Battle of Bazargic


The Battle of Bazargic, also known as the Battle of Dobrich or the Dobrich epopee, took place between 5 and 7 September 1916 between a joint Bulgarian–German–Ottoman force consisting mainly of the Bulgarian Third Army, and a Romanian–Russian force including a Division of Serbian Volunteers serving under the Russian 47th Corps. The battle was part of the Romanian campaign at the end of 1916. It ended with a Central Powers victory.

Background

German Commander Field Marshal August von Mackensen was put in charge of the Romanian campaign in the Dobruja front. In September the 3rd Bulgarian Army was reinforced with two Ottoman divisions and part of a German division. The Central Powers' plan was to attack the Romanian forces in Transylvania, while at the same time attacking along the Black Sea, into the Dobruja, a region inhabited mainly by Bulgarians and taken from them in 1913, as the result of the Second Balkan War.

Battle

Mackensen started with a surprise move on Turtucaia, a Romanian fortress. The besieging force was smaller than the garrison, most of which surrendered quickly while the rest fled including their commander. On the Southern front Bulgarian units along with German and Turkish reinforcements, crossed the border and invaded the Dobrudja finding themselves facing the Romanian Third Army and two Russian infantry divisions, some Romanian units surrendered to the Russians, believing them to be Bulgarians. Simultaneously with the assault of Turtucaia, the Bulgarian Third Army with the 75th Turkish regiment, defeated the Romanian-Russian force including the First Serbian Volunteer Division at the Battle of Bazargic, despite the almost double superiority of the Entente. The outnumbered Central Powers force managed to push the Romanians and the Russians north while the Serbian Volunteer division suffered heavy casualties with 8,539 dead and wounded. On 7 September after intense fighting the defeated Russian general ordered a withdrawal.

Aftermath

As the Romanian army withdrew into Moldavia by the beginning of November, the Central Powers had captured the whole of Dobruja.