VI
Victory in Serbia
When news about the fall of Skopje reached the citizens of Bulgaria, a nation-wide burst of celebration occured. People in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and countless other cities went out into streets to cheer, dance and sing. The shame of the Second Balkan War of 1913 has vanished. The tsardom finally began to claim its rightful place under the sun.
The tsar himself took part in the celebrations - he arrived at the former royal palace on the Battenberg Square and from its windows he gave a passionate speech, promising "glory for our people and humiliation to all those who dare to stand in our way". Congratulation letters from kaisers Wilhelm II and Franz Joseph have also been read aloud to the public. The improvised ceremony ended with the crowd spontaniously singing the national anthem.
The formal royal palace on the Battenberg Square (currently a home to the Royal Art Museum
But on the frontline, the situation was not so optimistic; although the attack on Skopje went better than expected, with Bulgarian casulties not exceeding 3000 people, the quick end of the war seemed out of reach. Originally, the war plan hoped that the war will be concluded within three months, with a simultaneous capture of Skopje and Belgrade. The Austrian failrue to capture Belgrade meant that the Serbians had time to bring up the reserves and set up a formidable defensive line. A new plan had to be devised.
On the 14th of April generals Tenev, Zhekov, Boyadzhiev and Hristov, as well as the crownprince Boris, met in Zhekov's headquarters in Pirot to devise a new plan. Two variants have been proposed; a modification of the original plan, calling for combined attack of Pristina and Krusevac in order to break through the Serbian lines and then advance on to Belgrade and a completely new one, where the the left wing and the centre of Bulgarian forces would feint a massive assault on Pristina alone, with the weaker right wing attacking the weakest section of Serbian defensive lines - the town of Bor, East of Belgrade.
Initially, it seemed that the first variant will pass, since it gained both Tenev and Zhekov's acceptance. Boyadzhiev and Boris, however, feared that the Serbian lines may turn out to be too tough to break through directly. They also pointed out that with Bor's capture, a stable communication line with the Austrian troops will be established. Boris also brought up an economical argument - Bulgarian industry badly needed German coal and steel, and should Serbia keep on fighting, establishing a direct land connection between the Central Powers would be a wise move. The deciding argument came from Sofia; frustrated with the generals' resistance, Boris telegrammed both plans to his father, who ultimately decided in favour of the second one. Not even the chief of staff dared to openly oppose the ruler.
The new offensive began on the 25th of April with the attack on Bor, with assault on Pristina commencing on the 10th of May. All avalible forces have been mustered, including a single reserve division that performed covering duty along the Romanian border. The Bulgarians once again managed to achieve numerical superiority - outnumbering the Serbians 2:1 on Bor direction and 9:5 on Pristina direction. The attackers were clearly superior in weapons as well - the Bulgarians concentrated all their artillery, hoping to pound Serbian positions to dust before throwing infantry into the fray.
All of Bulgarian artillery - over 500 guns - have been used in offensives on Bor and Pristina
Their hopes were soon proven wrong; the rugged terrain once again prevented the Bulgarians from fully deploying their forces. Instead of a rapid advance, the attackers crawled slowly forward. In the south the battle raged furiously, with loses quickly doubling the war's overall death toll. Still, the Serbians took greater blows; a single division was decimated while attempting a counterattack towards Tetovo. Three thousand Serbians have been taken into custody, with two thousand left dead on the battlefield. Slowly, yet steadily, the Bulgarians moved towards their objectives.
Serbian PoWs taken during the advance on Pristina
By the end of May, Serbian resistance near Bor began to fade; even reinforcements from Belgrade did not help to sway the result in Serbian favour. The town itself fell on the 30th of May, taken by advancing Bulgarian cavalrymen. Contact with Austrian troops was established on the next day.
Bulgarian soldiers, somewhere near Bor
With Belgrade sandwiched between the Austrians and Bulgarians, the assault on the city itself began very quickly. The Bulgarians, however, did not take a very active part in it; the 2nd Army was exhausted after the battle of Bor and could only perform artillery shelling of Serbian defensive positions on the city's eastern flank. The final assault began on the 17th of June and was concluded on the 22nd, when the Austro-Hungarian army banner was hang above Petar I's palace. Still, neither the Serbian monarch nor his prime minister were nowhere to be found; they had fled the city soon after the direct assault began. Remnants of the Serbian army in the north surrendered; the campaign came to a triumphant end.
The end of Serbia -
a German postcard published shortly after the fall of Belgrade