST FALLS

On December 6, 1916, the German War Office announced the entry of Teutonic troops into the Rumanian capital, and what was more important still from a military point of view, the capture of Ploechti, an important railroad junction thirty-five miles northwest of Bucharest, famous for its oil wells and therefore of great value to the Austro-Germans. As developed later, however, these wells were destroyed by the retreating Rumanians, and for some time to come, at least, rendered almost useless.

Whatever the value of Bucharest from a military point of view, there can be no doubt that its capture was a heavy blow to the Allies. With it went one-half of Rumania. The mightiest efforts of Russia had been unable to save the kingdom from the hands of the invaders. Thereby she had been forced to confess a certain degree of weakness. Nor had Sarrail in Macedonia been able to divert the activities of the Bulgarians from Dobrudja to any serious extent. This too constituted a second confession of weakness.

Indeed the activities, or lack of activities, on the part of the Allies in Macedonia, in spite of the capture of Monastir, had been even more disappointing than the inability of the Russians to save Rumania.

But the disaster to the cause of the Allies was more apparent than real. As has been demonstrated on the Russian front more than once during this war, the capture of territory alone has very little influence on the final result of a campaign. It is not enough to defeat an enemy; his forces must be destroyed, eliminated, wholly or in part, and this can only be accomplished by the capture of his forces. Though the Germans claimed that the Rumanians had lost 100,000 men to them as prisoners, an obvious exaggeration, the Rumanian fighting forces remained comparatively intact after the fall of Bucharest. The best of the Rumanian troops undoubtedly remained, for by this time they were becoming seasoned veterans.

Having taken Bucharest, the German rush noticeably subsided; it lost its force. This was in part due to the bad weather conditions which now set in and lasted a week; rain fell in the plains in torrents and made the passage of troops, and especially of artillery, very difficult, even impossible. No doubt this also hindered the retreat of the Rumanians, but the advantage was on their side.

On the 18th it was reported from Petrograd that the entire Rumanian front was being held by Russian soldiers, the Rumanians having retired to their rear beyond the Sereth River at Jassy and in Bessarabia, where they were being reorganized for future operations. After the Bucharest-Ploechti line had been lost, according to one unofficial report, the Russians had sent some strong cavalry divisions to support the Rumanian retreat. The Russians offered strong resistance in the region of Buzeu so as to permit their engineers to construct a defensive front between Rimnik Sarat and the marshes at the mouth of the Danube. On that same date Berlin announced an advance of the Teutonic forces in northern Dobrudja. It was in this latter section that the Teutons now centered their activities. The Russo-Rumanians still remained in Dobrudja, on the south side of the Danube. So long as they had a footing here they remained a potential threat to the Teutons, which might awaken into active danger at the first favorable opportunity. To be ousted from this northern tip of Dobrudja would be even more serious to the Russo-Rumanians than the loss of Wallachia. From this point they might, at some future day, initiate an offensive against Bulgaria which might become extremely dangerous. Once across the river, however, it would be difficult for them to recross, for reasons that have already been discussed: no line of fortifications, no intrenched positions they might throw up, would be so effective a defense to the Teutons as the mouth of the Danube.

In Rumania, west of the river, continuous and at times heavy fighting continued, sometimes assuming almost the proportions of pitched battles. During the last week of the month Mackensen apparently realized the hopelessness, for the present at least, of driving the enemy out of Dobrudja, and shifted some of his forces over to the west bank of the river. The Russians had retired behind the Rimnik River, a small stream which is about twenty-five miles north of the Buzeu and parallel to it. On January 1, 1917, the Germans announced that the Russians had been forced back against the bridgehead at Braila and that in the Dobrudja they had advanced beyond Matchin. On the 5th, Braila, the most important city left to the Rumanians, fell into the hands of Mackensen, and at the same time the last of the Russians retired from the northern tip of Dobrudja. This was the heaviest blow that had fallen since the capture of Bucharest, and from a military point of view was even more serious. Once driven across the broad waters of the Danube mouth, the Russians and the Rumanians could not recross in the future except in very strong force and with great losses. At the same time it was now possible for Mackensen to reduce his forces in Dobrudja to a minimum and reenforce the troops operating over in Rumania proper.

