it was evident that the Austrian main armies were committed to this forward movement, while the 4th and 9th Austrian corps were still held up at Shabatz by a Serbian retaining force, Serbian reinforcements were dispatched on August 15 to en- deavour to turn tlie Austrian left flank. All through the 15th and i6th the Serbians resisted all the attacks of the 13th corps along the Jadar valley, and only abandoned their trenches when the Austrian flanking column had completely turned their posi- tion. Then during the night they again retired, and took up a third line of defences near Zavlaka. The Serbian reinforce- ments were rushed up rapidly. Throughout the 17th, 18th, and
- i9th those reinforc^ements concentrated so as to outflank the Austrian flank movement. In vain the Austrians launched attack upon attack in a fruitless endeavour to break up this cloud of a^ailants which was enveloping their flank. In their immediate front, too, the 'Austrian troops were unable to dis-
lodge the Serbians from their positions. By the afternoon of the i8th it became evident that the Austrian offensive movement was giving way. Their losses had been heavy; they had entirely failed to shake the Serbian defen- sive; and they had not been able to obtain any assistance from* their4thand9thcorps,whowerestillheldupatShabatz. On the 19th the Austrian offensive broke up altogether. The Serbians had succeeded in driving a wedge between the Austrians. The plight of the Austrian 8th and 13th corps was desperate. In front and on their flank was an unbeaten enemy, wliile on their rear an unfordable river separated them from a country the inhabitants of which were, if not hostile, at least disloyal. Small wonder that the Austrian retreat almost degenerated into a rout, in which every man did the best he could for himself. When thelnature of the country is taken into consideration, with its dearth of roads and lack of villages and farms, it is probable that the Austrians suffered as much from hunger as from the enemy’spursuit. ThroughoutAugust20,21,and22theSerbians pushed the pursuit, and eventually drove the remnants of the 13th and 8th corps either into the Drina or across it. Of the 130,000 Austrian troops who had crossed the Drina on August 12 and 13 some 20,000 were killed or wounded, and over 5,000 weretakenprisoners. TheSerbianscapturedoversixtypieces of artillery and an immense amount of other military stores and equipment. During the whole of this period the Serbian con-