Bear clearly in mind that in the existence of this narrow way to

the Orient lies the key not only to the causes of the war, but to

the military campaigns that we shall follow in this region. For

it is the Teutons who would in the Great War, like the Crusaders

of old, pass down this highway and again conquer the East, though

in this case their object is trade, and not the Holy Sepulcher.

To secure the pathway through this strategic country it also is

necessary to have control of the territory on all sides, and this

is quite as true in a political as in a military sense. To secure

their pathway up into Europe the Turks once conquered all the peoples

in the Balkans, except those inhabiting the mountains over on the

Adriatic: the Montenegrins and a small city called Ragusa, just

above Montenegro in Dalmatia. It is not at all peculiar that just

here, in almost the same locality, the Teutons should meet with

the first and strongest resistance.

A study of the territory in which the first fighting of the war

occurred will explain the foregoing calculations. It will be observed

that Austrian territory runs down past the eastward turn in the

Danube, along the frontier of Montenegro, until it narrows gradually

into a tip at Cattaro, just below Cettinje, the Montenegrin capital.

This land is composed of the three provinces of Bosnia, Herzegovina

and Dalmatia. All this territory is inhabited by the same race

that peoples Serbia and Montenegro--the Serbs. In fact, the Slavic

population reaches up all along the coast to Trieste, and even a

little beyond. For this reason it is in this direction that we shall

see the Serbians and the Montenegrins invade Austrian territory,

after their initial success in repulsing the Austrian invasion.

The objectives of the brief campaign soon to be considered were

Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, and Ragusa, the famous little

seaport on the Adriatic. Ragusa is of especial interest on account of

its remarkable history. In the Middle Ages it was the most important

seaport in that part of the world. Its ships sailed over all the

Mediterranean and from them is derived the word "argosy," signifying

a ship laden with wealth. Again and again the Turks attempted to

conquer this little state, which was at that time a republic, but

always the Ragusans beat off the enemy. For the country about is

so rocky, so rough, that the city was easily defended, especially

in that time when nearly all fighting was hand to hand.

The first and foremost word in the Great War--the key word--is

Sarajevo. Here is the scene of the assassination of the Crown Prince

of Austria, which was at least the final cause of the war. As we

enter it we find a population of about forty thousand, half of

which are Mohammedans. It is a large, straggling town, situated

in a narrowing valley overtopped by steep hills on either side,

which close in a narrow gorge in the east and broaden into a plain

on the west. It was to the eastward, however, that we shall find

the heavy fighting along the Austro-Serbian frontier.

The armies along the Danube will soon command our attention. As

they follow the river toward Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, it

is no longer the "Blue Danube" of the famous German song. Here,

in fact, it is a broad, mud-colored river, dotted with a number

of low islands along its center. Belgrade, where the first shots

of the war were fired, is located on rather high ground, backed

by a semicircle of low hills in its rear. But opposite all is flat

and, in places, marshy. Modern guns could, of course, keep up an

effective fire across the river at this point, as in fact they

did before the actual invasion of Serbia began, but the conditions

for a crossing are not favorable. It was from the west, from the

Bosnian side, that the actual attack was made.

Just below Belgrade the river Save, shallower and narrower, empties

into the Danube, forming the frontier westward, past Shabatz, to

Ratcha, where the Drina, flowing down from the Macedonian highlands

northward, joins it, forming the western frontier between Bosnia

and Serbia.

The Drina, where much fighting occurs, is no ordinary waterway,

no mere mountain stream, though it lies in a mountainous country.

Before reaching its junction with the Save it is fed by many important

tributaries. Ever swift, often torrential, it has washed out a bed

of imposing width, and by a constant cutting out of new courses

has created a series of deltas. It was one of the largest of these

islands, that of Kuriachista, between Losnitza and Leschnitza,

that the Austrians chose as a base for their first invasion. From

this point up and around to Shabatz lies the bloody field of the

Austro-Serbian battles.

A description of this section, in brief at least, is necessary to

an understanding of the three Austrian invasions made here, and

all three of which failed disastrously. North and west of Shabatz

lies the great plain of Matchva, bounded on its east and north

by the Save and by the Drina on the west. It is a rich, fertile

land, but much broken up by woodland. To the southeast a rolling

valley is divided by the River Dobrava, while due south the Tzer

Mountains rise like a camel's back out of the plain and stretch

right across from the Drina to the Dobrava. The southern slopes of

Tzer are less abrupt than those on the north and descend gradually

into the Leschnitza Valley, out of which rise the lesser heights

of the Iverak Mountains. Both these ranges are largely covered

by prune orchards, intersected with some sparse timber.

This is a region of natural fortifications. Descending southward

again, the foothills of Iverak are lost in a chain of summits,

which flank the right bank of the Jadar River, that tributary of

the Drina River from which the first big battle takes its name.

From the left bank of the Jadar, from its junction with the Drina

to Jarebitze, a great rolling level stretches south until the high

Guchevo Mountains, stretching in southeasterly direction, rise

abruptly and hide the Bosnian hills from view. From there, southward,

the country is extremely mountainous, even the highways being blasted

out of the sides of the precipitous mountains along the innumerable

ravines through which run watercourses which, though almost dry

in summer, burst into torrential streams after the snows begin

to melt in the higher altitudes.

Naturally in such a country roads are of prime importance in military

operations. A few built and maintained by the state are in excellent

condition and practicable in all sorts of weather. But for the

rest communications consist of bridle paths and trails over the

mountains.

As has been stated, the great highway from Belgrade to Saloniki

is the key to all military operations in the Balkans; nor is this

case any exception. A study of the map will show how this big,

underlying fact entered into the plans of the first three attempts

at invading Serbia. Naturally, had facilities been convenient at

Belgrade, that would have been the point from which to advance.

The next possible point was over the Drina, because it was not

so wide or so deep.

Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of the war were sparsely

served by railroads. But for the purpose of an invasion of Serbia

the lines running to Tuzla in the north and to Vishegrade and Uvatz

in the south were of much strategic importance. Moreover, unlike the

Hungarian plain opposite Belgrade, the country is so mountainous

and well wooded that great bodies of troops could be moved about

without being observed. We now come to the main reason why this

point was chosen, next to Belgrade. Though we shall see that they

did not reach it at their first attempt, there is no doubt that

the main objective of the Austrians was the little town of Valievo,

lying some distance back from the Jadar and the field of battle.

For at Valievo is the terminus of a light railway which joins with

the main line running from Belgrade down to Saloniki. The Teutons

were in a hurry to open this highway, for it meant opening a means

of communication with the Turks, who were to become, and later

did become, their active allies. These are political matters of

significance here insomuch as they explain the special importance

of the railway from Belgrade south along the ancient highway of

the Crusaders.

Before following this route farther south, a few words should be

devoted to Montenegro. Between Serbia and Montenegro lies the Sanjak

of Novibazar. This small territory nominally belonged to Turkey

before the Balkan War, but it was in fact garrisoned by Austrian

troops, the civil administration being left to the Turks. Austria

had gone to special trouble to establish this arrangement, so that

it might have a wedge between the territories of the two little

Serb nations. Anticipating this war long ago, Austria had counted

on having a large enough force in Novibazar to prevent a union of

the two armies. But, when it actually came, she was in no position

to prevent it, so much of her strength being required to meet the

Russians.

Montenegro is the natural refuge of the Serbs. Whenever in the

past they were especially hard pressed by the Turks, they would

flee to the mountain fastnesses of Tzherna Gora, the Black Mountain,

for here military operations, even in this day of modern artillery,

are absolutely impossible, and when it came to mountain guerrilla

fighting, the Turks were no match for the Serbs. Thus it was that

the Serbs were able to preserve their old traditions, their language

and the best blood of their race. And it may be said that to a

slightly lesser extent Ragusa served the same purpose.