During the rest of the month the fighting continued up and down the line with unabated vigor, though without any sensational results. The Germans were now hammering at the main line of the Russian defense and could not expect any large gains. The defeat of the Rumanians had been, after all, only the driving back of a salient. But in general the fighting during the latter half of January, 1917, seemed to favor the Teutons.

On the 15th Berlin reported that the Bulgarian artillery was bombarding Galatz from across the Danube. On this date too the Russians lost Vadeni, ten miles southwest of Galatz, their last position south of the Sereth. On the other hand, Petrograd announced on this same day that on the northern Rumanian front, in a violent engagement on the Kasino River, the Rumanian troops forced the Germans back, while the German attacks northeast of Fokshani were repulsed by the Russians. By the following day these local attacks developed into a general engagement, such as had not been fought since before Bucharest had fallen. At Fundani, Berlin reported, the Russians hurled one mass attack after another—waves of humanity as they were termed—against the German lines and gained some temporary advantages. On the 17th Petrograd announced the recapture of Vadeni. After a prolonged artillery preparation the Russians rushed their infantry against the position in the town and drove the Germans out. The latter, after receiving reenforcements and assisted by an artillery drumfire, made a powerful counterattack, but did not succeed in driving the Russians back. Berlin admitted this defeat, incidentally mentioning that Turkish troops were here engaged. Berlin also admitted that "between the Kasino and Suchitza Valleys the Russians and Rumanians made another mass attack and succeeded in regaining a height recently taken from them." On the 20th, Mackensen's forces, as was stated by Berlin and admitted by Petrograd, succeeded in taking Nanesti and driving the Russians back to the Sereth.

On January 22, 1917, an Overseas News Agency dispatch stated that the number of Rumanian prisoners taken during the entire campaign to date now numbered 200,000. Describing the situation of the Rumanian army at that time, the dispatch continued:

"The rest of the Rumanian army, part of which fought well, is reorganizing in Moldavia and Bessarabia. The few Rumanian divisions which still are engaged at the front are very much reduced in numbers. According to the assertions of Rumanian prisoners, one division was composed of only 2,800 men, while another numbered but 2,400. The Rumanians suffered their heaviest losses from artillery fire. The large number of dead in proportion to the wounded is remarkable. On one square kilometer (about three-fifths of a square mile) of the battle field of Campulung 6,000 Rumanian dead were counted. Some of the Rumanian infantry regiments were composed of only four companies of 150 men each. Because of the lack of sanitary organization, an extraordinary large percentage of the wounded died in the hospitals, which, however, afforded room only for the officers, while large numbers of wounded soldiers were lodged in damp cellars, peasants' huts, and barns, where they died miserably."

On January 20, 1917, the military critic of the Overseas News Agency summed up the situation as follows:

"The Russo-Rumanian efforts to delay the advance of the Teutons against the Sereth Plain are taking the form of fierce counterattacks, launched to avert the danger that their position on the Putna and the Sereth be outflanked. During the last few days especially violent attacks have been directed against the position situated on the Carpathian slopes north of the Suchitza. These developed no success and cost the enemy heavy losses in casualties and prisoners.... On the Carpathian front, in the Oituz district, the Teutonic forces have pressed forward until they are in a position whence they can take the circular valley of Ocna under their fire. As has been confirmed by the Russian headquarters report, Bogdaneshti and Ocna were shelled. Ocna is an important railroad station and a point of support for the Russian defense in the upper Trotus Valley, while Bogdaneshti bars the outlet to the great valley of the Trotus and Oituz. All the determined attempts made by the Russians and Rumanians to extend the narrow limits of their hold on the southern bank of the Sereth have been more or less unsuccessful. The German troops, however, with their capture of the village of Nanesti, tore the pillar from the wall of the Russian defense. Nanesti forms the strategical center of the bridgehead of Fundeni and covers the great iron bridge across the Sereth, which is in the immediate vicinity of Nanesti. The entire construction of the Nanesti-Fundeni bridgehead, which is a modern field fortification, illustrates its importance as a central point of support of the Sereth line. In the remaining sectors of the Sereth snowstorms and mists have interfered with military activity."

