As has already been stated, the extreme south wing of the Serbian front, the Third Army, had retreated the day before so that it could present a solid front against not only the forces opposing it, but also another column coming up from the south, whose advance had been inadequately covered by third reserve men. Here the Austrians attempted to pierce the Serbian line in the extreme south and come out at Oseshina. But though vastly outnumbered, the Serbians held their ground stoutly until late afternoon, when, as already shown, they were compelled to ask the division operating along Iverak for assistance. When this help came they were able to resume their defense.

Thus ended the second day of the general battle. On the whole the Austrians had suffered most, but the general situation was still somewhat in their favor. The Austrian center, along the Tzer ridges, had been pushed back. To retrieve this setback the logical course for the Austrian commander in chief was to curl his wings in around the Serbian flanks. That he appreciated this necessity was obvious, to judge from the furious onslaughts against the Serbian Third Army in the extreme south. But to weaken the Serbian center by these tactics it was also necessary to free the Austrians in Shabatz, or, at least, it was necessary that they should assume a strong offensive against the extreme right of the Serbians, and, if possible, flank them.

But the Serbians anticipated the plans of the Austrians. Additional reenforcements were sent to the extreme right with orders to spare no sacrifice that would keep the Austrians inclosed within their fortifications around Shabatz.

And true enough, next morning, August 18,1914, shortly after the hot summer sun had risen over the eastern ridges, the Austrians emerged from Shabatz and attacked the Serbians. The Austrian onslaught was furious, so furious that, step by step, the Serbians, in spite of their reenforcements, were driven back. Fortunately toward evening the Austrian offensive began losing its strength, and that night the Serbians were able to intrench along a line from Leskovitz to Mihana.

This obliged the cavalry division, which had been cooperating with the Serbian center and was driving the Austrians toward Leshnitza, to retire along a line from Metkovitch to Brestovatz. Naturally the advance of the Austrians from Shabatz was endangering its right flank. Moreover, a reenforced column of Austrians also appeared before it. But this opposing force did not press its advance.

Meanwhile, on the same day, August 18, 1914, the Austrians were reenforcing their position on the Tzer ridges. They had also strongly fortified the height of Rashulatcha, which lay between the heights of Tzer and Iverak, whence they could direct an artillery fire to either field of activities.

But the difficulties which the Serbians operating along the Iverak ridges were meeting also hampered the Serbians who were attempting to sweep the Austrians back along the Tzer ridges. If they advanced too far they would expose their flank to the Austrians over on Iverak. As a general rule, it is always dangerous for any body of troops to advance any distance beyond the general line of the whole front, and this case was no exception. However, though delayed, this division did advance. Oxen were employed in dragging the heavy field pieces along the trails over the rocky ridges.

With savage yells the Serbian soldiers leaped over the rocks, up the jagged slopes of Kosaningrad. Again they had fallen back on their favorite weapons, bayonets and hand bombs. The Austrians put up a stout resistance, but finally their gray lines broke, then scattered down the slopes, followed by the pursuing Serbians. Having gained possession of Kosaningrad Peak, the Serbian commander next turned his attention to Rashulatcha, which, in conjunction with the Serbians over on Iverak, could now be raked by a cross artillery fire. He had previously left a reserve force behind at Troyan. This he now ordered to reenforce his left, which had been advancing along the southern slopes of the Tzer range. This force he now directed against the heights, but the movement was not vigorously followed up.

Over on Iverak the Serbians had succeeded in making some headway. Forming into two columns, this wing marched out and attacked the Austrians at Yugovitchi and succeeded in driving them from their trenches. But immediately the Austrian artillery on Reingrob opened fire on them, and they were compelled to dig themselves in. And late that night, August 18,1914, the Austrians delivered a fierce counterattack. But night fighting is especially a matter of experience, and here the Serbians with their two Balkan campaigns behind them, proved immensely superior. They drove the Austrians back with their bayonets.

During that same day, August 18, 1914, the Austrians had renewed their pressure on the Third Army and the Third Ban men. Soldatovitcha was their first objective. During the day reenforcements arrived and the commanding general was able to hold his own, retaking Soldatovitcha after it had once been lost. Thus ended the day of August 18, 1914, the third day of the battle.

Early next morning, on August 19, 1914, the Austrians in Shabatz renewed their efforts to penetrate the Serbian lines to the southward. So determined was their effort that finally the Serbians in this sector were driven back over on to the right bank of the River Dobrava. All day the fighting continued, the Serbians barely holding their position, strong as it was.

This success of the Austrians hampered the cavalry division, which had not only to secure its flank, but had also to keep between the Shabatz Austrians and the Serbians operating on Tzer, whom they might have attacked from the rear.

Along the Tzer ridges, however, things were going well for the Serbians. At noon they had taken Rashulatcha, which left the column free to continue its pursuit of the fleeing Austrians along the ridges. From the heights above the Serbian guns fired into the retreating Austrians down along the Leshnitza River, turning the retreat into a mad panic. By evening the advance guard of this division had arrived at Jadranska Leshnitza.

In the early morning, August 19,1914, the Serbians over on the Iverak ridges had attacked in deadly earnest. Naturally the huge success and rapid advance of the Serbians over on the Tzer ridges were of great importance to them. Here the Austrians were put to rout too. At 11 a. m. the Serbians stormed Velika Glava and took it, but here their progress was checked by a strong artillery fire from the west of Rashulatcha. Then rifle firing broke out along the whole line from Velika Glava to Kik. Near Kik the Austrians were massing in strong force, and the Third Army was reported to be again in danger, this time from a hostile turning movement. Fortunately general headquarters was able to come to the rescue with reenforcements. This lessened the danger from Kik. Whereupon the advance along Iverak was continued. By the middle of the afternoon, when the Austrians were driven out of Reingrob, the Serbians controlled the situation. The defeat of the Austrians was complete.

The Third Army was again in trouble during this day, August 19,1914. Its left flank continued its advance from Soldatovitcha, but the Austrians attempted to pierce their center. But finally this sorely tried section of the Serbian front emerged triumphant. Before evening the Austrians were driven back in scattered disorder, leaving behind them three hospitals filled with wounded, much material, and 500 prisoners.

Here ended the fourth day of the bloody struggle—August 19, 1914. In the north around Shabatz the Austrians had made some advance, but all along the rest of the line they had suffered complete disaster. The two important mountain ridges, Tzer and Iverak, which dominated the whole theatre of operations, were definitely in the hands of the Serbians. And finally, the Third Army had at last broken down the opposition against it.

Next morning, August 20, 1914, dawned on a situation that was thoroughly hopeless for the Austrians. Even up around Shabatz, where they had been successful the day before, the Austrians, realizing that all was lost to the southward, made only a feeble attack on the Serbians, who were consequently able to recross the Dobrava River and establish themselves on the right bank.

The cavalry division, whose left flank was not freed by the clearing of the Tzer ridges, hurled itself against the Austrians in the plains before it and threw them into wild disorder. First they shelled them, then charged. The panic-stricken Magyars fled through the villages, across the corn fields, through the orchards.

"Where is the Drina? Where is the Drina?" they shouted, whenever they saw a peasant. A burning, tropical sun sweltered over the plain. Many of the fleeing soldiers dropped from exhaustion and were afterward taken prisoners. Others lost themselves in the marshy hollows and only emerged days later, while still others, wounded, laid down and died where they fell.

In the Leshnitza similar scenes were taking place. From the ridges above the Serbian guns roared and poured hurtling steel messages of death down into the throngs of retreating Austrians. Some few regiments, not so demoralized as the others, did indeed make several attempts to fight rear-guard actions, to protect their fleeing comrades, but they again were overwhelmed by the disorganized masses in the rear pouring over them.

