army had
reached and occupied the town of Ispir on the river Chorok, about
fifty miles northwest of Erzerum, and halfway between that city and
Rizeh, a town on the south shore of the Black Sea, less than fifty
miles east of Trebizond. At the same time Russian destroyers were
bombarding the Black Sea coast towns. Under their protective fire
fresh troops were landed a few days later at Atina on the Black Sea,
about sixty miles east of Trebizond, which promptly occupied that
town. From there they rapidly advanced southward toward Rizeh, forcing
the Turks to evacuate their positions and capturing some prisoners as
well as a few guns, together with rifles and ammunition.

The center, in the meantime, had advanced on the Erzerum-Trebizond
road, and by February 25, 1916, occupied the town of Ashkala, about
thirty miles from Erzerum. From all sides the Russian armies were
closing in on Trebizond, and their rapid success threw the Turkish
forces into consternation, for the loss of Trebizond would mean a
serious threat to their further safety, having been up to then the
principal point through which supplies and ammunition reached them
steadily and rapidly by way of the Black Sea. No wonder then that the
London "Times" correspondent in Petrograd was able to report on March
5, 1916, that all accounts agreed that the population of the Trebizond
region were panic-stricken and fleeing even then in the direction of
Kara-Hissar and Sivas, flight along the Black Sea route being out of
question on account of the presence of Russian warships.

In the south the left wing of the Russian army was equally successful.
On March 1, 1916, it occupied Mamawk, less than ten miles north of
Bitlis, a success foreshadowing the fall of that important Armenian
city. And, indeed, on the next day, March 2, 1916, Bitlis was occupied
by the Russians. This was indeed another severe blow to the Turkish
armies. Bitlis, 110 miles south of Erzerum, in Armenian Tamos, is one
of the most important trade centers, and commands a number of
important roads. It is only about fifty miles north of the upper
Tigris, and even though it is more than 350 miles from Bagdad, its
occupation by Russian forces seriously menaced the road to Bagdad,
Bagdad itself, and even the rear of the Turkish army, fighting
against the Anglo-Indian army in Mesopotamia.

Hardly had the Turks recovered from this blow when their left wing in
the north suffered another serious reverse through th