The Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas took place between Greece and Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War. The two countries fought for the town of Kilkis in Central Macedonia from 19 to 21 June 1913 O.S. with Greece ultimately being victorious. Background During the night of 16–17 June, the Bulgarians, without an official declaration of war, attacked their former Greek and the Serbian allies, and managed to evict the Serbs from Gevgelija, cutting off communication between them and the Greeks. However, the Bulgarians failed to drive the Serbs away from the Vardar/Axios river line. After repulsing the initial Bulgarian attack of 17 June, the Greek army, under King Constantine, advanced with 8 divisions and a cavalry brigade, while the Bulgarians under General Ivanov retreated to the naturally strong defensive position of the Kilkis–Lachanas line. Conflict The Bulgarian 2nd Army commanded by General Nikola Ivanov held a line from Lake Dojran south east to Kilkis, Lachanas, Serres and then across the Pangaion Hills to the Aegean Sea. The army had been in place since May and was considered a veteran group having fought at the siege of Adrianople in the First Balkan War. On 16 June, the Bulgarian force included approximately 75,000 men and 175 guns in 57 infantry battalions, 10 cavalry squadrons and 37 batteries. General Ivanov claimed after the war that his Army consisted of only 36,000 men of whom 20,000 were "still untrained" and that many of his units were understrength. The Greek General Staff considerably overestimated the numbers of Bulgarians, reckoning their numbers to be between 80,000 and 105,000. Although General Ivanov probably underestimated the number of his soldiers, he still faced a much larger Greek enemy. The Greek army, commanded by King Constantine I, had 8 divisions and a cavalry brigade (117,861 men) with 176 artillery guns in an 80 km line extended from the Gulf of Orphanos to the Gevgelija area. Since it was not possible for the Greeks to know where the Bulgarians would attack, it was expected that the Bulgarian army would likely enjoy temporary superiority at a point chosen for the attack. The Greek plans were defensive in nature and they expected that the Bulgarians would strike first in a thrust to capture Thessaloniki. As such, Thessaloniki was garrisoned by the newly raised Thessaloniki Fortress Command. The Greek divisions deployed forward had orders to allow the Bulgarians to attack first while holding their positions