In the Jadar valley another disorganized mob of Austrians was fleeing before the Serbians up on the Iverak ridges, who also were pouring a hot artillery fire into their midst. Presently the Third Army joined in the mad chase. And now the whole Austrian army was wildly fleeing for the Drina River.

There remained only one exception during the early part of the day, August 20, 1914. This was the Austrian forces on Kik, to the northwest of Zavlaka. The Serbian reenforcements which, it will be remembered, had originally been directed toward Marianovitche, had been afterward sent westward, and at dawn on August 20 they approached Kik in two columns. The left column occupied Osoye without resistance, but in descending from that position, the Austrian artillery opened fire on it.

An hour later the right column came up and opened an artillery fire, and under cover of this bombardment a Serbian regiment reached the foot of the mountain. As was afterward learned, the Austrians at this point had had their machine guns destroyed by the Serbian artillery fire, and by this time their own artillery had been sent back, in preparation for the retreat. Consequently they were only able to receive the Serbian attack with rifle fire.

At the height of this skirmish the extreme left of the Serbians on Iverak, which had remained to guard against attack from this quarter, moved over against the Austrians. The cross-fire was too much for them; they turned and fled, leaving behind over six hundred dead, the Serbians in this affair losing only seven killed. Jarebitze was now occupied; the rest of the Serbians joined in the general pursuit.

That night, August 20, 1914, the Austrians swarmed across the Drina, fleeing for their lives. By the next day the whole river bank was cleared of them. Serbian soldiers lined the whole length of the frontier in this section. There remained now only the Austrians in Shabatz to deal with. The whole Serbian army was now able to concentrate on this remaining force of the enemy left in Serbian territory.

Early on August 21, 1914, the attack began, and the Austrians here fought stoutly. Indeed, all that day they held the Serbians off from behind their intrenchments. On August 22, 1914, the Serbians made a general assault. Fortunately they found a weakness in the fortifications on the western side of the town. To create a diversion, the Austrians delivered a counterattack along the road toward Varna.

By the morning of August 24, 1914, the Serbians had brought up a number of heavy siege guns. But when the general bombardment had already commenced, it was found that the Austrians had evacuated the town during the night, and retreated across the river. And so the first Austrian invasion of Serbia came to its disastrous end.



PART V—THE AUSTRO-SERBIAN CAMPAIGN



CHAPTER LI

RESULTS OF FIRST BATTLES

Though described as a punitive expedition in the Vienna press, this campaign cost the Austrians very dear, not only in material and in lives, but in prestige. Just what the Austrian casualties were cannot be definitely stated at this time, but at least 6,000 were killed outright on the field of battle, while at least 35,000 were wounded. And another 4,000 fell into the hands of the Serbians as prisoners. In material the Serbians report that they captured 46 cannon, 30 machine guns, 140 ammunition wagons, and a great mass of rifles, hospital paraphernalia, ammunition, stores, and other incidentals.

The Serbian losses were heavy: 3,000 dead and 15,000 wounded. That they were so much less is not extraordinary, for not only were they on the defensive, but an army in flight, as were the Austrian, always loses heavily.

The first onslaught of the Austrians in August, 1914, had been driven back. A disorganized mob, the soldiers of Franz Josef had fled back across the Drina and the Save, leaving thousands of dead and prisoners behind. And for over a week the little Serbian army lay panting.

Military science says that a victory should always be followed up closely, for a beaten army is almost as helpless as a herd of cattle. But military science must also take into account the limitations of human muscles and nerves. The Serbian reserve forces had been moving back and forth along the fighting front, strengthening a defense here, supporting an attack there, and some of them had covered from fifty to sixty miles a day. There were no fresh troops to pursue the Austrians. The Serbians needed rest. And so the Austro-Hungarian soldiers were allowed to continue their northward flight unmolested.

Thus for twelve days after the Battle of Shabatz, or from August 23, 1914, there was quiet along the Austrian and Serbian frontier. The remnants of the Austrians had definitely retired northward. And at about that time the Russians were driving hard at the Galician front. The Austrians were being beaten there, too. Altogether the situation looked extremely serious for Austria at that time. But, finally, encouraged by the Allies, the Serbian General Staff decided to send an expedition over into Austrian territory.

Not much over twenty miles north of Shabatz is a range of mountains, called the Frushkagora. A fairly strong force holding these rocky ridges would be in a position to prevent the Austrian general from reenforcing his armies in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the east. It would also afford a better protection to the northern frontier of Serbia than would a force of the same size stationed within Serbian territory along the Save River. The chief thought of the Serbian general was, however, to gain control of this natural position and hold it while another Serbian force was invading Bosnia, in conjunction with the Montenegrin troops. What made this first objective the more tempting was the known fact that between the frontier and the Frushkagora range the Austrian forces amounted only to about a dozen regiments.

To the First Army, General Putnik assigned the execution of this expedition. That was now composed of two divisions, and the cavalry division, which had rendered such excellent service on the Matchva Plain during the first invasion. The left wing of this expeditionary force was to be supported by a division in Matchva, while the "Detachment of Belgrade" was to operate on the right. A second reserve division was to hold Obrenovatz.

Another glance at the map will show that, almost halfway between Shabatz and Belgrade, the Save takes a peculiar little loop into Serbian territory, forming a narrow strip of Austrian territory projecting into Serbia. Naturally, this little tongue could be commanded by the Serbian guns without first crossing the river, since the Austrians could only operate here by marching down in a narrow column between the two sides of the loop formed by the river. Such a force, however, could be immediately flanked by the Serbians from their side of the river. This peculiar peninsula, known as the Kupinski Kut, was chosen as the point at which the first crossing should be made.



CHAPTER LII

SERBIAN ATTEMPT TO INVADE AUSTRIAN TERRITORY

It was the night of September 5, 1914. So secretly was this movement planned and begun that the Serbian field officers did not themselves know what was to be undertaken when their forces arrived on the banks of the river at the Kut on the nights of September 5 and 6. The marches were made at night, to hide the movement as long as possible from the Austrian aeroplanes, which occasionally whirred their flight over Serbian territory.

At one o'clock in the morning of September 6, 1914, the first troops of the invading expedition embarked on the barges lined up along the river bank. A screening force having been ferried across, to protect the ford against possible attack, the construction of a pontoon bridge was begun at Novoselo, while farther up some flour mill floats were utilized for a second bridge.

It was an ideal place for a crossing. Farther up, at the neck of the isthmus, was an old river bed, where the Save had once cut a straight channel. This was now full of stagnant water, while between it and the ford the ground was covered with thick timber. The stagnant water, while not very deep, afforded somewhat the same protection that a wire entanglement would, and the woods served as a screen to the advance guard of the Serbians stationed there to guard the crossing. Not far distant, farther up in Austrian territory, was a small town, Obrez.

After the Serbian army had crossed safely, it set to work clearing the timber away, it being no longer necessary to screen themselves from view, and a strong line of trenches was thrown across the neck of the isthmus, thus effectually protecting the ford for retreat, should that be necessary.

At this moment two regiments of infantry and a battery of artillery of the enemy appeared and attempted to oppose the further advance of the Serbians, but when the Serbian guns began shelling the forest opposite, this force fled in the direction of Obrez. Then the left of the Serbian force worked its way around toward the town itself and, after firing some dozens of shells, entered it and drove the Austrians still farther on.

The cavalry division now came up to secure possession of the town. The two divisions then set to work to intrench themselves. Meanwhile the Serbian right, advancing toward the northeast, encountered another force of the enemy, consisting of one regiment and two batteries, and, after a short skirmish, drove it back and occupied the two villages, Kupinovo and Progar. Thus the Serbian operations in this section fared well.

