Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Austria-Hungary's Fight
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“Cross the river, all troops. The time has come to bring judgment upon those Serbians who assassinated His Majesty the Emperor!”
August 1, 1913.
Under the command of Oskar Potiorek, the former Governor-General of Bosnia-Herzegovina, approximately 460,000 troops of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army crossed the Drina and Sava Rivers along the border between Bosnia and Serbia, launching an offensive into the Kingdom of Serbia.
“Sons of Serbia, your homeland is in peril. Fight with the resolve to die!”
In response, Serbia rallied every able-bodied man from 7-year-old boys to the elderly, mustering around 420,000 troops fueled by unyielding spirit. Under the command of Field Marshal Radomir Putnik, who had distinguished himself in the Balkan Wars, they stood ready to confront the Austro-Hungarian forces.
In the initial clash between the two armies, the Austro-Hungarians seized the momentum first.
Putnik and the Serbian forces had anticipated that the Austro-Hungarians would cross the Danube and strike straight for Belgrade. However, Chief of the General Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf opted instead to advance through the salient beyond the Drina and Sava Rivers, exploiting a gap in the Serbian defenses.
The crossing points chosen by the Austro-Hungarians were among the few flat plains in Serbia, making it difficult for the defending Serbs to leverage terrain advantages. If the Serbs rushed to block them, it could even allow for encirclement.
Hötzendorf planned to lure the Serbs in and annihilate them through encirclement...
“The Austro-Hungarians are trying to draw us into a trap. If we play this right, we can turn it against them.”
Serbian Commander-in-Chief Radomir Putnik was no pushover compared to Hötzendorf's calculations.
A veteran who had earned the honorable title of Voivode—reserved only for generals victorious in battle during the Balkan Wars—Putnik refrained from rashly charging into the Austro-Hungarian trap. Instead, he withdrew his defensive lines to the rivers and highlands behind the plains, then force-marched his troops 96 kilometers in just 48 hours to reposition them.
Immediately after, the Serbs unleashed a ferocious barrage on the waiting Austro-Hungarian forces.
Boom! Kaboom!! Boom!
“Commander Potiorek, the Serbian pressure is too intense! At this rate, we won't just fail to counterattack—we'll keep racking up losses!”
“Damn it, this is absurd! They're just the Serbian army. Inferior in both numbers and equipment. So why are we Austro-Hungarians the ones being pushed back?!”
Despite his bold claims of crushing Serbia in two weeks, Potiorek panicked as the Serbs began driving back the Austro-Hungarians. Far from atoning for his failure to protect the late Franz Joseph I, this would only deepen his guilt.
Of course, on paper, the Austro-Hungarians overwhelmingly outnumbered the Serbs.
Even a decaying Austro-Hungarian Empire was one of Europe's five great powers, while Serbia was merely a regional powerhouse.
But a closer look revealed why the Austro-Hungarians were bound to falter against the Serbs.
For one, the Serbian army burned with fierce patriotism—King Peter I, an elderly monarch, even took up arms alongside his princes to defend the nation. Bolstered by combat experience and weapons from the Balkan Wars, they had grown into a force not to be underestimated in Europe.
“Why are we fighting fellow Slavs, the Serbs?”
“The Emperor's assassination? Honestly, it only hurts the Austrians and Hungarians anyway.”
In stark contrast, the Austro-Hungarian troops suffered from low morale above all else.
The Slavic soldiers, who made up 44% of the Austro-Hungarian forces, had no desire to fight their fellow Slavs. Their loyalty to the Empire was weak, and revenge for Franz Joseph held little appeal.
Even in the original history, these Slavs had shown indifference during battles against Serbia and Russia, despite the death of Franz Ferdinand—the most conciliatory toward Slavs.
To them, whether the victim in Sarajevo was an archduke or an emperor made no difference; it was all the same oppressor.
As a result, Austro-Hungarian officers couldn't trust their Slavic troops, fearing desertion to the enemy. This bred further distrust among the Slavs toward their officers, perpetuating a vicious cycle.
Moreover, Potiorek's military acumen fell far short of matching his burning thirst for Serbian blood.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire's dismal performance was all but inevitable.
“No. We can't retreat like this.”
“But with most of our forces moving to Galicia, we can't expect reinforcements right away...”
“It's fine. I hear the Second Army hasn't departed for Galicia yet. I'll request their intervention from Chief of Staff Hötzendorf myself.”
In desperation, fearing total annihilation, Potiorek pleaded with Hötzendorf to divert the Austro-Hungarian Second Army—preparing to move to Galicia against the Russians—to the Serbian front.
“Is Potiorek joking around right now?!”
Hötzendorf scowled at the request, of course.
“Diverting the Second Army to Serbia would delay our Galicia deployment, leaving us unable to respond to the Russian advance in time. Absolutely not!”
While the Serbian front raged, the Russians were marching on Austro-Hungarian Galicia.
Hötzendorf was personally overseeing the concentration of forces there, including the Second Army.
Pulling the Second Army to Serbia would inevitably delay its arrival in Galicia.
Yet despite Hötzendorf's firm refusal, Potiorek—desperate like Liu Bei—begged three times for the Second Army's aid.
Finally, yielding to the persistence, Hötzendorf relented on the condition that if no results by the 20th, the army would be withdrawn immediately.
“Commander Radonjić, the Austro-Hungarian assault has intensified.”
“It's fine. Their momentum won't last.”
“Then?”
“Keep retreating temporarily, then counterattacking—repeat, repeat, repeat. Stick to them relentlessly until they tire!”