The Montenegrins are born fighters and die fighters. From one end

to the other Montenegro is one wilderness of mountain crags and

towering precipices, traversed only by foot trails. Here and there

a shelf of level soil may be found, just enough to enable people

to grow their own necessities. The capital of this rocky domain,

high up among the crags and overlooking the Adriatic, is Cettinje,

which was to be stormed and conquered by the Teutons. The main

street, about 150 yards long, comprising two-thirds of the town,

is so broad that three or four carriages may be driven abreast

down the length of it. It is composed entirely of one and two story

cottages. A few short streets branch off at right angles, and in

these is all of Cettinje that is not comprised in the main street.

The king inhabited a modest-looking, brown edifice with a small

garden attached. Overlooking the capital is Mt. Lovcen, on top

of which the Montenegrins planted guns to defend any attack that

might be made against them.

South of Montenegro and north of Greece lies another country of

instinctive fighters. It is similar in physical aspect, but very

different in its population. This is the land of the Albanians,

whom the Turks conquered by force of arms, like all the rest of

the Balkan peninsula. They are a distinct race by themselves; it

is supposed that they are the descendants of the ancient Illyrians,

those wild tribes of whom the ancient Greeks wrote. Nor is this

unlikely, for in such a country as theirs the inhabitants are most

likely to remain pure from generation to generation.

Returning for a few moments to Belgrade, we now may resume our

course down the ancient highway toward Saloniki. Down the Morava

Valley passes the railroad, after which it passes within a few

miles of the Bulgarian frontier, near Kustendil; dangerously near

the frontier of a possible enemy, but especially perilous in this

war in which the Serbians would naturally endeavor to retreat toward

her ally, Greece.

Just below Vranya the railroad enters what was, before the two

Balkan Wars, the Turkish territory of Macedonia. This region down

to within sixty miles of Saloniki was reconquered from the Turks by

the Serbs, having been Serb inhabited since early in the Christian

era as shown by historical record. As early as 950 Constantin

Porphyrogenitus writes of its inhabitants as Serbs, from whom,

he says, the town of Serbia on the Bistritza River near Saloniki

took its name. Throughout this region there are so many mountain

ranges that it would be impossible to name them all. Nowhere has

blood been more continuously shed than here, and nowhere in Europe

is the scenery more beautiful.

Especially impressive is that section around Monastir, toward the

frontier of Albania and away from the main line of the railroad.

Here, not more than a day's walk from the city of Monastir, or

Bitolia, as its Slavic inhabitants call it, is Lake Prespa, a small

sheet of crystal-clear water in which are reflected the peaks and

the rugged crags of the surrounding mountains. Through a subterranean

passage the waters of this mountain lake pass under the range that

separates it from the much larger lake, Ochrida, the source of

the bloody Drina.

The people of these mountains are Serbs, almost to Saloniki. Uskub,

whose ancient Serb name is Skoplya, was the old Serb capital, and

there the Serb ruler Doushan was crowned emperor in 1346.

For the past five hundred years these Macedonians have been used to

all the ways of guerrilla fighting. Roaming through their mountains

in small bands they have harassed the Turkish soldiers continuously.

The Bulgarian ruler Ferdinand had through many years by means of

committees and church jugglery striven to Bulgarize this population,

preparatory to the contemplated seizure of the territory which he has

now been able with the help of the Germanic powers to accomplish.

But in reality the Bulgar population in what was European Turkey was

found only eastward of the Struma in Thracia including Adrianople.

Those regions formed the ample and legitimate field of ambition

for the unification of the Bulgars.

When hostilities broke out in 1914, when Serbia was defending herself

against the Austrians, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, the secret ally

by treaty of Austria, did everything possible to forward his designs

against the Serbs and sent armed Bulgar bands into Serb Macedonia.

Shortly below the city of Monastir in the west begins the Greek

frontier, running over eastward to Doiran, where it touches the

Bulgarian frontier. Here the railroad, coming down along the Vardar

River, emerges into the swamp lands and over them passes into the

city of Saloniki.

Here is the old territory of Philip of Macedon, the father of the

conqueror. For some forty or fifty miles these swamps stretch out

from Saloniki, overshadowed by Mt. Olympus on their southern edge.

While not quite so extensive as the Pinsk Swamps, they are quite

as impassable, from a military point of view. In the center of

this region of bulrushes and stunted forests is an open sheet of

shallow water, Lake Enedjee.

Nearly all this swamp land is submerged, but here and there are

small islands. For some years the Turkish soldiers garrisoned these

islands during the mild winter months, living on them in rush huts.

In the summer they would withdraw into the near-by foothills. But

one summer several hundred Comitajis descended into the swamps

and took possession.

The stunted forests and the bulrushes here are traversed by a maze

of narrow waterways, just wide enough for a punt to pass along.

When the soldiers returned in the fall, they started out for their

islands in strings of punts. Presently they were met by volleys of

bullets that seemed to come from all directions out of the bulrushes.

Some, in their panic, leaped out into the shallow water and sunk

in the mire. The rest retired.

For years the Turkish soldiers attempted to drive the Comitajis

out of the swamp. First they surrounded it, watching all possible

landing places, but the outlaws had supplies smuggled in to them

by the peasants. Then the Turks began bombarding with heavy cannon,

which, of course, was futile, since they could not distinguish

the points at which they were firing. And finally they gave up

molesting the Comitajis, who continued making the swamps their

headquarters until the Young Turks came into power. Then, believing

that a constitutional Macedonia was finally to be granted them,

all the Comitajis laid down their arms.

It is a peculiar fact that Saloniki, one of the largest cities

on the peninsula, with a population considerably over a hundred

thousand, should represent none of the national elements of the

country. For though Bulgars, Turks, Greeks, and Serbs may be found

there, an overwhelming majority, nearly 90,000 of the people, are

Spanish Jews.

Walking along the streets, it would be easy to imagine oneself in

Spain or in Mexico; on all sides the shouts of peddlers, the cries

of cabmen, the conversation of pedestrians, are in Spanish. With

a knowledge of that language the stranger may make his way about

as easily as in his own native country. These are the descendants

of the Jews who were driven out of Spain by Torquemada and his

Spanish Inquisition and were so hospitably received by the Sultan

of Turkey.

Saloniki, where we shall witness severe battles, is situated at the

head of the gulf by the same name, an inlet of the Ægean Sea. It

is a well-fortified city, built on the water's edge, but surrounding

it is high land commanding the surrounding country. Added to that,

the swamp region is another protection from an enemy coming from

inland. Its seaward forts, however, are, or were, obsolete and

would probably crumble before the fire of modern naval guns.

Stretching down the eastern shore of the Gulf is a peninsula on

which is the famous Mt. Athos, that very peculiar community of

celibate monks. Here, in the Holy Mountain, as the Slavs call it,

there are monasteries representing all the various denominations of

the Greek Orthodox Church: Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian,

each swarming with hundreds of monks, who pass their time in idleness.

Not only are women forbidden to enter this domain, but even female

dogs or cats are kept out.

Across this upper end of the Ægean, from Mt. Athos, is the Bulgarian

port, Dedeagatch, to which runs a branch of the main railway from

Sofia to Constantinople. The country here is low and swampy, the

port itself being little more than a boat landing.

Just below this point, across the Gulf of Saros, is the peninsula

of Gallipoli, where a critical phase of the war was fought. It is

somewhat like the blade of a scimitar, covering the entrance to

the Sea of Marmora. Between this strip of land and the coast of

Asia Minor is a narrow strait, the outer mouth of which is called

the Dardanelles, the inner gateway being the famous Hellespont.