During the middle of January, 1917, the French Admiral du Fournier of the Entente fleet in Greek waters paid a visit to the Russo-Rumanian front. On his return from this tour, which was taken on the way to France, he wrote in the Paris "Matin":

"The Russian army was surprised by the rapid succession of Rumanian reverses and had to suspend Brussilov's offensive in Galicia in order to send large reenforcements to Rumania, but its position was such that it could not cover its flank in Wallachia and its rear in Dobrudja rapidly enough to stop the advance of the invaders. It was only on the Sereth that it succeeded in forming with the first corps that arrived from the army of General Sakharoff a front which was lengthened by several good Rumanian divisions. A few weeks will witness a change in the military situation. In my journey in a motor car with the troops on the march I saw nothing but magnificent soldiers, admirably equipped and in excellent form."



CHAPTER XXXIII

SARRAIL'S OFFENSIVE

The half year ending with February 1, 1917, was a period of almost continuous activity before Saloniki, in sharp contrast to the previous six months, which had been quite uneventful. Yet that interval between the conquest of Serbia by the Austro-German and Bulgarian troops and the renewal of fighting, beginning in August, 1916, were months of furious preparation by General Sarrail and his colleagues. From what was little more than a precarious footing in Saloniki itself they had established a firm base protected by a wide circle of intrenchments, while their forces had been augmented to something not far from three-quarters of a million men under arms and a huge supply of ordnance and munitions. From a mere expedition to keep a back door open for the defeated Serbians, Sarrail's army had developed into what was obviously going to be a gigantic campaign against the rear of the Central Powers, an attempt to enter Austria through a back window. Such, at least, was the supposition of military critics the world over. Incidentally the presence of so large a force of the Allies in Macedonia served various other purposes. Viewing the situation with a retrospective eye, at the present moment, there can be no doubt that Greece would by now have thrown her lot in with the Central Powers had it not been for her fear of Sarrail's forces. Also, the Teutons and the Bulgarians were compelled to devote a large force to holding a front opposite Sarrail, and so weaken their other fronts. And finally, without Sarrail in Saloniki, Rumania would never have decided to join hands with the Allies, certainly not so early as she did. To be sure, Rumania was defeated, but her defeat must have cost the Central Powers grave losses which may eventually prove to have turned the tide in favor of the Allies.

Already before August, 1916, it was becoming obvious that Sarrail was beginning to feel strong enough to play a less passive part. Little by little he had been pushing out his lines. The remnants of the Serbian army, which had been recuperating at Corfu, were reorganized and transported to Saloniki by sea, whence they were sent to take over a portion of the front on the extreme left. Somewhere around August 1, 1916, Russian soldiers began landing at Saloniki, though this significant fact was not reported till nearly three weeks afterward, when about 80,000 of them had joined Sarrail's force and had been sent out on the left front, west of the Serbians. During this interval a large force of Italians also joined the Allied troops at Saloniki and joined the British near Doiran. All the Allies except Japan were now represented on this front by their contingents, though of course the French and British were still in vastly preponderating majority. The moral effect was strong, for it was the first time that troops of all the Allies were camped side by side. The landing of the Russians, who had come through France, thence by the sea route, was no doubt effected in the hope of affecting the Bulgarians, who are not only Slavs, but have a very strong feeling of affinity for the Russians, who liberated them from the Turks. It was probably hoped that on being brought face to face with them on the firing line many Bulgarians would desert, or possibly even there would be an uprising in Bulgaria against Czar Ferdinand's policy. That nothing of this sort did actually happen, either in Macedonia or in Dobrudja and Rumania, where the Russians also faced Bulgarians, may perhaps be ascribed to the revulsion of feeling against the Russians which many Bulgarians had begun experiencing of recent years, on account of the many black intrigues which the Russian Government had hatched against the independence of Bulgaria.

In the matter of Bulgaria, it is but fair to state that Russia, Rumania, and Serbia had little right to complain; Bulgaria had just scores to wipe off against all of them. Each was but paying the price for some selfish policy in the past for which Bulgaria had had to suffer.



