On March 11, 1913, the Edirne Operation of the Second Bulgarian Army began. The attack was concentrated in the eastern sector. It led to the fall of the Edirne Fortress.
Known as one of the strongest forts in Southeast Europe, it was defended by a garrison of 60 thousand soldiers and officers, 524 cannons and 60 machine guns. Its fortifications surrounded an impressive area of 250 sq. km. Built by European specialists, according to military experts, it could only fall after a prolonged siege over the course of several months, and only by the most elite and modern army at that time in Europe – Prussia.
The experts of the time bet their heads that the fortress was impregnable by storm. But it was precisely in this way – by storm – decided to take it over by the Bulgarian troops.
After the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, the dream of the Bulgarians was to annex to their homeland the remaining territories within Turkey, taken from us by the ungodly decisions of the Berlin Congress in 1878. Using as an excuse the violation of the human rights of our compatriots in Turkey and the brutal suppression of the Ilinden-Preobrazhensky Uprising in 1903, Bulgaria concluded an alliance with the Christian Balkan states, supported by the Russian emperor, and began its next liberation battle, which remained known in historiography as the Balkan War.
It began in the autumn of 1912, with the very first battles ending in the success of the Christian forces over the Turks. On October 29, Lieutenants Radul Milkov and Prodan Tarakchiev carried out a reconnaissance flight with an "Albatross F-3" aircraft and dropped two bombs - the so-called "edrinki" - over the Karaagach station, and on November 19, the Italian aviator Giovanni Sabelli and Major Vasil Zlatarov carried out the first-ever aerial bombardment of Ottoman positions near Edirne with a "Bleriot XI" aircraft. A week before that - on November 12, Raina Kasabova became the first woman in the world to fly in military conditions.
This gradually led to the victorious Edirne epic. In it, the Allied troops were led by Gen. Nikola Ivanov, and the commander of the Bulgarian forces in the eastern sector was Gen. Georgi Vazov, brother of Ivan Vazov and General Vladimir Vazov. On March 12 and 13, 1913, the Bulgarians, overcome by an incredible fighting spirit, without fear of enemy fire, attacked the wire meshes of the two large forts Aydzhiolu and Ayvazbaba.
Convinced of the rightness of their cause, our soldiers literally swept away the enemy. In his memories of those days, written immediately after the events unfolded, Gen. Georgi Vazov notes:
„On March 12, 1913, the morning spring sun had long been shining in the sky. The light fog that covered the hilly area around Edirne early in the morning had already disappeared by 8 a.m. and only steam gushed here and there from the still damp bosom of the earth. By this time, all the enemy's forward positions in the Eastern sector were in our hands. Maslak, Sapuncilar, Eski Kumluk, Pachacilar, Mezartepe and Demirkapu - a 12-kilometer defensive line - fell in one hour under the pressure of 55 companies, which attacked them in the silence of the night, crossed the Kumdere [river] almost simultaneously and threw themselves into the enemy trenches without firing a shot, throwing or running over the weak wire mesh. Part of the enemy army was killed, about 1,000 people and 20 guns were captured, and the survivors fled behind the fort belt in the greatest disorder. Our troops, who had no more than 400 killed and wounded, were advancing irresistibly on the heels of the enemy.
After the capture of Ajiyolu and Ayvazbaba, the real breakthrough of the Main Fortified Belt of the Edirne Fortress began. Under the blows of the 54th Regiment, Tashtabiya fell. In a headlong attack, the 32nd Zagorski Regiment captured Kuruchesme and found itself in the flank and rear of Ildiz, against whom the 29th Yambolski Regiment stubbornly fought. Units from the two regiments continued the joint attack against the forts Kavkaz and Kaik. Fort Topyolu soon surrendered, and the 43rd Infantry Regiment and parts of the 10th Rhodope Regiment managed to capture Kestenlik. After nearly 8 hours of assault, all the fortifications in the Eastern sector were captured.
The Turks were forced to raise a white flag and lay down their arms. The commandant of the fortress Shukri Pasha was captured and handed over his sword to the commander of the 2nd Army, Lieutenant General Nikola Ivanov, with the words: “The courage of the Bulgarian army is unparalleled. "No fortress can withstand such bravery." At that time, the candidate non-commissioned officer Miho Georgiev from the village of Dobrich, Elhovo region, raised the Bulgarian tricolor flag on the "Sultan Selim" mosque.
And again we will return to the "warm" memories of Gen. Vazov about this moment:
„Beyond the northern bridge of Tundzha, in front of the temporary commandant's office, I let the troops pass and thanked them. In one of the rooms, the captured Turkish generals and staff officers were gathered and looked at our ragged, but full of military pride and courage troops. At the same time, other troops, disarmed and unhappy, were walking in dense crowds towards Saray Island... Soon, Shukri Pasha was also brought in. We greeted each other. I suggested that he follow me in the car to go to Kaika, where the commander of the 2nd Army, Gen. Ivanov, was waiting for him with his headquarters. This is already a dream. A wonderful dream. A waking dream! Such dreams are repeated after centuries”.
The decisive victory of the Bulgarian army at Edirne brought the end of the Balkan War.