The Maricha River is a famous river that flows through the Thracian region, originating in the Rila Mountains of Lower Bulgaria, and the region through which the river flows is the essence of Thrace, producing a large number of fruits and vegetables, and is a prosperous place.

At a time when the Ottoman army, under the orders of its commander, Minister of War Hamed Riza, fought bloody battles with the Bulgarians. A panting force rushed to Kateros, on the banks of the Maricha River.

It is a small town of less than 1,000 people, and it is not badly developed due to its location on the coastal transportation artery.

This force consisted of the 14th Division of the Italian Army and the 6th Separate Brigade of Bulgaria, and it was mainly tired of making them so out of breath.

It was certainly not their intention to make them so tired. This all came from the order from above, requiring them to rush to the Maricha River within the specified time, and this is basically the front line of the confrontation between the coalition forces and the Ottomans, and after crossing the river, it is not far from the territory of the Ottomans.

However, due to the fierce fighting between both sides in Adrianople, there are not many troops on both sides here. And with their arrival, the coalition forces on the front line of the Maricha River far exceeded the opponents.

Of course, it is not without cost that they can get from Skep on the outskirts of Skopje to Kateros in such a short time.

In four days, they marched 460 kilometers, which can be said to be a high-intensity forced march. And being able to march more than 400 kilometers in four days is enough for them to be proud.

However, after taking pride, Major General Brasso, who was the commander of the 14th Division, felt a headache, because when he set out, there were more than 13,000 people in the whole division, and at present, in addition to the more than 3,000 people of the artillery regiment and logistics units that lagged behind, there were less than 7,000 people who had arrived in Katros, which had been scattered on the road and had not followed, and the number of people who had been scattered and did not follow reached nearly 3,000.

In the same situation as him, the Bulgarian brigade accompanying him was also seriously lost.

Major General Brasso, who rushed to Kateros, saw that his subordinates were seriously behind, and after consulting with the Bulgarian commander, he could only reluctantly announce that he would rest here for a day.

And his decision made the tired officers and soldiers cheer. No one can refuse this temptation after so long of forced march.

Of course, Major General Brasso did this, firstly, to trim up, and secondly, to wait for the soldiers who had fallen behind to catch up, and of course this would also allow the follow-up logistical artillery to keep up.

Although one day is not enough time to get them here, it can at least bring them closer to the main army.

When Major General Brasso, who rushed to Catros, decided to take a day off. Large forces of the coalition forces transferred from Skopje are coming here along the coastal promenade.

After accepting the surrender of the Ottoman Macedonian Army Group, General Kadolna, as the commander of the coalition forces, ordered the coalition forces to prepare for departure on the same day. The next day, after seizing the ordnance of the Macedonian Army Group and driving it to the prisoner of war camp, he left three divisions of troops to guard and monitor, and rushed to Adrianople with a large force day and night.

In fact, there are two roads from Macedonia to Adrianople, one is the coastal road, and the other is through the territory of Bulgaria and along the Maricha River Valley.

Both routes have their own advantages, and the coastal road is a plain area, so the road is faster in all respects than the road in the mountains and hills of Bulgaria. Of course, in addition to the advantages, there are still disadvantages. That is, this belongs to the newly occupied territory, so their every move, the Ottomans will quickly know. The Bulgarian road, on the other hand, has a great advantage in this regard.

In the end, however, Admiral Kadolna chose the coastal road. Although this time the enemy knows quickly, what if the news is not as fast as them?

Yes, Admiral Kadolna intends to use the big feet of his own army to make the enemy suddenly appear in front of the enemy before he can react.

To this end, he used some unconventional methods, that is, as the 14th Division did, to appear in front of the enemy in front of him in the form of a rapid march, before the enemy could react.

Therefore, on this march, there is no need to bring artillery of more than 100 mm caliber. And in order to ensure speed, its transport carriages are also mainly used to carry ammunition. Supplies such as grain, grass, and other materials that were large and slow-moving could only be replenished by the places they passed.

In addition to this, each soldier needed to carry a ration of two hundred rounds of ammunition for five days, and then travel lightly. Not to mention, this method immediately increased the speed of the officers and men of the coalition forces, and in addition to the vanguard units that needed speed, the marching speed of the large force reached an astonishing speed of nearly 60 kilometers per day, and the officers and men who fell behind were controlled within 5 percent.

At the moment they have crossed the Salonican Peninsula and entered the coastal road, and it is believed that in less than four days they will be on the Maricha River.

Of course, this alone was not enough, and before they set out, Admiral Kadolna demanded that the local garrison on the march line immediately seal off the road and stop anyone from passing, no matter where they were going. In addition, all local telegraph offices were shut down, and all communication was prohibited except for military orders.

While this method will cause a lot of complaints from the locals, it will be very ineffective for those who are familiar with the local terrain. At that time, it would still be more difficult for the enemy to transmit information, after all, there was no wireless telegraphy, and the fastest cable telegraph could not be sent. Then you can only rely on manpower, and with the blockade, the speed of message delivery is greatly reduced.

However, in general this method is not bad, and the current march of the coalition forces on the coastal road is in full swing, but it has not yet reached the hands of the Ottomans. At present, the Ottomans are still fighting the Bulgarians in Adrianople, and the two sides are fighting for this far more fiercely than others think.

"Attack!"

Wielding a command knife, an Ottoman officer ordered his men to attack the enemy. The position in front of them had been plowed by dense artillery, and it was riddled with holes. This is all thanks to the Ottoman artillery, and considering that this is the last game, the Ottomans let go of the ammunition to fight.

Superior artillery became the main means of the Ottoman army, although the tactics were somewhat old-fashioned and single, but the artillery bombardment and then occupied by the infantry still had a good effect.

Although there were many Ottoman recruits, after these days of fighting, they gradually became veterans who did not die. Although the means were a little simpler, they were still veterans, so in the course of three days, the Ottoman army achieved good results, capturing several Bulgarian positions, and at the same time the hope of capturing the main Bulgarian positions was greatly increased.

This result gave hope to the Ottoman side and gave Hamad Riza, as the commander, enough confidence. Why didn't I think of this kind of hands-off style of play before, the Bulgarians had already been defeated.

Now that he had a way, Riza, of course, would not give up, and he ordered the troops to continue the offensive, and he wanted to prolong the battle and completely crush the enemy.

And with his order, the scene of fighting in Adrianople has never subsided, and the bloody battles of officers and soldiers on both sides can be seen everywhere.

On the Bulgarian side, Major General Gudshev, as commander, was now numb to the casualty figures, and the thousands of daily casualty reports could not shake his heart at all.

This is the opportunity to get what Great Bulgaria has always dreamed of, and it will be worth the sacrifice. The next step is to see how its allies have performed, for which Bulgaria has paid too much.