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I THE TURKS ENTERING VOLO.

CHAPTER VII.

THE BATTLE OF PHAKSALA.

FROM April 30th, the day of Smolenski's victory, till May 5th, the day of the general advance of the Turkish army, already been selected as the next ground to be occupiedin case Pharsala had to be abandoned, and three battalions of infantry and a battery h.id been sent there to secure Domokos against a Turkish coup-de-main from the westwardand tobegin preparingthe position for defence.

there was a lull in the campaign in Thessaly. Both sides were preparing for the decisive struggle The Turks concentrated the bulk of their army at Larissa and in the plain immediately to the south of it, with two divisions detached, one on each flank— Hakki's division to the east, at Gherli, observing Smolenski's positionat Velestino,and Hairi's division to tlae west, at Kotseri andVouli.

In the first days of May the Turks received two important reinforcements. Huzni Pasha arrivedwith sevenreserve battalions,to form the nucleus of a new division (the 7th), and 4,000 Albanianirregulars reached Larissa, led by their hereditary chiefs. The Turkish Government had some hesitation about accepting their services. The conduct of their countrymen in Epirus did not inspire much confidence, and there was reason to fear that the half-savage mountaineers might be guilty of acts that would bring discredit on the Turkish arms. But it wasmore dangerous to put a slight upon them than to employ them with the army; so they were organised in battalions of about 600 men each under their chiefs. About half of them were attached to Neshat's division. The rest were allotted to the other divisions, most of them going to Memdhuk's. They were sound to be very useful as scouts.

The position of Hairi's division made the Greek Crown Prince anxious about his exposed flank and the possession of the Domokos road, his mainline of retreat,which curved away from his left round the Pharsala hills. In order to watch Hairi's movements, he had detachments of infantry at Sophades on the railway and at Hadjibashi on the KanarliRiver, and his small force of cavalry was also camped near Sophades.

Though he had been busy entrenching the Pharsalaposition and mounting heavy guns on lopeof the hill below the oldcitadel of the town,he shared the doubts of the foreign experts as tothepossibility of holding the extensive line he had taken up with the 25,000 men at his disposal. The position of Domokos covering the main passes over the Othrys range had On the afternoon of May 4th tlae Turkish headquarters at Larissa issued orders for the general advance next day. Edhem Pasha's 14