The two heroes of the flag towards Vlora, through Myzeqe...

Noun Kule

After staying at the "Kostandinopoja" hotel of his friend, Azis Pashë Vrioni, on Friday, November 22, 1912, Ismail bey gave a speech to the representatives of the people of Durrës, which had about 6,000 inhabitants. On Saturday, November 23, many people gathered in front of the hotel. There were also twenty horses, an oxcart covered with mats, where they put some big suitcases that they couldn't load on the horses. At the door of the hotel they brought a gray horse washed and combed for beauty. They placed a chair next to him. Ismail bey Qemali rode on the horse. He was light-faced and fell to the yzenjis symbolically... So the caravan of 40-50 people started, accompanied by some gendarmes and residents of Sehirxin. The Greek bishop of Durres, Jakov, did not allow the Independence Flag to be raised in the city of Durres. The Greek despot also did not allow the Orthodox of Durrës to send their representatives to the meeting of Vlora. In the Independence Assembly, Durrës was represented by three Muslims and one Catholic – Dom Nikollë Kaçorin.

"... Together with us from Durrës, the delegates from Tirana and Krue, such as Mr. Abdi Murat Toptani and Mustafa Kruja, Musta Ali Ibrahimi and Abaz Çelkupa, etc...

...When we arrived at the bridge of Draç (Kavajë), we met Mr. Nebi Sefa who was coming from Lushnje. Mr. Nebi, holds me back a little and tells me that Emin bey Vokopola and the commander of the army in Lushnja, captain Ibrahim Borshi, had sent him. They had communicated the telegram that had come from the commander-in-chief of the army of Ioannina, who wrote that: 'Ismail Qemal ben with all his companions, either alive or dead, put him in your hands...'

As soon as he receives this order, the Lushnja army commander, on the one hand, sends a force under the command of Lieutenant Mefail Agai to Gramsh, Lushnja, to capture Ismail, and on the other hand, he sends Mr. Nebi Sefa to inform us... They told me to inform Ismail bey that in order to save himself, he should return and enter the Austrian Consulate. (From the memories of the companion and signatory Qemal bey Karaosman)

***

Regardless of the request and the threat of the arrest warrant that awaited him in Lushnja, or the temptation to return and take refuge in the Austrian Consulate in Durrës, Ismail Bey did not accept either. Despite these, he surrendered to fate and the people who received him and convinced him with their loyalty, dedication and bravery.

- What do you think? - Ismail bey asked me in the village of Gose i Kavaja, when I showed him the arrest warrant that awaited us in Lushnja - writes his companion and adviser, Qemal bey Karaosmani.

- Is there another way?, asked Ismail bey.

- There is a way, Ismail bey. But winter, rain and mud...

- Thank you so much... Let's go...!

We continued our journey and arrived in Cerma. Ismail stayed with some friends at Dervish Bey's and the other friends stayed with his brother, Behxhet Bey. This night we had no other conversation but the work of the road; if you get out of Karatoprak i Myzeqe or not.

Some said it was coming out and some were not. In this context, we called a farmer who had come from Divjaka and asked him. He told us that he had come out with great difficulty and that the water reached up to the horse's saddle. We decided to walk from Karatoprak i Myzeqe but to take a considerable amount of power with us for any unexpected.

We left the next day (Sunday, November 24, 1912-NK)

Arrival in Rema i Sulzotaj. We had a hard time getting wet, but we were lucky that there were no whirlpools...

"...Sunday November 24 was a real challenge for Ismail Bey and his companions. The floods had turned the whole field into a huge swamp. The rain fell incessantly. The road was not visible and in some places it looked like people were walking through the sea... As the farmer from Divjaka told us, the water reached up to the horse's saddle..."

The vicissitudes and dangers of this journey have been written down by some of the companions and fellow travelers of the Man of the Flag...

***

The Myzeqars led the Independence caravan to the hills, to the west of Ardenica and to the east of Divjaka and Karavasta; always towards the south, from the hills of St. Premtes, through the villages of Kryekuq-Kamenica-Mizë-Zharrnec-Gur-Babunjë, Vanar-Libofshë. Who could lead the way in these dead ends? Probably, those who knew him, the locals. It is known that among the companions of Ismail bey there were learned and brave men like Gurakuqi, with friends. But no one could recognize exactly what Ismail Qemali himself writes about in his memoirs:

"...I took a safe path from where we were not observed... The slender-legged guides moved nimbly as if they were dancing...