But at another point, on the extreme left, at Mitrovitza, they did not encounter such good fortune. The division operating here was to occupy and fortify Mitrovitza and with it a bridge, after which it was to advance and worry the enemy's flank. The actual point chosen for the construction of the bridge was a customs station at Jasenova Grada, between Mitrovitza and Jarak.

The column here had arrived at the river bank at midnight of September 5, 1914, and at early dawn had begun building the pontoon bridge. Meanwhile a steady artillery and rifle fire was kept up, sweeping the opposite bank, to keep back the enemy. The Serbian commander of this force had received instructions to the effect that as soon as he had moved his troops across safely, he was to send two regiments forward: one to the right, the other to the left, and the whole line was to advance and cover the territory between Mangjeloskabara and Shashinshi, the object being to push back any movement of the Austrians from Jarak.

As at Novoselo, an advance guard crossed in barges before the bridge had been thrown across. Immediately a heavy fire began from the enemy, hidden in the opposite forest. Many of the Serbians threw themselves into the river, and either swam or waded the rest of their way across.

Finally three barge loads had effected a crossing. While waiting for the rest to follow, sixty of the Serbians threw themselves over against the Austrians and, by their very boldness, drove them out of their trenches and took twenty prisoners.

Some delay in the building of the bridge followed, but more barge loads of soldiers were sent across, and the fighting with the Austrians was pushed vigorously. But meanwhile the enemy was also being reenforced, more rapidly for not having a river behind him. By evening the Serbians, who had crossed, found themselves tremendously outnumbered and fighting on the defensive. At that time, one of the Serbian Regiments, which had advanced as far as Shashinshi, found itself isolated, with both flanks exposed.

After two hours of stubborn fighting the regiment managed to draw back to the river bank, carrying with them a mass of wounded comrades, hoping there to find the support of the main body of their army. But the pontoon bridge had not yet been completed. Of the 400 yards across the river, only twenty remained unbridged. Seeing their advantage, the pursuing Austrians redoubled their attack furiously. The Serbian regiment, with half its men down, and only 60 feet of water between itself and the main corps, turned, with its back to the river, and fought back with equal fury.

With frantic haste, the Serbian engineers attempted to finish the building of their bridge, so that the main body of the troops might rush across and relieve the situation of the regiment defending itself against overwhelming numbers on the opposite bank. But before this could be accomplished, the wounded began throwing themselves into the pontoon nearest their side of the river. The mooring lines parted and the barge drifted away from the end of the bridge, down the river, loaded with wounded soldiers. The same happened to the next barge. To add to the disaster, the barges were old and leaky, and soon one of them filled with water and began sinking. Presently it sank, throwing the wounded into the river, where most of them were speedily drowned.

The Serbians on the Austrian shore, now seeing their last hope of support or escape cut off, continued fighting desperately until all their ammunition was gone. Then the handful of survivors surrendered. By this time it was already dark. The only one to escape across the river was the regimental surgeon who, carrying the regimental flag between his teeth, swam across the river and reached the main body of his countrymen safely.

Fortunately, the recklessness which led this attempted crossing to disaster did not characterize the movements of the main body which had crossed at Novoselo. The advance continued under carefully thrown out screens of cavalry, and was kept up until the trenches at the landing could be abandoned and a wider circle of defensive works could be thrown up, including within their line the villages already mentioned. Thus the three Serbian bases were strongly protected by a semicircle of field works, radiating from Kupinovo. Having secured this position, General Boyovitch, the Serbian field commander, advanced his cavalry in fanlike formation to the north and west. One division followed the cavalry on the right; another took a northeasterly direction.

By the evening of September 7, 1914, the enemy had been driven back to a line reaching from Detch to Nikintzi. No serious encounters occurred for some days, the Austrians evidently not desiring to make any serious opposition until they should have sufficient backing. But on the morning of September 9, 1914, the Serbian right came in contact with strongly intrenched Austrians at Detch and Surchin. During the first invasion the fighting had been under a tropical sun. Now the weather was cooler, almost cold at nights, which rendered the enthusiasm and the fighting of the men on both sides correspondingly more spirited. It was, therefore, with some vim that the Serbians threw themselves into an attack against Detch. After a determined resistance, the Austrians were forced out. Next Surchin became the center of battle, but here the Austrians held out stoutly, driving back the Serbian charges again and again.

All that day of September 9, 1914, the Serbian advance was checked, but the following morning, being reenforced, they charged into Surchin again and finally drove the Austrians out at the point of the bayonet. The Serbians then turned north and captured Dobranovtsi. And at this junction the Serbians stationed at Belgrade crossed the river there and advanced on Semlin.

On September 11, 1914, General Boyovitch moved his whole front forward, with the object of driving all of the enemy westward into the Frushkagora Mountains and gaining full possession of the plain. This would have left the two divisions and the cavalry free to advance against the mountain range itself. Having once gained that stronghold, the Serbians would then have under their control the whole district of Syrmia with its friendly population of Serbs.

The Serbians were now extended along a front from Hrtkovtsi to Pazova Nova while the Austrians were intrenched along a line from Jarak to Pazova Stara. The following morning the Serbian left occupied Pechintsi and advanced north to the Romer Canal, where they met a heavy fire and were compelled to intrench themselves. Farther west, however, the Serbians rushed the town of Jarak and took it by means of bayonets and hand bombs.

Such was the situation on September 12, 1914, when a bright, clear morning had dawned and a cool breeze swept over the plain. Off in the distance rose the blue ridges of the Frushkagora Mountains, streaked with the green of vegetation along their lower spurs. With tingling blood and renewed vitality the Serbians looked forward to the word of command which should send them onward, driving the Austrians before them.

But that word of command seemed long delayed. Finally, indeed, it came, but only to the cavalry. The horsemen were sent ahead, up and down the line, screening the men in the trenches. And then suddenly came the word to the men in the trenches.

"March!"

They did fall in and begin to march. But not forward. The heads of the columns turned toward the rear, back toward Serbia. Presently the whole Serbian army, just as further victories seemed all but won, was on the retreat. Behind them they heard the fire of their own cavalry, protecting their rear. The retreat was orderly and the river was recrossed without loss or confusion. Even more concerned and disappointed were the Serb peasants of the villages through which they passed, for these simple folk had thought the Magyars permanently beaten and that King Peter's men were now moving onward to take Vienna. They had, therefore, shown unmeasured enthusiasm and had showered gifts of chicken, milk, eggs and other rural dainties on their brother Serbs from Serbia, to the full extent of their slender resources. A few days later they had to pay dearly for this manifestation of their sympathies. When again the Magyars came down into their territory they became so oppressive toward these poor villagers that a Croatian regiment, whose members were racially akin to the Serbs, broke into open revolt and attacked the Magyars, the result being a pitched battle in which not only rifles, but machine guns and cannon were employed. Presently word was passed back and forth among the rank and file of the Serbian army explaining the disappointing retreat.

"The Austrians are swarming across the Drina again," their officers whispered. "There will be plenty of fighting yet, but it will be the same old battle ground."

Thus ended Serbia's brief invasion of Austrian soil.



CHAPTER LIII

AUSTRIA'S SECOND INVASION

The second Austrian invasion of Serbia began September 7, 1914. Had the Serbian General Staff known what mighty efforts the Austrians were to put forth at this second attempt to invade the country, it would never have undertaken the expedition into Syrmia. After the failure of the first invasion the Austrian staff placed at General Potiorek's disposition a force of 300,000 men, with a reserve of another 150,000 to draw upon, should the necessity become strong enough. Fortunately for the Serbians the Russian pressure in Galicia became so strong, later on, that this reserve force was sent through the Carpathians, and when the critical moment did arrive, General Potiorek was unable to avail himself of its assistance.