CHAPTER XXXIV

UNREST IN GREECE

There was the intense racial hatred between Greeks and Bulgars, more fully explained in previous volumes. Hatreds of this nature affect the public more than governing bodies. On the public sentiment of Greece this hatred seems to have been a more powerful influence than more subtle political considerations. The detested Bulgar, the barbarian, the "kondri-cephalous" (blockhead) was advancing into eastern Macedonia, which the Greeks had gained at so much cost, and they were taking possession of that section of the country where the population really is preponderatingly Greek. In the north, in western Macedonia, he was also invading Greek territory, taking Florina, approaching the very boundaries of Greece proper; indeed, cavalry patrols of the Bulgarians had descended as far as the plains of Thessaly.

Public indignation flamed to a white heat. On September 1, 1916, came a press dispatch from Athens stating that the population was rising against the Government and that the king had abdicated in fear. This latter statement proved untrue, but in the Macedonia occupied by the Allies a modified revolution was indeed taking place, no doubt encouraged by the Allies. A provisional committee, or government, had been organized, and to this authority the Greek garrisons at Vodena, Port Karaburun, and Saloniki had surrendered. "Cretan gendarmes and Macedonian volunteers," continued the report, "have surrounded the barracks of the Greek infantry in Saloniki and exchanged shots with the garrison after cutting the water main and electric-light wires and shutting off food supplies. A detachment of sixty regulars attempted to break its way out. Its surrender was demanded, and when the regulars refused the volunteers fired shots in the air. The regulars replied with a volley, whereupon the volunteers opened fire on them, compelling them to return to the barracks. Altogether three men were killed and two wounded. Before the garrison finally surrendered three companies of French colonial infantry marched to the parade grounds. They were soon followed by two battalions of infantry, which took up positions on both sides of the parade grounds in the rear of the barracks. Machine guns were posted at conspicuous points and armored cars were stationed opposite the entrance of the barracks.... At 11 o'clock that night the Greek troops marched out unarmed and were interned at Camp Keitinlek outside the city."

Apparently these incidents had a temporary influence on the Government at Athens, for on September 3, 1916, it was reported that all parties had agreed to give their support to the Zaimis cabinet, which was now ready to reconsider its previous policy and give its full support to the cause of the Allies. The German Ambassador, it was said, had left Athens. How confident was Venizelos in the belief that the Government had come around to his policy is obvious from the following statement, which he made on that same date:

"The addition of one more nation to the long list of those fighting against Prussian militarism for the liberty of Europe and the independence of the smaller states cannot but give more strength to the common confidence in a complete victory of the Allies. I deeply grieve that my country has so much delayed in paying her due contribution to the struggle for these most precious benefits of humanity, and trust the influence caused by Rumanian intervention will render it absolutely impossible for the existing Greek authorities any further to persist in their policy of neutrality, and that at the earliest moment Greece too will join the camp of her proved and traditional friends for the purpose of accomplishing her own national ideals."

Meanwhile the revolt in Greek Macedonia seemed to be spreading. A provisional government was declared established with a Colonel Zimorakakis at the head, and all the gendarmes and the cavalry had gone over to the new regime.

What gave further color to the reports that Greece was definitely deciding to go over to the Allies was the announcement that the elections had been postponed indefinitely. The Zaimis cabinet, it will be remembered by those who have read the previous volume, was merely provisional to fill the interim until the next elections. These had at first been fixed for August 7, 1916, then postponed for another month. Now they were again postponed indefinitely. Truly it seemed that the two big parties had come to an understanding. Added to this was the report that Baron Schenk, the chief of the German propaganda, had been arrested and brought a prisoner aboard one of the French warships. Also the telegraph and telephone systems of the country had been given over to the control of the Allies.

There now followed an interval of complete silence, broken only on the 10th, when it was reported from London that the Greek Premier, Zaimis, had held a conference with the Entente ministers and had asked what consideration Greece would receive should she join the Allies. The ministers were reported to have replied that they would ask instructions from their respective governments. On the following day Zaimis suddenly offered his resignation. The king refused to accept it and, on the ministers of the Entente expressing their confidence in his sincerity, he withdrew his resignation. On the following day the Entente Powers made their reply to Premier Zaimis, regarding what reward Greece might expect should she join them. They were not disposed, they stated, to enter into a discussion of this subject. If Greece desired to join them, she must waive the question of compensation for the present, though the Entente Powers stood ready to assist her in equipping her with arms and munitions.



