Third Army(Bulgaria)
Encyclopedia
The Bulgarian Third Army was a Bulgaria
n field army during the Balkan Wars
, World War I, and World War II.
On 17 September 1912 Tsar Ferdinand
signed a special decree
ordering the mobilization of the Bulgarian armed forces, and in accordance with the constitution
of the country assumed the nominal role of commander in chief. The three Bulgarian field armies were activated and began concentrating on the border with the Ottoman Empire
. The Third Army was placed under the command of lieutenant general Radko Dimitriev
and his chief of staff, colonel Konstantin Zhostov
.
of the Bulgarian Army major general Ivan Fichev
had devised the final plan for the war with the Ottoman Empire
more than an year earlier. He realized that Bulgaria
had to seize the initiative immediately after the outbreak of the war by conducting a large offensive in Eastern Thrace. To achieve this task the general deployed all three Bulgarian field armies in the vicinity of the Thracian border. The Third Army had a special role in the plan as it was deployed to the northeast of the First Army and its concentration in that area was concealed by the Cavalry Division. General Fichev expected that the Ottomans would remain unaware of this important force and general Dimitriev
would shatter the right wing of the unsuspecting Eastern Army. On 4 October O.S. the Third Army had the following composition:
On 5 October, Bulgaria declared war on the Ottoman Empire
and its field armies began their advance against the Eastern Army which was still mobilizing. By 8 October the Third Army had moved south and managed to align its front with that of the First Army without being detected by the Ottomans, proving general Fitchev's expectations correct. The two Bulgarian armies were now ready to commence the attack on the Adrianople
- Kirk Kilisse
line.
The commander of the Ottoman Army Abdullah Pasha
, under the pressure of the his superiors, planned to attack the Bulgarians on their flanks and envelop them with his III Corps and the forces of the Adrianople fortress. The lack of sufficient information led him to greatly underestimate the strength of the invading armies and had grave consequences for the Ottomans.
On 9 October the Bulgarian high command ordered its Third Army, which formed the left flank of the invading forces, to capture Kirk Kilisse. This coincided with the beginning of the Ottoman offensive and the advance of the III Corps against the Bulgarian left. Its commander Mahmoud Mohtar Pasha expected weak resistance but instead his 23 infantry battalions were pitted against the 48 infantry battalions of the Bulgarian 4th and 5th divisions when the two forces collided at the villages of Petra, Eskipolos and Elekler. In the ensuing struggle the Ottomans were overwhelmed and forced to retreat in panic which meant that the planned encirclement of the Bulgarians was impossible. The remaining Ottoman forces further west were also suffering defeats and the overall situation deteriorated rapidly. Abdullah Pasha ordered a general retreat and abandoned the Empire's most strategic defensive position on the Balkan Peninsula. In addition more than 60,000 Ottoman troops were surrounded
in Adrianople and the Bulgarian Third Army took Kirk Kilisse on 11 October.
With the end of the Battle of Kirk Kilisse
battle the Bulgarian high command chose to rest its forces instead of perusing vigorously the retreating Ottomans. The Ottomans used the time to establish a new defensive line. By the time the Bulgarian Third and First armies resumed their advance their opponents were thoroughly entrenched and reinforced. When the Battle of Lule Burgas began the Bulgarians were forced to engage in a direct frontal assault with around 108,000 riflemen against the 126,000 riflemen of the Ottomans. The Third Army was to bare the brunt of the fighting as the First Army was forced to leave substantial forces to guard its rear and right flank in the direction of Adrianople. Despite their numerical superiority the Ottoman armies were routed after a five day battle. The nature of the battle however also caused heavy casualties to the Bulgarians, especially in the ranks of the heavily engaged Third Army which had some 15,561 men killed or wounded and 2,911 missing from its ranks. The losses and exhaustion of the soldiers again forced the Bulgarian command to order a couple of days rest.
When the Bulgarians continued the advance the Ottoman Army was entrenched at the last defensive line before Constantinople
- the Chataldzha defensive line. The Bulgarian tsar
as nominal commander in chief managed to impose his will over the Bulgarian high command in favor of an attack of the Ottoman positions, despite the objections to a rashly organized attack raised by general Ivan Fichev
and the raging cholera
in the armies. The opinion of general Mihail Savov
(the de facto commander in chief) who viewed an immediate attack as a tactical and strategic necessity also supported Ferdinand
's opinion.
Thus General Dimitriev, now in command of a sort of an army group
that combined the Bulgarian First and Third armies, was tasked with the planning and execution of the attack on Chataldzha on 4 November and at least on paper could count on 175,000 men with 118,000 rifles against the Ottoman Army's 140,000 men and 103,000 rifles. In reality the available effective on both sides were reduced by a raging cholera epidemic. General Dimitriev's recent experience however made him prone to underestimating the Ottoman Army and led him to commit only 14 regiments out of 38 in the attack; the rest he hoped to exploit after the Ottoman line was penetrated. This time however the Ottomans remained firm on almost all their positions and repelled all Bulgarian attack supported by their artillery which unlike the previous battles performed better than its Bulgarian counterpart. The result was a defeat and some 12,000 Bulgarian casualties, out of which some 8,451 were in the Third Army.
The First and Third Bulgarian armies remained at the Chataldzha line until the end of the war and managed to repel several Ottoman attempted breakthroughs in 1913.
in order to protect its threatened interests in the area.
By the beginning of June most of the Bulgarian Army was concentrated on the main theater of operations in Vardar
and Aegean
Macedonia, against the Serbian and Greek Armies. The Bulgarian high command placed its First and Third armies along the old Serbian border. As this area was viewed as a secondary theater of operations the strength of both armies was reduced significantly. The Third Army was now in fact one of the smallest field armies and had the following composition:
Initially the army had only one objective - to protect the capital Sofia
. When the war began on 16 June it and its neighboring 1st Army remained passive and even served as a source of reinforcements. So when the Bulgarian advance against the Serbians stalled general Dimitriev was ordered to dispatch the 3/5 Infantry Brigade(45th and 46th Infantry regiments) to reinforce the 5th Army
. In exchange he was promised the 1st Army's 2/5 Infantry Brigade. On 20 June, general Mihail Savov
was replaced by general Dimitriev as deputy commander in chief and the 3rd Army was placed under the command of general Racho Petrov
. By that time the Bulgarian command finally decided to utilize the inactive 1st and 3rd armies and gave them orders to take the Serbian town of Knjaževac
and then with their combined force to seize the fortress of Pirot
.
The force facing the Bulgarian 3rd Army was the Serbian 2nd Army
– a total of around 35 battalions, 13 batteries and 3 squadrons, many of whom were third line troops. The Serbian defense was centered around he important road and railway junction of Pirot
.
The Bulgarian 3rd Army was ordered to attack and pin down as many Serbian troops as possible while the 1st Army completed its primary objective in the north and then turned south to encircle Pirot. In order to achieve this task general Petrov, following the orders of general Dimitriev, divided his forces in two groups. The Right Group that consisted of the 13th Infantry Division and 1/1 Infantry Brigade was to attack Pirot while the Left Group (also known as Tran Detachment), that was formed by the 2/1 Infantry Brigade, 2/5 Infantry Brigade, the Cavalry division and the 46th Regiment, was to advance in the direction of Vranje
. Due to the distance between the two groups the forces operated independently. The only link between them was a single battalion supported by a cavalry squadron and two batteries.
The Left group advanced first on 22 June. The bad weather, poor roads and fog hampered the speed of movement of the units and the strong Serbian positions prevented any important Bulgarian gains. On 5 July the Group deployed around Tran
with its 18 battalions, 2 squadrons and 11 batteries and was placed under the commander of the 5th Danube Division. The army headquarters ordered it to attack, penetrate the Serbian defensive line and cut the communication lines between Vranje and Niš
. After several days of fighting on 12 July the Bulgarians managed to dislodge the Serbians from their main defensive line at Bukova Glava and penetrate into Serbian territory but due to the exhaustion of attacking forces the following attacks met with less success. The Serbian command was concerned with these development and decided to reinforce its troop with units from Macedonia, which weakened their advance there and allow the Bulgarian 4th Army to contain it. The Left Group of the 3rd Army however was ordered to retreat back to the boarder because it was considered needles to expose it to battle with the fresh Serbian reinforcements.
The advance of the Right Group began on 24 June, after a short struggle the Serbian vanguards were pushed back towards Pirot and the Bulgarians took up favorable positions on the high ground overlooking the field around the fortress from which their artillery could support any further attacks with great efficiency. On 30 July the Group was ordered to dig in and repel the Serbian attacks, that had mainly reconnaissance purpose. On that day however the threat to the 1st Army's rear posed by the Romanian invasion of Northern Bulgaria force the Bulgarian high command to order the retreat of that army from Knjaževac which it had recently occupied. This development made the planned capture of Pirot impossible and left the 3rd Army defending the positions it had so far won until the end of the war.
As stipulated by the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) the Bulgarian 3rd Army was demobilized on 29 July.
Bulgaria entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers
. General mobilization was declared on 9 September (23 September) with a special royal decree
. In accordance the Third Army was activated on 12 September and was placed under the command of lieutenant general Stefan Toshev
and his chief of staff, colonel Stefan Popov. On 15 September the general issued an order determining the order of battle as follows:
On 21 September Toshev received instructions from the chief of staff of the Bulgarian Army general Konstantin Zhostov
to deploy his army for the defense of the Romanian boarder and the Black Sea
coast in accordance with the high command's plan for war against Serbia
and Greece
. This task remained unchanged even after the declaration of war on Serbia and the advance of the Bulgaria First and Second armies during the subsequent Serbian Campaign
.
Romania's neutrality during this period allowed the Bulgarian high command to use the Third Army as a reserve force for the operations in Macedonia
and in the middle of 5 October, Danube Division was ordered to join the Second Army's operations against the Serbians and the Allied advance from Salonika. To compensate for this loss the command used the garrisons of Oryahovo
, Gigen
, Somovit, Nikopol
and Svishtov
as well as the 2nd March Brigade to form a new 12th Mixed Infantry Division. On 14 of October a Russian fleet that included the battleships Imperatritsa Mariya, Evstafi
, Ioann Zlatoust
, Panteleimon
, the cruisers Pamiat Merkuria
and Kagul supported by eighteen smaller vessels bombarded the port of Varna
. The force fired several hundred shells but came under the attack of German submarines 17 and 18 and retired by noon of the same day. The damage on the shore was light and only a few soldiers and some 27 civilians became casualties. After the attack the Army command took measures against a possible Russian landing in the vicinity of Varna - the coastal artillery was strengthened, new mines were laid in the sea and the Bulgarian high command made steps to acquire the navy's first submarine from the Germans that officially entered service in May 1916. Bulgarian morale was also raised by the arrival of the German 105th Infantry Division
during November and in February 1916 the Bulgarian high command ordered the entire 1st Sofia Infantry Division to be transferred from Macedonia to Northern Bulgaria, where it arrived a month latter.
