Chapter 751 Serbia Collapses

Carlo originally thought that this war in Europe would last a long time, but surprisingly, there was still a long time before Saint Prim High School opened, and it seemed like the war was about to end.

The breakthrough in the war was still here in Serbia.

There was no way around it, compared to Germany and Austria-Hungary, Serbia was far too weak.

Since the Russian army couldn’t reach Serbia, even if Serbia mustered all its strength, it could at most only delay its defeat.

It took Austria-Hungary only a few days to capture Loznica, which tore a gap in Serbia’s western border.

Subsequent attempts by Serbia to counterattack Loznica were also to seal this gap, but unfortunately, they lagged behind Austria-Hungary in terms of personnel and equipment.

After the failed counterattack, the Serbian army retreated towards Belgrade. Their intention was noble, which was to defend their capital, Belgrade.

After all, it had been mentioned that Belgrade was located on a prominent strip at the river’s mouth, facing Austria-Hungary across the river on three sides.

If they couldn’t hold onto the land south of Belgrade, Serbia’s capital would be completely surrounded by Austria-Hungary, which would be fatal for this small country.

Retreating towards Belgrade could certainly defend the capital, but it was not good news for the cities on the southern western border.

The Austrian Army also tried to advance east to attack Belgrade, having long realized how strong the defensive line Serbia had set up on this path was.

Although steady progress could be made forward, the time and manpower expended were unacceptable for Austria-Hungary.

Since Belgrade had such a solid defensive line, Austria-Hungary decided not to attack there. Serbia being such a small country, the fall of any part would be painful.

After discussions, the southern troops on Austria-Hungary’s southern front decided to continue southeast to attack Valjevo, a critical supply city on Serbia’s western border.

Valjevo’s geographical position was crucial, located in the central area along Serbia’s western border, capable of influencing the entire western front.

Because of this, Serbia had stockpiled a large amount of supplies here, using it as a transit point to transport continuously to the western front.

If Valjevo could be conquered, it would not only cut off supplies to Serbia’s western front but also allow Austria-Hungary’s army to move onto the main roads, laying the groundwork for future attacks.

Valjevo connected to Belgrade in the north and to the important transportation hub city, Uric, in the south, giving it significant strategic importance.

Before Serbia launched its counterattack, Valjevo was heavily guarded.

Originally, Loznica and the northern border had only 20,000 troops, while the supply city of Valjevo had nearly the same number of defenders.

However, after Serbia planned its counterattack, most of Valjevo’s defenders were transferred north to participate in the attack on Loznica.

After the counterattack’s failure, 35,000 Serbian troops retreated hastily towards Belgrade, effectively neglecting the supply city of Valjevo.

Now, Valjevo had fewer than 10,000 defenders remaining, most of whom were mobilized after the war began. The kind of well-trained regular army scarcely existed, which was undoubtedly good news for Austria-Hungary.

Austria-Hungary was naturally aware of Serbia’s situation. If Serbia could mount a counterattack, it implied that defenses in central cities like Valjevo were very thin.

After Serbia’s defensive battle failed, Austria-Hungary left about 20,000 troops in Loznica for defense and mobilized another 20,000 from Bosnia, forming a 40,000-strong army to attack Valjevo.

Under Austria-Hungary’s assault, this crucial supply city of Valjevo fell within two days.

After capturing Valjevo, Austria-Hungary didn’t linger long, leaving a portion of its troops to defend Valjevo, while the rest continued south towards the transportation hub city of Uric.

For the entire western border, a supply city like Valjevo was of utmost importance. But for Serbia, it was the transportation hub city of Uric that mattered more.

Uric was located at a crossroads, connecting north to Valjevo, south to Serbia’s southern border, and east to Serbia’s heartland.

If Austria-Hungary managed to capture Uric, Serbia’s interior cities would be unguarded.

This was a deadly prospect for Serbia, but its army had little manpower available at the time.

Northwest Serbia, north of Valjevo, had over 80,000 troops gathered. Together with the troops at the southern western border, this was almost all of Serbia’s current main forces.

The remaining soldiers were either still in the hospital, alive or dead, or freshly mobilized with no training and thus largely ineffective.

Upon learning that Valjevo had fallen and that Austria-Hungary’s army was advancing south towards Uric, the Serbian government was thrown into panic.

They ordered the mobilized troops in the interior cities to urgently head to Uric while hastily destroying the roads north and east of Uric, to prevent the Austrian army from using them for rapid strikes on other Serbian cities.