CHAPTER XXXV

A GREEK ARMY SURRENDERS TO GERMANY

Meanwhile an incident in eastern Macedonia occurred which aroused a great deal of feeling against the Greek Government in the Entente countries. It will be remembered that the Bulgarians had advanced along the coast in this region, being unopposed there by Allied troops, and that they had finally appeared before Kavala. In spite of the vigorous shelling from the Allies' warships they occupied the forts surrounding the city, which were immediately evacuated by the Greek garrisons. These, together with the soldiers in the city and other outlying garrisons, numbering between six and eight thousand, constituted a part of the Fourth Army Corps of the Greek army. On September 13, 1916, Germany suddenly issued the announcement that this body of Greek soldiers had surrendered.

"After German and Bulgarian troops," continued the announcement, "had found themselves compelled by General Sarrail's offensive to march as a counterattack into Greek Macedonia, the Fourth Greek Army Corps stood ready in Seres, Drama, and Kavala, behind the left Bulgarian wing, which had advanced to the Struma. The measures of the Entente aimed at forcing these Greek troops to its side or preparing for them a fate similar to that which befell the overpowered portions of the Eleventh Greek Division at Saloniki. Free communication with Athens was interrupted and intercourse with the home authorities was controlled by the Entente and refused arbitrarily by the Entente.

"The commanding general of the Fourth Greek Army Corps at Kavala, faithful to the will of the chief commander and the legally constituted Government's policy of maintaining neutrality, and in view of the unsupportable situation of the troops under his command, menaced by famine and disease, has been compelled to proceed on his own authority. On September 12, 1916, he asked the German chief commander to protect his brave troops, loyal to the king, to relieve them of the pressure of the Entente and provide food and shelter for them. In order to prevent any breach of neutrality, it has been agreed with the commanding general to transport to lodging places in Germany these Greek troops in the status of neutrals with their entire arms and equipment. Here they will enjoy hospitality until their fatherland is free of invaders."

There now arose the cry in the press of all the Entente countries that the surrender of this force of Greek soldiers was only an act on the part of the Greek Government to assist the Germans, whom it planned to support actively when a propitious moment should come. In reply the Greek Government published the telegrams that it had exchanged with the Greek commander at Kavala. On the 11th he had telegraphed to Athens, through the admiral of the British fleet:

"The Fourth Greek Army Corps at Kavala wishes to surrender immediately to the British. The Bulgarians have threatened to bombard the city to-morrow."

The British admiral thereupon sent the following message to General Calaris, the War Minister in Athens:

"Do you wish me to permit the Greek troops to embark on Greek ships?"

In response the Greek War Minister wired:

"To the Fourth Army Corps at Kavala: Transport yourselves immediately with all your forces to Volo, arranging with the British admiral. The police and civil authorities must remain at Kavala."

Apparently the division that existed throughout the entire Greek population appeared among these Greek soldiers, for not all surrendered with their commander to the Germans; a large number withdrew and escaped to Thaos. On the face of the telegraphic correspondence, involving the British admiral, it would seem that the Greek commander acted in accordance with his personal sympathies rather than from instructions, but the incident nevertheless succeeded in stirring strong feeling against Greece in France and England.

That matters were not running smoothly within the inner circle of the Greek Government became evident on September 16, 1916, when it was announced that Premier Zaimis had now definitely and absolutely resigned, and that Nikolas Kalogeropoulos had been asked by the king to form a new cabinet. He was one of the foremost lawyers of Greece, had lived for many years in France, and was said to be in sympathy with Venizelos and the Allies. In 1904 he had been Minister of Finance for a brief period, and in 1908 and 1909 he had been Minister of the Interior. The new premier was sworn into office under the same conditions as surrounded his predecessor: his was merely a service cabinet, to maintain control until the elections could be held in accordance with the constitution.

In strange contrast to this event, which seemed to bode well for the Allies, the "Saloniki movement," as the revolt in favor of intervention was called by the British press and which had been lying quiet for some time, now broke out afresh. On September 21, 1916, came the report that the people on the island of Crete had risen and declared a Provisional Government in favor of the Allies, and that the new authorities had sent a committee to Saloniki to tender their adherence to General Sarrail. Also it was rumored that Venizelos was going to Saloniki to place himself at the head of the revolt. On the 20th he gave out an interview to the Associated Press correspondent in which he certainly did not deny the possibility of his doing so:

"I cannot answer now," he said, "I must wait a short time and see what the Government proposes to do.... As I said on August 27, if the king will not hear the voice of the people, we must ourselves devise what it is best to do."