It may be well to know how the Austrian forces were disposed just before the second invasion. There were five whole army corps; one was stretched out from Klenak to Bosut; another from Bosut to Bijeljina; another from Janja to Kosluk and another from Kosluk to Zvornik. Aside from this force there was part of another corps lined up from Zvornik to Liubovia and one and a half divisions held the front from Semlin to Weisskirchen. Four battalions were kept busy by the Montenegrins.

It will be remembered that when the expedition into Syrmia began the bulk of the Serbian army was sent to the western frontier along the Drina, to be ready to invade Bosnia when the success of the Syrmia expedition should be assured. But so well is Bosnia wooded in this section that the Serbians had not been able to observe the concentration of troops that was going on before them across the Drina.

Suddenly, on the morning of September 7, 1914, the whole frontier along the Drina, from Jarak south, became alive with Austrian soldiers. North of Loznitza the fighting took on a very bloody and deadly character. All day the battle line swayed back and forth with a succession of attacks and counterattacks. Several times the Austrians almost broke through, but in the end their whole line was driven back across the river. In the Matchva district, however, they succeeded in holding a triangular patch of swamp land, bounded by Ravjne, Tolich and Jarak. But even here they were checked along a line from Ravjne to Tolich, where both sides intrenched and came to a deadlock for the time being. Here the two opposing lines continued their trench warfare without much spectacular demonstration, but with a tremendous loss of life to both sides and an expenditure of ammunition which the Serbians could little afford.

Along the line south of Loznitza the fighting was not so favorable to the Serbians. The forces stationed here had been weakened in the Syrmia expedition. And then, too, the country being extremely mountainous, they had overestimated the strength of their positions.

Here, on the morning of September 8, 1914, the Austrians began a general advance, beginning at Liubovia. At first they were successfully held back, but when they came on again with greatly augmented numbers, the Serbians were finally compelled to retire to a line of hills running from Guchevo, through Jagodina and Proslop to Rozani, where they intrenched themselves and prepared to resist any further advance.

The Austrians, however, continued to attack. Around Krupanie below Loznitza, the Serbians made a stubborn defense and succeeded in holding the heights of Kostainik. But their southern, or left, wing continued to be driven back.

By September 11, 1914, the Austrians had advanced as far as a line drawn from Shanatz to Petska. At this critical moment, however, one of the divisions of the force that had been recalled from Syrmia arrived and the combined forces were ordered to advance against the Sokolska Mountains, whose ridges were occupied by the Austrians.

The Serbians rushed the heights with their customary elan. The Austrians resisted stubbornly. They, in their turn, had been tasting the first draughts of victory, and were not so prepared to give in as on previous occasions. For a long time the fighting was hand to hand. The men even hurled big rocks at each other, grappled together in each other's arms and fought with knives and teeth. But finally some of the Austrians broke and scattered and presently all of them fled. Their trenches and ground on both sides of them, however, were covered with dead, Serbians and Austrians promiscuously mingling together.

So complete was the Serbian victory that their troops were now able to advance and form a new line from Shanatz to Brodjanska Glavitza, with the cavalry patrolling clear down to the Drina at Liubovia.

Further north, however, the Austrians were still in possession of Matchko Kamen (Cat Rock). Here the fighting had been most terrific, the heights having been taken and retaken no less than eight times. This position dominated all the country around within artillery range. By taking this strategic point the Serbians would have had complete possession of a chain of heights which begin with Guchevo on the north, and would have constituted a natural frontier which could have been held with a minimum force of troops and expenditure of ammunition. But this move was not carried out. Both sides were literally tired out. The Serbians were unable to advance any farther, while the Austrians were content with not being driven back any farther. They were, also, no doubt worried by the fact that down in the southern section the Serbians had succeeded in not only driving the Austrians across the river, but had even advanced some distance into the Bosnian hills.



CHAPTER LIV

END OF SECOND INVASION—BEGINNING OF THIRD

Thus the second Austrian invasion was checked. The strategy was, perhaps, not so spectacular as in the first invasion, but the losses to both sides had been much heavier. In killed, wounded and prisoners the Austrians lost fully 30,000 of their men. There now followed a situation somewhat similar to that up in northern France; both sides were deeply intrenched and in some parts faced each other over only a few yards of neutral ground. Again and again the Austrians delivered attacks, attempting to break through the Serbian positions. All the arts of trench warfare were employed by the Austrians to overcome the Serbian resistance, but the Serbian engineers showed themselves at least their equals in such maneuvers. At one time they successfully mined over a hundred yards of Austrian trenches and blew 250 of its defenders into the air.

As for the Serbians, their attempts to break through the Austrian positions were fatally hampered by a shortage of ammunition. At one point they did, in fact, succeed in breaking through and then suddenly the ammunition supply came to an end and the Serbians had to retire again, leaving the Austrians to return to the trenches from which they had just been ejected.

Up in the northwest the Austrians also held a narrow strip of Serbian territory, along the Drina from Kuriachista up, but with this small exception they were confined to their side of the river until the triangular tract in the northeast of the Matchva Plain was reached, previously mentioned.

Along the Save from Parashnitza to Shabatz they had also attempted a southward movement, where they were supported by five river monitors. During the period of comparatively little activity which now followed the Serbians were much worried by these monitors, which patrolled up and down the river at night, throwing their searchlights on and exposing the Serbian trenches. Then, too, they could hurl bombs into the Serbian positions with almost absolute impunity, for whenever the Serbian shells struck the heavy armor of these river fortresses they rolled off harmlessly.

On the night of October 22, 1914, the Serbians sent some mines floating down the river, one of which struck a monitor and sank it in deep water.

For nearly six weeks through November, 1914, this deadlock continued. But during all this time, the Austrian General Staff was quietly preparing for another grand drive through Serbia. It was then that the 150,000 reserve, previously mentioned, was assigned to General Potiorek's disposal, while his first line was also materially strengthened.

Nor did the third invasion begin with any dramatic effort. The pressure was applied gradually, little by little, until the Serbs were finally face to face with the necessity of shortening their lines, if they were not to be broken through. Other causes besides the increasing pressure from the Austrians contributed to the general causes.

Winter was coming on in earnest now. The low bottom lands in the Matchva Plain were becoming waterlogged; it was impossible to keep the trenches from filling. The Serbians had, in the first place, made a mistake in attempting to hold these Matchva levels. On such battle grounds, the Magyars, from their own level plains, were too nearly their equals. On level ground, too, the defenders have less the advantage, unless they are in equal number, and the Serbians were everywhere in smaller number. This inferiority, too, made it less possible for the Serbian soldiers to obtain periods of rest away from the constant vigilance necessary in the first line trenches. The result was that they were under a more severe strain. They were subjected to all the drawbacks of trench warfare at its worst, without the respite that is usually accorded to men under these conditions on other fronts. The nerve-racking strain thus imposed became finally more than ordinary human beings could endure. Small wonder that the correspondents with the Serbian army reported many cases of insanity among the men in the trenches.

Finally the order came to withdraw from the Matchva Plain, to the foothills of the Tzer Mountains and the heights along the right bank of the Dobrava River. This retreat, made in the face of no specially strong attack, did not a little to depress the Serbian rank and file. It was beginning to feel that its strength was sapping away.

It was soon obvious that a more general retirement would now become necessary. Complete command of the Tzer Mountains could not be attained without the expenditure of more energy and ammunition than the Serbians could afford at this time. So a general withdrawal was ordered, along the whole line. The Austrians, many of them fresh troops, unused to defeat, followed up in the footsteps of the retreating Serbians with enthusiastic vigor, from Shabatz to Liubovia. And presently Valievo, the railroad terminus and the first objective of the Austrians, became untenable.