Here it was that Xerxes crossed over on a bridge of boats at the

head of his Persian army to invade Greece, only to meet disaster

at Thermopylæ, and here Alexander of Macedonia crossed over to

begin his march of conquest which was to extend his power as far

as India. And about this narrow strait is centered the ancient

Greek myth about Hero and Leander, which inspired Byron to swim

across from Asia to Europe.

How well the Turks have fortified this approach to their capital

is well enough indicated in the story of the operations of the

allied fleets in their attempt to force the passage.

From the Hellespont to Constantinople is a sail of forty miles,

along a coast steep and rugged, destitute of any harbor or even a

beach where a boat might land. Nor is there a more beautiful sight

than that which is presented on approaching the Turkish capital

from this direction, especially of an early morning. Against the

dawn in the East are silhouetted the minarets and domes and the

palace roofs of the city; then, as the light increases, the white

buildings are distinguished more clearly through a purple mist

that rises from the waters, until the ship enters the Bosphorus,

gliding past the shipping and the boat traffic along the shore of

the harbor. The beauties of the Bosphorus have been described in

every book of travel that has ever included this section of the

world in its descriptions: it is undoubtedly the most beautiful

waterway that may be found in any country.

Emerging into the Black Sea from the Bosphorus, one strikes the

Bulgarian coast not far above that neck of land on which Constantinople

is built. Along this stretch of coast up to the mouth of the Danube

there are two harbors, Varna and Burgas. Each is terminus of a

branch railroad leading off from the Nish-Sofia-Constantinople

line. Behind Burgas lie the level tracts of Eastern Rumelia, or

Thrace, as that part of the country is still called. But Varna

is above the point where the Balkan Range strikes the coast, all

of which is steep and rocky.

Above Varna begins the Delta of the Danube, up which steamers and

heavily laden barges sail continuously, but here also begins the

neutral territory of Rumania, the Dobruja, the richest section of

the Danube basin, which was ceded to Rumania by Bulgaria after

the Second Balkan War.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLV

THE CAUCASUS--THE BARRED DOOR

We now come to that section of the eastern theatre of the war which

received the least extended notice in printed reports--the barred

doorway between Europe and Asia--the Caucasus. Not because the

fighting there was less furious, but because the region was less

accessible to war correspondents. The struggle was in fact quite

as bloody and even more savage and barbarous here than elsewhere,

for on this front Russ meets Turk, Christian meets Moslem, and

where they grapple the veneer of chivalry blisters off.

Here again, as in Galicia, we come to a natural frontier, not only

between two races, but between two continents. For here, crossing

the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian, stretches a

mountain range over seven hundred miles in length, rising abruptly

out of the plains on either side. These are the Caucasus Mountains,

forming the boundary between Europe and Asia.

The higher and central part of the range (which averages only from

sixty to seventy miles in width) is formed of parallel ridges,

not separated by deep and wide valleys, but remarkably connected

by elevated plateaus, which are traversed by narrow fissures of

extreme depth. The highest peaks are in the most central chain;

Mt. Elburz, attaining an elevation of 18,000 feet above the sea,

while Mt. Kasbeck reaches a height of more than 16,000 feet, and

several other peaks rise above the line of perpetual snow. The

outlying spurs and foothills of this chain of lofty mountains are

of less extent and importance than those of almost any other mountain

range of similar magnitude, subsiding, as they do, until they are

only 200 feet high along the shores of the Black Sea. Some parts

are almost entirely bare, but other parts are densely wooded and

the secondary ranges near the Black Sea are covered by magnificent

forests of oak, beech, ash, maple, and walnut.

This range is an almost impassable wall across the narrow isthmus

which joins Europe and Asia, and the Gorge of Dariel is the gateway

in this wall through which have come almost all the migrating races

that have peopled the continent of Europe. As is well known, the

white peoples of Europe have been classified as the Caucasian race,

because they were all supposed to have passed through this gateway

originally. Apparently each of these oncoming waves of barbaric

humanity, bursting through the great gateway, must have left behind

some few remnants of their volume, for nowhere in the world, in so

limited an area, is there such a diversity and mixture of peoples.

In the words of one writer, who speaks with authority on this region,

the Caucasus is "an ethnological museum where the invaders of Europe,

as they traveled westward to be manufactured into nations, left

behind samples of themselves in their raw condition."

Here may be found the Georgians, who so long championed the Cross

against the Crescent, the wild Lesghians from the highlands of

Daghestan; the Circassians, famed for the beauty of their women;

Suanetians, Ossets, Abkhasians, Mingrelians, not to enumerate dozens

of other tribes and races, each speaking its own tongue. It is said

that over a hundred languages are spoken throughout this region;

seventy in the city of Tiflis alone.

The scenery of the mountains themselves is unparalleled in grandeur

except by the Himalayas and offers many a virgin peak to the ambitious

mountain climber. Here may be found the ibex, the stag, the wild

boar, the wild bull and an infinite variety of feathered game. The

animal life of the mountains has, in fact, become more abundant

of late years on account of the high charges for hunting licenses

fixed by the Russian Government. Wolves are so plentiful that in

severe winters they descend to the lowlands in great packs and

rob the flocks before the very eyes of the shepherds.

The most important mineral resources of the region are the oil

wells; here, in fact, around Batum, are situated some of the most

important oil fields in the world. Of manganese ore, an essential

of the steel industry, the Caucasus furnishes half of the world's

supply, which is exported from the two ports of Poti and Batum. Its

mineral wealth seems to be practically unlimited, copper, zinc, iron,

tin, and many other metals being found throughout the region, in

most cases in exceedingly rich deposits. The agricultural resources

are not so important, especially from a military point of view,

though vast quantities of sheep are raised in the highlands in the

spring and summer, the flocks being driven down into the plains

to the south in winter.

One of the outstanding features of Russian occupation is the great

Georgian military road which has been built across the mountains of

recent years and maintained by the Government. Its engineering is

masterly; here and there it passes close to or under vast overhanging

lumps of mountainside. Everywhere the greatest care has been taken

of this most important military highway, Russia's avenue into that

country she coveted and fought for so long. Beginning at Vladikavkaz,

it runs through Balta, Lars, thence through the famous Gorge of

Dariel, the "Circassian Gates," the dark and awful defile between

Europe and Asia. The gorge is what the geologists call a "fault,"

for it is not really a pass over the mountain chain, but a rent

clear across it. Seventy years ago it was almost impassable for

avalanches or the sudden outbursts of pent-up glacial streams swept

it from end to end, but the Russians have spent over $20,000,000

on it and made it safe. In 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War,

nearly all the troops and stores for carrying the war into Turkey

and Asia came by this road.

Its importance has since been lessened to a certain degree, for

there is now direct railway communication from Moscow to Baku,

at one end of the Trans-Caucasian Railway, and therefore to Kars

itself, via Tiflis; and equally from Batum to Kars at the other

end to which military steamers can bring troops and supplies from

Odessa and Novorossik in the Black Sea.

The most important city in this region is Tiflis, the "city of

seventy languages." It may, indeed, be called the modern Babel. As

seen from the mountains, it lies at the bottom of a brown, treeless

valley, between steep hills, on either side of the River Kura.

It is a point of great importance to modern Russia. It forms, to

begin with, the end of the great military road across the mountains

which, in spite of the railways, is still the quickest way to Europe

for an army as well as for travelers, and all the mails come over

it by express coaches. From Tiflis a railway runs to Kars, a strong

frontier on the Persian frontier.

