PRELIMINARY AUSTRIAN SUCCESSES

It was along this line that in November, 1914, the Serbians determined the decisive battle of the campaign should be fought. At Obrenovatz was stationed a strong brigade, known as the "Detachment of Obrenovatz." Further south, at Konatiche, on the Kolubara River, the cavalry division cooperated with the Second Army, which held the line from Volujak to Cooka and the ridges farther to the left. The Third Army occupied the right bank of the Lyg River from Barzilovitza to Ivanovchi. The First Army stretched itself out from Gukoshi to Ruda and along the Jeljak ridges to Maljen. And finally the "Army of Uzitsha," which had fought so brilliantly before in the southern section and penetrated into Bosnia, was assigned the protection of the base at Uzitsha and the Western Morava; it intrenched itself from a point southwest of Yasenovatz, through Prishedo, along the Jelova crests, after which it crossed over to the heights of the Leska Gora to Shanatz.

This new line, much shorter than that previously held, enabled the Serbians to contract. Moreover, all the country was favorable to defense. Nowhere was it so screened that an approaching enemy could surprise them. Here, certainly, one defender was equal to two invaders.

Apparently the Austrian commanders realized that they had genuine obstacles to overcome, for they did not proceed with any impetuous haste. It was six weeks before they had advanced so far as to come into real contact with the new Serbian line. During that interval they had been preparing for this kind of mountain warfare, by bringing up special mountain artillery and men who had had experience in just such a country on the Italian front.

It was mid-November, 1914, before the Austrians were ready to deliver their first assaults. Almost every garrison in the town of Bosnia had been drawn on to swell their numbers and the troops brought up from the Italian front amounted to a whole army corps. All in all, there were about 250 battalions of infantry, in addition to cavalry, artillery and engineer corps.

One feature of this third invasion, which had not attended the first and second, was the vast number of refugees who now came fleeing through the Serbian lines. Their ox carts and their flocks blocked the roads, old men and women and children thronged the trails in their mad haste to get away from the advancing Austrians. Their reports of the vast numbers of the enemy that they had seen may not have helped to encourage the Serbian soldiers, but, on the other hand, they gave reports, somewhat exaggerated, perhaps, of such hideous atrocities committed by the Magyars that henceforth the Serbians were to fight with an added bitterness and hatred.

Allowing for a certain amount of exaggeration, there still seems to be solid foundation for the reports of atrocities committed by the Austrians in Serbia. But this seems to be a circumstance inseparable from any war. And, naturally, the invaders are necessarily always the guilty ones. The Serbians did not commit atrocities for the very simple reason that they never had the opportunity to come in among the enemy's villages. Had they invaded the Hungarian plains there would undoubtedly have been atrocities committed on both sides. An army like the Austrian, composed of so many different nationalities and races, would naturally be more susceptible to such excesses.

Whatever their reasons for waiting so long before their next general attack, the Austrians had, at any rate, played into the hands of their enemy to the extent that they had allowed him to accumulate a plentiful supply of ammunition. Moreover, more was coming, sent by the Allies and this had a cheering effect on the men.

On the morning of November 15, 1914, the Austrians began their first attack. It developed principally against the Second Army, south of Lazarevatz, and against the Uzitsha detachment in the direction of Kosjerichi. For five days the Austrians sent successive waves dashing against the Serbian walls, but each was repelled, hurled back, with comparatively little effort. How determined the Austrians were may be judged from the fact that the Serbians now took more prisoners than they had during all the previous operations.

Meanwhile the Austrians were also making a determined effort to take Belgrade; an effort, as will be described later, which was also to have an initial success. But, considering the unfamiliarity of even the best informed with the Serbian country, it will, perhaps, be wiser to take each theatre by itself. The operations before Belgrade, anyhow, were not closely connected with those in the interior of the country.

It seemed as though during those first five days of fighting the Austrians were merely testing the relative strength of the various sections of the Serbian line. On November 20, 1914, a powerful force of Austrians advanced and took possession of Milovatz, in close contact with the right flank of the First Army. Another column drove at its center at Ruda and successfully stormed the heights of Strazhara. The next day these movements developed into a mighty assault on the Serbian positions in this section. All day the Serbians held their ground, but toward evening the center weakened, then caved in, collapsed. The result was that the whole First Army was beaten back with heavy loss, until it was finally able to make another stand along the line from Babina Glava to Rajac.

The fire of the renewed attack flared up and down the front. The Third Army of the Serbians succeeded in holding its ground. Between the Uzitsha detachment and the Austrians the fighting was especially bloody, but neither side gained any distinct advantage. But the retirement of the First Army from its strong position from Ruda to Gukoshi was disastrous, not only from a purely military aspect, but also in that it sent a wave of depression up and down the whole line of Serbians. This loss might be retrieved by an effective artillery support, but again the Serbians were feeling a shortage of ammunition. Armed Bulgarian bands entering Serbia from Bulgaria had finally succeeded in interrupting railroad traffic, and the supply of ammunition had been abruptly broken off.

Fortunately for the Serbians, the Austrians showed their usual disinclination of following up their success immediately. Their center rested while their mountain brigades delivered a rather feeble attack on the Serbian extreme left, on the line from Varda to Gruda.

It was November 24, 1914, before the Austrians came on in force again. This time the Second Serbian Army was forced back; to a line running from Galvitza to Smyrdlykovatz and the heights of Cooka were taken. The Uzitsha army was also forced to retire, on to the Goinjagora Mountains, at the head of the Western Morava Valley. The Austrians now also attempted to outflank the extreme left of the Serbian line. With this object in view they shot their mountain brigades down along their right, until the threatened Serbian flank was compelled to swing back to protect itself from an enveloping movement.

Finally, on November 28, 1914, the Uzitsha Army was able to make a determined stand along the heights from Kita to Markovitza.

In the south the Serbians had suffered a serious setback. Counterattacks were of little avail. How desperately the Serbians resisted may be judged from the fact during one of their counterattacks, made at Salinatz, they took prisoner seven officers and 1,580 men. In general, however, they were forced back, step by step. One by one, each succeeding ridge fell into the hands of the invaders. And finally the dominating ridges of the Suvobor Mountains were in complete possession of the Austrians.

In the north the Serbians had made a better showing. Along the Kolubara River the fighting had been especially heavy. One Austrian division had even succeeded in penetrating as far as Progon, on November 24, 1914, but it was finally driven back by the cavalry division with heavy loss.

The result of this stage of the fighting was that the Serbians had again been compelled to lengthen their lines; their front now extended from Tchatchak to Belgrade, almost seventy miles.[Back to Contents]