On November 2 (October 20, old style) 1912 . ends the bloodiest battle in the Balkan War - the Battle of Lüleburgas-Bunarhisar. After a decisive attack, the Bulgarian troops managed to push the Ottoman enemy out of the fortification line at Lüleburgas and force him to flee to Istanbul.
The Bulgarian victory comes only 9 days after another great success - the Lozengrad operation, which gives our army a psychological advantage. Despite the fatigue from the difficult transition and the fierce resistance of the numerically superior Ottoman troops, the Bulgarians also reached a successful conclusion in the Luleburgas-Bunarhisar operation, but the price was high - 20,162 wounded and killed on the Bulgarian side in the five days of fighting.
Ottoman troops retreated to Chataldja, their next fortified position, where two weeks later they stopped the Bulgarian advance.
The Luleburgas-Bunarhisar operation was the bloodiest and most decisive battle of the Balkan War. It was conducted by the First and Third Bulgarian armies. The Bulgarian troops under the general command of Lieutenant General Radko Dimitriev inflict a heavy defeat on the Ottoman forces in Eastern Thrace. The scale of this military effort is the most spectacular in the world since the Franco-Prussian War, recalls armymedia.bg professor Ph.D. Col. O.Z. Dimitar Nedyalkov.
The goal is to break through the enemy's defenses, to surround and defeat his main forces. For its realization
108,000 people were drafted into the two Bulgarian armies
with 160 heavy machine guns and 360 guns. To ensure adequate intelligence information, at the request of Lieutenant General Dimitriev, two planes were given to him.
Using the operational pause in hostilities, the Ottoman command regrouped the forces of its main group and replenished it with fresh reserves. At the beginning of the fighting, over 126,000 men were concentrated on the defensive line, divided into two armies, with 18 infantry, one cavalry division and one cavalry brigade. This force has 96 heavy machine guns and 342 guns. The plan of the commanders Abdullah Pasha and Mahmut Mukhtar Pasha is to stiffen the strike groups of the Bulgarian army, to repel its advance and with a counter strike in the direction of Bunarhisar– Lozengrad to achieve victory and a turning point in the war.
On October 15 (old style) the right flank of the Third Bulgarian Army moved forward and reached Bunarhisar. The regiments of the 5th Infantry Division attacked from the turn the 3rd Ottoman Corps and drove it from its entrenched positions. The regiments of the 4th and 6th divisions of the Third Bulgarian Army also reached the main defense areas of the Ottoman corps at Lüleburgas. At that time, the First Bulgarian Army moved in retreat and reached the enemy's defensive positions on October 16. On this day
Bulgarian aviation flies over the front for the first time
to provide the military with intelligence and drop the first bombs from the air in the European theater of war.
The three infantry divisions of the Third Bulgarian Army are already fighting fiercely in their attempt to break through the Ottoman defenses at Bunarhisar. It was there that Ottoman units organized a counterattack and with heavy artillery and cannon fire stopped the Bulgarian advance towards Karaagach. A critical situation is being created with fierce fighting. The enemy's resistance was overcome after the First Bulgarian Army stepped up its pressure in the Luleburgas area. This helped the regiments of the 4th Infantry Division fighting in the center to break through the enemy's defenses at Karaagach. The first prisoners and many trophies were taken, including 36 rapid-fire cannons.
There is a real danger that the entire Ottoman troop grouping in the area of hostilities will be surrounded. To avoid this, its command decided to withdraw its remaining combat-ready forces to Chatalja. This retreat turned again into a panic flight, leaving behind a large amount of armaments and military property. General Dimitriev reported the following to Tsar Ferdinand: “After three days of extremely hard fighting today, with the combined efforts of the two combined armies, we have put the enemy to complete flight.
Correspondent of the ‘“Times” it says :
„The real hero of the day is the Bulgarian infantry soldier
Patient, enduring, cheerful and smiling… at the decisive moment he appears in a new, astonishing face. Everything is due to him – luck and victory.”
Lord Noel Buxton writes about the bravery and intransigence of the Bulgarian soldiers. The battle cry "Forward!" On a knife” sounded to the Turks as “Five to a knife”. The shock for the enemy from the non-stop Bulgarian attacks is huge.
Many small arms and artillery weapons and 2,800 prisoners fell into the hands of the victorious Bulgarian army. Together with them, the total losses of the Ottoman army in the five days of fighting and fighting were 37,000 killed, wounded, captured and died of wounds and diseases. The scale of the defeat was so great that the Ottoman government proposed a cessation of hostilities and an armistice.
The cost of this momentous Bulgarian victory was 20,162 killed, wounded and died of wounds
and diseases – all from the composition of the First and Third Bulgarian Army. On October 20 (November 2 new style) the last Turkish forces were pushed out and the Lüleburgas-Bunarhisar operation ended. The desire of Generals Dimitriev and Kutinchev to pursue the enemy comes to the fore again, for which they report: “We intend to go on the offensive tomorrow by advancing on the right shoulder of the Third Army in order to press them towards Strandzha and reject them from Chorlu&rdquo ;.
However, the order of the Headquarters of the active army says the opposite – without pursuit and ceasing the advance in order to establish and replenish supplies. Again, the favorable opportunity for a complete rout of the Ottoman troops in Eastern Thrace and a successful end to the war was missed. This allowed the enemy forces to withdraw and regroup at the Chataljan position, where two weeks later the two armies would again clash in decisive battles.