The sun had already begun rising over the valley of the Bregalnica River when the Serbian headquarters received alarming news.
A messenger burst into the command tent.
—"Bulgarian attack on the right flank!"
The colonel stood up immediately.
—"How many?"
—"At least two regiments."
The officers exchanged quick glances.
Another officer spoke quickly.
—"If they break through to the river, they will reach our rear."
The colonel looked down at the map for a moment.
Then he spoke sharply.
—"Gather the reserve."
—"We move there immediately."
On the right sector of the front the situation had already become dangerous.
Bulgarian infantry had broken through the gap between two Serbian battalions.
Serbian soldiers were retreating toward a nearby hill.
An officer shouted desperately:
—"Hold the position! Do not run!"
But another Bulgarian battalion was already descending from the higher ground.
Bullets whistled across the open field.
One Serbian soldier fell.
Another grabbed his shoulder.
—"He's wounded!"
The sergeant shouted back.
—"Leave him! Fall back!"
The retreat began to accelerate.
A Bulgarian officer raised his saber.
—"Forward!"
Bulgarian soldiers rushed down the slope, firing as they ran.
More Serbian soldiers fell.
At that moment new Serbian units appeared on the hill.
The colonel jumped from his horse.
—"How many men?"
A captain answered quickly.
—"About four hundred."
The colonel looked down toward the battlefield.
Bulgarian soldiers were already advancing toward the hill.
He spoke quietly but firmly.
—"If they take this hill, the battle is lost."
He turned to his officers.
—"Prepare the men."
One lieutenant asked:
—"What are we going to do?"
The colonel answered calmly.
—"We take the position back."
A few minutes later Serbian soldiers began running down the slope.
—"Forward!"
They charged across the field.
The Bulgarians spotted them almost immediately.
Heavy fire erupted.
Bullets struck the ground around the charging soldiers.
But the Serbs kept moving.
When the distance closed, the fight turned brutal.
One Serbian soldier smashed his rifle butt into an opponent's chest.
Another lunged forward with his bayonet.
A Bulgarian soldier fired at almost point-blank range.
The sergeant grabbed his rifle and struck the man across the face.
Shouts, gunshots, and curses filled the air.
The soldiers fought only a few steps apart.
The colonel drew his revolver.
He fired once.
A Bulgarian officer collapsed in front of him.
Gradually the momentum of the battle began to change.
Bulgarian soldiers started falling back.
One Serbian officer shouted:
—"They are retreating!"
The soldiers answered with a roar.
—"Forward!"
The Bulgarian attack finally collapsed.
The colonel stood still, breathing heavily.
He looked across the battlefield.
—"Today we held the line."
The sergeant beside him nodded grimly.
—"But tomorrow they will try again."
Further south, near the city of Kilkis, the Greek army had been attacking Bulgarian positions for hours.
The city stood on a series of hills.
Bulgarian soldiers had fortified positions among stone houses and defensive trenches along the heights.
Greek artillery thundered without pause.
Shells exploded between buildings.
A Greek general watched the battle through binoculars.
An officer beside him said quietly:
—"They are still holding."
The general replied calmly.
—"For now."
On the slope below, Greek infantry tried to advance toward the Bulgarian positions.
A Bulgarian machine gun opened fire.
The burst swept across the hillside.
Two soldiers fell.
An officer shouted:
—"Forward!"
The soldiers ran.
One of them threw a grenade.
The explosion erupted near the machine-gun position.
Seconds later Greek soldiers rushed into the first line of trenches.
Close combat began.
Men fired rifles almost face to face.
One Greek soldier struck an opponent with the butt of his rifle.
Another lunged with his bayonet.
A Bulgarian soldier fired at point-blank range.
A Greek sergeant collapsed.
His comrade shouted and charged forward.
Within minutes the first defensive line was captured.
But the battle was far from over.
Bulgarian soldiers withdrew into the city.
Greek infantry pushed forward between the houses.
Gunfire echoed through every street.
One officer smashed open a door with his rifle.
Soldiers stormed inside.
Moments later shots rang out from within.
From the street someone shouted:
—"They are falling back!"
The general raised his binoculars again.
On the northern road Bulgarian units were already retreating.
He lowered the glasses.
