With the Serbs in Macedonia

INTO THE BREACH ONCE MORE 117
fray south of the Danube Division, near PateU.
An infantry brigade of the Timok Division, and
the rest of the Vardar Division arrived on the
22nd, and were joined by the Volunteers, who
all this while had been steadily pursuing their
furtive retreat through the hills. This composite
force successfully prevented the lake being
turned from the south.
On August 23rd the Bulgar progress was
arrested ; and, though
several serious assaults
were made by the enemy on the 24th, they
were all successfully beaten back. On that day
their offensive was definitely stopped, and there
followed only a few weak attacks of local
significance.
Meanwhile, the French had sent an infantry
regiment and two brigades of artillery to
reinforce the Third Army, but as they did not
arrive until the 29th, when there was no need
for them, they were not engaged.
On the whole, in spite of the courage and
determination with which their offensive had
been pushed, and in spite of their preponderance
in men and guns, the Bulgarian gains were
spectacular rather than practical. True, the
Third Army had been driven back a considerable
distance, but the enemy had not gained either
of his objectives. A captured Bulgarian Order
showed that their aim was to take at any cost