Turks Under Severe Fire.

New York Times 100 years ago today, November 3, 1912:
Six Batteries Begin the Battle That Rages Around Lule-Burgas.
Special Cable to The New York Times. Dispatch to The London Times.
    WITH THE TURKISH FIELD ARMY, LULE-BURGAS, Nov. 2.— The struggle on the left wing of the grand Ottoman Army has been terribly severe, not more severe perhaps than in other parts of the field, but I can speak only of what I have personally seen of the operations of the army of the left to-day, (Wednesday.)
    The resistance offered by the force commanded by Torgut Shevket Pasha compelled the Bulgarian divisions to deploy, and on Monday they advanced to the attack of the town of Lule-Burgas, situated five miles north of the railway station of that name.
    Torgut Shevket's position wast in reality, behind the town upon the slopes, rather like our southdowns, which extend along that part of the Thracian Peninsula.
     The Bulgarians apparently brought up six batteries along this front. As the guns began to search the Turkish positions with shrapnel on Monday evening then infantry engaged in an attack on the town from the extremity of the valley in which the town is situated.

Bulgarians Push Up in Force.
    The attack proved unsuccessful, and on Tuesday the Bulgarian artillery settled down to a methodical preparatory bombardment of all the Turkish positions in front of Lule-Burgaz. The Turkish artillery replied vigorously, and in this respect no superiority was to be observed on one side or the other.
    Nevertheless during Tuesday afternoon the incessant fire of the Bulgarian infantry increased in volume, and it became clear that the Bulgarians were pushing up large masses of reinforcements into the firing line in order to give weight to their attack. This meant that the positions in front of Lule-Burgaz were becoming untenable.
    The Turkish advance guards fell back in admirable order to Torgut Shevket's main position on the left, guarding the iron railway bridge across the River Ergene. The town itself remained unoccupied by either side during Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday, but it was set on fire by the Bulgarian shells.
    Battle was joined in this quarter at dawn on Wednesday, and the sound of the heavy gunfire in the clear air of the frosty morning showed that battle was raging with equal fierceness along our whole front for a distance of twenty miles.

Excellent Bulgar Artillery Fire.
    The Bulgarians began by a determined effort to take the railway bridge. In the landscape, which was outlined with exceptional clearness, there stood out a village and some plantations that mask the approach to the northern extremity of the bridge. The enemy's infantry occupied this dominating point, but Torgut Shevket parried the stroke in time, and the Turks intrenched and on guard near the bridge drove back the Bulgarians with a sweeping fire.
    Toward noon, however, the Bulgarian artillery concentrated its fire on the centre of the position held by the Twelfth Division as a prelude to assault. The shrapnel fire was perfectly timed, and I could see that the Turkish infantry were suffering heavily while this movement was being executed. Nevertheless here, as elsewhere on the field, the losses were merely proportionate with the severity of this three days' battle.