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I .9 ‘
' THE victorious leader of the Bulgarian First Army is one of the
youngest generals in the great World-War. He is still in the
fifties, and, looks even younger. His face is quite free from lines
and wrinkles, and his skin is perfectly smooth. There is hardly a.
grey hair in the jet-black moustache and heard which, frame the
firmly closed lips. His skull is long, the broad forehead powerfully
developed; his keen eyes, arched by deep-black brows which almost
join in the centre, are penetrating and occasionally blaze with sud-
den fire. His face recalls Greeo when he was a young man.
Boyadieff is one of the silent generals. He speaks but little, even
in animated company, and hardly ever laughs. He is not approach-
able, nor particularly sociable-quite the contrary.’ His voice is harsh,
his utterances are brief and almost blunt. Yet the soldiers adore
him, and even oliicers feel honored to serve under Boyadieff who
has spent most of his life among the troops at the front. He never
was, a political plotter, and was always averse to the social gaiety
of Sofia. He is no drawing-room general but an expert army leader
T of indomitable strength of will, imperturbable, calm, and of quick de-
cision. That is why his men have unbounded confidence in him.
They appreciate his fatherly care and protection.
The General is most scrupulous in the choice of his officers, sub-
mitting them to severe preliminary tests. But once they pass, Boya-
dieffleaves them a free hand within the scope of his plans. It is
always his endeavor to teach them independence in every action.
He knows his men well. He knows what every one can do and is
worth, and he personally shares all their experiences. His whole
personality commands respect and confidence. The broad-shoul-
t
. dered, tall general occupies a unique position in the Bulgarian army.
All his plans are large in scope and carefully thought ‘out, and he
develops them calmly, never worrying if his wishes and calculations
are thwarted.
Boyadiefi hails from Macedonia.‘ Ochrida, where he was born, is
romantically situated, and is the last of the New Serbian towns
which Boyadiel'1"s troops have recently occupied. . After the Turco-
Russian war, when Bulgaria regained her independence, Boyadieff
i left his home and moved to Soha, so that he might be of service to
the newly founded dynasty. He there completed his education, at-
tending the Gymnasium and Military College. He was to see active
service soon after he entered the army, in the war which broke out
against Serbia in the fall of l88S and in which Boyadietf fought as
‘a lieutenant. The Bulgarian army then had hardlylany high officers,
so that young lieutenants had to command companies and even bat-
' talions under the most difiieult conditions. That was a. good school-
ing for the ambitious Boyadieff. '
After the conclusion of peace, he pursued his military education
at the General Staff Academy at Turin-one of the first Bulgarian
. , THE FATHER”LA1<'I1')Hi‘ V’ p
GENERAL BOYADIEFF--THE BULGARIAN HINDENBURG r
s 101
officers to study at a Military College outside of Russia. He
then came home, and during the long years of peace that followed
under Czar Ferdinand, Boyadieff gave his undivided work to 'the
army, often in most remote country districts, and sobecame thor-
oughly familiar with the traits and peculiarities of the Bulgarian
soldier. In 1912, when the first Balkan War broke out, Boyadieff
was made lieutenant-general and placed at the head of the fourth
division at Shumla. That division was part of the third army which
conquered Kilkilisse, won the three days’ battle of Bunarhissar and
Luele-Burgas, and threw back the Turks on the Chatalja positions.
Boyadieff's division fought at Bunarhissar, where the Turks had ‘
concentrated their choicest troops and where a piercing of the Bul-
garian front would have involved the gravest consequences. But
Boyadieff's troops stood like a wall of iron. They repelled every
Turkish attack, declined all offers of help and broke the hostile re- '
sistance in the end. Ever since, BoyadieFf's troops have been known
as the Iron Division. . '
In the second Balkan War Boyadieff was active against the Serbs
in Macedonia. He had originally been selected as commander of
y the third army, but preference was ultimately given to General
Petrow, who had been chief of the general staff in the campaign of
p 1885, and had acquired an intimate knowledge of the Serbo-Bul-
garian border tracts. After the disarmament of 1913, General Boya-
dieff succeeded VVasow as Minister of War, but returned to his be-
loved troops twelve months later, his office being the superintendenee
of the third “Army-inspection" at Rustshuk. While stationed here
his son, who was a First-Lieutenant of the Royal Body Guard, was
killed in the bomb outrage in the Sofia carnival. The general joined
his mourning family and remained at Sofia as Chief of -the General
Staff. The large amount of work connected with the military prep-
arations in Bulgaria served to distract his mind from his grief.
