Everything about Battle Of Cer totally explained
The
Battle of Cer also known as
Battle of Jadar (main operations were held near the estuary of the
Jadar river). One of the first battles of
World War I, it also marked the
first Allied victory in the war. The battle was fought between the
Austro-Hungarian Army and
Serbian forces. Results improved Serbian standing in the
Alliance and faith in the competence of the Serbian Army was vastly improved.
Austro-Hungarian troops fought under the command of General
Oskar Potiorek and
Liborius Ritter von Frank. Von Frank was in direct command of Austro-Hungarian forces at Cer (5th Army). Serbian troops were under the command of General
Stepa Stepanović.
Battle summary
Austrian push
In the opening stages of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Army Group Balkans, under the command of General Oskar Potiorek, pushed into northwestern Serbia across
Sava and
Drina rivers.
Šabac fell. Following the expansion of bridgeheads, most elements of 2nd and 5th army successfully crossed into Serbia by
12 August. Potiorek's own 6th army was still concentrating further south and was in no position to begin large operation at this time, so the brunt of the fighting in following days was on the 5th Army. According to Potjorek's plan, it was to attack in the general direction of Valjevo immediately after the crossing and take the city in five days.
Serbian response
Reports of the Austrian incursion reached the Serbian staff during the day. It was clear that a major operation had begun, but Field Marshal Putnik still hadn't completely abandoned his view that main Austrian thrust will come from the north, concentrated on the
Morava river valley. It took some time until his assistants, general Mišić, and head of Operations, colonel Živko Pavlović convinced him to take decisive action.
Along with the direct military pressure of Austria-Hungary, Serbia was pressed to take an offensive stance by its Allies, at the time waging difficult battles in northwestern Europe. Serbian Staff replied that its units are already on the offensive against the Austrian bridgeheads. The Serbian Second Army, under the command of General Stepanović advanced towards
Cer, the Šumadija Division towards Šabac and the Cavalry Division towards
Mačva. On the left flank, the Third Army, under the command of General
Pavle Jurišić Šturm, entered the battle.
Serbian Second Army was, due to its position in the center of the northwestern cordon formation, was the strongest of the three armies, not in term of numbers (largest was the First Army which was assigned to protect the entrance to the Morava river valley. this being the best possible approach to
Serbia due to the lack of natural defenses, unlike the mountainous northeast and northwest) but in terms of quality of its divisions. It consisted only of the divisions of the first call (prvi poziv), of soldiers in their 20's and with best training and matériel available. These were the Šumadijska, Moravska, Dunavska (which, being responsible for defence of Belgrade, had additional regiments attached) and Kombinovana (combined) divisions. This organisational structure was applied by
Field Marshal Putnik not just to have a strong center, but also, because of their central position, the Second Army's divisions could at any time be attached to either First or Third army if the strategic development dictated such an action. Thus, when all doubts about the direction of the Austro-Hungarian invasion were cleared, Serbian cordon conducted a regrouping (movement of app. 90 degrees counterclockwise) of all of its armies and Second Army faced von Franck's Fifth Army (only Austro-Hungarian field army which had crossed into Serbia in full strength) at Cer and Jadar valley.
Battle
During August 1914 a battle was waged in the area of
Mt. Cer, in which around 200,000 Austro-Hungarians fought against 180,000 Serbs. The main battle at Cer lasted from
August 16 to
August 19. The Serbian Army won the victory, pushed the Austro-Hungarian Army back across the Drina, and completely thwarted their war plan.
Outcome
Around 18,500 Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers were killed or wounded and around 4,500 were captured. The Serbian Army lost around 16,000 and 250 officers. As a result of the battle Austria-Hungary withdrew from Sandzak, delaying their offensive into Serbia. Austria-Hungary continued offensives into Serbia for the rest of the autumn of 1914 without much success. Cer also gave the
Entente their first victory of the war against the Central Powers.
Discussion
Another thing of great importance during Cer battle was Putnik's unwillingness to conduct aggressive offensive maneuvers (this was also the case in the
First Balkan War) due to his fear of unnecessary risk which could lead to higher casualties in already undermanned Serbian army. An evident example was his overruling of General Stepanović's proposal on the eve of the third day of the battle. Stepanović sensed that Austro-Hungarian forces on Cer an Everk were beginning to crumble, so he suggested a bold maneuver in which his Kombinovana and Moravska divisions would conduct a forced frontal pursuit of opposing troops on Cer and Everk ridges, whilst the Cavalry and Timočka (this division was hardly used during the entire course of the battle, to significant dissadvantage regarding the outcome) divisions would conduct a parallel pursuit on the northern slope of Cer towards Lešnica, with orders to attack both the enemy's flanks and to reach the pontoon bridges on Drina river and therefore cut the Fifth Army's main line of retreat. If this maneuver had been conducted, the possibillity for a more catastrophic defeat of the for Austro-Hungarian arms was significant. Yet, Putnik ordered Stepa to pursuit enemy force frontally and not to conduct any sort of flanking attack, which would, in itself, cause far larger casualties upon the retreating enemy. The Third Army's loss of contact with the enemy on the third day of the battle also helped the Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army to withdraw in a more orderly fashion. Considering this, it's probable that the invading force could have suffered a far costlier defeat had Putnik allowed more independence to his field commanders instead of his attempt to micromanage operations. A reason for this may lie in his early command experiences in the wars with Turkey and Bulgaria, where some exceedingly ambitious plans led to disasters in field.
Legacy
Historical artifacts can be found in a museum located in the town of Šabac.
Further Information
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