CHAPTER XXXVI

THE SERBIANS ADVANCE

Having reviewed the situation in Greece during the month of September, 1916, we may now return to our narrative of the military activities along the Macedonian front. At the end of August, 1916, a lull seemed to settle down along the entire front, nothing being reported save minor skirmishes and trench raids. On the 2d the Italians at Avlona in Albania, said to number 200,000, were reported from Rome to be making an advance. Here the Austrians were facing them, the only point along the line in which Austrian troops were posted. The Italians made an attack on Tepeleni on the Voyusa, and drove the enemy from that position as well as from two neighboring villages. After this event nothing further was heard from them, though, as will appear later, it was obvious that they were making some headway. Apparently it was their object to cooperate with the rest of the Allies in Macedonia by turning the extreme right of the Bulgarian line.

On the 11th the silence was broken by the announcement from London that an energetic offensive was being resumed along the entire front on the part of the Allies. On that date the British made a crossing of the Struma over to the east bank and attacked the Bulgarians vigorously and, in spite of the counterattacks of the enemy, were able to hold their advanced position. The French, too, began hammering the foe opposite them west of Lake Doiran to the Vardar, and a few days later reported that they had taken the first line of trenches for a distance of two miles.

It was over on the extreme left, however, that the Allies were to gain what seemed to be some distinct advantages. Near Lake Ostrovo the Serbians hurled themselves up the rocky slopes toward Moglena and stormed the well-intrenched positions of the Bulgarians, and succeeded in dislodging them and driving them back. A few miles farther over, at Banitza, a station on the railroad, they also centered on a determined attack, and there a pitched battle developed, the Bulgarians having the advantage of the bald but rocky hills behind them. Over in the west, before Kastoria (Kostur, in Bulgarian dispatches), the Russians advanced and succeeded in driving the Bulgarians back. Some miles north of the town rise the naked crags and precipices of an extremely difficult range of mountains; here the Bulgarians stood and succeeded in preventing the Russians from making any further progress, their right flank being protected by the two Prespa lakes.

For almost a week the battle raged furiously back and forth along this section of the front. On the 15th the Bulgarian lines opposed to the Serbians suddenly gave way and broke, and the triumphant Serbs made a rapid advance, pursuing the enemy for nine miles and capturing twenty-five cannon and many prisoners, according to dispatches of Entente origin. For the next thirty-six hours the fighting was intense, and then the whole Bulgarian right wing seemed to crumple and swing backward. For a while the Bulgarians made a stand on the banks of the Cerna, at the southern bend of the great loop made by the river, but finally the Serbians effected a crossing and continued driving the Bulgarians up along the ridges forming the eastern side of the Monastir Valley. Farther to the left the French and Russians were also succeeding in their efforts. The Bulgarians were driven out of and beyond Florina (Lerin in Bulgarian dispatches) and General Cordonnier, in command of the French, immediately established his headquarters at this important point, commanding the whole Monastir plain. Up this level country the Bulgarians fled. Reports did not indicate to just what point up the valley the French were able to advance, but it was quite obvious that the Bulgarians were able to stay them some distance before Monastir, where the mountains approach the city and offer excellent positions for artillery against troops advancing up the railroad line toward the city. On the map at least this important city seemed to be threatened, but it was still too premature to pronounce it in serious danger, as did the Entente press.



CHAPTER XXXVII

THE GREEKS ON THE FIRING LINE

It was during these six days' hard fighting that the Greek volunteers underwent their baptism of fire and the first of them shed their blood for the cause of the Allies. These constituted the First Regiment of Greek volunteers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Gravanis. He was under the command of the French general at Fiorina, and he and his men took a prominent part in the capture of the town. During the next few days the fighting calmed down, except farther eastward above Ostrovo, where the Serbians had succeeded in driving the Bulgarians from their important positions along the Kaimakcalan ridges. Here the Bulgarians counterattacked bitterly and continuously, but apparently with no success. These assaults were repeated at intervals of several days during the rest of the month, and though Sofia reported the recapture of Kaimakcalan Heights and a general triumph along this whole section of the front, the reports from both sides later indicated that these dispatches were wholly false, probably issued to satisfy a restless general public. On the other hand, the Allies made no further advance: by the first day of the following month they held about the same ground they had gained during the intensive fighting shortly after the middle of September, 1916. As is usual after extreme military activity, there followed a period of calm, during which both sides were preparing for the next outburst of effort. But the end of September, 1916, showed plainly that the Bulgarians and Teutons were entirely on the defensive in Macedonia and were content to hold their own.

