Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas
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The Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas took place between
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
during the
Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...
. The two countries fought for the town of
Kilkis Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...
in Central Macedonia from 19 to 21 June 1913 O.S. with Greece ultimately being victorious.


Background

During the night of 16–17 June, the Bulgarians, without an official declaration of war, attacked their former Greek and the Serbian allies, and managed to evict the Serbs from
Gevgelija Gevgelija ( mk, Гевгелија; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point ...
, cutting off communication between them and the Greeks. However, the Bulgarians failed to drive the Serbs away from the Vardar/Axios river line. After repulsing the initial Bulgarian attack of 17 June, the Greek army, under King
Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
, advanced with 8 divisions and a cavalry brigade, while the Bulgarians under General Ivanov retreated to the naturally strong defensive position of the
Kilkis Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...
Lachanas Lachanas ( el, Λαχανάς) is a village and a former municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lagkadas Lagkadas ( el, Λαγκαδάς, ) is a town and munic ...
line.


Conflict

The Bulgarian 2nd Army commanded by General
Nikola Ivanov Nikola Ivanov ( bg, Никола Иванов) (2 March 1861, Kalofer – 10 September 1940, Sofia) was a Bulgarian general and a minister of defence of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. One of the first graduate of the General Staff Military Academy ...
held a line from
Lake Dojran Doiran Lake (, ''Dojransko Ezero''; , ''Límni Dhoïráni''), also spelled Dojran Lake is a lake with an area of shared between North Macedonia () and Greece (). To the west is the city of Nov Dojran (Нов Дојран), to the east the v ...
south east to Kilkis, Lachanas,
Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...
and then across the
Pangaion Hills The Pangaion Hills (; ; Homeric Greek: Nysa; also called Pangaeon, Pangaeum) are a mountain range in Greece, approximately 40 km from Kavala. The highest elevation is 1,956 m at the peak of Koutra. The Aegean Sea lies to the south and ...
to the Aegean Sea. The army had been in place since May and was considered a veteran group having fought at the siege of Adrianople in the
First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
. On 16 June, the Bulgarian force included approximately 75,000 men and 175 guns in 57 infantry battalions, 10 cavalry squadrons and 37 batteries. General Ivanov claimed after the war that his Army consisted of only 36,000 men of whom 20,000 were "still untrained" and that many of his units were understrength. The Greek General Staff considerably overestimated the numbers of Bulgarians, reckoning their numbers to be between 80,000 and 105,000. Although General Ivanov probably underestimated the number of his soldiers, he still faced a much larger Greek enemy. The Greek army, commanded by
King Constantine I Constantine I ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army ...
, had 8 divisions and a cavalry brigade (117,861 men) with 176 artillery guns in an 80 km line extended from the Gulf of Orphanos to the Gevgelija area. Since it was not possible for the Greeks to know where the Bulgarians would attack, it was expected that the Bulgarian army would likely enjoy temporary superiority at a point chosen for the attack. The Greek plans were defensive in nature and they expected that the Bulgarians would strike first in a thrust to capture Thessaloniki. As such, Thessaloniki was garrisoned by the newly raised Thessaloniki Fortress Command. The Greek divisions deployed forward had orders to allow the Bulgarians to attack first while holding their positions as best as they could. The Greek army would concentrate the remainder of its units for a counterattack on the weakest Bulgarian flank. The Greek disposition was as such: On the Greek left the 10th Infantry Division occupied the area around Axioupoli, an Army Section (disbanded when the war started); the 3rd and
5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
divisions occupied the area between the Axios and Gallikos rivers; the 4th Division occupied the territory between the Gallikos River and the Thessaloniki-Serres highway; the 1st Division positioned themselves between lakes Langada and Volvi; and the 7th occupied the area between Lake Volvi and the Gulf of Orphanos. The
2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...
and 6th divisions were held as reserve north of Thessaloniki, while the Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Sindos west of Thessaloniki. On 15 June, the Bulgarian Army took orders to advance towards Thessaloniki. The Greeks stopped them and by 18 June an order for general counterattack was issued. The next day, the 10th division attacked toward the heights of Kallinovo north of Lake Artzan while the 3rd, 5th, 4th and 2nd divisions attacked toward the area of Kilkis. The 6th and 1st divisions attacked toward Lachanas and the 7th division toward the Karakoli saddle and Nigrita. The Cavalry brigade operated between the 10th and 3rd divisions.