On November 11, 1914, the Serbians were compelled to evacuate this city. Its capture was the first step in the progress of the Austrians toward Kragujevatz, Nish and a junction with the Turks near Constantinople. Still, as later events will show, the Serbians were by no means the beaten rabble described by the Vienna press. The score or more of cannon which the Serbians were compelled to abandon on account of the bad condition of the mountain roads were hailed as evidence of a hardly won campaign, and the stragglers captured were accepted as signs of a demoralization which had as yet not set in.

On the other hand, whether this first success was real or not, it did serve to inspire the Austrian troops with an enthusiasm which they had hitherto not possessed.

The Serbians had not yet been driven back on the line along which they had originally intended to make their first stand against the invaders. During the period between the first mobilization and the beginning of the first invasion on August 12, 1914, what are referred to as the Kolubara and Lyg positions had been strongly intrenched. But it had not proven necessary to fall back on these positions; the Austrians had been driven back at once. But now, after the fall of Valievo, the Serbians decided to make no further resistance to the Austrian advance until this line was reached.

The Kolubara River itself is not of sufficient width to hold back an advancing army long, but in places its banks rise so high and steep that it serves very much the same purpose as a moat before a castle. In such places comparatively few men could hold back a large number of the enemy. A little south of Lazarevatz the line of intrenchments left the Kolubara and followed the Lyg River, where the country was even more rugged. From the source of the Lyg the Serbians had fortified the Jeljak and Maljen ridges, which control practically all the roads leading to Kragujevatz and, proceeding in a southwesterly direction, they threw up earthworks on the Bukovi, Varda, Jelova, Bukovic, Miloshevatz and Leska Gora ranges, which defended an advance toward the Western Morava Valley.



CHAPTER LV

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.



CHAPTER LVI

CRISIS OF THE CAMPAIGN—AUSTRIAN DEFEAT

We have now arrived at the critical point, not only of the third Austrian invasion, but of all the military operations in the Serbian theatre. If the Austrians should now again be driven back, it would be practically impossible for them to make another invasion unaided, at least so long as they were engaged with Russia. And, on the other hand, if the Serbians lost now, the whole country was lost. The climax was at hand. For this reason it may be well to define again the position and the strength of the two opposing lines.

On November 28, 1914, the Serbian units were disposed as follows: The Second Army, from Vechani to Vagan; the Third Army, from Kalanjevchi to Kelja; the First Army, from Silopaj to Galich; the Uzitsha Army, from Kita to Markovitza.

The Austrians had four mountain brigades in the direction of the Western Morava Valley; about one and a half army corps on the road along Valievo to Milanovatz; an entire corps against Lazarevatz and two corps moving eastward against the Serbian line from Belgrade to Mladenovatz.

On the night of November 29, 1914, to shorten this long line the Serbians decided to withdraw from Belgrade. A redistribution of the Serbian forces was then made as follows: the troops from the Kolubara retired to the heights about Sibnitza and the Belgrade detachment was thrown astride the Belgrade-Nish Railroad along the summits of Varoonitza in the east and Kosmai in the west. Elsewhere the positions remained practically the same as before. Apparently General Putnik felt that the retreat of the First Army, which had caused the general retirement of the Serbian front, had not been absolutely necessary, for the commander of that force was now relieved and in his place was appointed General Mishitch, a member of the General Staff. How wise this change was may be judged from the later behavior of the First Army, which was destined yet to retrieve itself.

To the trained military observer, the strategic plan of the Austrians would by this time have become apparent. With the Suvobor Mountains as a central pivot, they had strengthened their wings and attempted to swing around in the north by Mladenovatz and south down the Western Morava Valley. Had this movement been safely accomplished the mass of the Serbian army, together with their arsenal at Kragujevatz, would have been rounded up, after which the new Serbian capital, Nish, would have followed easily and Serbia would have been completely in Austrian hands.

On December 2, 1914, this was the plan which the Austrians were putting into execution, in rather a leisurely way, when the Serbians, having drawn in their breath for a final effort, began their great counterattack. Nor can there be any doubt that the Austrians were completely surprised by this sudden renewal of the Serbian strength. It is only necessary to read the press dispatches from Vienna, issued during the few days previous, to be convinced that General Potiorek had reported the Serbians as completely defeated. Not only the Austrians, but the whole world was surprised by the startling change that now took place in the Serbian theatre.

Under the command of General Mishitch, the First Army hurled itself against Suvobor and, after a bloody three days' struggle, took the heights and pushed in the Austrian center, driving its forces in this section in a disorganized flight toward Valievo. The days that ended the first invasion were renewed. Nor was this flight a mere sudden panic; it had, in fact, risen in a crescendo, from a small beginning, until it developed into a veritable debacle.

At first the Austrians had attempted an orderly withdrawal, as testified by their effort to take with them all their heavy artillery. The scene that occurred near Gorni Toplitza will serve to illustrate the whole retreat. Here, where the road winds around a commanding bluff, which overlooks a valley, the Austrians had planted a battery of field guns, right on the edge of the cliff. In the road leading up to this height were placed a score of ammunition wagons from which little two-wheeled carts were employed to carry the ammunition up to the guns. Deployed on the flank of this position, the Serbian gunners had suddenly covered it with a terrible enfilading fire and men, horses, carts, and wagons lay in a mangled heap. There were dead horses in the shafts of the carts, whose bridles were still clutched by the hands of dead men. Some few had tried to escape the avalanche of flying steel and as they ran they hurled from them caps, ammunition, haversacks and rifles only to be raked down before they could reach the shelter of a neighboring ravine. And this was merely one little corner of the general scene. All along the road to Valievo the ground was strewn with material, even to the rations of the soldiers, jolted out of the knapsacks as they were cast down by their fleeing owners.

During that first day of fighting the First Army captured twelve officers, 1,500 men, five mountain howitzers and four machine guns, then advanced, until by nightfall it was able to take up a position along a line from Kostuniche to Vranovicha. During this time the Uzitsha Army was fiercely attacked in its position on both sides of the Western Morava Valley, but it succeeded in driving back the assaults. The Third Army had also advanced slowly toward Lipet, taking over 500 prisoners and two machine guns. The Second Army met desperate opposition, but finally began surging ahead and soon sent in its share of captured war material and prisoners.

In the north an important force of the Austrians was making toward Belgrade, to lead a triumphal entry. Reconnoitering parties, sent out from the flank of this body, were seen in the direction of Slatina and Popovitch.

The decided successes of this first day's fighting acted as a powerful stimulant on the previously depressed Serbian rank and file, though they still realized that there was many a hard fought attack to be driven into the vitals of the ponderous body of the enemy before he could be finally hurled back across the frontier. The Austrians still remained in possession of mountain positions of great natural strength, which could only be taken at the point of the bayonet. But the Serbians had recovered their morale; again they were fighting with that energy and vigor which had characterized their assaults during the first and second invasions. And they were amply rewarded.

By December 5, 1914, the First Army had retaken the dominating heights of the Suvobor Mountains and the summit of Rajatz. The Third Army, after buckling back a stubborn resistance, advanced as far as Vrlaja during the day. During that same night the Austrians were driven from Lipet, leaving 2,000 of their own number behind as prisoners. The Second Army, on its part, had pushed steadily on and by night it reached Kremenitza and Barosnevatz. The Uzitsha Army, opposed by greater numbers, was unable to participate in the general forward movement, but, on the other hand, it held its own during the day's fighting. During that night it hurled itself at the enemy, and by morning he was retreating toward Zelenibreg.