Tiflis has been much developed under the Russian Government. In

the modern section of the city the streets are wide and paved and

lighted by electricity and the stores are large and handsome while

electric railways run in all directions. In the older parts of the

city, however, the houses remain as they were built centuries ago,

divided out into the many quarters devoted to the residences of the

many races and nationalities that compose the population of Tiflis.

Between most of them is bitter enmity and prejudice, even among those

of the two great religious faiths, Christians and Mohammedans. It

is this diversity of interests, which extends throughout all the

section down into Persia, which has so complicated the situation

on this front. For not only are the two military forces fighting

here, but wherever governmental authority is momentarily relaxed,

there these mutual animosities flare up into active expression and

the most barbarous features of warfare take place, such as the

massacres of the Armenians by the Mohammedans. Neither Turkey nor

Russia has been especially eager to suppress these bitter feuds,

even in time of peace. In time of war there is nothing to restrain

them, and the whole region is swept by carnage infinitely more

hideous than legitimate warfare.

We have now passed over the entire theatre of the battles on the

Eastern frontiers of the war in Europe. The battle grounds are

familiar to us. In the succeeding chapters we will follow the armies

over this war-ridden dominion and watch the battle lines as they

move through the war to its decisive conclusion.

PART IV--THE AUSTRO-SERBIAN CAMPAIGN

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLVI

SERBIA'S SITUATION AND RESOURCES

The first great campaign on the southeastern battle grounds of

the Great War began on July 27, 1914, when the Austrian troops

undertook their first invasion of Serbia. They crossed the Serbian

border at Mitrovitza, about fifty miles northwest of Belgrade,

driving the Serbians before them. The first real hostilities of

the war opened with the bombardment of Belgrade by the Austrians

on July 29, 1914--six days before the beginning of the campaigns

on the western battle fields.

We are now familiar with the theatre of war as described in the

preceding chapters, and will now follow the first Austrian armies

into Serbia.

A stubborn fight excites the admiration of all observers, regardless

of the moral qualities of the combatants. So, wherever our sympathies

may lie, considering the war as a whole, there can be no doubt

that the defense which the Serbians made against the first efforts

of the Austrians to invade their country will stand out in the

early history of the war as one of the most brilliant episodes

of that period of the general struggle. Like a mighty tidal wave

from the ocean the Austrian hosts swept over the Serbian frontier

in three furious successive onslaughts, only to be beaten back

each time. Naturally, there were material and moral causes, aside

from the mere valor of the Serbians, which combined to create this

disaster for the Austrian forces, but enough of the human element

enters into the military activities of these campaigns to make

them easily the most picturesque of the early period of the war.

Before entering into a description of the actual events in 1914,

it is well to consider the forces engaged. From a material point of

view the Serbians entered into these campaigns greatly handicapped.

They had lately been through two wars. In the First Balkan War they

had not, it is true, been severely tested; the weight of the fighting

had been borne by the Bulgarians in Thrace. The real test, and the

great losses, came only with the second war, when the Serbian army

threw every fiber of its strength against the Bulgarians in the

Battle of the Bregalnitza, one of the most stubborn struggles in

military history. The result was a Serbian victory, but it was very

far from being a decisive and conclusive victory. The Bulgarians

were forced back some fifteen miles into their own territory, but

had it not been for the intervention of Rumania there can be no

doubt that the Serbs would have entered Sofia. Here it was that

the Serbians lost 7,000 killed and 30,000 wounded of their best

men, as against 5,000 killed and 18,000 wounded in the whole war

with Turkey; a total loss that was bound to be felt a few months

later when the struggle was to be against so powerful an adversary

as Austria-Hungary. The two previous wars had, without exaggeration,

deprived the Serbian fighting forces of one-tenth their number--a

tenth that was of the very best of first-line troops.

[Illustration: PICTORIAL MAP OF THE BALKANS]

Added to this was another serious handicap, possibly even more

serious. Serbia had, indeed, emerged victorious from the two wars,

with a large stretch of conquered territory at her backdoor. But

this acquired territory, practically all of Macedonia that had

not gone to Greece, was peopled by Serbs. For twenty-five years

these Macedonians had been organized into revolutionary fighting

bands, the "Macedonian Committee" for the liberation of Macedonia

and Albania from the Turks, and had struggled, not only against the

Turks, but against foreign armed bands of propagandists. Some eight

years subsequently to the foundation of the Macedonian Committee of

native origin, the Bulgars founded in 1893 their committee which

was called the Macedo-Adrianople Committee. During the First Balkan

War these experienced guerrilla fighters were valuable allies to

the Serbian forces operating against the Turks.

But even before the First Balkan War the Serbians had very distinctly

given the Macedonians to understand that they were to remain Serbian

subjects. This action on their part had had not a little to do

with rousing the Bulgarians to precipitate the Second Balkan War.

And when finally Serbia conquered all this territory, confirmed

to her down to Doiran by the treaty of Bucharest, King Ferdinand

of Bulgaria began at once a fiery anti-Serb propaganda throughout

the world, and took measures through provocatory agents and Bulgar

bands crossing from Bulgaria into Macedonia to create disturbances.

When the Great War broke out in July, 1914, this Bulgarian activity

in Serb Macedonia grew more intense. Thus it was that when the

Austrians attacked the Serbians on their front the Serbians had

still to detach enough of their forces to guard the Serbo-Bulgar

border to prevent the crossing into Serb Macedonia of Bulgar bands.

And added to this was the danger from Bulgaria herself. The Serbians

knew that the opportune moment had only to come and Bulgaria, too,

would hurl herself on the Serbian eastern flank. Thus another large

percentage of the Serbian fighting forces had also to be stationed

along the Bulgarian frontier to guard against possible attack from

that quarter.

Offsetting these handicaps, however, and more than equalizing them,

was the moral strength of the Serbian fighting units. They had

just emerged through two victorious wars; they had triumphed so

completely that there was small wonder if the Serbian farmers had

come to believe themselves invincible and their leaders infallible.

Practically every man in the Serbian army was a seasoned veteran;

he had had not only his baptism of fire, but he had been through

some of the bloodiest battles of modern times. He had got over

his first fright; he was in that state of mind where danger and

bloodshed no longer inspired either fear or horror. And even the

warlike savage trembles on entering his first battle. Finally, he

was now defending his country, his home, his very fireside and

his family against foreign invasion. And it is generally admitted

that a man fighting in that situation is equal to two invaders,

all other things being equal.

The Serb army opposing the Austrian invasions was composed of ten

divisions of the First Ban and five divisions of the Second Ban.

Five of the divisions of the First Ban and the five of the Second

came from the kingdom as it was prior to the two Balkan wars, but the

second five divisions of the First Ban were new creations recruited

from Serb Macedonia.

The principles on which the organization of the Serbian army was

based were very simple. The former kingdom was divided into five

territorial divisional districts--Nish, Valievo, Belgrade, Kragujevatz,

and Zaitchar. Each of these territorial divisional districts was

subdivided into four regimental recruiting districts, each of which

provided one infantry regiment of four battalions and one depot

battalion. The battalion numbered about a thousand men, so that the

war strength of the divisional infantry amounted to about 16,000 men.

Attached to each division was a regiment of artillery, consisting of

three groups of three 6-gun batteries; in all, 54 guns. The divisional

cavalry, existing only in war time, consisted of a regiment of

four squadrons, from men and horses previously registered. To each

division was also attached its own technical and administrative

units, engineers, and supply column, and its total strength amounted

to 23,000 officers and men of first-line troops.

In addition to these five divisions of the First Ban, there was

also a regiment of mountain artillery, made up of six batteries, six

howitzer batteries and two battalions of fortress artillery. Then

there was a separate cavalry division composed of two brigades, each

of two regiments. Its war strength was 80 officers and 3,200 men.

