Let us now see what were the respective conditions of the two opposing armies. The enemy front was divided geographically into four sectors--Albania, Monastir, Vardar-Doiran, and Struma--against any one of which the attack might be launched. The Albanian sector offered some advantages, inasmuch as it was less provided with defensive works. But General Franchet d’Espérey did not wish to begin operations on a large scale in that area because the Italian XVI Corps was not under his orders; moreover, and this was the principal reason, communications were so difficult there as to render the transport of troops in large numbers impossible. An advocate of the action of the French G.H.Q. states that General Ferrero refused to make use of Essad Pasha for the operations in Albania, and almost blames him for it,[39] but General Franchet d’Espérey had no more confidence in the assistance which that shady adventurer might afford to the cause of the Allies than had General Ferrero, and they were both right.[40] [Illustration: AREA OF THE FRANCO-SERB GROUP. To face p. 213. ] In the Monastir sector it was possible to attack in the direction of Pribilci-Kichevo-Gostivar-Kalkandelen (Tetovo), or towards Prilep-Babuna-Veles, or Prilep-Gradsko-Negotin. But here the enemy defences were in the highest possible state of efficiency, and as this was one of the sectors in which an attack was always expected, the Bulgaro-Germans held themselves constantly in readiness for it. The same objections applied to the Vardar-Doiran area, which has always been one of the traditional routes for Macedonian invasions, and was the only one provided with a railway throughout its whole length. The Struma sector extended along a very broad and marshy valley, and the enemy positions on the mountains east of the river were extremely strong. Moreover, a success in this direction would not have offered the chance of striking a blow at the heart of the enemy, such as was necessary to obtain really decisive results. The vital centre of the enemy defences was the middle Vardar. From Uskub, from Veles, and from Gradsko, all their lateral communications spread out fan-wise. The Vardar railway put them in direct communication with the Central Empires and their supply centres. From Uskub there was a branch railway to Kalkandelen, whence a road, with a décauville along a part of it, descended into the plain of Monastir. From Veles and Gradsko all the troops in the area between Prilep and the Vardar, and to some extent also those immediately to the east of the river, were supplied. The enemy, however, counted on the very powerful defences, natural and artificial, on both sides of it, in the Demir Kapu gorge, to the west of Lake Doiran, and on the Beles range.