—"The city is ours."
By evening Kilkis had fallen.
Greek soldiers stood in the central square.
A Greek flag was raised above one of the buildings.
The general looked across the smoking city.
—"The Bulgarian army has lost Macedonia."
The officer beside him said quietly:
—"And the war is almost over."
The general shook his head.
—"No."
He looked north.
—"Now the hardest part begins."
Summer heat hung over the Bulgarian plains.
The road toward Sofia was covered with dust raised by thousands of marching soldiers.
The Romanian army was advancing south with almost no resistance.
Columns of infantry moved steadily along the road. Artillery followed slowly behind them, while cavalry units rode ahead as scouts.
On a low hill a Romanian general observed the valley through his binoculars.
Several staff officers stood beside him.
One of them said:
—"There are almost no Bulgarian troops here."
The general lowered the binoculars.
—"Because their army is fighting on other fronts."
He pointed south.
—"The Serbs."
Then west.
—"The Greeks."
Another officer added quietly:
—"And the Ottomans on the east."
For several seconds they remained silent.
Then the general spoke again.
—"Bulgaria is fighting everyone at once."
At that moment a cavalry patrol appeared on the road.
An officer rode quickly up the hill.
—"Reconnaissance has returned."
—"What did they see?"
—"Bulgarian units retreating toward Sofia."
The general narrowed his eyes.
—"So they are preparing to defend the capital."
One of the officers asked:
—"Will there be a battle?"
The general shook his head slowly.
—"Unlikely."
He glanced down at the map.
—"They do not have enough forces."
Several hours later the forward units of the Romanian army approached a small village.
A Bulgarian detachment had taken position there.
Their officer looked at the men around him.
There were fewer than a hundred.
One soldier asked quietly:
—"Are we going to fight?"
The officer remained silent for a moment.
Then he answered:
—"We will delay them."
—"For how long?"
—"For as long as we can."
Soon Romanian soldiers appeared on the road.
They moved cautiously.
The Bulgarian sergeant whispered:
—"There are many of them."
The officer raised his hand.
—"Wait."
When the Romanians came closer he said:
—"Fire."
Several rifles cracked.
Romanian soldiers quickly took cover along the road.
A short firefight began.
But the forces were far from equal.
Within minutes Romanian infantry began moving around the Bulgarian position.
The Bulgarian officer understood the situation immediately.
He shouted:
—"Fall back!"
The soldiers quickly withdrew from the village.
The Romanian army continued its advance.
By evening the leading units could already see Sofia.
The domes of churches rose above the distant city.
One officer spoke quietly.
—"The capital."
The general answered calmly.
—"And the end of this war."
Scene 4 — Crisis in Sofia
In Sofia the atmosphere was very different.
Inside the government building tension filled every room.
Ministers and officers gathered in a large hall.
A map of the Balkans lay on the table.
Red markings showed the positions of the armies.
But those markings were changing almost every day.
The prime minister stood beside the table.
One of the generals had just finished his report.
—"The Romanian army is only a few dozen kilometers from the capital."
Silence filled the room.
Another general spoke:
—"The Serbian army continues its advance in the west."
A third officer added:
—"Greek forces have taken new positions in the south."
The prime minister asked slowly:
—"And the east?"
A staff officer replied quietly.
—"Ottoman forces are returning to Thrace."
Several ministers exchanged uneasy looks.
One of them whispered:
—"We are surrounded."
A general immediately replied:
—"No."
He pointed toward the map.
—"Our army still exists."
Another officer answered:
—"But it is fighting on three fronts."
The prime minister slowly sat down in his chair.
He studied the map in silence.
—"How much time do we have left?"
The general answered honestly.
—"Not much."
At that moment a signal officer entered the hall.
—"Telegram from the front."
The general quickly read it.
Then he spoke quietly.
—"Romanian cavalry is already twenty kilometers from Sofia."
The room fell completely silent.
One of the ministers whispered:
—"If they reach the capital…"
The general finished the sentence.
—"The war will be lost."
The prime minister stared at the map for a long time.
Finally he spoke quietly.
—"Then…"
He paused.
—"We must seek peace."
No one objected.
Because everyone in the room understood the same thing.
The war had been lost.