The 11,287 men of the 105th Division formed the mobile forces of the army in the coastal areas and were ordered by general Toshev to defend the coast and repel any amphibious landings in the area of Varna and Burgas
. For the next several months no such landing materialized and in May 1916 the Bulgarian and German high commands agreed to send the 105th Division to Macedonia with the exception of a single infantry battalion, two machine guns and the 105th heavy battery that were to remain in Shumen
and Varna. Nevertheless rumors that a Russian army was concentrating in the Crimea
for a sea invasion of the Bulgarian coast in conjunction with an allied offensive in Macedonia continued to arrive in the Bulgarian high command headquarters. This and the first signs of the impending Romanian intervention in the war on the side of the Entente forced the command to reinforce the Third Army further during July and August with the 1st Cavalry division and the headquarters of the 6th Bdin Infantry Division together with one of its brigades. The defense of the Danube also became more important and in July a special German Danube Detachment of 3,019 men was formed up with colonel von Kaufmann as its commander. This unit consisted of the German forces that were left in Varna and Shumen reinforced with the 6th Uhlan Regiment, the headquarter of the 7th Reserve Hussar Regiment with two squadrons, two mountain machine gun companies and a field battery from the 11th Army
. In August the 115th Landwehr Regiment also arrived.
had not considered any military response to a possible intervention of Romania
on the side of the Allies and Austria-Hungary
felt free to keep only small forces of soldiers and gendarms
in Transylvania
. It was only in June 1916 that the headquarters of their high commands officially engaged in preliminary negotiations for combined military actions if the need arose. Then in July field marshal von Hötzendorf, generals Falkenhayn
and general Zhekov
gathered at the German military headquarters in Pleß
to finalize the talks and devise a general plan for the war. On 28 July they agreed on several measures – not to engage in unnecessary provocations against Romania, in case the country joined the Allies then Bulgaria was obliged to undertake offensive actions by all means and Austria-Hungary as far as the circumstances allowed. The Bulgarians were to advance in the Dobrudja capture the fortresses of Tutrakan
and Silistra
and then, with their right flank secured, prepare to cross the Danube
and advance to Bucharest
for which Austria-Hungary would commit its Danube Flotilla and bridge building materials. Germany agreed to provide additional long range guns, airplanes and a zeppelin
along with four or five infantry and one or two cavalry divisions for the front in Transylvania. In addition von Falkelhayn was to reach an agreement with Enver Pasha on the deployment of Ottoman forces in Dobrudja.
In early August Austria-Hungary began concentrating larger forces in Transylvania as part of its First Army but still by the time Romania declared war on 27 August 1916 it could deploy only 50 battalions consisting of 1,058 officers and 33,302 riflemen who could rely on the support of 86 cannons and 10 squadrons .
Meanwhile the German emperor and the Bulgarian tsar agreed to place all Central Powers forces in northern Bulgaria under the command of field marshal August von Mackensen
, who at the time was commanding an army group on the Macedonian Front. The appointment received the sanction of the Bulgarian commander in chief, general Zhekov, on 28 August and two days latter the headquarters of Army Group Mackensen were established in Veliko Turnovo.
The field marshal's forces consisted in their greater part of the Bulgarian Third Army which had the following composition on 31 August:
With Bulgarian resources stretched almost to their limits from Macedonia to Romania and German reserves now absorbed by the formation of the Ninth Army the Ottoman Empire alone could spare some additional troops for the strengthening of the Bulgarian Third Army. Thus in August the two infantry divisions (15th and 25th) of the VI Army Corps, with their 18 infantry battalions, 8 batteries (32 cannons) and 8 machine guns were given to field marshal Mackensen and prepared to be transported to Dobrudja.
In order to encourage Romania's entry in the war on 26 August Italy
declared war on Germany and a day latter Romania
itself declared war but only on Austria-Hungary. The German Empire
immediately answered with a war declaration and urged Bulgaria to do the same. The Bulgarian government however delayed its response and caused a great deal of concern in its allied high commands. The Austrians and Germans even initiated some small skirmishes with the Romanians along the Danube in order to compromise Bulgaria's neutrality but after Bulgarian protests they were discontinued. Finally on 1 September, Tsar Ferdinand
issued a special decree declaring war on Romania. On the same day Bulgarian forces prepared to cross the boarder and field marshal Mackensen received a telegram from the new Chief of the German General Staff
von Hindenburg
informing him that German and Austro-Hungarian build up in Transylvania
would be completed no sooner than the second half of September while the forces that were already deployed would be able only to defend against the advancing Romanians until then. Von Hindenburg and general Zhekov
confirmed the orders of the Bulgarian Third Army to advance into Dobrudja in order to draw and defeat as many Romanian and Russian forces as possible, de facto placing the burden of the first Central Powers
major offensive during the opening stages of the war on field marshal Mackensen, general Toshev and their forces.
A day earlier the commander of the army group and the commander of the Third Army had met in Gorna Oryahovitsa
to finalize the offensive plan. General Toshev, who had more up to date intelligence regarding the strength of the opposing forces and their fortification, convinced the field marshal to commit the main forces for an attack of the Tutrakan
fortress first, instead of attacking both it and Silistra
as was originally noted in the army group directive from 28 August. The two also agreed to deploy troops to cover Silistra against Romanian flanking attacks on the main forces and insure sufficient reserves to hold the right flank of the army around Dobrich
. All the troops detailed for the defense of the Danube were placed under the direct control of the army group headquarters and the Ruse Fortified Area was placed under the command of colonel Kaufman. For the offensive general Toshev kept direct control over the field troops of the army consisting of the 1st,4th,6th infantry divisions, 1st cavalry division, the Varna Fortified Area and could also expect to be joined by 1 German and 5 Bulgarian battalions from colonel Kaufman's forces. Thus by 1 September the attacking forces managed to concentrate 62 infantry battalions, 3 pioneer battalions, 23 squadrons and 55 batteries along the Dobrudja frontier.
Facing the Bulgarian Third Army from the river Olt
to the Black Sea
coast was the Romanian Third Army commanded by general Mihail Aslan with a total of 149,028 men in 104 battalions and 44 squadrons supported by 235 machine guns and 131 batteries. However these force had to cover a long front and only some 72,000 men in 55 battalions and 9 squadrons supported by 173 machine guns and 67 batteries were located in Dobrudja. In addition the Russian XLVII Corps with up to 40,000 men under the command of general Andrei Zayonchkovski
had crossed the Danube and was slowly moving towards the Dobrudja boarder.
On 2 September the Third army crossed the border along its entire length from the Danube
to the Black Sea. The main forces – the 4th Preslav Division, the 1/1 Infantry Brigade and the reinforced detachment of colonel Kaufman – all under the command of general Panteley Kiselov
headed for Tutrakan, pushing back the Romanian forces to their main defensive lines and encircling the fortress within 48 hours. Meanwhile the rest of the 1st Division advanced to protect their flanks and the 1st Cavalry Division engaged and defeated the Romanian boarder guards and vanguards around the village of Kurtbunar managing to cut the communication lines between Silistra and Dobrich. On the right Bulgarian flank the 6th Bdin Division and forces of the Varna Fortified Area formed up in a mobile reserve also advanced, meeting weak resistance in the process.
General Aslan realized that his troops were too scattered and could be defeated piecemeal and ordered on 2 September general Zayonchkovski to move his corps from Cobadin
to within 10–15 kilometers of the Bulgarian boarder but it was not executed and instead on the next day only the cavalry was sent to reconnoitre a 40 kilometer part of the front that was far enough from the main Bulgarian thrust. This allowed general Kolev
's 1st Cavalry Division to defeat at the villages of Kochmar and Kara Pelit a brigade of the Romanian 19th division, dispatched to aid the encircled forces in Tutrakan, and report the capture of some 1,035 of its soldiers. This forced the commander of the 19th Division that was located Dobrich to withdraw his remaining forces from the town and allow the Varna Mobile Reserve to enter it on 4 September. On that day the forces around Tutrakan began preparation for the final assault of the fortress and major Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
took command of all forces operating against its western sector from colonel Kaufman.
A day earlier general Toshev had ordered general Kiselov to commence the principal assault on the main Romanian defensive lines around Tutrakan but it was delayed for 5 September. For the attack he could count on a strike force of some 55,000 men deployed in the 4th Preslav Infantry Division (17 battalions), the 1/1 Brigade (8 battalions) and the Hammerstein Detachment (1 German and 5 Bulgarian battalions) or a total of 31 infantry battalions, 7 squadrons, 132 artillery pieces and 57 machine guns. The Romanians could initially oppose the attackers with 19 battalions from the 15th division but they were quickly reinforced to 36 when the fighting began and could count on the support of 246 artillery pieces and 78 machine guns. In total the Romanian command committed some 39,000 men to the battle.
Early in the morning on 5 September the Bulgarian heavy artillery began an artillery barrage
designed to severely damage the Romanian fortifications and earthworks. The infantry attack followed soon after with the main blow delivered by the 4th Preslav Division. By nightfall the entire first Romanian defensive line was captured and 13 out of 15 forts had fallen in Bulgarian hands. The defenders had to retreat to their secondary defensive line which was considerably weaker and fell relatively easy on the next day despite the arrival of fresh reinforcements. On that day the Bulgarian 3/1 Brigade intercepted and defeated at the village of Sarsanlar a brigade of the Romanian 9th Division consisting of 9 battalions, 4 batteries and 2 squadrons dispatched from Silistra to aid the Tutrakan garrison.