During the month of October, 1916, little of a sensational aspect occurred on the Macedonian front; the latter half of this period was, however, one of hard fighting and steady hammering along the Serbian sector. On the 2d the Serbians reported that they had not only consolidated the positions they had taken on the important heights of Kaimakcalan but they had advanced beyond this point three kilometers and taken Kotchovie. At the end of the week Jermani, a village at the base of a high ridge on the lower shore of Little Prespa Lake, was taken by the French. Some days after came a rather detailed dispatch from Rome, significant in the light of later events. The Italians from Avlona were obviously making steady progress over a very difficult territory—difficult on account of the poor communications. On the 10th it was reported that they had taken Klisura, about thirty-five miles from Avlona, in the direction of Monastir. This was barely a fourth of the distance; nevertheless they were advancing toward Lake Ochrida, west of the Prespa Lakes, against which the Bulgarians rested their right wing. It was evident that they had driven back the Austrians who were supposed to hold this section.

On the 12th the British made an advance over on the right section of the front; nothing of any real importance had occurred over here since the supposed advance had begun, but there had been a great deal of noise from the artillery on both sides. On this date the British reached Seres, but were held back by the Bulgarians, who had previously driven out the Greek garrison and occupied the forts in the immediate neighborhood. These positions the British now began hammering with great vigor, with their biggest guns, though without any immediate result.

At the end of the third week of the month the Serbians, under General Mischitch, made another drive ahead and succeeded in penetrating the enemy's lines for a distance of two miles, taking Velyselo, and a day later Baldentsi. At the beginning of this battle, which lasted two days, the advantage rested with the Bulgarians. They held the higher line beyond the Cerna River, whose slopes were so steep that they could roll huge bowlders down on the attacking parties. After a two hours' artillery preparation early in the morning, the Serbians suddenly sprang forward with loud cheers and rushed the heights. From the rear they could be recognized at a great distance, on account of the large square of white calico which each man had sewn to the back of his coat, and the leaders carried white and red flags with which to indicate the farthest point reached, so that the artillery in the rear could see and avoid shelling them. While the Serbians stormed one crest, the artillery pounded the crest just beyond. Finally all the crests were covered by little fluttering red and white flags, while the Bulgarians fled headlong down the opposite slopes. On the following day a period of very bad weather set in and drowned further operations in a deluge of rain.

On the 21st came another report from Rome of some significance. In the Iskeria Mountains east of Premeti an Italian detachment occupied Lyaskoviki, on the road from Janina to Koritza. The latter town marks the racial boundary between the Bulgarian and Albanian countries. To the eastward was the rough country of Kastoria in which the Russians were operating. In other words, the Italians were emerging from Albania and were getting within reach of the Macedonian field of operations. In fact, on the 29th it was reported that this Italian expedition had linked up with the extreme left of the Allied wing, but this report must have been quite premature; it still had some very rough country to traverse before this could be accomplished. The end of the month saw a lull in the operations in the entire Macedonian theater on account of the bad weather.



CHAPTER XXXVIII

SEIZURE OF THE GREEK FLEET

On October 11, 1916, the patience of the Allies seems to have been again exhausted with the wavering policy of the Greek monarch. On that date Admiral du Fournier came to Athens and demanded the surrender of the entire Greek fleet, except the cruiser Averoff and the battleships Lemnos and Kilkis (the latter two formerly the American ships Idaho and Mississippi). He further demanded the transfer of control to the Allies of the Piraeus-Larissa railroad and that the shore batteries should all be dismantled. These demands were complied with at once, and all but the three vessels named were surrendered and their crews landed. The ships so handed over consisted of three battleships, one protected cruiser, four gunboats, three mine layers, one torpedo depot ship, sixteen destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, four submarines, and the royal yacht. The rest of the Greek navy had already gone over to the Allies, as was mentioned, and was now in Saloniki. The Piraeus-Larissa railroad, which the Allies also demanded, runs for a distance of 200 miles in a winding course from Piraeus, the seaport of Athens, to Larissa. The cause of this sudden action, as explained by the British press, was that for some time Greek troops had been concentrating in the interior near Larissa, while other troops were gathering in Corinth, from whence they could easily reach the force in Larissa.