Attached to the cavalry division were two horse artillery batteries,

of eight guns each. All told, this first-line army numbered about

200,000, with about 5,200 sabers and 330 guns.

[Illustration: SERBIAN AND AUSTRIAN INVASIONS]

The Second Ban, or reserve, much inferior in armament to the first

line, brought the strength up to about 280,000 men. But this figure

is probably an underestimate. Volunteers were enrolled in immense

numbers. Some of them were men who had been exempted in the first

conscription; others were Serbs from Austrian territory. The United

States sent back thousands of Austrian and Macedonian Serbs who

had emigrated there. It is probable, therefore, that the total

strength of the Serbian forces shortly after the war broke out

was at least 280,000, if not a trifle more. To this must be added

the Montenegrin army which, though operating in a separate field,

contributed its share in driving the Austrians back; another 40,000

men of first-class fighting ability and experience.

Finally, there was the third reserve, another 50,000 men, but they

could be used for fighting only in the gravest emergency.

The infantry of the First Ban was armed with excellent Mauser rifles,

caliber 7 mm., model 1899. The Second Ban carried a Mauser, the

old single loader, to which a magazine was fitted in the Serbian

arsenals; while the Third Ban had the old single-loader Berdan

rifle. The machine gun carried was the Maxim, of the same caliber

as the new Mauser.

In artillery the Serbians were perhaps not so well off. Their cannons

had seen a great deal of service in the Balkan wars, and the larger

a piece of artillery the more limited is the number of rounds it

can fire. It is extremely doubtful that there had been time to

replace many of these worn-out pieces.

The field gun was of French make; it was a 3-inch quick firer with

a maximum range for shrapnel of 6,000 yards, a little over 3-1/2

miles. The Second Ban was armed with old De Bange guns of 8 cm.

caliber. The heavy guns, which had done much service outside Adrianople,

were of Creuzot make, and included 24 howitzers of 15 cm. and some

mortars of 24 cm. As for the aviation wing, there was none.

The Serbian army was under the superior command of the Chief of the

General Staff, Voivode (Field Marshal) Putnik. Unlike his younger

colleagues, his military education was entirely a home product;

he had never studied abroad. His father was one of those Serbs

born on Austrian soil; he had emigrated from Hungary to Serbia

in the early forties where he had followed the vocation of

school-teacher. In 1847 the future general was born. After passing

through the elementary schools, young Putnik entered the military

academy at Belgrade. He had already attained a commission when

the war of 1876 with Turkey broke out, through which he served as

a captain of infantry. His next experience was in the unfortunate

war with Bulgaria, in 1885, in which the Serbians were beaten after

a three days' battle. At the outbreak of the war with Turkey, in

1912, General Putnik was made head of the army and received the

grade of voivode (field marshal), being the first Serbian to enjoy

that distinction. The grade of field marshal was created in the

Serbian army during the First Balkan War.

With him worked Colonel Pavlovitch, the son of a farmer, who had

won a series of scholarships, enabling him to study in Berlin. He

had directed the military operations in the field against Turkey

and Bulgaria, and he was to do the same thing under his old chief

against the Austrians.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLVII

AUSTRIA'S STRENGTH AND STRATEGY

Let us now review the Austrian forces that participated in the

invasions of Serbia. In number they were practically unlimited; at

least they far outnumbered the Serbian forces that met them in the

field. Their armament was of the best and their equipment as complete

as boundless resources could make it. They were, however, partly made

up of the peoples of the Slavic provinces of Austria--Bohemians,

Croatians, Dalmatians, and Bosnians. Naturally there could be but

little enthusiasm in their attacks on their brother Slavs, and while

there are many mutual animosities between these various branches

of the Slavic race, such feelings are, at any rate, secondary to

the general dislike of the "Schwabs," as the German-Austrians are

called, and the Magyars. Possibly this had much to do with the

Austrian defeats. The Hungarian, or Magyar, regiments were probably

in the majority. But the Magyars from the interior of Hungary have

no special reason to hate the Serbians, and, aside from that, they

were attacking on foreign soil.

At the head of the Austrian campaigns against Serbia was General

Potiorek, generally described as a textbook strategist. But just

how much his failures were due to his own inefficiency and how

much to the inefficiency of those under him will probably never

be determined; he had in the end to suffer for both.

These were the two great contending forces that were set in motion

by the departure of Baron Giesl, the Austro-Hungarian Minister,

from Belgrade, on July 25, 1914. On the same day the Prince Regent

Alexander signed a decree ordering the general mobilization of the

Serbian army. Three days later, on July 28, 1914, Austria declared

war. By that time Serbia was in the midst of her mobilization.

That the Austrians, who had the advantage of having taken the

initiative, and who had presumably chosen their own time for the

opening of hostilities, did not immediately take full advantage of

their favorable situation has caused much surprise among impartial

military critics. On the same day that they declared war they had

the opportunity to hurl their troops across the Danube and take

Belgrade with practically no opposition. Apparently they were not

ready; from that moment the difficulties that would have attended

such a movement increased hourly.

A force of 20,000 men was raised almost immediately for the defense

of Belgrade. To meet this opposition the Austrians had, on the

evening of the day war was declared, July 18, 1914, only one division

concentrated between Semlin and Pancsova, opposite Belgrade--a force

that was hardly sufficient to take the Serbian capital. Two days

later an army corps would have been needed for the enterprise, for

by this time the Serbian army had begun concentrating considerable

numbers within striking distance of the capital. Thus the first

opportunity was lost by the tardiness of the Austrians to act.

It is presumed that the reader has already studied the description

of this theatre of the war presented elsewhere in this work. Aside

from that, the movements that follow should only be traced with

the aid of a map. Written words are inadequate to give a concrete

picture of the field of operations.

The Austrian General Staff realized the difficulties of crossing

the Danube. Its general plan, probably prepared long before,

contemplated a main attack that should begin from another quarter.

The Austro-Serbian frontier, almost 340 miles in extent, is formed

on the north by the Save as well as by the Danube, and on the east

and southeast by the Drina River. These two smaller streams abound

in convenient fords, especially in summer. To many of these points on

the northeastern frontier Austria had already constructed strategic

railways. Moreover, the Austrian territory throughout this section is

so mountainous and well timbered that large forces of troops could

be well screened from observation, whereas the country opposite

Belgrade is fiat and bane.

It was from this direction that the Serbian General Staff expected

the first advance of the enemy. And yet there were dozens of other

points where an attack in force was possible. Each must be covered

with a force at least strong enough to hold the enemy back long

enough to enable the forces stationed at the other points to come

up to support. Here was the great advantage that the Austrians

had to begin with; an advantage which the attacking army always

enjoys. The attacking general alone knows where the first battle

shall be fought.

The Serbians, therefore, could not count on meeting the Austrians in

full force before they could enter Serbian territory. They realized

that they must give way at the first contact; that the Austrians would

undoubtedly advance quite some distance within Serbian territory

before enough Serbian forces could be brought up against them to

make the opposition effective.

Realizing this, it was decided to place fairly strong advance guards

at all probable points of invasion with orders to resist as long

as possible; until, in fact, defensive tactics could be adapted

to the situation and the main Serbian army could be brought up

to offer battle.

However, two points stood out as the most probable. These were the two

already mentioned; the north, along the line from Obrenovatz to Belgrade

and to Semendria; or, the front Obrenovatz-Ratza-Losnitza-Liubovia.

The first possibility had the advantage to the Austrians of offering

the shortest route to the center of the country--the Morava Valley,

their natural objective. But it also necessitated a difficult crossing

of the Danube, which would have had to be preceded by the building

of pontoon bridges. This would have given the Serbians time to move

up their main forces. The second alternative, an invasion from

the east, would have entailed a longer journey, but the advantage

of natural covering and easy crossing made it a sounder plan.

