Battle of Kalimantsi

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Kalimantsi


caption=Retreat of Montenegrins in Bregalnitsa River during the Battle of Kalimantsi. Painting by Nikola Kojuharov
partof=the Second Balkan War
date=July 4-July 19, 1913
place=Kalimantsi, Ottoman Empire (present-day Republic of Macedonia)
result=Bulgarian victory
combatant1=flagicon|Bulgaria|1878 Kingdom of Bulgaria
combatant2=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Kingdom of Serbia
flagicon|Montenegro|1910 Kingdom of Montenegro
commander1=flagicon|Bulgaria|1878 Gen.Vicho Dikov

commander2=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Field Marshal Radomir Putnik
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Gen. Petar Bojović
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Gen. Živojin Mišić
strength1=unknown
strength2=unknown
casualties1=unknown
casualties2=Serbians: 2500 dead, 4850 wounded [Richard C. Hall,The Balkan Wars, 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War p.120 ] The Battle of Kalimantsi was fought between the Serbian army and Bulgarian army during the Second Balkan War. The battle took place between the 15th and 19th of July 1913. The Bulgarian army scored a defensive victory over the Serbians.

Prelude

During the Second Balkan War, in the dramatic days and weeks of July, 1913, Bulgaria was surrounded by its enemies from all sides. Against the 500,000 Bulgarian army, worn-out by taking the main burden of the two Balkan wars, fighting against the Turks, and then against its allies, stood refreshed and reinforced troops of 5 Balkan countries: Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Turkey, numbering more than 1,000,000. In the decisive battles of this month: Battle of Kalimantsi and Battle of Kresna Gorge, the Bulgarian soldiers paid with their blood the errors of the Bulgarian government and saved Bulgaria from a complete defeat. At day 10 from the beginning of the Second Balkan War, the Greek army had achieved a deep invasion through the Struma Valley, reaching close to the town of Gorna Djumaya (Blagoevgrad). In Macedonia (region), the Serbian army advanced from the town of Kochani. The joint aim of the Serbian and the Greek commanders, as agreed to in a secret pact between the two countries, was to reach the line Kyustendil-Dupnitsa-Gorna Djumaya and undertake a common advance against Sofia where to dictate their conditions for a peace agreement. At the stake was the very existence of Bulgaria.

The battle

The decisive battle took place in the region defended by the 4th Bulgarian Army near the village of Kalimantsi, located southwest of Carevo Selo (today Delčevo, Republic of Macedonia). The Serbian advance began on July 4, 1913. The Serbian command threw 5 infantry divisions against 3 incomplete Bulgarian divisions (7th, 8th, and 2nd) and detachments of the Macedono-Odrin Volunteer Corps. The 4th Bulgarian Army, retreating, decimated the Serbian detachments with a series of counter-attacks, and on July 4 it occupied an unsurmountable position on the Kalimantsi Plateau, a high strategic field between Osogovo Mountain and Bregalnitsa River in the direction of Vardar. The Serbian army attacked the Bulgarian positions for 17 consecutive days and each time they were forced to withdraw under the pressure of the thinned Bulgarian defenders.
left|thumb|250px|The military flag of the 11th Serres Battalion which was designated as the principal flag of the Macedono-Odrin Volunteer Corps ["> cite web
url = http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/bugarash/moo/znamenamoo.html
author = Ivan Ivanov
title = Bulgarian Military Standards and Flags
publisher = 1998
language = Bulgarian
accessdate = 2007-08-14] .The most intensive fighting took place on July 5, 6, and 10. In the battle of July 5, the whole Montenegrin division advanced against the Bulgarian 31st Varna infantry regiment. This regiment undertook a counter-attack, supported by two battalions of 8th Seaside and 21st Middle Mountain regiments. In the subsequent terrible close battle with knives and fists, the Montenegrins were beaten and retreated back into Bregalnitsa River. In the following days, the thrust of the Serbian attacks was pointed at the positions of the 22th Thracian infantry regiment that was located on the key defensive peaks "Rocky Hill" and "Golden Hill". The most difficult and dramatic fight took place on July 10 with mass heroic self-sacrifice by the Bulgarian soldiers. For instance, Battalion Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Sapunov, who previously was granted with the Order "Golden Sword" for precise shooting, fought in the trenches together with his soldiers. Company Leader Lieutenant Georgi Tanovski, who subsequently became a general and outstanding functionary of the Military Union, shot together with his soldiers and encouraged them by singing loudly patriotic songs. The soldiers of a company, occupying an important position of the Bulgarian defence were not able to stand the attack, and started to retreat. Then the Regiment Commander, Colonel Sava Savov ordered the regiment band to go to the front positions. Soon after this, the Bulgarian national anthem Shumi Maritsa sounded above the rumble of the battle. This sudden moral support made the retreating soldiers come back to the trenches and counter-attack the attacking enemy. In the region of defense of the 22nd regiment there was only one artillery battery that was commanded by Lieutenant Vladimir Zaimov, son of Stoyan Zaimov, an outstanding revolutionary in the battle for Bulgarian National Liberation (Zaimov subsequently became Artillery General and Political Secretary of the Military Union). In order to raise the morale of the infantry, Lieutenant Zaimov deployed two cannons among the trenches that disconcerted the enemy attacks with their precise shooting. In the unequal encounter with the more numerous Serbian artillery, when four of his cannons were destroyed and he had the right to be substituted, Lieutenant Zaimov himself repaired two of the cannons and remained on his place among the exulted "Hooray" of the defenders. His battery played a decisive role for the successful defence of the Kalimantsi positions.Meanwhile, the 5th Bulgarian Army, consisting entirely of the Macedono-Odrin Volunteer Corps, on July 5 repulsed the Serbian and Montenegrin troops and occupied the strategic peak Govedarnik.

Aftermath

The victory of the Bulgarian army in the Battle of Kalimantsi and the surrounding of the Greek troops in the Battle of Kresna Gorge made the countries that won the war a little more yielding. They agreed to a truce and a peace agreement in Bucharest, in which Bulgaria preserved Pirin Macedonia and western Thrace, although it lost large territory in those two regions. Vladimir Zaimov was wounded at Kalimantsi. He was visited by the heir to the throne, Prince Boris of Tarnovo, who, seeing him lying on a tarpaulin covered in blood, kneeled and kissed him on the forehead with the words: "Savior of Kalimantsi!". Tsar Ferdinand sent a telegram to his father Stoyan Zaimov with the words:

"God bless the father of the Savior of Kalimantsi!" [cite web
url = http://standartnews.com/archive/2003/07/18/history/index.htm
author = Borislav Dichev
title = Kalimantsi is our Golgotha in 1913
publisher = Standard News, July 18, 2003
language = Bulgarian
accessdate = 2007-08-14]

References