When the Battle of Tutrakan ended on 6 September two Romanian infantry divisions were practically destroyed – some 28,500 soldiers and officers along with over 100 cannons, 62 machine guns and thousands of rifles were captured by the Bulgarian Third Army. Up to 7,500 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing and only between 3,500 and 4,000 out of 39,000 managed to swim across the Danube or make their way to Silistra unharmed. The attackers suffered some 9,171 casualties, most of them during the attack on the main defensive line on 5 September, or a rate of some 16% of their forces.
During the final assault on Tutrkan the right wing of the Bulgarian Army came under attack from the Russian XLVII Corps and the Romanian 19th Division at the Battle of Dobrich
. Despite the seizable forces of 46 infantry battalions, 17 batteries and 19 squadrons, general Zayonchkovsky achieved little success. The Bulgarian Varna Mobile Reserve, 6th Infantry Division managed to hold their line for two days when on 7 of September the first Ottoman troops – the 75th Regiment of the 25th Division arrived and was at once dispatched to support the Bulgarians. The 1st Cavalry Division delivered a flanking attack against the Serbo–Croatian Division which caused its retreat and made the position of the rest of the Russian forces untenable. By nightfall all of the XLVII Corps and the 19th Division were in full retreat and rallied around the village of Kara Omer further to the north. after the battle all the Bulgarian and Ottoman forces were placed under the command of general Todor Kantardzhiev and became known simply as the Dobrich Forces. It was agreed that until the arrival of the VI Corps headquarters all Ottoman forces will be integrated in the Bulgarian units.
On 10 September Silistra fell to the 1st Sofia Division and the Romanians retired towards lake Oltenia
. To support the advance of his left wing field marshal Mackensen created an entirely German brigade under the command of colonel Bode consisting of his 45th Reserve Regiment(3 battalions), the 1/21 battalion and supported by 3 squadrons and 3 batteries. The pursuit of the Romanians and Russian was delayed due to logistical difficulties and the relatively large distance between the forces in Silistra and Dobrich. This gave them time to fortify their new positions on the lake Oltenia
- Kara Omer - Mangalia
line. Finally two days latter the Bulgarian Third Army approached the new positions and prepared to assault them. The line of contact between the equal in size opposing armies was roughly similar with the pre 1913 boarder between Bulgarian and Romania, that is why the two day battle that occurred there is sometimes referred to as the Battle of the Old Frontier. The Bulgarians once again achieved victory but failed to encircle the Russian and Romanian divisions which again retreated to a new defensive line around Cobadin.
On 16 September the Third Army reached Cobadin and prepared to assault the position as field marshal Mackensen considered his opponents weakened enough. The Romanian high command however had reinforced general Zayonchkovsky's Dobrogea Army with four divisions from Transylvania and placed him under general Averescu's new Army Group of the Southern Armies together with the Romanian Third Army. In reality 55 Bulgarian, 4 German and 3 Ottoman infantry battalions supported by 27 Bulgarian, 3 German squadrons were thrown against more than 70 Romanian and Russian battalions supported 32 Russian and 8 Romanian squadrons. After two days of heavy fighting the Bulgarians and Germans failed to break through and general Toshev decided to call off the attack as the exhaustion of the troops could make them vulnerable to counter attacks. The Bulgarian Third Army suffered around 6,539 casualties in the First Battle of Cobadin
and withdrew to its starting positions. The Allied forces, emboldened by their success, attempted to counterattack but by 22 September their efforts had achieved no further gain and were in turn to dig in. For less than three weeks the Bulgarian Third Army had suffered 23,405 casualties bud had received only 3,755 replacements which made general Toshev reluctant to undertake new attacks until the army received more substantial reinforcements.
Now for the first time since the beginning of the campaign the Romanian high command had the initiative in Dobrudja and prepared a large offensive to encircle and destroy the Bulgarian Third Army. General Averescu planned to use the Dobrogea Army to attack the Bulgarian Third Army in an effort to breakthrough and link up with the reinforced Third Romanian Army which was to cross the Danube and advance in the rear of the Bulgarians. So by the end of September the Romanian Army Group of the Southern Armies had amassed 14 infantry and 2 and one-half cavalry divisions as compared to 10 infantry, 1 cavalry division and 4 Cälärasi brigades in Transylvania. Averescu could count on 195 battalions, 55 squadrons and 169 batteries for the execution of his plan.
Army group Mackensen was also strengthened with heavy artillery and on 24 September the entire VI Ottoman Corps joined the Bulgarian Third Army. In addition the German 217th Infantry Division was also expected to arrive. With these reinforcements the field marshal could oppose the Romanians and Russians with 110 battalions, 30 squadrons and 72 batteries.
On 1 October parts of the Romanian Third Army crossed
the Danube at Ryahovo and began constructing a pontoon bridge
. The Bulgarians and Germans had small forces in the area and the commander of the LII corps general Robert Kosch, who was tasked with protecting the Danube, dispatched additional forces from as far as Burgas
. The Romanian operation soon stalled in the face of the bad weather, the determined resistance of the outnumbered defenders and the constant attacks of the Austrian Danube Flotilla on the bridge. Under these circumstances general Averescu canceled the operations.
At the same time the Dobrogea Army attacked the Bulgarian Third Army with superior forces and temporarily achieved limited success at the battle of Amzacea. The Ottoman VI Corps was particularly badly hit and had to abandon some of its positions leaving 2 batteries and several hundred men to be captured by the Romanians. With the help of a few fresh Bulgarian battalions and batteries urgently dispatched by general Toshev the situation was soon stabilized and the lost positions retaken. On 7 October in the face of mounting loses and no success general Zayonchkovsky ordered his troops to halt their attacks and dig in. Thus this second part of general Averescu's plan also failed at a heavy price - the Romanian 19th Division alone had lost 45 officers and 3,150 soldiers. The casualties of the Central Powers exceeded 7,348 more than half of those were in the Ottoman 25th Division and the 74th Regiment.
The deteriorating situation in Transylvania once again forced the Romanian command to alter its plans and shift troops from south to north. This and the arriving reinforcements allowed field marshal Mackensen to prepare a second assault on the Rasova - Cobadin line. He divided his forces in Western Group(1st Sofia Division, VI Corps and 4th Preslav Division) and Eastern Group(1st Cavalry Division, Bode Brigade, 217th German Division and the Mixed Bulgarian Division) placing generals Toshev and Kantardzhiev as their respective commanders. Unlike the previous battles the field marshal arrived on the battlefield to take personal command of both groups.
The Second Battle of Cobadin
opened on 19 October with the largest artillery barrage yet seen in the Dobrudja Campaign. The Eastern Group was to execute the main attack in the direction of Topraisar
and the Western Group engaging in diversionary actions. General Kantardzhiev's men however met with very strong resistance and were not able to advance decisively for several days at the same time however had greater success and received permission from the field marshal to undertake a general attack in his sector on 20 October. The advance was very successful with the 4th Preslav Division capturing 24 officers and 2,800 soldiers from the Russian 61st Division. The entire center and right of the Russo-Romanian Army was retreating towards Cernavodă
and Medgidia
while the defensive line between the Danube and Cobadin had fallen in the hands of the Bulgarians and the Ottomans. The Eastern Group now also achieved greater results and forced the Romanians to retreat. On 22 October Bulgarian Cavalry Division entered the strategic port of Constanța
and the 4th Preslav Division met, defeated fresh reinforcements from the new IV Russian corps around Medgidia and took the village. Only the Romanian 2nd and 5th divisions, that were reduced to 3,500 and 4,000 combatants, were still holding out in Cernavodă but they too were forced to evacuate that fortress and damage the King Carol I Bridge
on 25 October. Thus as a result of the battle the Central Powers gained control of large stores of supplies and fuel as well as the vital railway between Constanța and Cernavodă. The offensive achieved a penetration depth of some 80 kilometers, or an average of 10 kilometers per an operational day – the highest of all major Bulgarian offensives during World War I.
The field marshal felt free to transfer the 1st Sofia Infantry Division, the German 217th Division (without the 9th Reserve Regiment) and most of the German artillery to Svishtov
where they would join general Kosch's Danube Army in preparation to cross the Danube and advance in conjunction with the German Ninth Army against Bucharest
. The remainder of the forces in Dobrudja were returned to general Toshev's command and ordered to dig in on a new defensive line between Lake Taşaul
and the village of Bonaschik.
As early as 22 October general Zayonchkovsky was replaced as commander of the Russo-Romanian army by general Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov
who received fresh Russian divisions to replace the battered Romanian formations that had to be pulled back and reorganized.
On 6 of November the Russian army began closing in on the Bulgarian fortifications with superior forces in an attempt to break the Third Army's line. General Toshev had 45 infantry battalions, 45 batteries and 27 squadrons on the front line and an additional 5 battalions on garrison duties in the rear. A cause for great concern was also the large Russian forces that were concentrating on the left bank of the Danube which prompted the general to ask the Ottoman VI Corps, that had remained directly under the army group control after Cobadin, to be placed under his command. In view of the dangerous situation the field marshal satisfied Toshev's wish. By the middle of November the battle along the entire line was raging with full force but the misunderstandings and conflicts between Mackensen and the Third Army's command were also peaking. Under German pressure the Bulgarian commander in chief, general Nikola Zhekov
, relieved Toshev of his command and send him to Macedonia, where he initially served as governor. His place as commander of the Third Army was taken by major general Stefan Nerezov
.
On 1 and 2 December the Russians made a final attempt to breakthrough but were again repulse losing considerable number of men and material including two armored cars that the Bulgarians captured. The victories of the Danube Army and the fall of Bucharest meant that any new offensives against the Bulgarian Third Army were unlikely. On 15 December the army went on the offensive, initially meeting little resistance until it reached the Isakcha – Tulcea
line. By 5 January 1917 however all Russian forces had been thrown in retreat over the Danube and the entire Dobrudja was under the control of the Central Powers
.
For the remainder of the war the Third Army remained in Dobrudja but after the capitulation of Romania
and the Russian Empire
its main units were transferred to the Macedonian Front leaving behind only some garrison and occupation forces. After the capitulation of Bulgaria, in the last days of September 1918, the army was demobilized on 6 November.
The Third Army was once again mobilized in 1940 and consisted of the 1st, 4th, 5th and 12th infantry divisions as well as the Bulgarian navy, all under the commad of general Georgi Popov
. On 21 September in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova
the army entered Southern Dobrudja that was returned to the Kingdom of Bulgaria
after 26 years of Romanian rule. It remained there for the next several years.
