The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-23
YIELD MARSHAL EpHEM PASTA.

YIELD bhhA GAohhA
honor and courage of tho defeated people, Is pic
turesque and historically valuable. he writes
from the standpoint of the Turkish army with
which he is stationed:
"On Friday evening We were In position to
fight q great battle for Thessaly. To-day. or
Tuesday evening, we are practically its masters,
and we have not lost half a dozen men between
3 hen and now. How did it all come aboutf
"Thessaly was not won by fighting, for there
was no fighting to speak of. 1t can hardly be an
exaggeration that over 10o. 900 men have been
engaged in this campaign, and / am pretty sure
that the total killed of both sides is well under
1000. Nor was Thcssaly won because Of the in
diligence Of the Greeks. who calmly decided
that It was impossible to hold 1t. They had re-
solved to hold It; they had selected their posi-
tions with care. and fortified them. There Is only
one answer to the question how. Thessaly was
lest ~ cowardice-rank cowardice. The Greeks
had wished to hold 1t, and they were not fought
out Of It. They lost heart and bolted.
The collapse began on Friday. That day the
position was exactly what it had been all the
week since the close of the battle of Milouna. on
the second evening Of the war. On Easter Sun
day evening the Turks won the neck Of low hills,
and by consequence drove the Greeks from the
narrow end of the V-shaped plain below. The
left Of our position rested in the village of
K~aratsali. secured by the hills above; its right
extended over the plain to where We held the
hills on the other side also. The Greek right
faced our left in the village of Deliler
a long, struggling group of stone and
mud cottages. nominally two villages. real
ly one. Thence their batteries stretched
across the plain to a little round hill.
and thence on again to Turnavo on the right.
Above Turnavo they held the formidable noun
tain Of Kritiri-Losphaki the Turks call 1.-THE
highest point Of the frontier range, almost per-
pendicular. approachable only in front by a
stony ravine. defended by guns and tier on
tier Of escarpment and stone wall. Between the
armies lay fields of barley. already waist high
and in ear; dry fallows. where every shell and
bullet, hoot or foot kicked up clouds of dust.
with grateful patches Of thick wood. All that
you saw from the Col of Milouna. No troops
could cross the brown without showing dust
storms on 1t; none could cross the green without
showing black lines for infantry, black and
brown and white lines for cavalry. black blots
with smaller black satellites grouped round
them for guns. You could see every move on a
chessboard a hundred square miles In size, with
lions for the stake. 1t was the finest place to
see a battle one could imagine. O~nly-only there
"of course, we had tho advantage in num-
bers; but the Greeks had the odds OF position.
The Greeks may have numbered 80, 900. the cor
respondent on the other side can tell you moro
half-say co. 0O; two divisions on the right, and
altogether Well over 10000 men against 80.
600. Only of the 10000 $4,000 or SO were
st sisd IN vsin O ih sss d RSsitti to take ee i kF and tSGu sfd
they were, which came to the same thing-and
5000 or so had not arrived. The Greeks might
We fear God. but nobody else in the world.
remarked the Athens Star a day or two before.
"aon Friday there were operations on the left
NTH q view TO facilitating the juncture with
hamdi Pasha when he came up. His division
mad taken five days to clear its front of the de-
termined attack made at karya. But when he
came the Greeks would he outfianked on their
back, leaving Turnevo and Kritiri. and letting
IN the divisions, OF Neshat Pasha and, Hairi Pa
fore Edhem Pasha directed an attack on Deiiler.
,rn,lt began with the artillery. and with the ar
phllery, as IL turned out, 1t practically ended. 1t
either side. Both shot wild at first; the Turkish
shrapnel burst in little white balloons the height
the salvos from the Greek batteries raised six
separate whirls, Of earthly cloud, now in the
Bii0oSsh before the Turks, now in the plough be-
niuq them, but on them never. But presently
NJ Turks began TO drop shells right into the
ntue black swarming anthills that stood for
nov short, now over, the whole afternoon.
meanwhile. the main attack was developing
utllery was putting In splendid work. A vast
mminsghed held, perhaps half . mile, perhaps q
~ 1,s. across. lies before the village OF Deliler; at
H.a1 tf - ~ ~ ~ pe NtAhAt aihNhh
wihdowed. gray-brown house on a little knoll II
may pc a convent, II may be a private house. but
looks IKE q furniture repository. To the right
va, -, Knoll slopes down among trees TO a little
minofet; this point was the fulcrum of the de-
ieaGe; All RIA Pasha, enjoying himself thor
SSsShiy' as always when his darling guns are in
Suon, moved three batteries nearly up 10 the
ssaeSe Of the ploughed field. well under the fire OF
t n% GreGk skirnishers. and plugged round after
,Wmha plump on TO the knoll. The Infantry,
~ngSn"hiie, was stealing round on the right.
Ef".sred by trees the black dots 3trolled leisurely
,or~arf; From above they did not seem TO
mor%; they, looked Ike pieces on a board worked
automatically ny some, great player, bchinG.
thcy established themselves on he right of the
,Iihhret, and the curing blue smoke showed
inu! we're making good use of the position. The
mmtttEs knew II, too; they advanced a battery on
sheif right and fired at Riza's guns. They
STgtoI hiiserably as ever, and Ria took no notice.
nphey hdvaGc.i half the battery nearer still;
~! still tack no notice.
Ard now MAS come the moment .or the main
Snnrk- Infantry across the great fn!low. Little
SSIts OF skirmishers. little clamps OF main body,
SaSk Jumps OF supports began to dapple the
"S"h' Slowly, slowly they moyed-but they