There was now no longer any doubt that the chances of success for this third invasion of Serbia were beginning to assume very slender proportions. The three army corps in the Austrian center and right had been completely broken and were now retreating in mad, disorganized flight toward Valievo and Rogatitza. Even should the Serbians fail to follow up this section of the enemy's forces with full vigor; even should it have a few days for re-forming, the loss of so much war material made such a possibility very difficult. There would hardly be time, under any circumstance, to draw fresh supplies from over the frontier before the Serbians could come up with them.

On December 7, 1914, the Uzitsha Army reached Pozega. The First Army, after storming and taking the heights of Maljen, advanced and formed a line between Maljen and Toplitza. The Third Army made a strong push forward and reached the line from Milovatz to Dubovitza, making a great haul of guns and prisoners. Only the Second Army failed to make any headway. Obviously, the Austrian field commander realized that the situation in the center was lost; this would account for his attempted diversion in the north. Here two Austrian corps held their ground successfully and they not only were able to check the advance of the Second Army, but they advanced to an attack against the detachment of Belgrade at Kosmai and Varoonitza.

On the whole, however, the fortunes of war had, during that day, rested decidedly with the Serbians. They had captured 29 officers, 6,472 men, 27 field guns, 1 mountain gun, 15 gun carriages, 56 wagons loaded with artillery ammunition and between 500 and 600 ordinary transport wagons. Above all, the situation in the south, where it had at first seemed most hopeless, was now retrieved beyond question and the Austrians in that section were fleeing helter-skelter before a lively Serbian advance, led by the Serbian Generals Yourishich and Mishitch.

The next day, December 8, 1914, began with hard fighting around Uzitsha, but the division here (the Uzitsha detachment), was not to be pressed back on its very own home soil; the Austrian lines wavered, broke, then scattered, the soldiers fleeing for the frontier. The First Army continued triumphantly, as it had done the day before, advancing and sweeping all in its way before it. It ended the day by storming and entering Valievo.

The Austrians holding Valievo had carefully prepared for its defense, for this town they were reluctant to give up. The approach by the main road had been heavily intrenched and the guns were in position. But the main force of the Serbians circled around in the hills and flanked the position of the Austrians, taking them completely by surprise. They broke and ran, and while the fugitives hurried off toward Loznitza and Shabatz, a rear guard of Hungarians on the hills to the northwest put up a rather indifferent fight before they, too, fled in mad disorder. The last of them were caught by the Serbian artillery and, while running over a stretch of rising ground, over a hundred were shot to pieces by shrapnel. When the Serbians arrived the ground was literally covered with mangled forms; here and there sat a few wounded.

The Third Army likewise shared in the general triumph. It reached the Kolubara, at its junction with the Lyg. Throwing out one of its divisions eastward, it threatened the right flank of the enemy on Cooka, then permitted the Second Army to carry that position. By this movement the Serbians succeeded in driving in a wedge and completely cut off the three beaten and fleeing corps in the south from the two in the north, which were still showing some disposition to hold their ground.

The operations in the west and northwest now resolved themselves into a wild, scrambling foot race for the frontier. The worst of the fighting was now over; indeed, the Austrians now fought only when cornered. Most of them were by this time unarmed, thinking of nothing but how to reach the frontier before the first of the pursuing Serbians.

Only a powerful literary pen could paint such a picture as was now spread over the land of Serbia. Wounded warriors, now resolving themselves into helpless, suffering farmers, simple tillers of the soil, save for the tatters of their blue and gray uniforms which alone indicated what they had been, lay by the roadsides and along mountain trails, abandoned by their comrades. Others lay mangled, their forms beaten out of all recognition. Scattered over all, wherever road or trail passed, lay guns and cartridges, sometimes in heaps, where they had been dumped out of the fleeing wagons. And further on lay the wagons themselves, some thrown over on their sides, where the drivers had cut the traces and continued their flight on the backs of their horses.

Later in the day, December 8, 1914, the scenes along the highways took on a different character. The main columns of the pursuing Serbians had passed on, but straggling files of those too tired or too weak to be in the fore of the chase still continued onward. More slowly followed a steady stream of returning refugees, their oxen, in various stages of life and death, yoked up to every conceivable manner of springless vehicle, piled high with odds and ends of furniture and bedding which had been snatched up in the mad hurry of flight. On top of the bundles lay sick and starving children, wan with want and exposure. Beside the wagon walked weary women or old men, urging their animals on with weird cries and curses, returning to the devastated remains of what had once been their homes.

Later still, from opposite directions, came processions of Austrian prisoners, sometimes thousands of them, guarded by a handful of Third Ban Serbian soldiers, still wearing their peasant costumes. Among the prisoners were smooth-faced youths and old men, some in the uniforms of soldiers, or of Landwehr, or Landsturm. All types of that hodge-podge of nationalities and races which the flag of Austria-Hungary represents were there; Germans, Magyars, Croats, Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks, Rumanians, Lithuanians, and Bosnian Musselmans.

In between the convoys straggled men of the Serbian army who had fallen out of the chase by the way, most of them Third Ban men, too advanced in years to keep up the pace set by the younger men. Nowhere moved anything but suffering, bleeding humanity.

On this scene the sun, a glowing disc of copper, finally set, and the struggling figures merged into the deepening dusk, and presently only black, halting shadows were creeping along the dark trails and roads.



CHAPTER LVII

THE FATE OF BELGRADE

During all this time a separate drama was being enacted in and around Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Unfortified and not especially adapted for defense, except for the breadth of the Danube flowing along its low front, it was the cause of a general, world-wide wonder that it should not have fallen almost immediately into Austrian hands. Quite aside from military values, the capture of an enemy's capital always makes a strong, moral impression, on both sides.

Beginning with the early morning of July 29, 1914, when a detachment of Serbian irregulars beat off a river steamer and two troop laden barges which were attempting to approach the shore just below Belgrade, there followed a period during which the citizens of the city had their full share in experiencing the horrors of warfare. The booming of heavy siege artillery and the screaming of shells at first startled them, then became so commonplace as barely to attract their attention. The attacks and counterattacks on mid-river islands became incidents of daily occurrence. Ruined buildings, wrecked houses and dead bodies in the streets became an unmarked portion of their everyday life.

For the greater part of this period Austrian cannon, planted across the river, poured shell, shrapnel, and incendiary bombs into the city, with intent to batter down its modern buildings and to terrorize the inhabitants. Over 700 buildings were struck by bombs, shells, or shrapnel, and of these sixty were the property of the state, including the university, the museum, foreign legations, hospitals, and factories. The foundries, bakeries and all the factories along the Serbian shore of the river were razed to the ground. Austrian howitzer shells dropped through the roof of the king's palace and wrecked all of the gorgeous interior. The university was riddled until the building, with its classrooms, laboratories, library, and workshops, was entirely demolished. Even the cellars were destroyed by great shells, which broke down the walls, pierced their way into the very bowels of the earth and there exploded. As the result of a steady fire to destroy the state bank, one street, running up from the water's edge, was ripped up from curb to curb. Missiles pierced the wood paving and its concrete foundations by small holes, passed along underground for some distance, then exploded, throwing particles of the roadway to all sides.

Many of these shells were fired from the Austrian batteries stationed over near Semlin, but presently there also appeared a fleet of river monitors, so heavily armored that no Serbian shell could pierce their sides. These would parade up and down the river channel with impunity, adding their share to the general destruction.

Finally, in the beginning of November, 1914, there arrived in Belgrade two big 14-centimeter cannon, sent by the French Government by way of the Adriatic, together with French gunners and 20,000 rounds of ammunition. These were put into position above the city and on November 8, 1914, the French gunners sent their first message over into Hungary. The damage inflicted so impressed the monitors that they did not again venture into range. Moreover, spies, of whom there were probably a number in Belgrade, had doubtless notified the Austrians that measures, were now being taken to mine the river effectively. In fact, many measures for a more effective offensive were being undertaken when the trend of operations in the interior forced the Serbian General Staff to order the evacuation of the capital.

