From the end of October 1912 the rivalries between the Balkan powers had again begun to surface. The occupation of Thessaloniki by the Greek Army had given the gratifying shot at the unity of the alliance. For the time being, of course, the presence of the common enemy forced the Balkan allies to maintain pretenses. The Bulgarians were known to keep an eye on Thessaloniki.
After all, the Bulgarians had never forgotten the Great Bulgaria of the Treaty of Saint Stephen (1878). They had never forgotten the Macedonian Struggle and their defeat by the Greeks. So now that they were given the opportunity to win all of Macedonia, they would not let it go to waste. They were determined to win by force of arms the holy lands of Greek Macedonia. After all, this is what they sought since the 7th century AD. that the Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine Pogonatos, allowed them to live in the area.
Already from the first days of November 1912 it was obvious that the war between Greece and Bulgaria would not take long to break out. For the Greek Army, however, the problem was the serious involvement of its forces on the front of Epirus. Thus, in reality, the Greek authorities initially maintained a flexible attitude towards the Bulgarian provocations. But everyone knew that the policy of concessions would not last long. Against the "bears", as the Greek soldiers mockingly called the Bulgarians, only the lance could be used as a bargaining weapon.
For this reason, the Greek government contacted the Serbian government and on May 19 they ended up signing a defense alliance treaty. Based on the treaty, the borders between the two countries were also defined. The two allies tried from the beginning to come to an understanding with Bulgaria, but to no avail. Thus Greeks and Serbs began to prepare for the impending war that their former allies forced upon them.
By the middle of June 1913, 110,000 men had gathered in Macedonia, under the command of King Constantine, manning 82 infantry battalions, 42 artillery divisions, 8 divisional divisions, 8 cavalry regiments and 30 security companies. Everyone knew and everyone, from the king to the last soldier, was ready for the new war with the "pigs". With high morale and strengthened, after the formation of two new divisions, the Greek Army was again ready to do its duty, to defend national rights.
"In Sofia"
Determined to fight against their former allies, the Bulgarians had begun to concentrate their forces against the Greeks and Serbs. The Bulgarian military leadership, either because it considered the Serbian Army more capable of fighting, or because it wished to successively exterminate its opponents, ordered the concentration of its main forces against the Serbs.
Specifically, it ordered its 1st and 3rd Armies on the old Serbo-Bulgarian border, the 4th Army in the area of Istip, the 5th Army in Kyustendil and only the 2nd Army facing the Greeks, in the area of Serres. The 2nd Bulgarian Army, under General Ivanov, had two divisions and three infantry brigades. On June 16, the Bulgarian 2nd and 4th Armies formalized the start of the war, attacking Greek and Serbian positions respectively, without a previous declaration of war. The Second Balkan War was already a fact.
The Bulgarian forces initially moved, with the support of their artillery, against the Greek troops south of Mount Pangaeus. The Greek advance units, after slowing down the enemy as much as possible, boarded ships and fled to Thassos and the small port of Stavros. Other Greek divisions withdrew west of the river Strymonas.
Constantly pressed, the Greek forces gradually withdrew, as the main line of resistance, between lakes Lagadas and Volvi, so that they would be able to cover Thessaloniki. The next day, the Greek government, convinced of the seriousness of the situation, ordered the neutralization of the enemy units in Thessaloniki.
Indeed on the same day and after fierce fighting, the Bulgarian forces inside the city had been neutralized and 1,179 Bulgarian soldiers had been captured. Another 60 Bulgarians had been killed. The Greek forces suffered 18 dead and 46 wounded. The following morning, moreover, the commander-in-chief-king Constantine arrived in the city, who assumed command of the army and immediately issued an order for a general counter-attack against the Bulgarians. From the next day, the advance of the Greek divisions began.
