37 – End of the Balkan Campaign
As the Austrian-Bulgarian army reached the Montenegrin eastern border near the Albanian border, Serbia-Montenegro faced a professorial position. The Austrian side expected to occupy Bar within two days at the longest.
I did not believe their words. When it came to war, Austria was no different from a shepherd boy. You either give trust to believe their words or not, but how can you believe those who only talk convincingly and sh*t?
But even so, it seemed like something worth believing this time.
To anyone, the destruction of Serbia-Montenegro seemed certain.
Anyway, everyone agreed that the tiresome Balkan war was finally over.
*
October 24, 1914, Bar, Kingdom of Montenegro.
Serbia-Montenegro, which had remained as remnants on the outskirts of the Balkan Peninsula, saw its final days in both kingdoms. The Austro-Bulgarian army had breached the Bojana River on the eastern border of Montenegro, and the Shkodra Line in the west had also been breached.
In the face of the advancing Allied forces like a tide, the resolute resistance of the negotiating forces also came to an end.
“Hurry, get on board. We don’t have time.”
The French navy and Serbian soldiers pushed away the refugees who were trying to board the ships by seizing the beach. It was difficult to create space for the soldiers who were chased away after participating in the battle, so there was no chance for the refugees to board.
“Mayor, this way.”
Even in such a situation, the high-ranking officials and nobles were given priority. It was partly because they belonged to the privileged class, but there was also a need to bring as many representative figures as possible to form the future exile government. And such people could only be those from the ruling class.
“Don’t abandon us!”
“Please let at least the baby on board!”
“My daughter! Please make room for my daughter. She can work in a field hospital!”
When someone raised their voice, people stuck their heads out between the walls created by the soldiers and shouted. Sometimes they screamed, while others pleaded, trying to break through the soldiers with human empathy.
“Step back! Those who violate order will be severely punished!”
An officer pulled out his pistol and fired into the air to restore order.
But it was futile to suppress the desire of human beings to survive. Even in the midst of being trampled, they did everything they could to not be pushed out of their place. Even as broken teeth flew and blood splattered, the crowd didn’t even flinch.
Woooong!
Meanwhile, a faint roar could be heard from afar.
The faces of the Serbian officers darkened upon hearing that sound. If the cheering was loud enough to be heard, it meant that the front lines were approaching the protest site. Now even the soldiers were swayed by the cheering, as some of them showed signs of trying to slip away from the ranks and board the ship.
“Your Highness, you must leave now.”
The prince, who had been commanding the withdrawal operation until the very end, was being pulled away by the chief of staff.
“If I also move to the port, who will salvage the current situation?”
“The enemy has arrived right before our eyes. If Your Highness even becomes a captive of the enemy, who will the kingdom rely on as its focal point and resist?”
Alexander bit his lip.
He knew that his aging father did not have much time left. He was only a prince in name, but in reality, he was no different from the practical king of Serbia.
What if he dies here?
If he dies here, there will no longer be anyone to stand against Nataliya, the widow of the Obrenovic dynasty, which the allied countries have established in Belgrade. The thought of the Obrenovic dynasty, which bows down to Austria and acts like their lapdog, ruling over Serbia made his head spin.
“Your Highness!”
Not only the chief of staff, but everyone who had served him demanded that he board the ship. Was it a personal sense of duty or cowardice for the sake of the kingdom? The prince stood at the crossroads of choice.
Alexander let out a heavy sigh.
“It seems I am fated to incur the wrath of God. It is a situation where I cannot even protect the kingdom at the moment of its demise.”
“A momentary disgrace means nothing. You should think of the day when negotiations succeed and you return.”
“Understood.”
The prince followed the chief of staff, taking slow steps.
The people who noticed Alexander moving raised their voices. They felt the desperation in the prince’s retreat and mustered their last bit of strength to plead for salvation. In the midst of their heartfelt plea, the prince paused for a moment.
“Don’t leave us behind, Your Highness!”
“Your Highness!”
“Take us with you!”
The Crown Prince of Serbia grimaced and closed his eyes in response to the cries of the people, who pleaded not to be abandoned. If he could save them all, he would, but how could he do the impossible?
