1914_0816_01: The Emperor's Gift - FWWC 03 Serbia '14

Macva Peninsula, Serbia, 16th August 1914:

With the Austro-Hungarian 5.Armee fully across the Drina, Frank began pushing east to expand the bridgehead and start the drive towards his primary objective at Valjevo while Potiorek's 6.Armee observed and waited patiently for news of its capture. The Serbians rushed forces to the area and both sides immediately clashed over the Jadar valley, Mount Cer and the city of Sabac on the Sava River. At Mount Cer, the critical location where the battle was initially decided, the Serbian Combined Division immediately rushed head long into the Austro-Hungarians after a series of forced marches, catching the 21.LandwehrInfDiv in disarray in a climatic and desperate battle that succeeded in driving a wedge between 2. and 5.Armee, unraveling the entire Austro-Hungarian invasion plan.

Potiorek had intended to present a magnificent victory to Emperor Franz Ferdinand on his 84th birthday on August 18th, but the actual result was to be a gift of shameful defeat as 5.Armee exhausted itself in bloody attacks which concluded in a withdrawal back across the Drina.

[Size: large]

*See the notes document for information on scenario design decisions and historical notes.