In September 1944 Bulgaria switched sides and declared war on Germany
and the command of the Third Army was taken over by general Asen Krastev. Due to different concerns of the government this army did not directly take part in the fighting, instead it was tasked with the formation and training of different units that were latter sent to front and especially to the Bulgarian First Army. A notable example was the Third Army's 3rd Infantry Division which took part in the Battle of Drava
as part of Operation Frühlingserwachen
.
to Sliven
, reflecting the shift of strategic focus of the Bulgarian Army as part of the Eastern Block. By the end of the fifties the cavalry units were abolished and the army was entirely mechanized, the infantry divisions were transformed into rifle and motor rifle divisions. Gradually new weapon system like multiple rocket launcher
, parachute detachments and air support units were integrated in the army.
After 1989 the Bulgarian Army entered a new stage of its development characterized with a rapid reduction of the armed forces. In accordance with a new program for the transition to a corps and brigade structure of the army the Third Army was transformed into the 3rd Army Corps and after 2004 many of its structures were closed. In 2003 the corps was again transformed into the "Eastern" command with greatly reduced forces and capabilities. By the end of 2006 this too was abolished and the units under its command were placed directly under the control of the Headquarters of the Bulgarian Land Forces. This marked the end of the Bulgarian Third Army after almost a century of its existence.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n field army during the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, World War I, and World War II.
Balkan Wars
After 1907, during times of peace, the territory of Bulgaria was divided into three army inspectorates, each one comprising three divisional district. During war they formed three independent field armies. The Third Army Inspectorate, which had its seat in Ruse, formed the headquarters of the Third Army.On 17 September 1912 Tsar Ferdinand
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
Ferdinand , born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, was the ruler of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1918, first as knyaz and later as tsar...
signed a special decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
ordering the mobilization of the Bulgarian armed forces, and in accordance with the constitution
Tarnovo Constitution
The Tarnovo Constitution was the first constitution of Bulgaria. It was adopted on 16 April 1879 by the Constituent National Assembly held in Veliko Tarnovo as part of the establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria...
of the country assumed the nominal role of commander in chief. The three Bulgarian field armies were activated and began concentrating on the border with the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The Third Army was placed under the command of lieutenant general Radko Dimitriev
Radko Dimitriev
Radko Dimitriev was a Bulgarian General, Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army from 1 January 1904 to 28 March 1907.-Biography:...
and his chief of staff, colonel Konstantin Zhostov
Konstantin Zhostov
Konstantin Andonov Zhostov was a Bulgarian General and Chief of the Bulgarian Army Staff.-Biography:...
.
First Balkan War
The chief of staffChief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
of the Bulgarian Army major general Ivan Fichev
Ivan Fichev
Ivan Fichev was a Bulgarian General, Minister of Defense, military historian and academician.-Biography:...
had devised the final plan for the war with the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
more than an year earlier. He realized that Bulgaria
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
had to seize the initiative immediately after the outbreak of the war by conducting a large offensive in Eastern Thrace. To achieve this task the general deployed all three Bulgarian field armies in the vicinity of the Thracian border. The Third Army had a special role in the plan as it was deployed to the northeast of the First Army and its concentration in that area was concealed by the Cavalry Division. General Fichev expected that the Ottomans would remain unaware of this important force and general Dimitriev
Radko Dimitriev
Radko Dimitriev was a Bulgarian General, Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army from 1 January 1904 to 28 March 1907.-Biography:...
would shatter the right wing of the unsuspecting Eastern Army. On 4 October O.S. the Third Army had the following composition:
| Battalions | Men | Rifles | Machine guns | Cannons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Staff and Services | 1,295 | 356 | |||
| Fourth Preslav Infantry Division | 25 | 36,551 | 25,524 | 24 | 72 |
| Fifth Danube Infantry Division | 25 | 30,892 | 22,046 | 24 | 70 |
| Sixth Bdin Infantry Division | 17 | 23,637 | 17,571 | 16 | 36 |
| Eight Cavalry Regiment | 462 | 328 | |||
| Army Units | 2,642 | 430 | 42 | ||
| Total | 67 | 95,479 | 66,255 | 64 | 220 |
On 5 October, Bulgaria declared war on the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and its field armies began their advance against the Eastern Army which was still mobilizing. By 8 October the Third Army had moved south and managed to align its front with that of the First Army without being detected by the Ottomans, proving general Fitchev's expectations correct. The two Bulgarian armies were now ready to commence the attack on the Adrianople
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
- Kirk Kilisse
Kirklareli
Kırklareli is the capital of Kırklareli Province in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. The province has a coastline on the Black Sea. There is a Jewish community.-Name:It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name...
line.
The commander of the Ottoman Army Abdullah Pasha
Abdullah Pasha
Abdullah Pasha or Abdullah Kölemen was an Ottoman general in the First Balkan War, notable as the Ottoman commander in the Battle of Kirk Kilisse in 1912, the Battle of Lule Burgas, and the Battle of Adrianople in which the Ottoman forces were defeated by the Bulgarians.-External links:* * * * *...
, under the pressure of the his superiors, planned to attack the Bulgarians on their flanks and envelop them with his III Corps and the forces of the Adrianople fortress. The lack of sufficient information led him to greatly underestimate the strength of the invading armies and had grave consequences for the Ottomans.
On 9 October the Bulgarian high command ordered its Third Army, which formed the left flank of the invading forces, to capture Kirk Kilisse. This coincided with the beginning of the Ottoman offensive and the advance of the III Corps against the Bulgarian left. Its commander Mahmoud Mohtar Pasha expected weak resistance but instead his 23 infantry battalions were pitted against the 48 infantry battalions of the Bulgarian 4th and 5th divisions when the two forces collided at the villages of Petra, Eskipolos and Elekler. In the ensuing struggle the Ottomans were overwhelmed and forced to retreat in panic which meant that the planned encirclement of the Bulgarians was impossible. The remaining Ottoman forces further west were also suffering defeats and the overall situation deteriorated rapidly. Abdullah Pasha ordered a general retreat and abandoned the Empire's most strategic defensive position on the Balkan Peninsula. In addition more than 60,000 Ottoman troops were surrounded
Battle of Adrianople (1913)
The Battle or Siege of Adrianople or Siege of Edirne was fought during the First Balkan War, beginning in mid-November 1912 and ending on 26 March 1913 with the capture of Edirne by the Bulgarian 2nd Army....
in Adrianople and the Bulgarian Third Army took Kirk Kilisse on 11 October.
With the end of the Battle of Kirk Kilisse
Battle of Kirk Kilisse
The Battle of Kirk Kilisse or Battle of Kirkkilise or Battle of Lozengrad was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 24 October 1912, when the Bulgarian army defeated an Ottoman army in Eastern Thrace.The initial clashes were around...
battle the Bulgarian high command chose to rest its forces instead of perusing vigorously the retreating Ottomans. The Ottomans used the time to establish a new defensive line. By the time the Bulgarian Third and First armies resumed their advance their opponents were thoroughly entrenched and reinforced. When the Battle of Lule Burgas began the Bulgarians were forced to engage in a direct frontal assault with around 108,000 riflemen against the 126,000 riflemen of the Ottomans. The Third Army was to bare the brunt of the fighting as the First Army was forced to leave substantial forces to guard its rear and right flank in the direction of Adrianople. Despite their numerical superiority the Ottoman armies were routed after a five day battle. The nature of the battle however also caused heavy casualties to the Bulgarians, especially in the ranks of the heavily engaged Third Army which had some 15,561 men killed or wounded and 2,911 missing from its ranks. The losses and exhaustion of the soldiers again forced the Bulgarian command to order a couple of days rest.
When the Bulgarians continued the advance the Ottoman Army was entrenched at the last defensive line before Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
- the Chataldzha defensive line. The Bulgarian tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
as nominal commander in chief managed to impose his will over the Bulgarian high command in favor of an attack of the Ottoman positions, despite the objections to a rashly organized attack raised by general Ivan Fichev
Ivan Fichev
Ivan Fichev was a Bulgarian General, Minister of Defense, military historian and academician.-Biography:...
and the raging cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
in the armies. The opinion of general Mihail Savov
Mihail Savov
Mihail Savov was a Bulgarian general, twice Minister of Defence , second in command of the Bulgarian army during the Balkan Wars....
(the de facto commander in chief) who viewed an immediate attack as a tactical and strategic necessity also supported Ferdinand
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
Ferdinand , born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, was the ruler of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1918, first as knyaz and later as tsar...
's opinion.
Thus General Dimitriev, now in command of a sort of an army group
Army group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area...
that combined the Bulgarian First and Third armies, was tasked with the planning and execution of the attack on Chataldzha on 4 November and at least on paper could count on 175,000 men with 118,000 rifles against the Ottoman Army's 140,000 men and 103,000 rifles. In reality the available effective on both sides were reduced by a raging cholera epidemic. General Dimitriev's recent experience however made him prone to underestimating the Ottoman Army and led him to commit only 14 regiments out of 38 in the attack; the rest he hoped to exploit after the Ottoman line was penetrated. This time however the Ottomans remained firm on almost all their positions and repelled all Bulgarian attack supported by their artillery which unlike the previous battles performed better than its Bulgarian counterpart. The result was a defeat and some 12,000 Bulgarian casualties, out of which some 8,451 were in the Third Army.
The First and Third Bulgarian armies remained at the Chataldzha line until the end of the war and managed to repel several Ottoman attempted breakthroughs in 1913.
Second Balkan War
Almost immediately after the end of the First Balkan War Bulgaria began to transfer its forces from Eastern Thrace to MacedoniaMacedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
in order to protect its threatened interests in the area.
By the beginning of June most of the Bulgarian Army was concentrated on the main theater of operations in Vardar
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
and Aegean
Aegean Macedonia
Aegean Macedonia is a term that refers to the Greek region of Macedonia. It is currently mainly used in the Republic of Macedonia, including in the irredentist context of a United Macedonia. The term is also used in Bulgaria as the more common synonym for Greek Macedonia, without the connotations...