“Push them away with force!”
A Serbian officer ordered coldly.
Only then did the soldiers, who had been blocking the way, begin to move their hands and push the people aside with their bayonets. The soldiers were also quite angry, as they had been pushing and being pushed all day. They exerted violence, trying to separate the people forcefully.
“Agh!”
“Step back when asked politely!”
“Don’t leave us behind! Evil!”
“Your Highness!”
A mixture of cheers and screams created a chaotic scene.
An attendant guided the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, this way.”
On the sea, there were numerous ships from the French Navy and neutral countries. Some docked in narrow piers and directly transported people, while most sent boats to the coast to pick up people. Time was running out, but the evacuation operation was not making much progress.
There were still too many people to be evacuated.
Fortunately, most of the high-ranking officials had already boarded, leaving few important figures on land. Apart from Prince Aleksandar, who was overseeing the evacuation and delay operations, there were hardly any left.
Just as Aleksandar was about to board, General Radomir Putnik, the Serbian Army Commander-in-Chief, was personally commanding the rear guard. Old and sickly, he tried his best not to show any weakness.
“Your Highness! Austrian forces have entered the port of Bar. The front line defenders from the Udiče Battalion reported that it is impossible to hold the line. They are requesting a retreat. What should we do?”
“We cannot allow a retreat. Deliver the message that they must fulfill their duty in that position.”
“Reporting from the Bar Harbor Brigade. Half of the brigade’s soldiers are dead or injured, and it is expected to be breached soon.”
“Tell them that we expect them to shed every last drop of blood for their homeland.”
As the messengers withdrew, a staff officer assisting the commander cautiously spoke.
“The artillery unit has run out of ammunition. Now the artillery unit is rendered useless. Artillery is a type of soldier that takes a long time to train, so how about withdrawing them and putting them on board?”
“That’s not possible. If someone shows the sight of withdrawal, the morale of the entire rear will drop. Give them guns or something to keep fighting. Even if they don’t have hands, make them able to pull the trigger with their mouths. That’s your job.”
Futunik gave a cold order.
Every 5 minutes, a messenger arrived and delivered gloomy news, but the old commander did not waver at all and poured out orders. As if all of this situation had nothing to do with him, Futunik didn’t even bat an eyelid.
From that cold appearance, it was clear that he did not notice the fact that he was old and sick, to the point where he couldn’t lead the field battle.
But Futunik was barely holding on, leaning on the table, so that his subordinates couldn’t see.
“He’s already short of breath.”
While being tempted to sit down, the supreme commander of Serbia maintained a straight posture.
Thump!
The command post shook from the artillery fire, and everyone showed a momentary startled reaction. There seemed to be no need to mention what kind of state the messenger who left the command post a while ago was in.
The commander covered his mouth with a handkerchief and spat out phlegm mixed with blood, then spoke in a calm tone.
“Tell the chief of staff to send another messenger.”
“Understood.”
After spitting out the phlegm, his breathing became a little easier.
Futunik looked down at the map and tried to narrow down the expected location of the enemy. The fact that the artillery fire reached here meant that the entire Bar was within the range of fire.
“Now my job is done.”
Everything was over, but instead, he felt a sense of relief. The burden of carrying the fate of Serbia alone was a burden that the old general could not bear.
He slowly approached the window and looked out into the distance, at the crowded docks. The ships that had dropped anchor at the bustling docks were leaving one by one.
“Your Highness, the Austrian army has entered the streets. It is time to move the command post.”
Futunik showed no reaction to the chief of staff’s statement. He gazed at the distant ships and let go of the heavy sense of responsibility.
“What’s left is their share.”
The old veteran’s wrinkled eyes, losing their sight, quietly transmitted the last hope of the homeland.
*
October 25, 1914, Bar, southern Montenegro, Kingdom of Montenegro.
Lieutenant Franz Friedrich Bumer of the 38th Hungarian Division pursed his lips as he watched the endless procession of prisoners. Although there were a considerable number of prisoners captured from the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive and the Battle of the Vojna River, it was not as many as those who surrendered in the vicinity of Bar. Excluding the large number of refugees, there were nearly a hundred thousand soldiers who had not been able to board the ships.
