The Bulgarian strongpoints
in 1912
|
According
with the war plan developed in 1903 the field army should be supported by
eight strongpoints, two in the Western theatre of
operations (Macedonia) – Dupnitza and Sofia – three
in the Southern theatre (Thrace) – Tyrnovo Seymen, Yambol and Burgas – and
three in the Rear – Varna, Shumen and Vidin. In 1908 and in 1910 the new war
plans basically acknowledged this hypothesis of distribution of the forces.
The defence of these fortified positions was assigned only to the Opalchenie battalions and fortress artillery batteries. In 1912 at the
outbreak of the war against Turkey, the quick success of the field army
imposed some prompt changes: the strongpoints
placed on the two theatres of operations were disarmed and their artillery
was dispatched to the 2nd Army charged with the siege of
Odrin, while the ports of the Black Sea exposed to the incursions of the
Turkish fleet were reinforced with guns taken from the strongpoints
of Shumen and Vidin, which were not threatened by the enemy. The following table shows the strength of the garrison assigned to the eight strongpoint according with the 1903 war plan.
There are some little inaccuracy in the total number of the artillery pieces,
namely 36 – 120mm field howitzers instead of 30, 16 – 24 pdr
guns instead of 17, 17 old machine guns (mitrailleuses)
instead of 12 or 16. SOURCES : Войната
между
България и
Турция 1912 - 1913 г.
том I (Подготовка
на войната), p. 397; FICHEV : Вишето
командуване
презъ
Балканската
война 1912 г., pp. 61-63. |
|
|
Western theater |
Southern theater |
Rear |
||||
|
|
Dupnitza |
|
Tyrnovo |
|
Burgas |
|
|
|
Opalchenie Bns.
I |
1 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
Opalchenie Bns.
II |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
240mm L/45 guns |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
100mm L/50 guns |
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
|
|
76mm gun |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
57mm gun |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
150mm L/30 guns |
|
|
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
150mm L/12 how. |
12 |
|
|
12 |
|
|
|
|
120mm L/30 guns |
|
|
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
120mm L/28 guns |
12 |
|
|
12 |
|
|
|
|
120mm L/25 guns |
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
120mm L/11 how. |
|
|
18 |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
|
|
|
|
8 |
|
24 pdr long guns |
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
24 pdr short guns |
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
6 |
|
9 pdr guns |
|
24 |
|
|
|
12 |
12 |
|
87mm not QF guns |
|
|
36 |
|
|
|
|
|
75mm not QF guns |
|
|
36 |
12 |
12 |
|
|
|
57mm turret guns |
|
16 |
10 |
|
|
|
4 |
|
machine guns |
|
2 |
|
|
6 |
8 |
1 |