Last Rally Vain To Save Turks.

New York Times 100 years ago today, November 4, 1912:
Rear Guards, Reinforced by Fresh Divisions, Tried to Stop Onrushing Foe.
ALONG TCHORLU-SERAI LINE
But Bulk of Army is Again In Retreat — Christians Massacred by the Turks.
By LIEUT. WAGNER,
The Only Correspondent at the Front on the Bulgarian Side.
Special Cable to The New York Times by arrangement with The Vienna Reichspost.
    HEADQUARTERS OF THE BULGARIAN ARMY, Saturday, Nov. 2.— The Turkish Army, which was defeated in the battle at Lule-Burgas and Visa, is continuing its retreat in general along two lines, through Tchorlu and west of Serai.
    Of its two principal fighting detachments the northern column is trying to reach the road running through Serai to Istranja, the southern column the road to Tchatalja, in order to make a further attempt at resistance in the fortified positions there.
    Supported by the arrival of two Turkish divisions west of Istranja and at Tcherkesskeui, the Turkish troops who fled in total disorder after the battle have begun to rally in part, yet it is still very doubtful whether any considerable portion of them will succeed in arriving behind the Tchatalja lines.
    The Bulgarians, as already reported, are trying by throwing out advance posts through Serai and Istranja and Karajakeui, to divert the retreat of the Turks. Their advance was delayed by fighting in the forest region southeast of Visa, but after the Turkish troops in that district had been hurled back the advance continued with the greatest energy during the engagement at Lule-Burgas.
    The Turkish division was driven southward by the Bulgarian main body and dispersed, and the railway connection with Tchatalja via Tchorlu was interrupted at several points.
    The cruelties committed by the Turks on their retreat were dreadful. All the villages were burnt and all Christians murdered. Dozens of dead women have been found with their bodies slashed with knives. The reserves from Asia Minor especially behave like wild beasts.

Turkey Taken Unprepared.
    Three Turkish officers who are prisoners of war sleep beside me. One of these, a Captain, who speaks German, said to me to-day.
    "We were not ready when the declaration of war was made, and we believed the Bulgarians would strike their principal blow at Adrianople. We were convinced that the Bulgarian Army would waste its blood before Adrianople, giving us time to complete our concentration.
    "The Bulgarian attack on Kirk-Kilisseh came as a complete surprise to us. Our men fought very bravely, but unfortunate conditions existed in our commands. Many of the commanders were not appointed until the outbreak of the war and did not know what they could expect from their troops. Many divisions of the reserves were insufficiently instructed, yet were employed as if they were seasoned troops. One commander would want to remain on the defensive and another would want to attack. So it happened that one part of the army advanced while another remained where it was, and general chaos resulted.
    "The Bulgarians were irresistible in their bayonet charges. When a hundred men fell before a quick volley another couple of hundred men continued to charge over the bodies of their comrades."

Charges Were Resistless.
    I can fully confirm these remarks from my own observation. Thus I saw two battalions of Bulgarians charge at Aven Ajvali and Milleti before Adrianople. The Bulgarians advanced at the double quick in solid masses, in which the Turkish shrapnel tore great gaps. Nevertheless, the storming party was not stopped in its onward rush. The gaps were immediately filled up and the charge went on. This took place in an unsheltered country before an enemy keeping up a murderous fire from well-protected positions.
    It was no mere human courage, but contempt of death bordering on fanaticism. I still shudder when I think of this awe-inspiring and superb sight.
    His Majesty, the King of Bulgaria, has made very kind inquiries about me.