The War to End All Wars Part 3: The Battle of the Zapud Morava
The international crisis surrounding the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand has transformed into a war between Austria-Hungary and the combined forces of Russia and Serbia. The war has been successfully confined to these three countries, despite the German Kaiser�s meddling, thanks to the Roman Agreement. The Serbian government, led by militarist Draban Sandzak, has been blamed for the war by the Anglo-French press, although the war was largely orchestrated by the Austro-Hungarian military.
Russian forces numbering at around 300,000 men have crossed into Galicia. These forces are slowly advancing into the Carpathians, seeking weak points in the Austrian defense line. Twenty-eight Austrian divisions of �A Staffel� are digging in preparing to hold the line around the Austrian fortresses until Serbia is crushed and the entire Austro-Hungarian army can operate against Russia.
Austrian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hotzendorf has committed ten divisions of �B Staffel� to the western Serbian front in order to force an early decision before the full weight of the Russian Army can be brought to bear on the Galician line. The Second Army of three divisions has been transferred to Vienna to defend the capital from any German incursion. Austrian General Oscar Potiorek, in command of the Serbian front, has a total of 28 divisions under his command. The Fifth and Sixth Armies are attacking across the Drina, while the bulk of Potiorek�s forces are attacking Belgrade itself across the Danube. The Serbians, led by Radomir Putnik, number sixteen divisions, and the majority of them are fighting around Belgrade.
The Austro-Hungarian invasion of northern Serbia has bogged down around Belgrade. Serbian voivode Radomir Putnik, an experienced general of the Balkan Wars, has fortified Belgrade and he has committed the First Army to defend the city at all costs. As a precaution, King Peter and the government has left the city. The veteran and rugged Serbian army has turned Belgrade into a bloodbath for attacking Austrian troops, and the city has sustained enormous damage. General Potiorek has been forced to lessen the pressure on Belgrade and regroup his Minimalgruppe Balkan. On August 31st, Potiorek begins to end daily forays into the city�s outskirts.
The Serbians, with a particularly large concentration of field artillery and machine guns captured in their previous wars [1], have caught the eyes of the world with their deadly use of their heavy arms as defensive weapons. General Putnik has just won a great victory in the defense of his small country against Austria-Hungary�s onslaught, and begins preparing to follow up with a counterattack from Belgrade. The Austro-Hungarians have also learned the value of earthwork defenses, and the new lessons are being implemented in Galicia, where the Russians have yet to make any serious moves.
Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian Fifth and Sixth Armies, under the command of General Erich Frank and General Baron Hermann Kovess von Kovesshaza have been slowly moving into western Serbia. The Serbian Second Army under General Vladan Pitic only has extensive knowledge of the location of the opposing Fifth Army, while the Sixth Army is moving south of Uzice. Most of the cavalry attached to the Second Army is patrolling between the Second Army and Belgrade, which has left Pitic with horrible intelligence.
On the second of September, the Second Army attacks Austrian forces attached to the Fifth Army south of Valievo. The Austrians are caught by surprise after Pitic force-marches his men across the Zapud Morava to meet the Austrians. The Serbians have a slight advantage in numbers and manage to inflict large casualties on the fifth Army, and General Frank halts the advance of the army. The Serbians celebrate another victory against the hated Shvaba in their presently futile invasion of the Serbian heartland. In Berlin, Rome and St. Petersburg, the statesmen of the Triple Alliance are celebrating the frustrations of their common enemy.
The next day, General Pitic follows up his attack with a second assault on the Fifth Army. His men find them prepared for an attack, and Pitic is repulsed. During the night and early morning, General von Kovesshaza has managed to flank the Serbians by marching up the Zapud Morava. Pitic�s tired men are caught with their proverbial pants down when elements of the Sixth Army arrive practically in the Serbian rear. In a rush to evacuate his men from the disaster, General Pitic loses communication with the Second Kosovar Rifle Division and most of the Royal Nis Foot Division. The unfortunate Serbian troops are caught on the wrong side of the Zapud Morava and they surrender to the Fifth Army. The first Serbian disaster of the war is also joined with news that the Austrians have begun advancing on the left wing east of Ram. In a final attempt to take Belgrade, Potiorek assaults the city, and is once again repulsed by the voivode�s defenses.
General Pitic decides to withdraw his forces from the area on September 4th, and he retreats to a stretched line from Kragujevac to Raska. Pitic relies increasingly on his cavalry to patrol the area from his left flank to Novi Bazar. The situation becomes serious as General Putnik observes the over extension of the Second Army and a large Austro-Hungarian force on his left. Belgrade has been under constant attack since the beginning of operations, and it is nearly impossible for Putnik to exploit the gap in the Austrian center or extend his line without threatening the security of the capital.
The Sixth Army begins moving south of the Serbian line again on September 6th, and General Pitic is forced to extend his line even farther to protect the Serbian interior and the arsenal at Kragujevac. A large salient has developed in Serbian positions with the Second Army�s retreat and the slow advance of the Austrian left has left Belgrade surrounded on three sides. General Pitic tells Putnik that his situation is untenable and that reinforcements must be given to him or there will be a massive collapse of his left flank. Putnik resignedly approves a partial withdrawal of his 1st Army from Belgrade to allow the Second Army to move south.
On September 9th, a massive attack by the Austrians north of Bor breaks through the Serbian lines. Suddenly, General Putnik is threatened with double envelopment, and he orders the abandonment of Belgrade in order to shorten his extremely long battle lines. The breakthrough on his right is halted as the mountain-hardy troops are able to halt Austrian advances and deep defensive lines, but the damage has been done. Belgrade is captured by unopposed Austro-Hungarian troops on September 10th to the delight of Field Marshal Conrad von Hotzendorf. The capture of the Serbian capital has weakened the Serbian war effort and diplomacy abroad, and a great military parade is scheduled for September 11th, and General Potiorek and heir apparent Charles are to ride through the streets in triumph.