Bulgarian Army Hurls Itself On Tchatalja Forts.

New York Times 100 years ago today, November 8, 1912:
Battle Now Raging All Along the Line — Turkish Position Captured.
STORY OF THREE-DAY FIGHT
Lieut. Wagner Tells How Second Great Battle Ended in Rout of Turks.
SAYS ADRIANOPLE IS LOST
C. E. Hands Wires from Roumania That the Bulgarians Are Concealing the News.
VICTORS FEAR THE POWERS
And Want to Confront Them with Accomplished Facts — Even Letters Censored.
MENACE OF AUSTRIA GROWS
Servia Says She Wants Three Seaports and the Vienna Government Declares She Cannot Have Them.
By LIEUT. WAGNER,
The Only Correspondent at the Front on the Bulgarian Side.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
By arrangement with The Vienna Reichspost.
    HEADQUARTERS OF THE BULGARIAN ARMY, Nov. 7, (Evening.)— A fresh battle has spread out all along the line before Tchatalja.
    Europe may expect the fall of the famous positions guarding Constantinople at any moment.
    Columns of the Third Bulgarian Army are advancing south of Lake Derkos, at the northern end of Tchatalja lines. They have captured the position of Delijunus, outside the fort of the same name, which is one of the Tchatalja defenses, twenty-six miles northwest of Constantinople, on the right wing of the Turkish position.
    Columns of the First Bulgarian Army marching southward are also pushing forward successfully.

How the Bulgarians Advanced.
    I have received the following information from General Headquarters regarding the disposition and execution of the Bulgarian main army's attack on the Tchatalja lines, the last defence of Constantinople.
    After the three days' battle at Lule-Burgas, Bunar-Hissar, and Viza, and the two days' fighting which, after a day's pause in the operations, ensued at Viza on the east wing as a result of Turkish attacks and Bulgarian counter-attacks, the Third Army, forming the left wing of the Bulgarian battle front, advanced in strong columns from Sarai and Sultan-Bagtche on Istranja order to cut the line of retreat behind the Tchatalja lines of the Turkish forces to the south.
    Simultaneously in the centre and on the right wing the First Army, which had recently received reinforcements from troops released from before Adrianople, advanced in several columns along the railway and with a southerly outflanking column via Cazram to the attack on the Turkish Army posted in a strong fortified position on both sides of Tcherkesskeui to cover the Turkish retreat behind the Tchatalja lines.

Fierce Three-Day Fight.
    Fierce, fighting round these positions lasted the whole of Nov. 3, 4 and 5.
    With Nazim Pasha in supreme command the Turks fought with far greater stubbornness than had been anticipated from their precipitate retreat after the last battle.
    When the Bulgarian outflanking column of the First Army got into touch from the south with the enemy the Turks made a desperate forward movement in strong force from Kapaklibunar, north of Tcherkesskeui, against Uzumhadzi in order to break through the Bulgarian centre. This attack, however, broke down completely under the fire of the Bulgarian infantry and artillery.

Fresh Army Routs Turks.
    In addition to this, the Third Bulgarian Army advanced simultaneously from the region west of Istrandja to a decisive assault against the right centre of the Turks, north of Yenikeui, and drove it back on Tcherkesskeui.
    This transformed the failure of the Turkish attack on Uzunhadzi into a complete catastrophe.
    The divisions which here advanced were almost totally destroyed, and to this unfortunate episode are to be ascribed the appalling losses which the Turks suffered in this battle.
    An immediate result of the destruction of the right of the Turkish centre was the prompt retreat of the whole southerly battle front of the Turks, although they were still in a strong position. This retreat, which began on the morning of Nov. 5, followed the general direction of the railway line to Sinekli, fifteen miles west-northwest of the town of Tchatalja. The extreme left wing retired by way of Tchanta, ten miles southeast of Sinekli.

Debacle for the Turks.
    The hot pursuit of the First Bulgarian Army, and especially the pushing forward of the southerly outflanking column, transformed the Turkish retreat, orderly at its start, into a disorderly flight.
    An attempt of Nazim Pasha to check the Bulgarian pursuit by taking up a rear-guard position at Seiman, eleven miles southwest of Tchorlu, ended on the evening of Nov. 5 with a total debacle.
    The last Turkish reserves were brought into action here, who could not withstand the bayonet charges of the Bulgarians. From this time on masses of Turks poured in unrestrained flight toward Tchatalja, pursued with the greatest persistency by the Bulgarian troops.