Macedonia, against the Serbian and Greek Armies. The Bulgarian high command placed its First and Third armies along the old Serbian border. As this area was viewed as a secondary theater of operations the strength of both armies was reduced significantly. The Third Army was now in fact one of the smallest field armies and had the following composition:
| Battalions | Batteries | Squadrons | Men | Rifles | Cannons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Sofia Infantry Division | 16 | 12 | 26,931 | 16,560 | 60 | |
| Thirteenth Infantry Division | 12 | 6 | 14,517 | 12,527 | 60 | |
| 3/5 Infantry Brigade | 8 | 7 | ? | ? | ? | |
| Cavalry Division | 1 | 13 | 1,745 | |||
| Army troops | 4 | |||||
| Total | 36 | 30 | 17 | 43,906 | 29,087 | 120 |
Initially the army had only one objective - to protect the capital Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
. When the war began on 16 June it and its neighboring 1st Army remained passive and even served as a source of reinforcements. So when the Bulgarian advance against the Serbians stalled general Dimitriev was ordered to dispatch the 3/5 Infantry Brigade(45th and 46th Infantry regiments) to reinforce the 5th Army
Fifth Army (Bulgaria)
The Bulgarian Fifth Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Second Balkan War and World War II....
. In exchange he was promised the 1st Army's 2/5 Infantry Brigade. On 20 June, general Mihail Savov
Mihail Savov
Mihail Savov was a Bulgarian general, twice Minister of Defence , second in command of the Bulgarian army during the Balkan Wars....
was replaced by general Dimitriev as deputy commander in chief and the 3rd Army was placed under the command of general Racho Petrov
Racho Petrov
Racho Petrov Stoyanov was a leading Bulgarian general and politician.A talented soldier, Petrov was appointed to be Chief of General Staff at the age of 24 and was Minister of Defence at 27....
. By that time the Bulgarian command finally decided to utilize the inactive 1st and 3rd armies and gave them orders to take the Serbian town of Knjaževac
Knjaževac
Knjaževac is a town and municipality situated in the eastern part of Serbia bordering the Republic of Bulgaria and is part of Timočka Krajina region. It is found between the latitudes of 43°20' and 43°45' north and between the longitudes 22°11' and 22°41' east. The town is situated between three...
and then with their combined force to seize the fortress of Pirot
Pirot
Pirot is a town and municipality located in south-eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a total population of 38,432, while the population of the municipality is 57,911...
.
The force facing the Bulgarian 3rd Army was the Serbian 2nd Army
Second Army (Serbia)
The Serbian Second Army was a Serbian field army that fought during World War I.During the First Balkan War, the Second Army participated in the Battle of Kumanovo along with the Serbian First Army and the Serbian Third Army and was deployed in the area around Kyustendil...
– a total of around 35 battalions, 13 batteries and 3 squadrons, many of whom were third line troops. The Serbian defense was centered around he important road and railway junction of Pirot
Pirot
Pirot is a town and municipality located in south-eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a total population of 38,432, while the population of the municipality is 57,911...
.
The Bulgarian 3rd Army was ordered to attack and pin down as many Serbian troops as possible while the 1st Army completed its primary objective in the north and then turned south to encircle Pirot. In order to achieve this task general Petrov, following the orders of general Dimitriev, divided his forces in two groups. The Right Group that consisted of the 13th Infantry Division and 1/1 Infantry Brigade was to attack Pirot while the Left Group (also known as Tran Detachment), that was formed by the 2/1 Infantry Brigade, 2/5 Infantry Brigade, the Cavalry division and the 46th Regiment, was to advance in the direction of Vranje
Vranje
Vranje is a city and municipality located in southern Serbia. In 2011 the city has total population of 82,782, while the urban area has 54,456...
. Due to the distance between the two groups the forces operated independently. The only link between them was a single battalion supported by a cavalry squadron and two batteries.
The Left group advanced first on 22 June. The bad weather, poor roads and fog hampered the speed of movement of the units and the strong Serbian positions prevented any important Bulgarian gains. On 5 July the Group deployed around Tran
Tran, Bulgaria
Tran |thorn]]") is a small town in Pernik Province, western Bulgaria. It is 27 kilometres away from the town of Breznik and 15 km from the border with Serbia....
with its 18 battalions, 2 squadrons and 11 batteries and was placed under the commander of the 5th Danube Division. The army headquarters ordered it to attack, penetrate the Serbian defensive line and cut the communication lines between Vranje and Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
. After several days of fighting on 12 July the Bulgarians managed to dislodge the Serbians from their main defensive line at Bukova Glava and penetrate into Serbian territory but due to the exhaustion of attacking forces the following attacks met with less success. The Serbian command was concerned with these development and decided to reinforce its troop with units from Macedonia, which weakened their advance there and allow the Bulgarian 4th Army to contain it. The Left Group of the 3rd Army however was ordered to retreat back to the boarder because it was considered needles to expose it to battle with the fresh Serbian reinforcements.
The advance of the Right Group began on 24 June, after a short struggle the Serbian vanguards were pushed back towards Pirot and the Bulgarians took up favorable positions on the high ground overlooking the field around the fortress from which their artillery could support any further attacks with great efficiency. On 30 July the Group was ordered to dig in and repel the Serbian attacks, that had mainly reconnaissance purpose. On that day however the threat to the 1st Army's rear posed by the Romanian invasion of Northern Bulgaria force the Bulgarian high command to order the retreat of that army from Knjaževac which it had recently occupied. This development made the planned capture of Pirot impossible and left the 3rd Army defending the positions it had so far won until the end of the war.
As stipulated by the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) the Bulgarian 3rd Army was demobilized on 29 July.
First World War
Two years ofter the end of the Second Balkan WarSecond Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
Bulgaria entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
. General mobilization was declared on 9 September (23 September) with a special royal decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
. In accordance the Third Army was activated on 12 September and was placed under the command of lieutenant general Stefan Toshev
Stefan Toshev
Stefan Toshev was a Bulgarian General, from World War I. His mother was a teacher from the period of the National Revival. He volunteered in the Bulgarian Opalchentsi Corps during the Russo-Turkish War and later served as a translator. On 10 May 1879 he graduated the Military School in Sofia in...
and his chief of staff, colonel Stefan Popov. On 15 September the general issued an order determining the order of battle as follows:
| Battalions | Machine Gun Companies | Batteries | Cannons | Squadrons | Machine Gun Squadrons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Staff | ||||||
| Fourth Preslav Infantry Division | 17.5 | 4.5 | 17 | 74 | 9.5 | 2 |
| Fifth Danube Infantry Division | 23 | 6 | 17 | 78 | 1.5 | |
| Vidin Fortified Area | 4 | 31 | ||||
| Ruse Fortified Area | 4 | 24 | 1 | |||
| Shumen Fortified Area | 4 | 35 | 1 | |||
| Varna Fortified Area | 5.5 | 1.5 | 8 | 20 | ||
| Garrisons | 16 | 23 | 1 | |||
| Army Units | 8 | 8 | 26 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 82 | 12 | 50 | 401 | 19 | 3 |
On 21 September Toshev received instructions from the chief of staff of the Bulgarian Army general Konstantin Zhostov
Konstantin Zhostov
Konstantin Andonov Zhostov was a Bulgarian General and Chief of the Bulgarian Army Staff.-Biography:...
to deploy his army for the defense of the Romanian boarder and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast in accordance with the high command's plan for war against Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
and Greece
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
. This task remained unchanged even after the declaration of war on Serbia and the advance of the Bulgaria First and Second armies during the subsequent Serbian Campaign
Serbian Campaign (World War I)
The Serbian Campaign was fought from late July 1914, when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia at the outset of the First World War, until late 1915, when the Macedonian Front was formed...
.
Romania's neutrality during this period allowed the Bulgarian high command to use the Third Army as a reserve force for the operations in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and in the middle of 5 October, Danube Division was ordered to join the Second Army's operations against the Serbians and the Allied advance from Salonika. To compensate for this loss the command used the garrisons of Oryahovo
Oryahovo
Oryahovo is a port city in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located in a hilly country on the right bank of the Danube, just east of the mouth of the river Ogosta, a few more kilometres downstream from where the Jiu flows into the Danube on Romanian territory. The town is...
, Gigen
Gigen
Gigen is a village in northern Bulgaria, part of Gulyantsi Municipality, Pleven Province. It is located near to the Danube River, close to the place where the Iskar River empties into it, opposite the Romanian town of Corabia....
, Somovit, Nikopol
Nikopol, Bulgaria
Nikopol is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of the Danube river, 4 km downstream from the mouth of the Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley...
and Svishtov
Svishtov
Svishtov is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipality...
as well as the 2nd March Brigade to form a new 12th Mixed Infantry Division. On 14 of October a Russian fleet that included the battleships Imperatritsa Mariya, Evstafi
Evstafi class battleship
The Evstafi-class were a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy built before World War I for the Black Sea Fleet. They were slightly enlarged versions of the , with increased armour and more guns...
, Ioann Zlatoust
Russian battleship Ioann Zlatoust
Ioann Zlatoust was an pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. She was built before World War I and her completion was greatly delayed by changes made to reflect the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905...
, Panteleimon
Russian battleship Potemkin
The Potemkin was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The ship was made famous by the Battleship Potemkin uprising, a rebellion of the crew against their oppressive officers in June 1905...
, the cruisers Pamiat Merkuria
Russian cruiser Pamiat Merkuria
The Pamiat' Merkuria was a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea, survived the Russian Civil War in a damaged state and was repaired by the Soviets, renamed as Komintern, and put into service as a training cruiser.-Service...
and Kagul supported by eighteen smaller vessels bombarded the port of Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
. The force fired several hundred shells but came under the attack of German submarines 17 and 18 and retired by noon of the same day. The damage on the shore was light and only a few soldiers and some 27 civilians became casualties. After the attack the Army command took measures against a possible Russian landing in the vicinity of Varna - the coastal artillery was strengthened, new mines were laid in the sea and the Bulgarian high command made steps to acquire the navy's first submarine from the Germans that officially entered service in May 1916. Bulgarian morale was also raised by the arrival of the German 105th Infantry Division
105th Infantry Division (German Empire)
The 105th Infantry Division was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on May 5, 1915 and organized over the next few weeks. It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915...
during November and in February 1916 the Bulgarian high command ordered the entire 1st Sofia Infantry Division to be transferred from Macedonia to Northern Bulgaria, where it arrived a month latter.
