Show I Serb S e r b Offensive V Complete Surprise I se V r To Bulgar A Army s VT t V ft By Associated Press V V V PARIS Sept 25 Preparations for the great operations ih Macedonia began in August telegraphs the correspondent of the Petit Parisien on the I front Various circumstances prevented General the allied commander from beginning his preparations earlier arU r and quick work was imperative for If it the summer heat lingers poast the I winter is often early and severe in the high mountain zones V The sector chosen for the attack lacked communications communications' except pt for goat paths A road was laid out from Dome to and d and and Serbian engineers set to work vork vigorously long before the French troops to whom had been assigned the task of ot piercing the Bulgarian line were in pos position I V Th The allied staff established quarters on online the V ground V and tackled the enor- enor I mo s task of ot pr preparationS preparation The mountainous region from Dro Dro- I bon t toV I it iak Ilk the tle correspondent adds is wIth wIth-lw low brush wood brush wood rid dense f Ies s' s red ed with I deer deep ravines chasms and and and precipices i BULGARIANS FOOLED V I The thought themselves s so safe from attack by reason of ot these natural l difficulties that they they did did not attempt to interfere with the allied preliminary work worl and contented themselves themselves them them- selves merely with reinforcing their line the more easily to hurl back the allies Little by little as the road was built guns v were ere pushed up toward th the front and huge hUJe ammunition dumps constructed Heavy guns guns- were hoisted hoist hoist- ed into positions at an altitude of feet They were brought as far as possible by tractors then hauled by byh I h horses r es V arid and mules and nd finally dragged Into place plaice by manpower V Soldiers of th the signal detachments I had to become Alpinists to lay their telephone and tele telegraph raph lines in this chaos of ot rock and trees The Bulgarians Bulgarians Bul Bul- Bul watched all these efforts and failed even eyen to shell the allies occa occa- It must be added however continued the correspondent that Everything that could be hidden was camouflaged V SURPRISES GUNFIRE V VIt It was only during the night precedIng preceding I ing the attack that the assaulting I troops were brought un Promptly at atS 5 S o'clock on the morning of September Septem Septem- ber 15 the artillery opened with such vigor as to surprise the Bulgarians who were not aware that heavy guns were facing them The Th brushwood wa was wa's l soon set et afire V and lon lone columns of yellowish smoke ascended from the hillsides while the great valley vaHey resounded to the roar of the guns Juns V The preparation lasted all day y I The Bulgarians tried to reply with b but t did little barm harm V VOn V On September 15 at 5 o'clock in th the morning th allied creeping barrage began and amI the French colonials went over the top V V V They rushed d the enemy with bomb and find bayonet Senegalese troops cap cap- d the first line and demoralized demoralized prisoners in a a- afew few minutes They look the f. f second 5 ond line except for nr one trench which was cr crammed with machine machine ma ma- chine puns guns uns V VA A company of ot Senegalese bombers attacked this ibis trench In the rear rear and It ft also fell fen V V V QUICK VICTORY VV V VV V Jt H t was at k that Hit the tle allied d V the th th cr st st. stopping an enem e emr attempt to reform VV In Tn the center the allied divisions divi- divi had to walt w the division on the left engaged on the slopes of f Sokol and in the marshes marries at the foot of ot and badly hampered by bythe bythe bythe the terrain had completed the task set to it V On the extreme right the Serbs drove the enemy nemy before belore them and at atS 8 S o'clock the principal positions were In allied hands The only obstacle yet remaining rem was peak RESISTANCE e eThe eThe eThe The Bulgarians began to pull pun themselves themselves them them- selves t together gether and offered stubborn V resistance even attempting to hurl the allies back hack over their original line but iut ut allied reinforcements were thrown in quickly The B Bulgarian picked troops fought desperately l giving ground Inch by Inch The crest the key of the of-the the Bulgarian defense In this sector was wast t taken ken and retaken several tim tims s 's but finally remains in U the e hands Q of of the allies On the left a French rench French division f had taken taken Sokol Soko and and anda a swamp which was wa thick with hidden hIdden machine guns The Serbs Serbs' on th the sight right Ight held V p Dd t ie Elephants Ear rL V V 5 At cIoe V 11 it V n t lied success was complete x V The allied loss notwithstanding the desperate despera e resistance nc of Qt the Bulgarians Bulgarian's was light V The allies alUes captured d more than prisoners inflicted severe losses on the the- enemy and took fifty guns guns' IncludIng including ing log a number of ot The Serbs Immediately turned the heavier guns against th the Bulgarians Bulgarian Quantities of ot trench mortars machine guns and rifles and a a. considerable stock of mu ls also were taken from th the enem enemy V V |