From Noble mtl dot com
Since yesterday afternoon, the prisoners had been sent north towards Kotor, but the people of Serbia and Montenegro around the harbor showed no sign of diminishing. The soldiers were initially overwhelmed by the endless crowd, but later, they became disgusted.
The headquarters must have taken this into consideration, as they simply let go of the young children, the elderly, and middle-aged women who had a low possibility of becoming combatants.
However, young men who were to be engaged in slave labor in the homeland were still taken along. The imperial government, which had conscripted a large number of soldiers for the war, was in a position where it couldn’t even let go of a cat’s paw.
But if they selected only these young men and took them away, the remaining people would not receive any care and would inevitably die. Even so, the refugees’ health had deteriorated to an extreme due to repeated forced marches and starvation.
“That’s the fate of a nation or country that loses in war.”
Lieutenant Franz did not sympathize with them. It was Serbia that had provided the impetus for the war, and the homeland had simply responded.
“Lieutenant. There are Frenchmen over there, what should we do with them?”
“Classify them separately.”
Well, the culprits of the war, the Serbians and the French, needed to be treated differently.
“Yes.”
The classification process was relatively quick. Once the classification was complete, those who were to be taken to Austria were given a small portion of thin porridge and bread. They quickly ate the meal that was given to them in a hurry.
The weak and elderly who did not belong to any category watched that scene and licked their lips.
But there was no food to divide among them.
Soldiers who took advantage of this fact would discreetly look around and approach young women, giving them a piece of bread and sometimes buying their favors. It was not difficult to find soldiers panting heavily in the nearby grass or in the villages. It was a despicable act, but it was also difficult to stop them.
The commanders tolerated acts of rebellion, considering the morale of the soldiers who had fought the horrific battles throughout southern Montenegro. It was in accordance with the long-standing customs of the battlefield.
In the midst of it all, the reason why there were no organized looting or rape incidents was because the commanding officer of the Allied forces, Oscar Fortiorek, ordered the soldiers to maintain discipline so that the Allies could claim the moral high ground against the “barbaric nation of Serbia.”
Otherwise, it would have been complete chaos.
“What a ridiculous sight,” Franz muttered, lighting a cigarette.
At that moment, a sergeant who had disappeared somewhere approached Franz and spoke to him.
“Sir, would you like to join the major and have a chat with some promising individuals? I’ve arranged it.”
He discreetly pointed to a group of young women who still looked innocent. They had anxious and fearful expressions on their faces.
The lieutenant frowned as soon as he heard the sergeant’s words.
“Don’t talk nonsense and go do your job.”
Franz didn’t dislike women, but this was a conversation that would be detrimental to the officer’s dignity. The officer corps, with its noble traditions, wanted to differentiate themselves from the soldiers and didn’t want to be rolling around in the same position as them.
“I apologize, sir.”
Franz gestured with his eyes for the sergeant to return to his post.
He felt worse for wear after engaging in unnecessary conversation.
“How pathetic.”
It wasn’t surprising.
The Austro-Hungarian army was more of a tool to maintain the unity of the empire than a group created for war. The soldiers had developed a sense of loyalty to the empire through their splendid uniforms and an easy two-year military life, while the citizens realized that the emperor’s rule was imposed on them through the army, which could be seen anywhere in the empire. For a multi-ethnic state like the empire, it was difficult to make the most of the army.
But this was only a story in peacetime.
The imperial army in a state of war was nothing more than an incompetent group that failed to fulfill its military duties. Insufficient training and discipline, a sluggish communication system, an officer corps that viewed the army as a camping trip. In every aspect, the imperial army lacked the elements of a modern military force.
Watching this spectacle, I felt the desire to switch to the German Empire, which had a stronger sense of national homogeneity, at least ten times a day. It was a sentiment that many Austrian officers of German descent who participated in the war shared.
“After the war, this feeble empire will surely change in some way.”
Lieutenant fixed his gaze on the paper, swallowing his disappointment towards his homeland.