His career came to a halt in 1913 when he volunteered to fight in the Balkan Wars and fought at the Battle of Bizani, although he could avoid conscription he insisted on fighting for his country.
Battle of Waterloo | Battle of Britain | Battle of the Somme | Battle of the Bulge | Battle of Gettysburg | Battle Creek, Michigan | Battle of France | Battle of Trafalgar | Battle of Hastings | Battle of Antietam | battle | Battle of Shiloh | Battle of Midway | Battle of Belleau Wood | Battle of the Alamo | Battle of Leipzig | Battle of Agincourt | Battle of Verdun | Battle of Thermopylae | Battle of the Plains of Abraham | Battle of Vienna | Second Battle of the Marne | Second Battle of El Alamein | Battle of the Nile | Battle of the Boyne | Battle of Stalingrad | Battle of Austerlitz | The Last Battle | Kathleen Battle | Battle of Vitoria |
On the outbreak of the First Balkan War in 1912, at the age of 16, presenting false documents due to his young age, he volunteered in the Greek army and participated as a soldier in the Battle of Bizani.
After lengthy preparations, the Greeks broke through the Ottoman defences in the Battle of Bizani and captured Ioannina and most of Epirus up into what is today southern Albania (Northern Epirus).
In the First Balkan War he was CO of the 15th Infantry Regiment, which he led in Epirus, up to the Battle of Bizani.
He is considered to have had a decisive role in the Battle of Bizani during the First Balkan War (1912–1913), forcing the Ottoman Army to surrender unconditionally.