On July 28, 1914, the Serbians concentrated their forces in anticipation

of either event. The outpost forces were stationed at or near Losnitza,

Shabatz, Obrenovatz, Belgrade, Semendria, Pozarevatz and Gradishte.

But their principal armies were centrally grouped along the line

Palanka-Arangelovatz-Lazarevatz, while weaker, though important,

detachments were stationed in the vicinity of Valievo, a branch

railroad terminus, and Uzitze. This narrowed the field down to

such limits that it was possible to march the troops from point

to point, while the few railway facilities available were utilized

for food and ammunition supplies.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLVIII

AUSTRIAN SUCCESSES

On the morning of July 29, 1914, the day after war had been declared,

the residents of Belgrade were startled by a deep roar, followed

by the whistling shriek of a huge body hurtling through the air,

and a shell burst over the battlements of the old Turkish citadel,

doing no damage. Immediately there came another deep shock; the

Serbian guns were responding. Thence on the cannonading along the

Danube front continued for week after week, with only now and then

a lull.

The Austrian batteries bombarded not only Belgrade, but Semendria,

Gradishte and a number of other points along the river bank. Next

they were seen building a pontoon bridge out to one of the little

islands in the river, opposite the city and barges were towed alongside

the landings on the opposite shore, presently to be crowded with

black masses of Austrian troops. Naturally, the Serbian gunners

made these objects the targets of their fire. But these were mere

bluffs, such feints as the skilled boxer makes when he wants to get

behind the guard of his opponent. If anything, these demonstrations

only served to deepen the conviction of General Putnik that the

real danger was not from this quarter.

But where was the first great blow to strike? Naturally, not only

the General Staff, but the whole army and population waited in

deep anxiety. This tension lasted over the last days of July, into

the first week of August, 1914.

Then, on August 6, 1914, some Bosnian peasants, Serbs, appeared

and reported that they had seen great bodies of soldiers moving

along the mountain roads toward Syrmia, in northeastern Bosnia. Two

days later, early in the morning, two Austrian aeroplanes whirred

over the River Save and circled over Krupani, Shaoatz and Valievo.

The last doubts were then dispelled; the attack was coming from

the east.

And finally, on August 12, 1914, the message flashed over the wires

that the outposts had seen boats in movement, full of soldiers,

behind an island on the Drina, opposite Loznitza. Near that town,

and in fact along the whole lower course of the Drina, the river

has frequently changed its channel, thus cutting out numerous small

islands, which would serve as a screen to the movements of troops

contemplating a crossing. Pontoon bridges could be built on the

farther side of almost any of these islands without being observed

from the other shore. This was exactly what the Austrians were

doing.

Suddenly, on August 12, 1914, there came a burst of rifle fire

and the boom of heavy field guns, and a fleet of barges, under

cover of this fire, emerged from around both ends of one of these

islands and made for the Serbian shore. The two battalions of Third

Reserve Serbians, stationed there as an outpost, trained their

old De Bange field guns, of which they had two batteries, on the

oncoming swarms and began firing. But the Austrian fire became

heavier and heavier; a blast of steel pellets and shells swept

through the cornfields and the plum orchards, tearing through the

streets of the village and crumpling up the houses. The breastworks

of the small Serbian detachment were literally the center of a

continuous explosion of shells.

When a full tenth of their number lay dead or disabled, the Serbians

began retiring across the cornfields and up the slopes leading

to the heights behind Losnitza. There, on higher ground, which

offered more effective shelter, they made a determined stand and

continued their fire on the Austrian masses.

Having crossed the river, the Austrians threw up defensive breastworks

and dug elaborate trenches, thus fortifying their crossing. Next

they built a pontoon bridge, and then the main Austrian army poured

across; a whole army corps and two divisions of a second.

Meanwhile, on the same day, August 12, 1914, a similar event was

happening at Shabatz, on the Save, where that river takes a sharp

southward turn and then swings up again before joining the Danube

at Belgrade. Here the country is a level plain, really the southern

limit of the great plain which stretches up to the Danube, past

Belgrade and so into Hungary. Here, too, the Austrians screened

themselves behind an island in the river, then hurled their forces

across, driving the feeble detachment of Third Reserve Serbian troops

back across the plain up into the hills lying to the southeast

of Shabatz. Then the advance guard of the Austrian Fourth Army

occupied the town, strongly fortified it and built a pontoon bridge

across the river from their railroad terminus at Klenak.

Further passages of a similar nature were forced that day, August

12, 1914, at other points by smaller forces; one at Zvornik and

another at Liubovia. In addition the Austrians also threw bridges

across the river at Amajlia and Branjevo. Thus it will be seen

that the invasion covered a front of considerably over a hundred

miles and that six strong columns of the enemy had crossed, all of

which naturally converged on Valievo. For Valievo was the terminus

of a small, single track railroad which joined the main line at

Mladenovatz. Thus the Austrians would have a convenient side door

open into the heart of Serbia which was, of course, their main

objective. To this Belgrade was merely incidental. With this line

of transport and communication in Austrian hands, Belgrade would

fall of itself.

From Losnitza, where the main column of Austrians crossed the Drina

to Valievo, runs the River Jadar, along a level valley, which narrows

as it nears Valievo. On the left-hand side of the Jadar Valley rise

the southern slopes of the Tzer Mountains, covered with cornfields,

prune orchards, with here and there a stretch of thick timber.

Continuing southward, slightly to the eastward, up the Jadar Valley

another range rises, slightly smaller than the Tzer Mountains,

forming a smaller valley which branches off eastward. Along this

runs the River Leshnitza, parallel with the Jadar until it makes

an independent junction with the Drina. Still farther up the valley

the foothills of the Iverak ridges are lost in a series of fairly

important summits which closely flank the Jadar River.

To the south of the Jadar River the valley stretches into a rolling

plain, which rises abruptly into the giant Guchevo Mountains. It is

this range, converging with the Tzer and Iverak Mountains toward

Valievo, and forming the plain of the Jadar Valley, which was presently

to become the center of the first great battle between the Serbians

and Austrians.

A military movement against Valievo, therefore, demanded complete

possession of these two ridges, which overlooked the line of march.

This the Austrians knew well enough, even before the first of their

troops had crossed the Drina. As is well known, the best maps, not

only of Serbia but of all the Balkan countries, have been made by

Austrian engineers. There was probably not a spur, not a fissure,

certainly not a trail, of these mountains that had not been carefully

surveyed and measured by engineers of the Austrian staff.

The Austrians knew the country they were invading quite as well

as did the native Serbians. All through it may be said that it was

not through want of accurate knowledge that the Austrians finally

met disaster. Rather was it because they misjudged the relative

values of their facts. And one of their first mistakes was in

overestimating the effects of the two Balkan Wars on the efficiency of

the Serbian army. First of all, as was obvious from the leisureliness

with which they proceeded to occupy the two mountain chains in

question, that they vastly misjudged the capacity of the Serbian

troops to make rapid movements. Even as the first shots were being

fired across the Drina at Losnitza, the Serbian forces were on

the move, westward. Two army corps were at once rushed toward the

Valley of the Jadar; part of a third was sent to block the advance

of the Austrians from Shabatz. Meanwhile the Austrians took their

time. For two days they busied themselves fortifying the bridge

at Losnitza.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLIX

THE GREAT BATTLES BEGIN

On August 14, 1914, began the first battle of the Serbian campaign.

The Austrians proceeded to storm the heights from which the small

outpost detachments had all the time been bombarding them with

its old-fashioned guns. The Serbians, though few in number, made

a desperate resistance. It was their business to hold back the

enemy as long as possible, even until the reenforcements should

arrive.