The 11,287 men of the 105th Division formed the mobile forces of the army in the coastal areas and were ordered by general Toshev to defend the coast and repel any amphibious landings in the area of Varna and Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
. For the next several months no such landing materialized and in May 1916 the Bulgarian and German high commands agreed to send the 105th Division to Macedonia with the exception of a single infantry battalion, two machine guns and the 105th heavy battery that were to remain in Shumen
Shumen
Shumen is the tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and capital of Shumen Province. In the period 1950–1965 it was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov...
and Varna. Nevertheless rumors that a Russian army was concentrating in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
for a sea invasion of the Bulgarian coast in conjunction with an allied offensive in Macedonia continued to arrive in the Bulgarian high command headquarters. This and the first signs of the impending Romanian intervention in the war on the side of the Entente forced the command to reinforce the Third Army further during July and August with the 1st Cavalry division and the headquarters of the 6th Bdin Infantry Division together with one of its brigades. The defense of the Danube also became more important and in July a special German Danube Detachment of 3,019 men was formed up with colonel von Kaufmann as its commander. This unit consisted of the German forces that were left in Varna and Shumen reinforced with the 6th Uhlan Regiment, the headquarter of the 7th Reserve Hussar Regiment with two squadrons, two mountain machine gun companies and a field battery from the 11th Army
11th Army (Germany)
The 11th Army was a World War I and a World War II field army.-World War I:The 11th Army was formed in early 1915. It briefly fought on the Western Front during the Battle of Ypres, holding the line against the allied attack...
. In August the 115th Landwehr Regiment also arrived.
The Campaign in Dobrudja
Since the beginning of the First World War until the summer of 1916 the Central PowersCentral Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
had not considered any military response to a possible intervention of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
on the side of the Allies and Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
felt free to keep only small forces of soldiers and gendarms
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. It was only in June 1916 that the headquarters of their high commands officially engaged in preliminary negotiations for combined military actions if the need arose. Then in July field marshal von Hötzendorf, generals Falkenhayn
Erich von Falkenhayn
Erich von Falkenhayn was a German soldier and Chief of the General Staff during World War I. He became a military writer after World War I.-Early life:...
and general Zhekov
Nikola Zhekov
Nikola Todorov Zhekov was the Minister of War of Bulgaria in 1915 and served as Commander-in-Chief from 1915 to 1918 during World War I.-Biography:...
gathered at the German military headquarters in Pleß
Pszczyna
Pszczyna is a town in southern Poland with 26,827 inhabitants within the immediate gmina rising to 50,121 inhabitants in the powiat, which includes the town of Pszczyna, itself, Brzeźce , Czarków , Ćwiklice , Jankowice , Łąka , Piasek , Poręba , Rudołtowice , Studzionka , Studzienice , Wisła...
to finalize the talks and devise a general plan for the war. On 28 July they agreed on several measures – not to engage in unnecessary provocations against Romania, in case the country joined the Allies then Bulgaria was obliged to undertake offensive actions by all means and Austria-Hungary as far as the circumstances allowed. The Bulgarians were to advance in the Dobrudja capture the fortresses of Tutrakan
Tutrakan
Tutrakan is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of the homonymous municipality, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite the Romanian town of Olteniţa , in the very west of Southern Dobruja, 58 km east of Rousse and 62 km...
and Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
and then, with their right flank secured, prepare to cross the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and advance to Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
for which Austria-Hungary would commit its Danube Flotilla and bridge building materials. Germany agreed to provide additional long range guns, airplanes and a zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
along with four or five infantry and one or two cavalry divisions for the front in Transylvania. In addition von Falkelhayn was to reach an agreement with Enver Pasha on the deployment of Ottoman forces in Dobrudja.
In early August Austria-Hungary began concentrating larger forces in Transylvania as part of its First Army but still by the time Romania declared war on 27 August 1916 it could deploy only 50 battalions consisting of 1,058 officers and 33,302 riflemen who could rely on the support of 86 cannons and 10 squadrons .
Meanwhile the German emperor and the Bulgarian tsar agreed to place all Central Powers forces in northern Bulgaria under the command of field marshal August von Mackensen
August von Mackensen
Anton Ludwig August von Mackensen , born August Mackensen, was a German soldier and field marshal. He commanded with success during the First World War and became one of the German Empire's most prominent military leaders. After the Armistice, Mackensen was interned for a year...
, who at the time was commanding an army group on the Macedonian Front. The appointment received the sanction of the Bulgarian commander in chief, general Zhekov, on 28 August and two days latter the headquarters of Army Group Mackensen were established in Veliko Turnovo.
The field marshal's forces consisted in their greater part of the Bulgarian Third Army which had the following composition on 31 August:
| Battalions | Machine Guns | Batteries | Cannons | Squadrons | Men | Rifles/Carbines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Staff and Services | 6,800 | 1,919 | |||||
| Field Troops | |||||||
| First Sofia Infantry Division | 23 | 37 | 17 | 66 | 1 | 40,541 | 24,700 |
| Fourth Preslav Infantry Division | 18 | 30 | 23 | 80 | 1 | 37,395 | 22,487 |
| Sixth Bdin Infantry Division | 9 | 12 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 15,912 | 10,293 |
| First Cavalry Division | 0.5 | 40 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 5,182 | 3,020 |
| Fifth Cavalry Brigade | 8 | 4 | 559 | 305 | |||
| Total Field Troops | 50.5 | 127 | 47 | 173 | 23 | 99,589 | 60,805 |
| Local Troops | |||||||
| Varna Fortified Area | 8 | 10 | 23 | 94 | 0.25 | 15,153 | 10,633 |
| Shumen Fortified Area | 4.25 | 9 | 28 | 953 | |||
| Ruse Fortified Area | 7.75 | 13 | 52 | 1 | 9,325 | 8,902 | |
| Burgas Fortified Area | 8.25 | 6 | 11 | 54 | 11,229 | 12,215 | |
| Total Local Troops | 28.25 | 16 | 56 | 228 | 1.25 | 36,660 | 31,750 |
| Defense of the Danube | |||||||
| Danube Detachment | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | |||
| Twelfth Mixed Infantry Division | 10.5 | 20 | 25 | 2 | |||
| Total Defense of the Danube | 14.5 | 22 | 32 | 8 | |||
| Total Third Army | 93.25 | 165 | 135 | 401 | 32.25 | 143,049 | 94,474 |
With Bulgarian resources stretched almost to their limits from Macedonia to Romania and German reserves now absorbed by the formation of the Ninth Army the Ottoman Empire alone could spare some additional troops for the strengthening of the Bulgarian Third Army. Thus in August the two infantry divisions (15th and 25th) of the VI Army Corps, with their 18 infantry battalions, 8 batteries (32 cannons) and 8 machine guns were given to field marshal Mackensen and prepared to be transported to Dobrudja.
In order to encourage Romania's entry in the war on 26 August Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
declared war on Germany and a day latter Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
itself declared war but only on Austria-Hungary. The German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
immediately answered with a war declaration and urged Bulgaria to do the same. The Bulgarian government however delayed its response and caused a great deal of concern in its allied high commands. The Austrians and Germans even initiated some small skirmishes with the Romanians along the Danube in order to compromise Bulgaria's neutrality but after Bulgarian protests they were discontinued. Finally on 1 September, Tsar Ferdinand
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
Ferdinand , born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, was the ruler of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1918, first as knyaz and later as tsar...
issued a special decree declaring war on Romania. On the same day Bulgarian forces prepared to cross the boarder and field marshal Mackensen received a telegram from the new Chief of the German General Staff
German General Staff
The German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....
von Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
informing him that German and Austro-Hungarian build up in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
would be completed no sooner than the second half of September while the forces that were already deployed would be able only to defend against the advancing Romanians until then. Von Hindenburg and general Zhekov
Nikola Zhekov
Nikola Todorov Zhekov was the Minister of War of Bulgaria in 1915 and served as Commander-in-Chief from 1915 to 1918 during World War I.-Biography:...
confirmed the orders of the Bulgarian Third Army to advance into Dobrudja in order to draw and defeat as many Romanian and Russian forces as possible, de facto placing the burden of the first Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
major offensive during the opening stages of the war on field marshal Mackensen, general Toshev and their forces.
A day earlier the commander of the army group and the commander of the Third Army had met in Gorna Oryahovitsa
Gorna Oryahovitsa
Gorna Oryahovitsa is a town in northern Bulgaria, situated in Veliko Tarnovo Province, not far from the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality...
to finalize the offensive plan. General Toshev, who had more up to date intelligence regarding the strength of the opposing forces and their fortification, convinced the field marshal to commit the main forces for an attack of the Tutrakan
Tutrakan
Tutrakan is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of the homonymous municipality, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite the Romanian town of Olteniţa , in the very west of Southern Dobruja, 58 km east of Rousse and 62 km...
fortress first, instead of attacking both it and Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
as was originally noted in the army group directive from 28 August. The two also agreed to deploy troops to cover Silistra against Romanian flanking attacks on the main forces and insure sufficient reserves to hold the right flank of the army around Dobrich
Dobrich
Dobrich is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Dobrich Province. With 91,030 inhabitants, as of February 2011, Dobrich is the ninth most populated town in Bulgaria, being the centre of the historical region of Southern Dobruja...
. All the troops detailed for the defense of the Danube were placed under the direct control of the army group headquarters and the Ruse Fortified Area was placed under the command of colonel Kaufman. For the offensive general Toshev kept direct control over the field troops of the army consisting of the 1st,4th,6th infantry divisions, 1st cavalry division, the Varna Fortified Area and could also expect to be joined by 1 German and 5 Bulgarian battalions from colonel Kaufman's forces. Thus by 1 September the attacking forces managed to concentrate 62 infantry battalions, 3 pioneer battalions, 23 squadrons and 55 batteries along the Dobrudja frontier.
Facing the Bulgarian Third Army from the river Olt
Olt
Olt may refer to:* Olt Online Taxes, a tax website for USA Taxpayers* Olt County, a county of Romania* Olt Defile, a defile that has been cut into the Transyvanian Alps in south-central Romania by the Olt River* Olt River, a river in Romnia...
to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast was the Romanian Third Army commanded by general Mihail Aslan with a total of 149,028 men in 104 battalions and 44 squadrons supported by 235 machine guns and 131 batteries. However these force had to cover a long front and only some 72,000 men in 55 battalions and 9 squadrons supported by 173 machine guns and 67 batteries were located in Dobrudja. In addition the Russian XLVII Corps with up to 40,000 men under the command of general Andrei Zayonchkovski
Andrei Zayonchkovski
Andrei Medardovich Zayonchkovski or Zaionchkovski commanded the defence of the Romanian-Bulgarian border upon Romania's entry into World War I in August 1916.- Biography :...
had crossed the Danube and was slowly moving towards the Dobrudja boarder.