Immediately before Bulgaria entered the world war, Boyadielf
was again called to the front to command the first army which was ,
arrayed at the Timok line under the supreme command of Macken-
sen. Boyadieff, with his first army, forced the difiicult passage across v ‘
the border passes. He conquered Nish, inflicted a crushing defeat
on the Serbs at Prizrend, and helped substantially in smashing the
hostile army. ,
Now his army, aided by the Germans, is busy smashing the Ron-
manian resistance. Its latest feat was the capture of the important
Roumanian fortress Tutrakan. which surrendered to the victorious
Bulgar-German troops 20,000 men, 400 officers and 100 guns, fol-
lowed by the capture of Silistria, a powerful fortress, guarding
Bucharest. Military experts have pointed out that the fall of
Tutrakan and Silistria are important steps toward the capture of
Bucharest.
THE MILITARY SITUATION
By the Military Expert of THE FATHERLAND
SINCE a fortnight General Sarrail's Salonica army has been keep-
VVe know of no objections which
the Central Empires might raise to this. For, the further the season
ing the world in suspense.
advances, the greater are the chances of th:fTeutons curbing any
co-operation on the part of the Serb-liberators, and all the more
time is gained in setting the trap for the Allies in the Vardar valley,
by exposing their flanks to the joint attacks of the Turks and Bul-
gariaiis. Probably the French commander-in-chief is'biding' his
time, waiting for the Russo-Rumanian drive to develop, or he may
be watching for Greece's jump over the neutral bridge. Meanwhile
‘bitter disappointment over the grandiose failure of Rumania’s of-
fensive against Austria and Bulgaria, is keenly felt in the Allies’
camp. To us it is proof again that soldiers alone cannot win a war.
"Numbers do not count in this war," says Hindenburg. If they did,
nothing but a glorious memory of the Central Empires would be
left. If they did, the “Seven Years’ War” would have wiped out
the very name of Frederic the Great. ‘
Beset on all fronts andidespite inferior numbers the combined
German and Bulgarian forces in a couple of days have captured far
more‘Rumanian territory than the Allies have ever been able to
wrestfrom Germany since August, 1914. Tutrakan and Silistria
have fallen to the Central Empires, more than 30,000 soldiers have
been taken prisoners, and huge quantities of captured guns and sup-
plies have been sent to the rear of the Bulgarian lines. While the
advance along the Black Sea coast is proceeding northward on
schedule time, with Constanza as the immediate object, considerable
‘Russian forces, operating between the Bulgarian Black Sea column
and the army coming from the Silistria section, find themselves in ‘
a precarious situation. There are good ‘prospects of a successful
thrust at Bucharest, a fact which contributes not a little to put a
damper on Rumanian enthusiasm. As it is, the Rumanian theatre.
of war affords good opportunities for German strategy.
The Rumanians must be given credit for the rapid invasion of
Transylvania. An attempt on the part of the Austrians to recapture
the passes leading into ‘Transylvania and drive, the invader back is
a. task which would offer considerable ditiiculties. ‘Holding, these I
passes, Rumania in junction with Russia, should now be able to
proceed to an attack on the Turco-Bulgarian forces on her southern’
border. But we may rest assured that the German general staff has i
counted with this eventuality and will not be caught napping. ’Act- '
ing on the principle that offensive is the best defense, it has already
startedvthe successful Dobrudja campaign.‘ Who’ said theiinitiative
has been taken from the'Central Empires? ' '
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