Early in the morning of August 14, 1914, the Austrians advanced

in a great mass, then charged up the hillsides toward the Serbian

position. The Serbians waited until they were well up the steep

slopes and the rush of the enemy had subsided to a more toilsome

climb. Then they sent down volley after volley from every available

weapon.

The Austrian soldiers, who had until then never experienced anything

more warlike than field maneuvers, lost their nerves; the first

line broke and ran at the first fire. However, that was likely

to happen to any troops under fire for the first time. Down in

the plain they formed again, and again they swept up the slopes.

This time they did not turn at the first volley. On they came,

with fixed bayonets. And presently the first line reached the top

of the heights, and the fighting was hand-to-hand. For a moment the

Serbians, overwhelmed by numbers, were on the point of fleeing. But

these same men had been through many a hand-to-hand encounter with

both Turks and Bulgars; that experience stood them in good stead.

And again they swept back the attacking masses of Austria-Hungary.

By evening, August 14, 1914, the Austrians had not yet taken the

heights. But the Serbians, most of them middle-aged and old men,

had spent their vitality. As the dark night lowered over the scene,

they fell back, until, at Jarebitze, they met the first advance

guards of the oncoming Serbian main army. And here they halted, and

the united forces proceeded to dig a trench on a ten-mile front,

extending from north to south, through the town and clear across

the Jadar Valley. Nor did the Austrians then attempt to follow up

this first success. Thus the Serbians were allowed to intrench

themselves unmolested until, next day, August 15, 1914, they were

joined by the balance of their forces.

Now, by studying the map, it will be seen at a glance that it was

only the Tzer Mountains which separated the Austrian column crossing

the Drina at Losnitza and the column which had crossed the Save and

had occupied Shabatz. Should the Austrians from over the Drina get

possession of the Tzer ridges, they would thus effect a junction

with the forces in Shabatz, and so form a line that would cut off a

large portion of northwestern Serbia. Aside from that, they would

have a solid front. But should the Serbians possess themselves

of the Tzer ridges first, then they would have driven a wedge in

between their two main forces. This would make it difficult for

either to advance, for then they would be exposing a flank to the

enemy, who would also have a great advantage in position. Moreover,

the Serbians would be in a position to turn immediately toward either

of the Austrians' columns, whichever might need most attention.

Meanwhile, the Serbian cavalry had made a reconnaissance toward

Shabatz. They immediately sent back reports of overwhelming forces

occupying the town. It was out of the question to make any attack

there for the present.

It was now learned, for the first time, that another of the enemy's

columns had crossed the Drina far down in the south, and was marching

on Krupanie, just below the Guchevo Mountains and on the way to

the upper part of the Jadar Valley. However, as the first report

seemed to indicate that this was only a minor force, a small force

of third reserve men was detached to hold this force back and prevent

its entrance into the main field of operations.

During the day and night of August 15,1914, the two opposing forces

were moving into position for battle: setting the pawns for the

game of strategy that was to be played. The Austrians at Losnitza

were advancing up the mountain slopes and took possession of the

Tzer and Iverak ridges, straddling the Leshnitza Valley.

Up in Shabatz, Austrian troops were pouring across the pontoon

bridges. A flanking column, coming from the Drina, had arrived

at Slepehevitch. Another force was stationed with its left and

center on Krupani, its right spread out into the mountains north

of Liubovia.

On the Serbian side the right wing of the Second Army, screened

by the cavalry division, were preparing to cut off the Austrian

forces in the north from their juncture with those advancing along

the Tzer ridges; the center and left was marching on the enemy on

the Iverak ridges, in conjunction with the right of the Third Army,

then north of Jarebitze. The center of the Third held the positions

south of Jarebitze, while its left, split into small detachments,

had been directed to oppose the invasion toward Krupanie and the

advance from Liubovia.

Such were the positions of the various forces as dawn broke brightly

on the morning of August 16, 1914. As the growing light made objects

visible, the extreme right division of the Serbian front, which

was creeping northward to cut off Shabatz, discovered a strong

Austrian column moving along the lower spurs of the Tzer Mountains.

Obviously this body was clearing the ground for a general descent of

the forces up along the ridges; a whole army corps. This movement

threatened to become a serious obstacle to the Serbian plan of

separating the Austrians in Shabatz from those farther south. But

the situation was saved by one of those incidents which sometimes

stand out above the savagery of warfare and give to it a touch

of grandeur.

A young artillery officer, Major Djukitch, of the Fourth Artillery

Regiment, asked permission to go out and meet this body of advancing

Austrians with but a single cannon. He would create a diversion which

would give the Serbians time to adapt themselves to the changed

conditions, though the chances were very largely in favor of his

losing his life on this mission. Permission was granted. Calling

on volunteers from his command, he advanced with his single cannon

and took up a position in the path of the approaching enemy. The

moment he opened fire the Austrians, naturally not realizing that

only one cannon was opposing them, and believing that a large Serbian

force had surprised them, broke into a panic. Half an hour after he

had opened fire, the Serbian field commander sent a messenger to

Major Djukitch, ordering him to retire. In reply he sent a message

to the commander, describing the confusion he had created in the

Austrian ranks, and instead of retiring, he asked for reenforcements.

The balance of his own battery, a detachment of infantry, and a

cavalry division was sent him. The result was that the Austrian

column was temporarily driven back into the mountains. Hastily

re-forming, the Austrians now massed along a line extending from

Belikamen to Radlovatz, while the Serbians deployed along a front

running from Slatina through Metkovitch to Gusingrob.

At 11 a. m., August 16, 1914, the two opposing forces opened fire

in earnest, up and down the line. All day the cannon roared and

the rifles and machine guns crackled; now and again the Austrians

would shoot forth from their line a sharp infantry attack, but these

were repulsed, with more and more difficulty as the day advanced,

for the Serbians were much inferior in numbers. Toward evening their

situation became very critical. Yet every part of the line held

out desperately, knowing that reenforcements were being hurried

forward from the rear as fast as men could move.

And just before dark, along the roads from the eastward, came the

distant cheers from the advancing columns. An officer dashed up

on horseback shouting encouragement to the battered men in the

trenches. A cheer arose, which rolled up and down the line. Again

it rose, then, even before it had died out, with wild yells the

Serbians sprang over their breastworks and swept madly across the

intervening space to the Austrian lines; smashing through cornfields,

over rocks, through the tall grass of orchards. At their heels

followed the reenforcing soldiers, though they had that day marched

nearly sixty miles. Over the Austrian breastworks they surged,

like an angry wave from the sea, their bayonets gleaming in the

sunset glow. It was the kind of fighting they knew best; the kind

that both Serbians and Bulgars know best, the kind they had practiced

most.

Small wonder if the inexperienced peasants from the plains of Hungary,

unused till then to any sight more bloody than a brawl in the village

inn, trembled before this onslaught. Their officers shouted

encouragement and oaths, barely audible above the mad yells of

the Serbians. Nevertheless, they gave way before the gleaming line

of bayonet blades before them. Some few rose to fight, stirred by

some long-submerged instinct generated in the days of Genghis Khan.

But the majority turned and fled, helter-skelter, down the sides of

the mountains toward the valleys, leaving behind guns, ammunition,

and cannon. One regiment, the Hundred and Second, stood its ground

and fought. As a result it was almost completely annihilated. The

same fate befell the Ninety-fourth Regiment. But the majority sought

and found safety in flight. By dark the whole Austrian center was

beaten back, leaving behind great quantities of war material.

