Battle of Kresna Gorge

Greek units advancing in Kresna Gorge

Date	July, 21-31 [O.S. July, 8-18] 1913
Location	Kresna Gorge, Bulgaria
Result	Stalemate brought about by truce

Belligerents

Bulgaria

Greece

Commanders and leaders

Gen. Mihail Savov
Gen. Nikola Ivanov

King Constantine I

Strength

110 battalions

80 battalions

Casualties and losses

10,000

The Battle of Kresna Gorge was fought in 1913 between the Greeks and the Bulgarians during the Second Balkan War. It marked the last phase of the Greek advance into Bulgarian territory before the ceasefire and the following peace treaty.

After the Serbian front became static, and seeing that the Bulgarian Army in his front had already suffered defeat, King Constantine ordered the Greek Army to march further into Bulgarian territory and take the capital city of Sofia. King Constantine wanted a decisive victory on this war despite the objections of Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos who realized that the Serbs, having won their territorial objectives, were now trying to move the weight of the rest of the war to the Greeks by staying passive. The battle was continued for eleven days, between July 8–18, over a front of 20 km, in a maze of forests and mountains.

After the victorious Battle of Doiran the Greek forces continued their penetration north. On July 18, the 1st Greek Division, managed to drive back the Bulgarian rear guard and captured an important foothold at the southern end of the Kresna pass.

In the pass, the Greeks were ambushed by the Bulgarian 2nd and 4th Armies which was newly arrived from the Serbian front and had taken up defensive positions there. However, after bitter fighting the Greek side managed to break through the Kresna pass. The Greek advance continued and on July 25, the village of Krupnik, north of the pass, was captured, forcing the Bulgarian troops to withdraw to Simitli. Simitli was also captured on July 26, while at the night of July 27–28 the Bulgarian forces were pushed north to Gorna Dzhumaya (Blagoevgrad), 76 km south of Sofia.

Meanwhile, the Greek forces continued their march inland into western Thrace and on July 26, entered Xanthi and the next day entered Komotini, without facing opposition.

The Greek army was stopped in front of Gorna Dzhumaya by significant Bulgarian resistance. In July 28, the Greek forces resumed the attack and captured a line stretching from Cherovo to Hill 1378, southeast of Gorna Dzhumaya.

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Wikipedia