Chapter 118： Battle of Lule Burgas

The Romanian Military Observer Group, which was missed by Edel, had arrived in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, when Bulgaria declared war on Ottoman. This time the military observation mission was led by Feleit, commander of the 12th Division of the Romanian Army.

This commander of Fereit left a deep impression in front of the crown prince and chief of staff Prieshan. Now this good impression has brought him the beautiful mission of the commander of the military observation mission. After he got this commander The heads of the other divisions were jealous when they were on duty. I believe this observation will bring great convenience to him if he is satisfied with the above.

After the Romanian military observation group stayed in Sofia for a day, they descended into the Bulgarian army. Most of the observation group members were sent to the Bulgarian First Army, which was the main force in Bulgaria's attack on Western Thrace.

Their commander is Lieutenant General Vasil Kutinchev, a general who has a keen sense of the battlefield and participated in the Serbian War.

In this war, he commanded a partial division in Bulgaria with the rank of major general. With his amazing sense of battlefield, he defeated the 25,000 Serbian snipers in the Budakos area with 17,000 people in his hands. Converging the main force of 67,000 people led by King Ferdinand I, and almost encircling the main force of 56,000 Serbs, with this record, Lieutenant General Vassil Kutinchev was promoted to lieutenant general by the king. Now Ferdinand I handed over the main force of Bulgaria to him, apparently hoping that he could achieve better results and make even greater contributions to Bulgaria.

And he has the most elite troops in Bulgaria. The commander of the 1st Infantry Division is Major General Tosheve, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division is Major General Sarafov, and the commander of the 10th Infantry Division is Major General Bratislilov. Here I will focus on the third division. This division has three brigades and six regiments, with a population of 31,000, which is more than the average Bulgarian wartime division.

Now the First Army has 95,000 troops. The Bulgarian military has also strengthened most of the machine guns and artillery aided by Romania. Now the First Army has 72,000 rifles, 186 machine guns, and 287 artillery. Some of them are small and medium-caliber artillery, but they are the most equipped elite in the Bulgarian army.

According to the division of labor of the League, Bulgaria focused on operations in Thrace and Macedonia. It deployed the main force in Thrace and formed three armies. The First Army (95,370 men) was deployed under General Vasil Kudinchev and three infantry divisions south of Yambol, operating along the Densa River. The Second Army (102,748 people) under the leadership of General Nikolai Ivanov, composed of two infantry divisions and an infantry brigade, was deployed to the west of the First Army and was assigned to capture Adrian Fort (Edirne)'s mighty fortress.

According to these plans, the Third Army (94,884 people), under the leadership of General Radiko Dimitriyev, was deployed to the east and behind the First Army, with cavalry units covering Turkey’s sights. The Third Army had three infantry divisions and was sent to cross the Strania Mountain and lead Kirkkills fortress. The 2nd (49, 180) and 7th (48, 5) divisions were assigned independent roles, fighting in Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia, respectively.

The nominal commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian army is Tsar Ferdinand I, but in fact its control and leadership are in the hands of his deputy, Lieutenant General Mikhail Savov.

At this time, I would like to say that this kind of military establishment was commonly used in the Balkans at that time. The establishment of troops is divided into wartime establishments and peacetime establishments. In peacetime, a division is estimated to be over 10,000 people. Immediately there will be more than 20,000. This method saves military expenses, and only needs to ensure the training of technical arms. However, this method has a huge shortcoming. The organization is not high enough. With the soldiers' military capabilities, they cannot complete too complicated tactics and cannot withstand too high casualties. Therefore, at that time, there were often 100,000 people fighting on both sides, and eventually thousands of people were injured or killed, and one side was demoralized and defeated.

However, since all countries are in this mode of enlistment, the gap is not obvious. The standing army mode will not gradually emerge until after World War I. Nowadays, the standing army mode like Romania is still relatively rare.

On the third day after the start of the war, the various Bulgarian armies crossed the border and launched an attack on the Ottoman army.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

In the seventh company of the third battalion, the second regiment of the first division of the Bulgarian First Army, company commander Sakdov was cheering on his soldiers to speed up their pace. These soldiers panted heavily with sweat on their foreheads, and followed the footsteps of their comrades to the destination.

After cheering up on his soldiers, he took out his pocket watch from his jacket pocket and checked the time. Speaking to Lieutenant Bodnov, his deputy. "It seems that our marching speed is not bad, and we should arrive at the small village of Polonika before six o'clock in the afternoon."

"It should be possible, company commander. I heard that the friendly forces in front of us had just fought with Ottoman troops in a small town called Karlsman. These Ottoman troops were badly trained and they were defeated by them." Lieutenant Bodnov After answering his boss, tell the information he just got.

Company Commander Sackdorf looked at him a little strangely. "How did you get this news?"

Lieutenant Bodnov tells the source of his news. "The messenger named Spurf who just passed by told me that he even took a cigarette from me as a reward."

Company Commander Sackdorf remembered that a messenger on horseback asked them for water. It is estimated that his deputy heard the news at that time.

Hearing the good news, the company commander Sackdorf said with a smile to his deputy. "We seem to have to quicken our pace, otherwise the Ottoman army will be wiped out."

After speaking, the company commander Sackdorf followed his soldiers all the way forward, and Lieutenant Bodnov quickly followed.

When the Bulgarian grass-roots units were advancing toward their respective established goals, in the headquarters of the First Army, Lieutenant General Vasyl Kutinchev was inquiring about the progress of the various ministries.

"Where has the first division arrived now?"

The communications staff who heard his commander's inquiry replied. "They just sent a telegram in the morning, and the First Division had just crossed the border and arrived in a small town called Carlosman, where they defeated the 3,000 Ottomans."

Lieutenant General Vasil Kutinchev, who heard the reply from the communications staff, took a military map and found the town. The town called Karlsman was on the border. He was still satisfied with the result of this advancement.

"Is there any more news?" Lieutenant General Sirkutinchev looked at the map and continued to ask the communications staff.

"After the Second Army defeated the small Ottoman troops in the small town of Serio on the border is marching towards Luledor. The Third Army is in the Salvot area."

Lieutenant General Sirkutinchev listened to the report of the staff and quickly found the location of the friendly army on the map. On the map, their three army groups marched in the shape of finished products, and his first army was the arrow.

When Lieutenant General Sirkutinchev looked at the map and considered the next military action, Major General Toshevey in the division headquarters of the First Division was also wondering about the intelligence of his opponent.

The 3,000-strong Ottoman army they had defeated in the town was reported by the following subordinate units and retreated to a small town called Lule Burgas 15 kilometers away. The pursuit troops saw a large number of positions there. Moreover, there were many Ottoman troops, estimated to be tens of thousands, and he quickly retreated. Now he is considering whether to launch a tentative attack to confirm it first, or to report directly to Lieutenant General Sirkutinchev. In the end he decided to report first.

PS Mantou went crazy in order to find information on all parties in the Balkan War. There is too little information on this war. If there are book friends who know the detailed information, let's chat with steamed buns privately. Thank you.

↓Look for the following websites and others are counterfeit↓

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