1914_0919_01: Blood Mountain - FWWC 03 Serbia '14

Mackov Kamen, Serbia, 19th September 1914:

The Austro-Hungarian 6.Armee attack across the Drina on the 8th had been successful in seizing Jagodnja Mountain, the key position anchoring the Serbian line, and also expanded east threatening a flanking maneuver on Valjevo from the south. Serbian high command realized the significance of the threat and withdrew the 1.Army from Syrmia to move south to support the straining 3.Army.

Just as the Austro-Hungarians seemed poised to breakout east of Jagodnja Mountain, elements of the Serbian 1.Army arrived to bolster the defense and counter attacked. The Austro-Hungarians were forced to withdraw to establish a hold-at-all-costs defense of Mackov Kamen and Kosutnja Stopa, the highest peaks of the mountain. At this moment everything was on the line. If the Austro-Hungarian 6.Armee could be completely pushed off of the Jagodnja back across the Drina, then the army would collapse and the political ramifications would be catastrophic.

Thus, both sides were locked in a life and death struggle over Makov Kamen, the peak which would later be described by eyewitnesses on both sides as "completely red from the blood of men who had fallen" from one of the most violent and costly battles of the entire Serbian campaign.

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