It will be remembered that the Serbians had been beaten back from their main line of defense and that a rearrangement of the Serbian forces had thereby become necessary, in order that the line might be shortened.

This included the abandonment of Belgrade on November 29, 1914. The order was carried out during the night. But before retiring, the French gunners, who saw that they were going to lose their two big guns, determined to bid the enemy across the river a hearty good-by. In the early morning they fired off their stock of 240 rounds of ammunition and in a little more than half an hour deposited some twelve tons of melinite on the enemy's forts at Bezania, with such terrifying effect that the garrison abandoned it. Thus it came to pass that the two strongholds, having snarled and barked at each other across the dividing waters for nearly five months, were both evacuated at the same time.

As will be remembered, the right wing of the Serbian lines, now joined by the garrison of Belgrade, swung back and stretched across the Belgrade-Nish railroad, along the ridges of Varoonitza in the east and Kosmai in the west. The Austrian left, composed of two army corps, immediately covered the ceded territory and, of course, entered Belgrade. Then followed the strong Serbian counterattack against the Austrian center along the Suvobor ridges and the complete demoralization of the Austrian forces from the center south.

The northern wing of the Austrians, however, which held the country around Belgrade succeeded in holding its own, though it was presently cut off from the rest of the Austrian forces. But this was all according to the plans of General Putnik. Being much outnumbered he could not spare the forces necessary to rout the enemy's strong northern force. Having broken the center of Potiorek's front, the Serbian commander gave his chief attention to capturing the Austrian southern wing, operating in the Western Morava Valley.

On December 8 and 9, 1914, the Serbian right wing had been hard pressed along the line from Kosmai to Varoonitza, but the completeness of the Austrian defeat in the other theatres enabled General Putnik to rearrange his troops. He therefore dispatched the left wing of the Third Army against Obrenovatz, attached the rest of the Third Army and the cavalry division to the Second Army and placed this new combination of forces, together with the garrison of Belgrade, under the command of Voivode Stepanovitch, he who had made so brilliant a record at the first battle on the Tzer ridges.



CHAPTER LVIII

ATTEMPTS TO RETAKE BELGRADE

On December 10, 1914, General Stepanovitch immediately began a movement against Belgrade which had now been in the hands of the Austrians since the first of the month. At this time the Third Army was pressing on toward Obrenovatz, the cavalry division held the left bank of the Beljanitza River, the Second Army was holding a line from Volujak to Neminikuchir, the Belgrade detachment still maintained the ridges along Kosmai and Varoonitza and a detachment, which had come up from Semendria, occupied Pudarchi. The troops thus formed a crescent, with one horn touching the Save and the other the Danube, Belgrade being the star in the middle.

The Austrian main positions stretched from Obrenovatz up the right bank of the Kolubara to Konatitche and then across to Grooka through Boran, Vlashko and Krajkova Bara.

There now followed what was probably the most stubborn fighting of the third invasion: either the Austrian soldiers composing this northern army were better material, or the Austrian commanders were especially animated with the necessity of holding Belgrade.

On the morning of December 11, 1914, the Serbian advance began. As possession of the railroad was of first importance, the center pushed rapidly ahead until it reached Vlashko heights. Again and again the Serbians charged up the slopes of this eminence, only to be beaten back. But finally, toward evening, the Austrians fell back and the summit was taken, thereby giving the Serbians control of the railroad at Ralia; the terminus of the line, in fact, for a tunnel several miles farther north had been blown up by the Serbians on the day they had evacuated Belgrade.

Early the next day, December 12, 1914, the advance was continued and the left wing of the Third Army reached Obrenovatz and its right occupied a line from Konatitche to Boshdarevatz. The Second Army occupied the summits designated as Hills 418 and 287 and the Belgrade detachment advanced to a front from Koviona to Krajkova Bara.

Thus, with astonishing swiftness, and in spite of the stubborn resistance, the crescent was contracting and the Austrians were being squeezed back into Belgrade. But they continued their desperate resistance, fighting over every foot of ground before surrendering it. By December 13, 1914, the enemy had been routed from all the territory lying between the Save and the Drina, but with such desperation did the Austrians cling to Belgrade that they delivered repeated counterattacks upon the Serbian positions at Koviona and Krajkovo Bara before they finally retired north.

The triumphant Serbians, though they had suffered severely, followed up the retreat vigorously, pressing along the banks of the Topchiderska River on the left and up the main road on the right. The left wing had advanced up the Kolubara River toward its junction with the Save, which was eight miles behind the Austrian front. The enemy had to draw back for fear of being suddenly taken in the rear. Two monitors were sent up the river to check the Serbian cavalry division, which was trying to work its way around the marshes and thus cut off the Austrian force entirely. But this movement of the left wing was merely a feint; it was intended simply to make the Austrian line waver. While the Austrians were maneuvering in answer to this feint, the Serbian center was pushing its advance.

The Austrians had attempted to check the Serbian advance by intrenching heavy rear-guard forces in several strong positions, the nature of the country being especially suited to such tactics. The hills along the road north of Ralia are, indeed, strategic points of immense military value. But the Serbians, their capital now almost in view, pressed on with frantic vigor.

The Austrians fought manfully, giving them one of the best fights they had yet been through. Instead of merely clinging to their hill intrenchments, they made fierce and determined efforts to pierce the Serbian line. It was in one of these counterattacks, near the central height, where the railroad entered a tunnel, that the resistance of the Austrians was broken. After the Serbian riflemen, with their machine guns, had thrown back the enemy, the Serbian artillery caught the retiring masses of blue and gray clad soldiers of the Dual Empire.

This produced a panic in the densely packed retreating column, whereupon the Serbian infantrymen leaped out of their trenches and dashed forward in pursuit, forming two pursuing columns, one on either flank of the fleeing Austrians, like wolves worrying a wounded buffalo. And as these streams of Serbians ran uphill more rapidly than the blue-gray flood moved, the Austrian rear guards, composed of heavy forces, turned to check the pursuit.

On the morning of December 14, 1914, the Serbians approached the southern defenses of Belgrade, where the Austrians must make their last stand; along a line from Ekmekluk to Banovobrodo. Here General Potiorek had constructed a system of earthworks, consisting of deep trenches with shrapnel cover and well-concealed gun positions, with numerous heavy howitzers and fieldpieces. Evidently he hoped to withstand an indefinite siege on this fragment of Serbian territory, holding Belgrade as a bridgehead for another advance toward the main Morava Valley, when the next effort to invade Serbia should be made. He would, at the same time, preserve at least a semblance of his prestige from all the calamities that had befallen his armies, enabling him to represent the campaign as a reconnaissance in force, similar to Hindenburg's first advance against Warsaw.

But his troops had been so terribly punished that they could not garrison the siege defenses. The Serbians, now drunk with their many victories, and absolutely reckless of death, as they drove on toward their capital, with their old king, grandson of Black George, moving through their foremost ranks, charged up into the ring of hills.

The last fight, on December 14, 1914, which definitely broke the back of the last effort of the Austrians to maintain a footing on Serbian soil, took place on the central height, Torlak. Two battalions of Magyars were defending this point. And just as the sun was setting over in the Matchva swamps in a glow of fiery clouds, the foremost Serbians leaped up to the attack.

Long before the fight was over darkness set in. The Serbians, driven back again and again, came back like bounding rubber balls. Finally they gained the trenches, and one general, horrible melee of struggling, shouting, furious combatants set in. The shooting had died down; they were fighting with bayonets and knives now. Finally the tumult died down. But nearly every Austrian on that height died. Few escaped and not very many were taken prisoners. Then, under cover of the night, the Serbians spread over the other heights and captured the whole line of defense works.