"We are in Juvesnan. In the morning, our captain Mr. Konstantinidis appears, smiling for the first time since he took over our company. Hey guys, the day we've been waiting for has finally arrived. We were ordered to attack along the entire line. Listen to me read you the will of A.M. of our King. The end of the royal speech is greeted with prolonged cheering.
“Long live our best man. Long live our Constantine. In Sofia, in Sofia". This is how the Greek soldiers received the news of the new war. Finally, after months of forced silence and patience, the time had come for them to prove to the "bear-pigs" their war worth, just as they had proved it to the Turk shortly before. "I learned that on their flags the Bulgarians wrote "Onwards to Athens". We do not need to pretend that we are going "to Sofia".
Kilkis- Lachanas
With such high morale, the Greek Army moved for the liberation of the rest of Macedonia, from the also cruel conqueror. Along the entire length of the front, from Nigrita in the east, to Kilkis, the Greek Army advanced. The Bulgarians, faced with the Greek counterattack, gradually withdrew to their main defensive location, between Kilkis and Lachanas.
The first battle of the new war, the giant battle of Kilkis-Lahana, would take place there. There the Greek will would be put to the test again in the face of the enemy's machine guns. The Bulgarians had fortified themselves on the heights of Polykastro and in front of the city of Kilkis.
Their left flank rested on the site of Lachanas. In Kilkis and Polykastro, two Bulgarian infantry brigades of the 3rd Division, of General Sarafov (16 battalions), had been stationed. The 1st Brigade of the 10th Bulgarian Division was deployed defensively at Lakhanas with 8 battalions, under Colonel Petev, together with the 10th Cavalry Regiment.
Colonel Petrov's Independent Infantry Brigade, also with 8 battalions, was positioned on the extreme left. On the second day of the battle the Bulgarian forces were reinforced with one more infantry brigade. The Bulgarians held excellently organized positions, with artillery, artillery and lines of trenches protected by barbed wire. Moreover, from the heights they occupied, they were able to detect even the slightest movement of the Greek divisions and attack them with all available weapons.
But all this was of little importance to the Greek soldier, who threw himself enthusiastically into battle. From the morning of June 19, 1913, the cannon thundered on the heights of Kilkis and Lakhana, officially declaring the beginning of the great twin battles. Three Greek divisions, the VII, I and VI moved north pushing back the enemy advance forces. The VII Division, after a hard fight, forced them to retreat against their opponents and reached Nigrita.
The I Division, fighting with ferocious fanaticism, crushed the Bulgarian resistance at Vertisco and the VI Division, moving in the face of heavy Bulgarian fire, broke through the enemy's first lines of defense and by afternoon had made contact with the main enemy position at Lakhanas. But the price was heavy. Over 500 men of the division were killed or wounded on the surrounding heights.
"Nothing scares us and we run... Be careful guys, fire in groups, you will all shoot together, from 600 meters. On fire purpose. Repeated fire from a group of our platoon is heard in the ravines and we see the Bulgarians, who were hidden in the sparta, scatter in panic. Fire fast, guys.
“The manlicher is reddened by the rapid fire... Our infantry regiments and the euzonic battalion of the hero Belissario maneuver skillfully, as if they were high school students... We scream, we curse, we foam and run... We run, we run drenched in sweat and leave behind us some ahs and appeals from wounded colleagues, and the forward guys of our platoons. We are not interested in anything other than the occupation of our height"!
Further west, in Polykastro and Kilkis, five Greek divisions had rushed out against the enemy (II, IV, V, III and X). After a hard fight the Greek forces managed to advance towards the main enemy location, despite the deadly fire of the enemy artillery. The V Division was particularly tested, suffering 1,275 casualties. At the extreme left of the Greek line, the X Division had managed to advance to the village of Platanies, north of Polykastro.
By the evening of June 19, the Greek forces had approached the enemy positions at a distance of about 10 km from the city of Kilkis. At night their movement stopped. At first light on June 20, the Greek forces continued their attack along the entire length of the front. To the east the VII Division captured Nigrita. However, the horror that her men discovered upon entering the city was unprecedented.