Kilkis

At Kilkis, the Bulgarians had constructed strong defenses including captured Ottoman guns which dominated the plain below. The area was defended by the Bulgarian 3rd division, minus its 1st brigade. Kilkis itself was garrisoned by the 2nd brigade (Colonel Ribarov) of eight battalions, supported by several artillery batteries. Against them 38 Greek battalions attacked with 100 guns. The 3rd brigade (Colonel Kavarnaliev) covered the sector between Lake Doiran and Lake Ardzan. Following the outbreak of hostilities, reinforcements started arriving on the Bulgarian side, initially in the form of the 10th cavalry regiment which covered the flanks of the Kilkis position, and the Serres brigade which started boarding trains on 18 June. The Greek divisions attacked across the plain in rushes under Bulgarian artillery fire. On 19 June, the Greeks overran the Bulgarian forward lines everywhere but suffered heavy losses as the Bulgarian artillery fired incessantly with great accuracy guided by their observation on the hills of Kilkis. The 5th division alone suffered some 1,275 losses on that day. On 20 June, despite having committed all forces and advancing steadily, the Greeks failed to break the Bulgarian defence. The Greek Cavalry brigade detected Bulgarian reinforcements arriving by rail. As a result, the Greek HQ ordered the offensive to continue the next morning. The 10th division was ordered to disengage from the enemy at Kalinovo (renamed
Soultogianneika Soultogiannaika (, old name: Kalinovo / Kalinova) is a village in the Kilkis region of Greece. It is situated in the municipal unit of Cherso, in the Kilkis municipality, within the Kilkis region of Central Macedonia. It is located 4 km to t ...
between both world wars) and send forces southward to participate in the fighting of Kilkis while the 1st and 6th divisions (at the time engaged in the direction of Lachanas) was ordered to create a 6-battalion strong detachment plus mountain artillery to reinforce the forces attacking Kilkis on the flank. Acting under the previous order of the Greek HQ which requested Kilkis be captured by the night of 20 June, the 2nd division went forward alone. During the night of 20 June, following an artillery fire exchange, two regiments of the 2nd division crossed the Gallikos River and successively attacked the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defensive lines of the Bulgarians entering the town of Kilkis by the morning of 21 June. In the morning the rest of the Greek divisions joined the attack and the Bulgarians retreated to the north. The Greeks pursued the retreating Bulgarians but lost contact with their enemy due to exhaustion. In the three days battle around Kilkis, the Greeks suffered heavy casualties totalling 5,652 killed and wounded. An additional 276 casualties were suffered by the 10th division which had captured
(Gevgelija Gevgelija ( mk, Гевгелија; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point ...
on 20 June and the hills of Kalinovo in the afternoon of 21 June. Approximately 500 Bulgarian soldiers, 3 guns and many rifles had been captured.


Lachanas

Similar to the defense of Kilkis, the Bulgarians also had prepared defensive works at Lachanas. Like Kilkis, the hills at Lachanas provided the Bulgarians with excellent fields of fire. On 19 June, the Greek 6th division advance from Assiros (Yuvesna) toward Lachanas and succeeded in capturing the Dichalo-Klepe line after losing some 530 men. The 1st division advanced from the south and successfully captured Vertiskos. On 20 June, the two Greek divisions advanced further and joined their flanks while they made contact with the main Bulgarian defensive location of Lachanas despite the fire from the Bulgarian artillery. During the night of 20 June, the order from HQ to create a detachment to hold the forces attacking Kilkis arrived. In the morning of 21 June, the Bulgarians concentrated their artillery fire on the Greek 5th regiment. Observing the 3rd battalion withdrawing to participate in the detachment for Kilkis, the Bulgarians saw an opportunity and attacked the 1st battalion forcing it to retreat with heavy losses. A counterattack with the 2nd battalion led by the regiment commander stopped the Bulgarians. Following the fall of Kilkis in the morning, the order for the formation of the detachment was cancelled. At 15:00, the two Greek divisions attacked the Bulgarian position in close coordination with artillery and by 16:00 broke through the Bulgarian defence. The Bulgarians retreated in disorder leaving 16 guns and 500 prisoners in the hands of the Greeks. Meanwhile, the Greek 7th division had been fighting on the far east flank. On 19 June, the 7th division successfully captured the saddle of Karakoli and then continued on to capture Nigrita without resistance on 20 June. Meanwhile, a Bulgarian force consisting of regimental staff and one battalion was advancing aggressively toward Karakoli. The force was ultimately encircled and surrendered with 10 officers and 1,500 men. On 21 June, the 7th division continued its slow advance. Even though it was informed of the Bulgarian defeat and retreat over Orliako bridge, the 7th's columns advanced too slowly to block the Bulgarians. The division was heavily criticized for what was considered an unacceptable failure. The two Greek divisions suffered 2,701 killed and wounded at Lachanas while the 7th division suffered a further 199 casualties.


Aftermath

The defeat of the Bulgarian 2nd Army by the Greeks was the greatest military disaster suffered by the Bulgarians in the 2nd Balkan war. Bulgarian sources estimated a total of 6,971 casualties. The Greeks reportedly suffered 8,828 casualties. On the Bulgarian right, the
Evzones The Evzones or Evzonoi ( el, Εύζωνες, Εύζωνοι, ) were several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, they are the members of the Presidential Guard ( el, Προεδρική Φρουρά , transli ...
captured
Gevgelija Gevgelija ( mk, Гевгелија; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point ...
and the heights of Matsikovo. As a consequence, the Bulgarian line of retreat through Doiran was threatened and Ivanov's army began a desperate retreat which at times threatened to become a rout. Reinforcements came too late and joined the retreat toward Strumica and the Bulgarian border. The Greeks captured
Dojran Dojran ( mk, Дојран ) was a city on the west shore of Lake Dojran in the southeast part of North Macedonia. Today, it is a collective name for two villages on the territory of the ruined city: Nov Dojran (New Dojran, settled from the end of ...
on 5 July but were unable to cut off the Bulgarian retreat through Struma Pass. On 11 July, the Greeks came in contact with the Serbs and then pushed on up the Struma River until they reached
Kresna Gorge Kresna Gorge ( bg, Кресненско дефиле) is a steep valley in south-western Bulgaria, stretching about 18 km. The gorge has been formed by the Struma River, which flows from the Vitosha mountains. Kresna gorge has a rich biodiversity ...
on 24 July. The casualties and losses of the battle were the heaviest in the modern Greek military history. However, the conclusion was a triumph for the Greeks and boosted the popularity of the new King. Due to its significance for the Greeks, the Battle of Kilkis gave its name to a Greek battleship, the ''Kilkis'', in 1914. The battle is also commemorated at the Kilkis War Museum and the Battle of Lahanas Museum.


Citations


References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilkis-Lachanas, Battle of Battles of the Second Balkan War Conflicts in 1913 Battles involving Bulgaria Battles involving Greece 1913 in Bulgaria 1913 in Greece Kilkis (regional unit) June 1913 events Constantine I of Greece