An Athens division had been quietly moving along the railroad line, leaving a regiment to intrench themselves before the king's palace at Tatoi. Apparently the fear was that King Constantine was preparing, at a favorable moment, to retire with his army and intrench himself in the plains of Thessaly until he could there join hands with the Bulgarians and the Germans and perhaps attack the Allies on their left flank. The surrender of the railroad now made this impossible.

The result of this action was that large street demonstrations began at once, supposed to have been instigated by the Reservists' League. The French admiral thereupon landed a large force of marines and occupied a number of public buildings whence he could control the main streets with machine guns. By the 16th all Athens seemed to be in an uproar, but the violence which took place was directed against Venizelist sympathizers, while in their demonstrations against the Allies the rioters contented themselves with jeering and hurling insulting remarks. In these disorders the police remained absolutely passive, and on some occasions joined with the rioters. This caused the French admiral to demand that the command of the police force should be practically turned over to him. A French officer was at once established as chief inspector at the Ministry of the Interior. Transfers or dismissals in the force could now not be made without his consent, while he himself had arbitrary power in dismissing and transferring. He was also empowered to appoint inspectors throughout the rest of the kingdom. Naturally, the royalist press came out in strong denunciations, but these were terminated when the French established a press censorship.

On the 22d the Allied governments demanded that the Greek force concentrated at Larissa be withdrawn from that point and scattered throughout the southern part of the country, and this demand was also promised. During the rest of the month there were reports of conferences between King Constantine and the French admiral and the representatives of the Entente, all tending to show that he was again becoming intensely pro-Ally.



CHAPTER XXXIX

THE BULGARIANS DRIVEN BACK

The quiet which prevailed in the field of military effort in Macedonia toward the end of October, 1916, continued well into November, 1916, save for local artillery activity and trench raids. But on the 11th fighting broke out again in the bend of the Cerna River on the sector held by the Serbians and French. That the Allies here made serious gains was proved by the fact that for the first time Sofia dispatches admitted an enemy advance, though they minimized it to trifling significance. On that date the Serbians began a series of attacks which resulted in the capture of Polog and 600 prisoners. During all of the following day the battle continued, and again the Serbians advanced, supported by the French, this time penetrating the enemy's lines for a distance of seven miles, enabling them to take the village of Iven and another 1,000 prisoners. On this date the Serbians announced that since September 14, 1916, when the offensive began, they had taken 6,000 prisoners, 72 cannon, and 53 machine guns. Again the Sofia dispatch admitted that the Serbians had succeeded in "making a salient before our positions northeast of Polog."

The Serbians had now broken through the range of hills intervening between themselves and the eastern edge of the Monastir Plain. For a day there was a lull, and then the Serbians and French resumed their attacks. Northeast of Iven the Bulgarians and Germans were compelled to fall back, close pressed by the Serbians, who occupied the village of Cegal. North of Velyeselo the French and Serbians also advanced; the fighting spread westward as far as Kenali. The prisoners taken during the past few days now numbered 2,200, among whom were 600 Germans. But more important still, the Allies were now almost due east of the city of Monastir. That city was now in imminent danger.

On the 16th the entire line of formidable frontier defenses centered on Kenali had to be abandoned by the German and Bulgarian troops, in which operation they lost heavily. They then retreated across the Viro River, west of the railroad and across the Bistritza River to the east of the line, so that the Russians, following them up closely, succeeded in arriving within four miles of the city. Meanwhile the Serbians, in the mountains east of the swamps which protected the plain along the Cerna, were rushing rapidly on in their effort to swing around to the northeast of the city before the enemy should be able to intrench himself among the rolling hills that bound the northern extent of the plain. It was significant that among the prisoners were a number of members of regiments which had been fighting, only a week previously, upon the Dobrudja front under Mackensen.