Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-03
i|NONAsT|R VICTORY
!. CREDITED TO SERBS
Accomplish Seemingly lmpos-
sibIe and Open Way for
Their Allies.
FIERCE MOUNTAIN FIGHT
Copyright. 1917, by Herbert Corey.)

Copyright. 1917. by Herbert Corey.)
MONASTIR, Serbia. November 21.-
For the third time in this war the
Serbs took Monastir yesterday.
This statement is not as yet to be
substantiatsd by the military records.
Nevertheless. it is fact that only the
work of the small Serbian army in
the hills dominating Monastir made
this weeks capture of the position pos
sible. 1t is fact that twice before
in the very recent past Monastir was
evacuated by the Bulgarians because
of victories gained by the Serbs.
There were compelling military rea-
sons beyond doubt why Monastir was
not occupied by the allied troops on
I these occasions. They need not be en-
tered upon at this time, If only for the
fact that correspondent would be
forced to indulge in an unauthorized
guesswork in the absence Of author
ICED explanations. The third and final
evacuation is the only one that is OF
vital interest today.
Accomplishments of Serbs.
To compel the surrender of Monastir
the Serbs accomplished seemingly mill
|. itary impossibilities day after day.
They took positions which by every.
law of war and reason were impreg-'
1able. They drove superior forces
from intrenched positions which COM
manded every foot of the ground from
which the assault was delivered They
took q number Of prisoners which
number Of Serbian troops actually en-
gagged. One division captured 155
brand-new mitrailleuse of German
make. OF the seventy-three guns
taken by the allies seventy-two were
taken by the Serbs.
They made possible a dress parade
of the French, Russian and Serbian
troops into Monastir forty-eight hours
after the Bu1garians had evacuated the
town.
1t is only fair play that these facts
should be made known. They are suf-
ficiently understood here, but the of
communicates. are bare and colorless.
It will be understood that no criticism
of the combined strategy is even re-
motely suggested or ., Intended. The
ranged compelled victorious action by
the Serbian army before the French
and Russian troops could move.
Serbs Took to Mountains.
Monastir itself has no strategic value.
It is a town of $4,000 population. 10
Gated on the plain through which runs
the River Cerna. and which is bordered
on either side by mountains. To take
and hold Monastir the possession of
these heights must first be gained. The
French and Russian troops advanced
through the plain. To the Serbs was
assigned the task of opening the door
to the city by taking the mountain
tops.
Although Monastir is strategically
without worth. 1t is politically of the
first Importance. It's seizure meant to
the Serbs that they had definitely re-
entered their ravaged country. 1t was
!. a proof to the world that the cam
paign of aggression by the Bulgars
-Mflitarily. it means that the winter
campaign for the recapture of Prilep
and Uskub, two towns of great i'm
portance farther north. has been pro-
the attack upon the formidably forth
fed position of the Babuna pass, which
for the present Is a dangerous obstacle
to the allied advance, can be pursued
with less difficulty.
Considered in mass, the strategy of
the campaign has been of childish SIM
plicity- 1t has consisted in the sue
cessive capture by the Serbs of the
hills commanding the plain of Mon
astir. Each hill taken meant that the
French artillery could move forward
step and blast the Bulgar-Germans out
of their trenches upon the fat lands.
In detail 1t has been one of infinite
difficulty. for each victory by the Serbs
was gained over foes superior in num-
bers and artillery and strongly in
trenched on difficult heights.
1t has been fight In a maze of hills
and valleys. in which single mistake
in selling the clue by Voivode Mischitch
the commander-in-chief of the Serb.
ian army-might have brought about
disaster The motive of the Serbian
campaign has been speed-speed-
speed Once the Bulgar-Germans Were
driven from a position, Mischitch did
not give them time to prepare fresh
defenses. He rushed his men at their
heels until the defeated foe reached the
line of defense previously prepared In
the rear. His strategy might not have
been practicable in the conditions which
obtain in the west, Mischitch is an old
Balkan fighter. He knows the hills and
1. his men and his enemy. He was al
ways successful
German Troops With Bulgars.
Although Monastir was the imne-
diate objective. IT is, of course, only to
be considered as an item in the great
plan. which involves the winning back
of Serbia The campaign really began
in September last, when the Serbian
peak of the range. and which forced
the withdrawal of the Bulgarians for
ten kilometers and their immediate re-
enforcement by the Germans. The
movement was progressive. Recently
the shock to the Bulgarian morale be-
fresh stifening of their best first-line
trOODS Thus the Add PrusSiap