Even with reinforcements bolstering their assault, the Serbs countered by repeatedly withdrawing and striking back, hounding the Austro-Hungarians.
Potiorek himself, forgetting his vengeance momentarily, muttered in fear at their ferocity, describing it as “terrifyingly intense.”
“Retreat, retreat! Fall back across the river!”
Unable to withstand the Serbian onslaught, the Austro-Hungarians abandoned their offensive and retreated back across the rivers into Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Thus, just 12 days after the battle began, on August 13, the Serbs successfully expelled the Austro-Hungarians from their territory entirely.
Hötzendorf, hearing the news, flew into a rage, vowing to replace the blunderer Potiorek. Franz Ferdinand lamented the grim reality of the Austro-Hungarian army, while Germany clutched its neck in disbelief at their performance against mere Serbia.
“I'm starting to doubt if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is truly a great power anymore. Hans, even so, shouldn't they crush Serbia in no time?”
“...Your Majesty, you can't judge the Austro-Hungarian army by German standards.”
“Either way, the Balkan war might drag on longer than expected.”
“I'll urge Bulgaria and Greece to join the fray sooner. We don't have the bandwidth to worry about the Serbian front ourselves right now.”
As he said, the German Empire had no time to sigh over Austria-Hungary's failures.
The Serbian front was merely secondary. Now, Germany faced a far greater foe from the east—the Russian bear—after dealing with France.
While the Austro-Hungarians were getting slaughtered in Serbia on August 6, 1913,
the Russian Empire finally advanced against Germany and Austria-Hungary, opening the Eastern Front.
Mobilizing a total of 800,000 troops, the Russians split them evenly: 400,000 toward East Prussia and 400,000 toward Austro-Hungarian Galicia.
In response, the Germans deployed the Eighth Army under Crown Prince Wilhelm to East Prussia, while the Austro-Hungarians gathered their First, Third, and Fourth Armies for Galicia's defense (the Second Army, as mentioned, had been diverted to Serbia en route).
“Do you think Chief of Staff Hötzendorf and the Austro-Hungarians can hold Galicia?”
“...Personally, I'd say don't hold your breath, Your Highness.”
“Tch. I never realized how frustrating unreliable allies could be.”
Crown Prince Wilhelm sighed and shook his head at Chief of Staff Ludendorff's words.
He almost wished he'd gone to the Western Front instead.
Even tiny Belgium was reportedly fighting bravely there—far better than Austria-Hungary.
He hoped the Austro-Hungarians would recognize their limits and focus on defense, but regrettably, Hötzendorf dreamed once more of encirclement and planned to strike the Russians first.
“We'll envelop and attack the Russians on the southern Polish plains from the flank.”
“What about the Russian offensive coming from eastern Galicia...?”
“Lemberg and Przemyśl in eastern Galicia are well-fortified. With 'active defense' there, we have a solid chance of victory.”
Hötzendorf declared confidently as he headed to the front.
But the Austro-Hungarians weren't the only ones plotting encirclement.
The Russian Southwest Front advancing into Galicia aimed to encircle them there as well.
“Their clash will likely begin as a meeting engagement.”
“Uncommon these days, unlike in the old wars.”
“Yes, quite rare.”
Indeed, the first battle between archrivals Austria-Hungary and Russia—the impending Battle of Galicia or Lemberg—started as a mutual encirclement attempt in a meeting engagement.
Highly unusual for an era where one side typically attacked and the other defended.
“Hötzendorf's plan seems sound, though. If it works, they might actually encircle the Russians.”
“If victory favors them, yes. But look at the map—the terrain favors the Russians. And I'm worried about the Austro-Hungarian Third Army, tasked with the Moru sector.”
“Third Army?”
“Yes. It's one of the units with the lowest loyalty to the Empire.”
“The ethnic issues again.”
Ludendorff nodded in agreement as Crown Prince Wilhelm groaned.
The Third Army was predominantly composed of Romanians, Slovenes, Italians, and Ukrainians.
Unhappily, these were among the ethnic groups least loyal to the Empire and Emperor.
“The Third Army will be Austria-Hungary's weak link.”
Ludendorff's concerns were well-founded.
In the original history, Hötzendorf and the Austro-Hungarians nearly encircled the Russians at the Battles of Krasnik and Komarow but collapsed starting with the Third Army's defeat, ultimately losing the Battle of Galicia.
The root cause was ethnic discord in the Third Army, compounded by facing a Russian Third Army twice their size in troops and artillery.
Had the Russians pressed harder instead of hesitating, the Third Army would have been annihilated, crippling one Austro-Hungarian wing and ending the battle sooner.
Hötzendorf had dismissed the Third Army's defeat at the time, of course.
But everyone knew how that turned out.
“Headquarters must not trust the Austro-Hungarians either—they're planning to send Herringen's Seventh Army to the Galicia front.”
“That means an even heavier burden on our Eighth Army.”
“Don't worry, Your Highness. Our plan against the Russians is ready, and the troops are prepared.”
Falkenhayn, reviewing the Eighth Army's plans, judged it capable of defending East Prussia alone and approved sending the Seventh to Galicia.
A collapse in Galicia would diminish any East Prussian victory.
Besides, new field armies for the East were nearly ready.
“All that's left is to await the enemy.”
“Ah.”
Crown Prince Wilhelm and Ludendorff gazed over the East Prussian plains as twilight descended.
The Battle of Tannenberg.
The battle that would decide the Eastern Front's fate was approaching.