Owing to the distribution of the mountain-chains, the principal rivers flow in an easterly or southeasterly direction; the Danube falls into the Black Sea; the Maritza, Mesta, Struma (Strymon), Vardar and Salambria into the Aegean.
Of `Ali Riza's 25 divisions, 3 were scattered between Prishtina and the Austrian frontier, 31 at Scutari, z at Dibra, and i at Prizren; 2 opposing the Greek main army in Thessaly and 2 the Greek secondary army in Epirus; 3 in the Struma valley and i guarding the railway between Veles and Salonika, making, in all, 16 which were totally unavailable for battle in the decisive theatre.'
Had still further economies been practised (in the Struma valley for instance) this handicap might have disappeared.
As already mentioned, the Bulgarian 7th Div., in arriving from the Struma side a few days after the Crown Prince had fought his way into Salonika from the W., had lost no time in publicly claiming ownership, and it was with hardly concealed joy that the Greek Government received and promptly executed a request to transport this division by sea to the Thracian theatre.
Thus Ivanov was cut off from the railwa y, and his only line of retreat lay up the narrow Struma valley to Jumaya.