Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IX. The Balkan war, 1912
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
1912] GRECO-BULGARIAN INCIDENT 113
flattering to the Bulgarians occurred at the very outset
of the War.
As I have already said, the principal operations in
Macedonia fell to the Serbian Army; but parallel to
the Serbian action and more to the south-east a large
Bulgarian detachment was operating, that of General
Todorov, who was sent across the Rhodope Mountains
straight in the direction of Salonika. In this quarter
there were but few Turkish troops, and only the town
and port of Salonika, constituting the base of
operations of defence in Macedonia, were guarded by a fairly
large garrison. General Todorov’s detachment, having
crossed the mountains and routed the irregular
detachments of native Mussulmans who courageously defended
the passes and defiles, at length emerged on the road
to Salonika. The Bulgarians advanced so quickly that
they hardly had time to set fire to the rich Turkish
villages, or to massacre many of the inhabitants. This
was because from another side the troops of the
" Diadoch " Constantine were advancing, or rather
rushing with giddy haste. Never before, since the days
when Achilles with the swiftness of a stag pursued
Hector round the walls of Troy, have the Greeks
marched with such rapidity as on this occasion, when
they had at all costs to reach Salonika before the
Bulgarians. And the Greeks were the first to get near
the town of St. Cyril and Methodius. When General
Todorov’s detachment got near Salonika the Greeks
had already been there two days, and the whole Turkish
garrison, discouraged by a series of defeats in
Macedonia, and knowing that they were between two fires,
had already surrendered to the "Diadoch." But this
did not suit the Bulgarians at all. Having arrived in
sight of the Turkish camp, they opened fire, and then
dispatched envoys to the Ottoman heads suggesting
they should surrender. The ’Turks, who had just
surrendered to the Greeks, hastened to surrender again
to the Bulgarians. But the Greeks would have none of
this. And when General Todorov’s troops began to
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
