The Siege of Ioannina (25 November 1912 – 5 March 1913) was a battle between Greece and the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War, which resulted in the capture of the city of Ioannina by Greek forces.
The fighting for the capture of Ioannina lasted 85 days when the Esad Pasha surrendered to the Crown Prince Constantine, commander-in-chief of the Greek army. After the liberation of Ioannina on 6 March 1913, the IV and VI Divisions of the Epirus Army were transferred to Thessaloniki.
Background
As the main war effort of Greece was initially turned towards Macedonia, on the Epirus Army Section was outnumbered by the Ottoman Yanya Corps at the outbreak of hostilities in October 1912. After stopping an initial attack by the Ottoman commander Esad Pasha at Gribovo, however, the Greeks succeeded in liberating Preveza (October 21) and pushing north in the direction of Ioannina, successfully repulsing an Ottoman attack at Pente Pigadia (Beshpinar).
On November 5, a small irregular army from Corfu made a landing and captured the coastal area of Himara without facing significant resistance, and on December 20 Greek troops entered Korçë, north of Ioannina, restricting Ottoman communications.
Siege
Greek offensive towards Ioannina
According to the plans of the Greek military command, at the beginning of the war the main Greek forces were to advance in Thessaly and towards Thessaloniki, where the main Ottoman units in the area of the Greek border were also concentrated. The military operations in Epirus were led by a detachment under the command of General Konstantinos Sapountzakis, later transformed into the Eighth Division. On 3 November 1912, he captured the port of Preveza and slowly began to move inland towards Ioannina. The detachment reached the approaches to the city on 25 November, but due to its small numbers it was unable to surround it.
Even after the capture of Thessaloniki, the Greek command was unable to transfer reinforcements to Ioannina for a long time, largely due to the remnants of the Ottoman troops causing issues in Greek Macedonia. In addition, Bulgarian claims to Thessaloniki forced the Greek command to retain a large part of its troops in the city and the region.
Attempts to capture Ioannina
In mid-December, Greek troops, reinforced by one division, launched the first assault on the Ioannina fortress, but failed. The strong Ottoman garrison, led by Mehmet Esat Bülkat, counterattacked and pushed the Greeks south.
In the first days of 1913, two Greek divisions and one regiment from Thessaloniki and Chios respectively (two places that were already secured by Greece) were transferred to the outskirts of Ioannina. The overall command passed into the hands of the Crown Prince Constantine. With them, the balance of power changed and, although they suffered another setback, in their second attack on the fortress (on 20 and 22 January) the Greeks managed to push some of the defenders from their positions.
Final takeover of Ioannina
By the end of February, the Greek army had reached 75,000 men. The defenders of Ioannina numbered about 30,000 men, half of whom were stationed in the city and the rest north of it. The besieged had very limited ammunition and could not count on significant reinforcements, but they continued to actively defend themselves. Local Albanians and conscripted Aromanians from Ioannina also participated in the defense of the city; nevertheless, according to Macedonian Aromanian historian Nikola Minov, most of the Aromanians can be assumed to have quickly deserted and joined the closest Allied troops.
The Greek plan provided for a main attack on the best-defended western sector of the city, for which a strike group of about 20,000 men was formed. Deceptive maneuvers were carried out in the remaining sectors. After artillery preparation on 4 March, Greek troops launched their main assault the following morning. By the afternoon of 5 March, Greek troops had breached the Ottoman defensive perimeter at five points, causing Esad to finally surrender the city to Greece on 6 March. Nevertheless, a significant number of Ottoman troops managed to withdraw to the northwest and link up with the remnants of the Vardar Army.