No Serbian slept that night. They tugged and dragged at their heavy guns through all the dark hours, up toward the city, and placed them on heights commanding the pontoon bridges that had been thrown over the Save from Semlin.

When dawn broke on December 15, 1914, a heavy mist hung over the river, but the Serbians knew with accuracy the location of the pontoon bridge. All during the previous day and during the night the retreating Austrians had been crowding over this bridge to escape into Austrian territory. At first the retirement had been orderly, but later in the day, as the news from the front became more serious, as the low, distant roar of rifle and machine gun rolled nearer, the movement increased in intensity, and, during the night, developed into a hurried scamper. Cannon were unlimbered and thrown into the river, and troops fought among themselves over the right of way along the narrow plank walk. In the midst of this confusion, while yet thousands of the invaders were still on the Serbian side of the river, just as dawn was breaking, there came a deep report, the hissing of a flying steel missile, and a shell dropped in the middle of one of the pontoon supports, hurling timber and human beings up into the air. The confusion now became a wild panic. Some tried to return to the Serbian shore, others fought on. Dozens of the struggling figures rolled over the side of the bridge into the eddying currents of the waters.

Again came the dull, heavy report, then another and another, followed by the screeching overhead. Shells dropped into the water on all sides. And then another bomb burst on the pontoon where the first shell had landed.

Even the roar of the shouting soldiers could not be heard above the crashing of timbers, the snapping of mooring chains. The bridge swayed, then caved in, where the pontoon had been struck and was sinking. Between the two broken-off ends, still crowded with struggling humanity, rushed the turbid current of the river. The last road to safety had been cut.

Presently the fog lifted and revealed a long line of retreating Austrians, reaching down the road toward Obrenovatz, still heading desperately for the bridge, as unconscious of its destruction as a line of ants whose hill has been trampled in by a cow's hoof. But they were not long to remain unconscious of the fact that they were now prisoners of war.



CHAPTER LIX

SERBIANS RETAKE THE CITY—END OF THIRD INVASION

As the sun rose on December 15, 1914, the Serbian cavalry, accompanied by King Peter, swept down from the heights of Torlak and entered the streets of the capital. A volley from the remnant of a Hungarian regiment met them. The cavalrymen dismounted and began driving the Magyars down the streets, from one square to another. And while this fight, an armed riot rather than a military action, was going on, finally to end in the practical slaughter of all the Hungarians who would not surrender, the king entered the cathedral of his capital to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for the deliverance of his kingdom from the hands of the enemy. And even as the Mass ended, stray shots echoed through the streets of the city still.

Two hours later the Crown Prince Alexander, accompanied by his brother, Prince George, a strong cavalry escort, and the British military attache, approached Belgrade. They were met on the outskirts by a crowd of women and children who, with a few exceptions, were all of the inhabitants that remained, the Austrians having carried the others off with them the day before. They had collected masses of flowers, and with these they bombarded and decorated the incoming soldiers. The girls brought the embroidered scarfs and sashes, which they had worked in preparation for marriage, and these they hung about the cavalrymen's necks until they looked as though they were celebrating at a village wedding. Huge tricolor streamers now hung from the houses and buildings, while bits of dirty bunting fluttered from the cottages.

In the streets of Belgrade the Austrians left 5 cannon, 8 ammunition wagons, 440 transport wagons, and 1,000 horses. Some 150 junior officers and 10,000 men also found their retreat suddenly cut off; among them were few officers of high rank. In one of the officers' headquarters the evening meal was still spread on the table, the soup half consumed, the wine half drunk.

So ended the third Austrian invasion of Serbia. Of the army of 300,000 men who had crossed the Drina and Save rivers, not over 200,000 returned. During the last thirteen days of the operations the Serbians had captured 41,538 prisoners, including 323 officers, and enormous quantities of war material; 133 cannon, 71 machine guns, 29 gun carriages, 386 ammunition wagons, 45 portable ovens, 3,350 transport wagons, 2,243 horses, and 1,078 oxen. The Austrian killed and wounded numbered not far from 60,000.

The Austrian occupation of Belgrade had lasted just fourteen days. The invaders had evidently not counted on the disaster that was so soon to come to them. Under the guidance of their late military attache in Serbia they had established themselves in the best available buildings, began to repair the streets, which they themselves had ripped open by shell fire, and set up the semblance of a city administration. But it was still evident that no central authority from above had as yet been able to assert itself. The personality of each commander, was represented by the marks left behind in his district. The buildings occupied by one military authority remained cleanly and intact, even the king's photograph being left undamaged. In others, furniture was destroyed and the royal image shot and slashed to pieces. Entire sections of the town escaped pillage. Other quarters were plundered from end to end. While the cathedral and other churches were not seriously damaged, the General Post Office was completely wrecked. The furniture in the Sobranje, the house of the national assembly, was destroyed and broken, and the Royal Palace was stripped from floor to ceiling, the contents being carted off to Hungary in furniture vans, brought especially from Semlin for that purpose.

With the army of occupation came 800 wounded soldiers from the other theatres of operations. Most of them were immediately turned over to the American Red Cross unit established in Belgrade, already caring for 1,200 wounded Serbians. As the fighting continued in the interior these numbers were constantly augmented, until the American hospital sheltered nearly 3,000 wounded men.

When the evacuation began the Austrians left their own wounded, but took with them the Serbian patients, to swell the number of their prisoners of war. Several hundred of the non-combatant citizens were also taken into captivity.

In the importance of its influence on the war as a whole, the achievement of the Serbians in repelling the three Austrian invasions will probably be found, when the later history of the war is finally written, to take very high rank. For had Serbia fallen, the Teutonic Empires would have been united with little delay to their Turkish allies. Austria might then have been able to hold off the Russians by herself, while the Germans would thereby have been so much stronger for pressing their campaigns in Belgium and East Prussia; with what results can only be guessed. The Austrians themselves were astounded by the extraordinary power of little Serbia. Their last disaster, indeed, so roused their anger that they began preparing again for another attempt to conquer this stubborn little nation.

Calling the Germans to their aid, they began in January, 1915, to collect a new army, 400,000 strong, which was ranged along the Serbian frontier. But the pressure from the Russians on the Carpathian front presently became so heavy that this body of troops was needed there, and so Serbia was left in peace for the time being.

Thenceforward only insignificant fighting took place between the belligerents on each side of the river, such fighting being mostly in the nature of artillery actions. Belgrade was not again, during that period at least, subjected to bombardment. An arrangement was made between the Serbian and Austrian commanders whereby the Serbians refrained from firing on Semlin, and the Austrians spared Belgrade.

There was, however, some activity on the river itself. Belgrade was now garrisoned by a mixed force of Serbians, British, and French, the British being mostly gunners, who had been detached, together with some big naval guns, from the British navy. For some time before they arrived the Austrian monitors and picket boats had again been patrolling the Danube and annoying the Serbians, but the Belgrade garrison put an end to the activities of these vessels with their big guns. The British sailors especially rendered good service by means of a small picket boat commanded by Lieutenant Commander Kerr. Though armed with only a single machine gun, this small boat was so persistently troublesome to the enemy that it earned for itself the name "Terror of the Danube." Of dark nights it would poke its way into creeks and passages, alarming the Austrians constantly and causing them no little loss. Once it even succeeded in persuading one of the monitors to pursue it into a carefully prepared mine field, over against the Serbian shore, with the result that the monitor was permanently put out of action. But these operations were of minor importance just then. For now Serbia was called on to face a new enemy, in some of its aspects much more terrible than the Austrians, for it demanded a sort of fighting in which the Serbians were not so well trained. The Austrians had, indeed, left behind them an ally that was to accomplish as much mischief almost as they themselves had caused the Serbians.