Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

NEW SITUATION IN THE NEAR EAST. 53

most easterly is the route by the Maritza valley from the port of Dedeagatch, which has a good railway, ‘and turns the flank of the Rhodope range. It leads through Turkish territory by Adrianople. If the Allies, assuming they were present in sufficient force, desired to strike at Bulgaria, the middle route by the Struma valley was clearly the worst. The best, so far as purely military considerations went, was probably that by the Maritza valley. The western route by the Salonika railway was long, and had the disadvantage that against it the enemy was massed in his chief strength. Had an advance there been possible before the end of September, while Serbia was still unbroken, it was obviously the best course, but if Serbia should be put out of action it had little to recommend it. The Allies’ object was to cut the Austro-German communications with Constantinople, and it is common wisdom, if you are too late to cut a line some distance from its objective, to make an attempt on it, if possible, nearer the goal. These considerations seemed to point to a campaign in Western Thrace.

But no such simple solution was possible. In the first place, the Allies were already at Salonika, sent there for the reasons we have recounted. If they re-embarked they left Greece open to the persuasions or the threats of the advancing Bulgarians and Austro-Germans, and the Greek situation at the moment was too delicate to take any risks. In the second place, an advance in Thrace demanded an army of at least 300,000 men, and that would not be forthcoming for weeks, probably months, unless the troops could be removed from Gallipoli. We may therefore sum up the situation in the begin-