During their retreat, the Bulgarians had burned the city and in the ruins had left the corpses of its Greek inhabitants, silent witnesses of their brutality. The men of the division captured 1,500 Bulgarian prisoners of war.
Monsters of composure, they did not reciprocate the "beasts" – the new diminutive our soldiers bestowed on the Bulgarians – in kind. Serres and Doxato later had the same fate as Nigrita. Opposite Lachanas, the I and VI Divisions continued their attack and despite the enemy's deadly fire they came within 1,000 meters of the enemy positions.
In the Kilkis sector, the four Greek divisions continued their advance and managed to advance to within 3.5 km of the enemy defensive line. To the west, the X Division occupied Gevgeli, after first repelling a strong Bulgarian attack. In the meantime the Greek forces suffered especially from the enemy fire in their exposed positions. Indeed, after a two-day fight, fatigue had become an equally dangerous enemy for the Greek fighters.
The commander-in-chief, having thrown all his divisions into the battle at the front, had not the slightest reserve to revive the attack against Kilkis. Thus he was forced to withdraw forces from the divisions operating towards Lakhana – one regiment from the I and one from the VI Division – with which he aspired to break the Bulgarian left in the Kilkis area. The X Division was also ordered to move southeast, behind the enemy's fortified defensive line, at Kilkis.
At the same time the four divisions of the Greek center were ordered to intensify their efforts and occupy Kilkis, at the latest on the night of June 20 to 21. Unfortunately, this order of the commander-in-chief was sent to the divisions late in the afternoon and thus the necessary coordination of actions was not achieved between them, to launch a night attack.
Only the II Division was prepared and at 03.30 on 21 June it made a surprise attack on the enemy positions. By dawn, however, the division had advanced in depth, threatening to split the location.
In the early hours of the morning, the other three divisions followed suit and at 09.30 on 21 June they entered the town of Kilkis, pursuing the retreating Bulgarian forces. At the same time in Lachana, the Greek forces, after repelling fierce Bulgarian counterattacks, went on the attack in turn. After a short artillery preparation, the Greek soldiers attacked with the lance and crushed the enemy's resistance.
“Forward, my children, it is nothing, forward as low and fast as you can. Yes, they are leaving, they are leaving, quickly, the dogs are leaving... Our hero captain did not finish his sentence and an enemy bullet lays him dead... Don't be afraid Iago, it's nothing, the voice of our lieutenant Darra, who was doctor...Send these to my sister, to my sister answers the captain...Forward, forward, pull them forward and...fag...".
This is how a soldier describes the final phase of the battle of Lachanas. At one point the commander of the 18th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Tertipis, when he saw that one of the companies of his regiment was pinned down by the fire of a Bulgarian battalion, could not stand it. He drew his sword and called out to his men, “My children. Let's finish with the bearers".
Behind him the henchman and he with the sword in his hand was screaming "Upon them the hornbills". But the enemy fire was heavy. In an instant the colonel, Fokas' aide-de-camp and Lieutenants Lefas and Sapunakis, who were following, were hit by one of the Bulgarian bullets. In the dirt the colonel did not lose his courage. "It's nothing guys, forward for the honor of the country" he shouted and waved his sword.
"Your work, guys, the dishonorables are leaving, they are leaving" shouted Captain Fokas, writhing in pain on the ground. And the kids didn't disappoint. The 11th Company of the 18th Infantry Regiment of the VI Division, without officers, put an entire enemy battalion to flight with the lance. “Oh, pig noses. In Athens huh! Go hard,” the men shouted with maddened fury.
The battle of Kilkis-Lakhanas was over. The Greek Army was victorious. But the price of victory was heavy. The army's losses in dead and wounded, during the three-day battle, exceeded 8,800 men. The Bulgarians also suffered heavy losses. More than 2,500 were captured, while 19 enemy cannons were also captured by the Greek Army.