On 2 September the Third army crossed the border along its entire length from the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
to the Black Sea. The main forces – the 4th Preslav Division, the 1/1 Infantry Brigade and the reinforced detachment of colonel Kaufman – all under the command of general Panteley Kiselov
Panteley Kiselov
Panteley Kiselov , was a Bulgarian soldier and general who fought in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and World War I...
headed for Tutrakan, pushing back the Romanian forces to their main defensive lines and encircling the fortress within 48 hours. Meanwhile the rest of the 1st Division advanced to protect their flanks and the 1st Cavalry Division engaged and defeated the Romanian boarder guards and vanguards around the village of Kurtbunar managing to cut the communication lines between Silistra and Dobrich. On the right Bulgarian flank the 6th Bdin Division and forces of the Varna Fortified Area formed up in a mobile reserve also advanced, meeting weak resistance in the process.
General Aslan realized that his troops were too scattered and could be defeated piecemeal and ordered on 2 September general Zayonchkovski to move his corps from Cobadin
Cobadin
Cobadin is a commune in Constanţa County, Romania. The commune includes five villages:*Cobadin *Viişoara *Negreşti...
to within 10–15 kilometers of the Bulgarian boarder but it was not executed and instead on the next day only the cavalry was sent to reconnoitre a 40 kilometer part of the front that was far enough from the main Bulgarian thrust. This allowed general Kolev
Ivan Kolev (general)
Ivan Kolev Stoyanov was a Bulgarian lieutenant general and distinguished cavalry commander during World War I.-Biography:...
's 1st Cavalry Division to defeat at the villages of Kochmar and Kara Pelit a brigade of the Romanian 19th division, dispatched to aid the encircled forces in Tutrakan, and report the capture of some 1,035 of its soldiers. This forced the commander of the 19th Division that was located Dobrich to withdraw his remaining forces from the town and allow the Varna Mobile Reserve to enter it on 4 September. On that day the forces around Tutrakan began preparation for the final assault of the fortress and major Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
Kurt Gebhard Adolf Philipp Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord was a German general who served for a period as Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr...
took command of all forces operating against its western sector from colonel Kaufman.
Early in the morning on 5 September the Bulgarian heavy artillery began an artillery barrage
Barrage
Barrage may refer to:In music* Barrage , a Canadian violin ensemble, or* Barrage , their self-titled debut albumIn engineering...
designed to severely damage the Romanian fortifications and earthworks. The infantry attack followed soon after with the main blow delivered by the 4th Preslav Division. By nightfall the entire first Romanian defensive line was captured and 13 out of 15 forts had fallen in Bulgarian hands. The defenders had to retreat to their secondary defensive line which was considerably weaker and fell relatively easy on the next day despite the arrival of fresh reinforcements. On that day the Bulgarian 3/1 Brigade intercepted and defeated at the village of Sarsanlar a brigade of the Romanian 9th Division consisting of 9 battalions, 4 batteries and 2 squadrons dispatched from Silistra to aid the Tutrakan garrison.
When the Battle of Tutrakan ended on 6 September two Romanian infantry divisions were practically destroyed – some 28,500 soldiers and officers along with over 100 cannons, 62 machine guns and thousands of rifles were captured by the Bulgarian Third Army. Up to 7,500 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing and only between 3,500 and 4,000 out of 39,000 managed to swim across the Danube or make their way to Silistra unharmed. The attackers suffered some 9,171 casualties, most of them during the attack on the main defensive line on 5 September, or a rate of some 16% of their forces.
During the final assault on Tutrkan the right wing of the Bulgarian Army came under attack from the Russian XLVII Corps and the Romanian 19th Division at the Battle of Dobrich
Battle of Dobrich
The battle of Dobrich, also known as the battle of Bazargic or the Dobrich epopee , took place between 5 and 7 September 1916 between the armies of Bulgaria and Romania...
. Despite the seizable forces of 46 infantry battalions, 17 batteries and 19 squadrons, general Zayonchkovsky achieved little success. The Bulgarian Varna Mobile Reserve, 6th Infantry Division managed to hold their line for two days when on 7 of September the first Ottoman troops – the 75th Regiment of the 25th Division arrived and was at once dispatched to support the Bulgarians. The 1st Cavalry Division delivered a flanking attack against the Serbo–Croatian Division which caused its retreat and made the position of the rest of the Russian forces untenable. By nightfall all of the XLVII Corps and the 19th Division were in full retreat and rallied around the village of Kara Omer further to the north. after the battle all the Bulgarian and Ottoman forces were placed under the command of general Todor Kantardzhiev and became known simply as the Dobrich Forces. It was agreed that until the arrival of the VI Corps headquarters all Ottoman forces will be integrated in the Bulgarian units.
On 10 September Silistra fell to the 1st Sofia Division and the Romanians retired towards lake Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
. To support the advance of his left wing field marshal Mackensen created an entirely German brigade under the command of colonel Bode consisting of his 45th Reserve Regiment(3 battalions), the 1/21 battalion and supported by 3 squadrons and 3 batteries. The pursuit of the Romanians and Russian was delayed due to logistical difficulties and the relatively large distance between the forces in Silistra and Dobrich. This gave them time to fortify their new positions on the lake Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
- Kara Omer - Mangalia
Mangalia
Mangalia , is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanţa County, Romania.The municipality of Mangalia also administers several summer time seaside resorts: Cap Aurora, Jupiter, Neptun, Olimp, Saturn, Venus.-History:...
line. Finally two days latter the Bulgarian Third Army approached the new positions and prepared to assault them. The line of contact between the equal in size opposing armies was roughly similar with the pre 1913 boarder between Bulgarian and Romania, that is why the two day battle that occurred there is sometimes referred to as the Battle of the Old Frontier. The Bulgarians once again achieved victory but failed to encircle the Russian and Romanian divisions which again retreated to a new defensive line around Cobadin.
On 16 September the Third Army reached Cobadin and prepared to assault the position as field marshal Mackensen considered his opponents weakened enough. The Romanian high command however had reinforced general Zayonchkovsky's Dobrogea Army with four divisions from Transylvania and placed him under general Averescu's new Army Group of the Southern Armies together with the Romanian Third Army. In reality 55 Bulgarian, 4 German and 3 Ottoman infantry battalions supported by 27 Bulgarian, 3 German squadrons were thrown against more than 70 Romanian and Russian battalions supported 32 Russian and 8 Romanian squadrons. After two days of heavy fighting the Bulgarians and Germans failed to break through and general Toshev decided to call off the attack as the exhaustion of the troops could make them vulnerable to counter attacks. The Bulgarian Third Army suffered around 6,539 casualties in the First Battle of Cobadin
First Battle of Cobadin
The First Battle of Cobadin, also known as the First Battle of the Rasova - Cobadin - Tuzla Line was a battle fought from 17 to 19 of September 1916 between the Bulgarian Third Army and the Russo - Romanian Army of the Dobrogea...
and withdrew to its starting positions. The Allied forces, emboldened by their success, attempted to counterattack but by 22 September their efforts had achieved no further gain and were in turn to dig in. For less than three weeks the Bulgarian Third Army had suffered 23,405 casualties bud had received only 3,755 replacements which made general Toshev reluctant to undertake new attacks until the army received more substantial reinforcements.
Now for the first time since the beginning of the campaign the Romanian high command had the initiative in Dobrudja and prepared a large offensive to encircle and destroy the Bulgarian Third Army. General Averescu planned to use the Dobrogea Army to attack the Bulgarian Third Army in an effort to breakthrough and link up with the reinforced Third Romanian Army which was to cross the Danube and advance in the rear of the Bulgarians. So by the end of September the Romanian Army Group of the Southern Armies had amassed 14 infantry and 2 and one-half cavalry divisions as compared to 10 infantry, 1 cavalry division and 4 Cälärasi brigades in Transylvania. Averescu could count on 195 battalions, 55 squadrons and 169 batteries for the execution of his plan.
Army group Mackensen was also strengthened with heavy artillery and on 24 September the entire VI Ottoman Corps joined the Bulgarian Third Army. In addition the German 217th Infantry Division was also expected to arrive. With these reinforcements the field marshal could oppose the Romanians and Russians with 110 battalions, 30 squadrons and 72 batteries.
On 1 October parts of the Romanian Third Army crossed
Flamânda Offensive
The Flămânda Offensive The Flămânda Offensive The Flămânda Offensive (or Flămânda Maneuver, which took place between 29 September and 5 October 1916, was an offensive across the Danube mounted by the Romanian 2nd Army during World War I. The battle represented a consistent effort by the Romanian...
the Danube at Ryahovo and began constructing a pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
. The Bulgarians and Germans had small forces in the area and the commander of the LII corps general Robert Kosch, who was tasked with protecting the Danube, dispatched additional forces from as far as Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
. The Romanian operation soon stalled in the face of the bad weather, the determined resistance of the outnumbered defenders and the constant attacks of the Austrian Danube Flotilla on the bridge. Under these circumstances general Averescu canceled the operations.
At the same time the Dobrogea Army attacked the Bulgarian Third Army with superior forces and temporarily achieved limited success at the battle of Amzacea. The Ottoman VI Corps was particularly badly hit and had to abandon some of its positions leaving 2 batteries and several hundred men to be captured by the Romanians. With the help of a few fresh Bulgarian battalions and batteries urgently dispatched by general Toshev the situation was soon stabilized and the lost positions retaken. On 7 October in the face of mounting loses and no success general Zayonchkovsky ordered his troops to halt their attacks and dig in. Thus this second part of general Averescu's plan also failed at a heavy price - the Romanian 19th Division alone had lost 45 officers and 3,150 soldiers. The casualties of the Central Powers exceeded 7,348 more than half of those were in the Ottoman 25th Division and the 74th Regiment.
