Seite - 185 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Initial Campaigns 185 not simply rush forward and take the Serbian capital ? The commanders were in dis- agreement. On 6 August, the Commander of the 2nd Army, General Böhm-Ermolli, had been informed by General of Artillery Potiorek about the planned offensive on the Drina River. Potiorek wanted to attack Belgrade quickly, and envisaged taking it by 10 August, four days later.438 Böhm-Ermolli objected that it would create a bad impression to take Belgrade and then vacate the city immediately afterwards, since the 2nd Army was to go to Russia. However, Böhm-Ermolli suggested that a powerful demonstra- tion of force could be made. This would certainly be more prudent than simply having the 2nd Army stand by and watch. Since the general and the general of artillery were unable to find common ground, Böhm-Ermolli, who was the servant of two masters and was just as bound to obey the Army High Command as Potiorek, appealed to Conrad. Conrad replied that Landsturm and march formations were already on their way, which were to take over the Danube section following the withdrawal of the 2nd Army. However, that was no answer. Instead of ordering Böhm-Ermolli to remove his army immediately, and to delay the offensive against Serbia if possible, it was left to Potiorek, and to a certain degree to Böhm-Ermolli, to decide what they wanted to do. Since the Commander of the 2nd Army was also keen to be involved in the overthrow of Serbia, and not merely stage a demonstration before leaving, a not untypical partial solution was found. Böhm-Ermolli was given war bridge equipment and technical troops by Potiorek, and was to leave only the horses north of the Danube and the Sava. However, by the time of the withdrawal of his army, in other words, by the time 80,000 troops could be entrained again, the 2nd Army was to be effective in the Belgrade area. However, the goal was not the Serbian capital, but the ‘Mačva’, the area south of the Sava. There, a demonstration was to be made and, in particular, the river was to be crossed at Šabac. That now appeared to be clear at least. At the same time, Böhm-Ermolli ordered the commanders of the IV Corps and the 7th Infantry Division, who were to focus their efforts on the crossing, to make sure that they remained concentrated, since this would be no long-term occupation, and the troops could be taken out at any time.439 On 11 August at 5 p.m., the Austro-Hungarian artillery began its harassment fire and fire for effect. Now, Belgrade really did find itself under attack. On the following day, the Imperial and Royal 5th Army arrived punctually for the ordered offensive. The offensive was supported by the 2nd Army and initially succeeded in crossing the Drina and Sava Rivers above Belgrade. Two days later, the Imperial and Royal 6th Army, which Potiorek himself commanded, arrived at the upper reaches of the Drina for the offensive against Serbia and Montenegro. Now the time had come to teach the Serbs a lesson. One should not only bring to mind the problems in terms of operational equipment and logistics of an offensive that was begun before all troops had reached their staging