These people knew by heart the paths, the ruts, the mudflats and the safe passages. They knew well how to guide the traveler on time, correctly calculating the delays caused by bad weather and other road traps...

 ...It was raining all those days. We stayed one night in Čerma, in the manor of Dervish bey Bicak and the other night in Libofshë... What we have seen and what we have taken away on this trip, a novel in itself... The fields of Muzeqe, drowned by water, looked like an endless sea... We walked for five to six hours with our feet in water up to our knees. Long roads with deep mud that the horse could barely get his foot out of... When we came to Durrës there were 40-50 of us; all armed with malyhers. Going through the field of Muzeqe...we became hundreds...

We spent the night in Libofshë, in the guest house of Nedin bey Leskovik...

...For Ismail bey, even though he was not young (68 years old), the determination with which he faced this journey between mud, cold and water, showed something very important. He knew he was making history…!

So water and mud, no matter how tiring it seemed to other travelers, Ismail Bey did not see it as an obstacle since the project he intended was very big; was vital to the destinies of the nation... There were few who understood that the man they had by their side in that mud of Baltovia was a statesman of great policies... For many years a member of the Turkish parliament and a very close adviser to Sultan Abdyl Hamit, right next to the brain that ruled the Ottoman Empire…”

***

The day Ismail Qemali landed in Durrës, Isa Boletini left Dibra. Four days later, on November 25, 1912, while Ismail Bey was staying in Libofshë, Isa Boletini arrived in Lushnjë where he had lunch with the 104 brave men who accompanied him.

"... The people of little Lushnja welcomed us with great honors... They prepared lunch for all of us, created conditions for rest and food for the horses... They exchanged our broken horses... even our torn shoes for new ones... Lushnja reported telegrafist Vlora and Elbasan for our arrival... About 20 musketeer boys, armed horsemen, lead the caravan of mountaineers to the village of Imshte (Bubullimë municipality). The national committee of Lushnje had decided that the crossing of the mountaineers to Fier would take place the next day after they had dinner in the village of Imësht..."

The two great men of the nation, while rushing towards each other, stayed here and beyond the hills of Ardenica, right at the navel of Myzeqe, so close, yet...far; about 20 kilometers.

This day, Monday, November 25, 1912- Ismail Qemali left Libofsha, crossed the Seman River on the boat of Petova, had lunch with the Vriones in Fier and at dinner entered Vlora. (around 21 pm)

While the path of Boletini and the brave men who accompanied him took more time to arrive in Vlora, on November 29.

Isa Boletini sets out from Lushnja to capture Fier, but the field under water and the constant rain forced the host to the village of Imësht. The next day they arrived in Fier, where they also stayed at the Vrionas' guest house.

"...From the post office of Fier on November 27, Isa Boletini telegraphed Ismail bey in Vlora, informing him to declare Albania's independence in their name as well..."

Precisely in this wild and auspicious winter for Albania and the Albanians, Myzeqeja and the musketeers became not only the Path to National Independence, but also a Link between Kosovo and other parts of Albania, bravely represented by the two men of the Flag and of our independence; Ismail Qemali and Isa Boletini.

... Well, in the fifties after the Second World War, not a word was written about these brave acts of the Myzqars, not a word about these hosts and patriots, at these turning points in Albanian history.

Our historiography has written full pages about the luxury hotels of Istanbul, Vienna, Bucharest and Trieste, where our patriots stayed and negotiated. But not a word was written about the "luxurious and safe hotels" of the cities and three villages of Myzeqesa-Lushnja-Fierita-Cerma-Libofsha and Imshta, where our heroes of the Flag who made Albania, barely arrived and gathered among them, the inn welcomed and bravely protected by hundreds of residents of this province who increased the Independence caravan from "...40-50 people who went to Durrës, to hundreds of people armed with machetes walking in the fields of Myzeqe..."