The deteriorating situation in Transylvania once again forced the Romanian command to alter its plans and shift troops from south to north. This and the arriving reinforcements allowed field marshal Mackensen to prepare a second assault on the Rasova - Cobadin line. He divided his forces in Western Group(1st Sofia Division, VI Corps and 4th Preslav Division) and Eastern Group(1st Cavalry Division, Bode Brigade, 217th German Division and the Mixed Bulgarian Division) placing generals Toshev and Kantardzhiev as their respective commanders. Unlike the previous battles the field marshal arrived on the battlefield to take personal command of both groups.
The Second Battle of Cobadin
Second Battle of Cobadin
The Second Battle of Cobadin was a battle fought from 19 to 25 October 1916 between the Central Powers, chiefly the Bulgarian Third Army and the Entente, represented by the Russo - Romanian Army of the Dobrogea...
opened on 19 October with the largest artillery barrage yet seen in the Dobrudja Campaign. The Eastern Group was to execute the main attack in the direction of Topraisar
Topraisar
Topraisar is a commune in the Constanţa County, Romania.The commune includes four villages:*Topraisar *Biruinţa *Moviliţa...
and the Western Group engaging in diversionary actions. General Kantardzhiev's men however met with very strong resistance and were not able to advance decisively for several days at the same time however had greater success and received permission from the field marshal to undertake a general attack in his sector on 20 October. The advance was very successful with the 4th Preslav Division capturing 24 officers and 2,800 soldiers from the Russian 61st Division. The entire center and right of the Russo-Romanian Army was retreating towards Cernavodă
Cernavoda
Cernavodă is a town in Constanţa County, Dobrogea, Romania with a population of 20,514.The town's name is derived from the Slavic černa voda , meaning "black water". This name is regarded by some scholars as a calque of the earlier Thracian name Axíopa, from IE *n.ksei "dark" and upā "water"...
and Medgidia
Medgidia
-History:Archaeological findings show that Dobruja was inhabited since the Neolithic period. Starting with 46 BC the region was administered by the Roman Empire. A castrum was built in the Carasu Valley, becoming the cradle of the settlement....
while the defensive line between the Danube and Cobadin had fallen in the hands of the Bulgarians and the Ottomans. The Eastern Group now also achieved greater results and forced the Romanians to retreat. On 22 October Bulgarian Cavalry Division entered the strategic port of Constanța
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
and the 4th Preslav Division met, defeated fresh reinforcements from the new IV Russian corps around Medgidia and took the village. Only the Romanian 2nd and 5th divisions, that were reduced to 3,500 and 4,000 combatants, were still holding out in Cernavodă but they too were forced to evacuate that fortress and damage the King Carol I Bridge
King Carol I Bridge
The Anghel Saligny Bridge was built between 1890 and 1895 in Romania over the Danube and Borcea branch of the Danube, and when it was completed it then became the longest bridge in Europe and the third longest in the world...
on 25 October. Thus as a result of the battle the Central Powers gained control of large stores of supplies and fuel as well as the vital railway between Constanța and Cernavodă. The offensive achieved a penetration depth of some 80 kilometers, or an average of 10 kilometers per an operational day – the highest of all major Bulgarian offensives during World War I.
The field marshal felt free to transfer the 1st Sofia Infantry Division, the German 217th Division (without the 9th Reserve Regiment) and most of the German artillery to Svishtov
Svishtov
Svishtov is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipality...
where they would join general Kosch's Danube Army in preparation to cross the Danube and advance in conjunction with the German Ninth Army against Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. The remainder of the forces in Dobrudja were returned to general Toshev's command and ordered to dig in on a new defensive line between Lake Taşaul
Lake Tasaul
Taşaul is a lake in Northern Dobruja, Romania....
and the village of Bonaschik.
As early as 22 October general Zayonchkovsky was replaced as commander of the Russo-Romanian army by general Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov
Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov
Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov was a Russian General who served in the Russian Imperial Army.He served in the army from 1901 to 1917.-The First World War:...
who received fresh Russian divisions to replace the battered Romanian formations that had to be pulled back and reorganized.
On 6 of November the Russian army began closing in on the Bulgarian fortifications with superior forces in an attempt to break the Third Army's line. General Toshev had 45 infantry battalions, 45 batteries and 27 squadrons on the front line and an additional 5 battalions on garrison duties in the rear. A cause for great concern was also the large Russian forces that were concentrating on the left bank of the Danube which prompted the general to ask the Ottoman VI Corps, that had remained directly under the army group control after Cobadin, to be placed under his command. In view of the dangerous situation the field marshal satisfied Toshev's wish. By the middle of November the battle along the entire line was raging with full force but the misunderstandings and conflicts between Mackensen and the Third Army's command were also peaking. Under German pressure the Bulgarian commander in chief, general Nikola Zhekov
Nikola Zhekov
Nikola Todorov Zhekov was the Minister of War of Bulgaria in 1915 and served as Commander-in-Chief from 1915 to 1918 during World War I.-Biography:...
, relieved Toshev of his command and send him to Macedonia, where he initially served as governor. His place as commander of the Third Army was taken by major general Stefan Nerezov
Stefan Nerezov
Stefan Mikhailov Nerezov was a Bulgarian General and Chief of the Bulgarian Army Staff.-Biography:Stefan Nerezov was born in Sevlievo, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire...
.
On 1 and 2 December the Russians made a final attempt to breakthrough but were again repulse losing considerable number of men and material including two armored cars that the Bulgarians captured. The victories of the Danube Army and the fall of Bucharest meant that any new offensives against the Bulgarian Third Army were unlikely. On 15 December the army went on the offensive, initially meeting little resistance until it reached the Isakcha – Tulcea
Tulcea
Tulcea is a city in Dobrogea, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea county, and has a population of 92,379 as of 2007. One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city.- History :...
line. By 5 January 1917 however all Russian forces had been thrown in retreat over the Danube and the entire Dobrudja was under the control of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
.
For the remainder of the war the Third Army remained in Dobrudja but after the capitulation of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
its main units were transferred to the Macedonian Front leaving behind only some garrison and occupation forces. After the capitulation of Bulgaria, in the last days of September 1918, the army was demobilized on 6 November.
Commanders
- Lieutenant General Stefan ToshevStefan ToshevStefan Toshev was a Bulgarian General, from World War I. His mother was a teacher from the period of the National Revival. He volunteered in the Bulgarian Opalchentsi Corps during the Russo-Turkish War and later served as a translator. On 10 May 1879 he graduated the Military School in Sofia in...
(14.09.1915 – 25.11.1916) - Major General Stefan NerezovStefan NerezovStefan Mikhailov Nerezov was a Bulgarian General and Chief of the Bulgarian Army Staff.-Biography:Stefan Nerezov was born in Sevlievo, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire...
(25.11.1916 – 30.07.1917) - Lieutenant General Mihail SavovMihail SavovMihail Savov was a Bulgarian general, twice Minister of Defence , second in command of the Bulgarian army during the Balkan Wars....
(30.07.1917 – 30.11.1917) - Lieutenant General Georgi TodorovGeorgi Todorov (general)Georgi Stoyanov Todorov was a Bulgarian General who fought in the Russo-Turkish War , Serbo-Bulgarian War , Balkan Wars and First World War .-Biography:At the age of 19 he volunteered in the Bulgarian Corps during the Russo-Turkish...
(30.11.1917 – 12.08.1918)
The interwar years and World War II
With the entry of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine into force the Bulgarian armed forces suffered serious restrictions. Compulsory military service was abolished, the army was scaled down to only 20,000 men and the formation of units larger than a division was forbidden. In reality the three army inspectorates continued to function unofficially under the name of "first class garrisons". After 1928 these restrictions were gradually abolished and new mobilization plans were drawn, that envisaged the deployment initially of four field armies during war.The Third Army was once again mobilized in 1940 and consisted of the 1st, 4th, 5th and 12th infantry divisions as well as the Bulgarian navy, all under the commad of general Georgi Popov
Georgi Popov
Georgi Popov is a Bulgarian football forward who played for Bulgaria in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He also played for PFC Botev Plovdiv.-External links:*...
. On 21 September in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova
Treaty of Craiova
The Treaty of Craiova was signed on 7 September 1940 between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under the terms of this treaty, Romania returned the southern part of Dobruja to Bulgaria and agreed to participate in organizing a population exchange...
the army entered Southern Dobrudja that was returned to the Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
after 26 years of Romanian rule. It remained there for the next several years.
In September 1944 Bulgaria switched sides and declared war on Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the command of the Third Army was taken over by general Asen Krastev. Due to different concerns of the government this army did not directly take part in the fighting, instead it was tasked with the formation and training of different units that were latter sent to front and especially to the Bulgarian First Army. A notable example was the Third Army's 3rd Infantry Division which took part in the Battle of Drava
Battle of Drava
The Drava operation was a defensive operation of the Bulgarian First Army during Bulgaria's participation in World War II against German Wehrmacht forces, who were trying to capture the north bank of the Drava river as part of Operation Frühlingserwachen...
as part of Operation Frühlingserwachen
Operation Frühlingserwachen
Operation Frühlingserwachen was the last major German offensive launched during World War II. The offensive was launched in Hungary on the Eastern Front...
.
Post World War II years
In 1951 the headquarters of the army were moved from VarnaVarna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
to Sliven
Sliven
Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....
, reflecting the shift of strategic focus of the Bulgarian Army as part of the Eastern Block. By the end of the fifties the cavalry units were abolished and the army was entirely mechanized, the infantry divisions were transformed into rifle and motor rifle divisions. Gradually new weapon system like multiple rocket launcher
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
, parachute detachments and air support units were integrated in the army.
After 1989 the Bulgarian Army entered a new stage of its development characterized with a rapid reduction of the armed forces. In accordance with a new program for the transition to a corps and brigade structure of the army the Third Army was transformed into the 3rd Army Corps and after 2004 many of its structures were closed. In 2003 the corps was again transformed into the "Eastern" command with greatly reduced forces and capabilities. By the end of 2006 this too was abolished and the units under its command were placed directly under the control of the Headquarters of the Bulgarian Land Forces. This marked the end of the Bulgarian Third Army after almost a century of its existence.
Sources
- Щаб на войската. "Българската армия в Световната война, vol. VIII"; Държавна печатница,София 1939
- Glenn E. Torrey, "The Battle of Turtucaia (Tutrakan) (2–6 September 1916): Romania's Grief, Bulgaria's Glory".East European Quarterly, Vol. 37, 2003
- Third Army (3rd Corps, "Eastern" Command)