Chegan Offensive

Battle of Florina

Battle of Lerin (to the south-west)

Date	17 August 1916 - 28 August 1916
Location	around Florina, Greece
Result	The Bulgarians capture Florina, limited Bulgarian gains, Bulgarian advance stopped

Belligerents

Bulgaria

Serbia

Commanders and leaders

Kliment Boyadzhiev

Pavle Jurišić Šturm

Strength

Bulgarian First Army
116,000 men

3 Serbian armies
124,000 men

Casualties and losses

1,079 killed, 4,399 wounded
Total: 5,478

657 killed, 2,555 wounded, 706 missing
Total: 3,918

The Battle of Lerin or Battle of Florina or Chegan offensive was an offensive operation of the Bulgarian army during the First World War between 17–28 August 1916 in which they conquered the city of Florina (in present-day Greece but in Bulgaria known as Lerin), but failed to take Chegan.

In August 1916 Romania chose to join the war effort on the side of the Entente. The Allies planned a large offensive in the Macedonian Front for the middle of August in order to support Romania's entry in the war and pin down as many Bulgarian forces as possible. The Bulgarian high command suspected an impending offensive and the fighting around Doiran that erupted on 9 August only confirmed these suspicions. On their part the Bulgarians had urged for an offensive in Macedonia since the beginning of the year and now planned a strike with the First Army and Second Army on both Allied flanks.

The Struma operation on the eastern flank by the Bulgarian Second Army under general Todorov was a huge success, mainly because the Greek government ordered their troops not to resist.

The advance on the right flank was to be undertaken by the Bulgarian First Army which had the following order of battle in July 1916:

The Germans finally agreed that an offensive was needed and on 12 August general Boyadzhiev received his orders from the headquarters of Army Group "Mackensen". The right wing of the army, consisting of the reinforced 8th infantry division (four and half infantry brigades,) was to advance and take Lerin while parts of the 3rd division towards the Chegan mountain range and the village of the same name (today known as Agios Athanasios, to the north-west of Lake Vegoritida, in the Greek regional unit of Pella). General Boyadzhiev agreed to attack but had concerns regarding the final results of the offensive because his army was scattered on a 140 km front and lacked enough mountain and heavy artillery. Facing the Bulgarians were the six infantry and one cavalry divisions of the three Serbian armies.

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Wikipedia