* * * * *

CHAPTER L

FIRST VICTORY OF THE SERBIANS

The Serbians had made their first move successfully on that day of

August 16, 1914. More important than this mere preliminary defeat

of the enemy was the fact that the Austrians in Shabatz were now

definitely cut off from any possible juncture with the Austrians

in the south. For the present they were debarred from entering

the main field of operations. This freed the Serbian cavalry for

action elsewhere. Meanwhile a portion of the right wing of the

Serbian line was detached to keep the Austrians inside Shabatz.

Farther to the south the Serbians were not so decidedly successful.

The center of the Serbian Second Army, that directed against the

southern slopes of the Tzer Mountains and the Iverak ridges, had

arrived at Tekerish at midnight.

As dawn broke on August 16, 1914, they perceived a strong Austrian

column descending from above, coming in the same direction.

Unfortunately the Serbians were in the midst of bald, rolling foothills,

while the Austrians were up among the tall timber which clothes the

mountain slopes at this point. The Serbians deployed, extending

their line from Bornololye through Parlok to Lisena, centering their

artillery at Kik. The Austrians made the best of their superior

position.

For some hours there was furious firing, then, at about eight o'clock

the Austrian gunners got the range of the Serbian left flank with

their field pieces, which was compelled to fall back. But just

then timely reenforcements arrived from the rear, and the Serbians

dug themselves in. By evening the Serbians had lost over a thousand

men, though they had succeeded in taking 300 prisoners and several

machine guns from the Austrians.

The left wing of the Second Army had, in the meantime, arrived

against Iverak. That this division was able to arrive at such a

timely juncture was due to its having made a forced march of fifty-two

miles over the mountain roads during the previous day. Yet before

dawn on the morning of August 16,1914, it was ready to continue

its march to Poporparlok. But then came the news that the Austrians

had driven back the left wing of the Third Army from that position

and had occupied it.

The situation in which this division found itself was by no means

clear. Nothing had been heard from Shabatz. The division operating

along the Tzer ridges had been badly hammered. The Third Army had

lost Poporparlok. The commander decided to stay where he was and

simply hold the ground against any advance of the enemy from Iverak.

This division was, therefore, intrenched along a line from Begluk

to Kik, and a strong advance was thrown out toward Kugovitchi.

During the morning this advance guard made a strong attack against

Kugovitchi, drove the Austrians out, and established themselves

there.

At dawn, August 16, 1914, the left flank of this division, at Begluk,

was shelled by the Austrian artillery, which was followed by infantry

attacks. These were easily repulsed during the day. But then the

enemy was reenforced, and late that night they came on again in great

masses. The Serbians allowed them to almost reach their trenches:

then, emptying the magazines of their rifles at them, they piled

themselves over their breastworks and into them with bayonets and

hand bombs. This was too much for the Austrians; they fled in wild

disorder.

Least encouraging was the experience of the Serbian Third Army,

which was defending the territory south of the Iverak Mountains.

Here the Austrians developed a vigorous and persistent offensive,

hoping to turn the Serbian left and thus capture the road to Valievo.

The attack on the positions at Jarebitze commenced at daybreak on

August 16, 1914. Here the Serbians held good ground: rocky summits,

but so limited in extent that there was room only for a few companies

at a time. On the other hand the ground before them was broken up

into hollows screened by growing corn. This enabled the Austrians

to deploy their lines beyond the Serbian flanks unseen. They did

execute just such a movement, and attempted to circle around toward

the Serbian rear.

At the same time the Serbians here were attacked from in front

by another hostile column which had come from across the plain on

the south side of the Jadar valley, where hollows, sunken roads,

and fields of corn again formed ample screening. However, in spite

of all these movements, the Serbians were able to hold their own.

The Austrian attacks were all beaten back. Their position might

have been held indefinitely, but developments to the south were

taking on a threatening form.

It will be remembered that an Austrian force had been reported

approaching from the south, moving on Krupanie, and that it had

seemed so insignificant that a small detachment of third reserve

troops had been sent to hold it back. But this enemy force now

developed into three mountain brigades.

Reenforcements of infantry and mountain artillery were hurried

down to support the retaining force, but the Austrians were able to

force their way on toward Zavlaka. Seeing Valievo thus threatened,

the Serbians retired from their position at Jarebitze and took up

a new position along a line from Marianovitche to Schumer, thus

enabling them to face both the enemy columns. This retreat was

fortunately not interfered with by the Austrians, though in executing

it the Serbian artillery, which had been in position on the right

bank of the Jadar, was obliged to pass along the Austrian front

in single file, in order to gain the main road.

Early the next morning, August 17, 1914, the Serbians were in position

and had extended their line to Soldatovitcha, whence the detachment

from Krupanie had retired. Summing up the day's fighting, and

considering it as a whole, it will be seen that the Austrians had

pretty well held their own, except on their extreme left, where

they had failed to get in touch with their forces in Shabatz.

After the defeat of the Austrians at Belikamen on August 16, 1914,

the cavalry division was reenforced by some infantry and artillery,

then sent on the delicate mission of driving a wedge in between

the Austrians in Shabatz and those along the Drina. Spreading out

across the Matchva plain, its left wing up against the slopes of

the Tzer Mountains, and its right wing within reach of Shabatz,

it advanced as far as Dublje in the north. At the same time it

was able to assist the column advancing along the Tzer ridges by

playing its artillery on the Austrian position in the mountains at

Troyan. Throughout all the fighting this cavalry division rendered

notable service by its dismounted action.

On the morning of August 17, 1914, the extreme right of the Serbian

front now turned toward Shabatz. Though only half the number of the

forces they were proceeding to engage, they continued onward. But

on closer approach it became apparent that they could do nothing more

than hold the Austrians inside the town. So well and so thoroughly

had the Austrians fortified themselves that it was hopeless for

so small a force to attempt an attack. Thus this section of the

Serbian front settled down to wait for reenforcements.

The center and left of the Second Army now prepared to advance

along the Tzer and Iverak ridges. The Austrians in this section,

who had suffered so severely the day before at Belikamen, were

now concentrated around Troyan, the most easterly and the second

highest peak of the chain.

At dawn on August 17, 1914, the Serbians located the Austrians.

Immediately they began a heavy artillery fire on this position,

then proceeded to infantry attack. Two regiments hurled themselves

up the slopes, and with bayonets and hand bombs drove the Austrians

back. After that no further progress was possible that day, the

Serbians having to wait for their artillery to come up. The Austrians

now began intrenching themselves on the heights of Kosaningrad,

the loftiest portion of the Tzer range.

Along the Iverak ridges the Austrians made a determined advance.

The situation of the Serbian troops in this section, the left wing

of the Second Army, was extremely dangerous, for their left flank

was becoming exposed by the continued retreat of the Third Army.

The only hopeful aspect of their situation was that the Austrians

were also having their left flank exposed by the retreat of the

Austrians along the Tzer ridges. Evidently the opposing forces

realized this fact, for they made a fierce attempt to drive back

the Serbians opposing them, so that their danger from the north

might be lessened. Half an hour later they were severely repulsed.

But heavy reenforcements came up to the Austrians just then, and

again they attacked, this time more successfully.

By noon, August 17, 1914, the Austrians had extended their line

over to the Serbian right wing.

Unfortunately, at about that time the Third Army again called for

assistance, and this hard-pressed division was compelled to send

it. The result was that it was compelled to withdraw gradually to

the heights of Kalem. The retirement was executed in good order,

and the Austrians satisfied themselves with occupying Kugovitchi.

Intrenching themselves in their new position, the Serbians awaited

further attacks. Only an ineffectual artillery fire was maintained

by the enemy. Meanwhile came the good news of the success of the

Serbians along the Tzer ridges, so preparations were made for another

advance on the following day, August 18, 1914.

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.