Nelson's history of the war. Vol. XI., The struggle for the Dvina, and the great invasion of Serbia

152 HISTORY OF THE WAR.

] up a position in what was called the ““ entrenched camp of Kavadar,” in the triangle bounded by the | T'cherna and the Vardar. In addition, he held a . bridge-head at Vozartzi, and opposite Krivolak, where | pontoons had now been constructed, he occupied | the heights of Kara Hodjali.

Such was the situation by the end of the second | week of November. The Allies had failed to bring help to the Serbian army. They were now themselves upon the defensive, in vastly inferior numbers. The triangle of Kavadar was a good position so far as it went, but it had | the drawback that its only internal means of trans- | port was the single and very bad Krivolak-Vozartzi | road. Moreover, its sole line of communication | with the base at Salonika was exposed through a considerable part to the fire of the Bulgarian artil- | lery, and if the enemy chose to advance against it | in force he must compel a retreat. It could only be a matter of days till Teodorov’s Southern Army, all Serbian resistance being at an end, turned its attention to enveloping the far-strung Allied front. Once Monastir was taken, the left flank could be easily turned, and the right flank at Lake Doiran reposed on no natural defence against a movement from the Struma.

The Allied endeavour had come to nothing. It had brought no shadow of relief to Serbia,* and it had found itself in serious strategical difficulties. The task set General Sarrail was hopeless from the start, as hopeless as the task set General Putnik.

Nov. 14.

* Except in so far as Sarrail’s operations delayed the occupation of the Katchanik and Babuna passes, and so permitted the retreat of the Uskub detachment.