This was the Austrian forces on Kik, to the
northwest of Zavlaka. The Serbian reenforcements which, it will
be remembered, had originally been directed toward Marianovitche,
had been afterward sent westward, and at dawn on August 20 they
approached Kik in two columns. The left column occupied Osoye without
resistance, but in descending from that position, the Austrian
artillery opened fire on it.

An hour later the right column came up and opened an artillery
fire, and under cover of this bombardment a Serbian regiment reached
the foot of the mountain. As was afterward learned, the Austrians
at this point had had their machine guns destroyed by the Serbian
artillery fire, and by this time their own artillery had been sent
back, in preparation for the retreat. Consequently they were only
able to receive the Serbian attack with rifle fire.

At the height of this skirmish the extreme left of the Serbians
on Iverak, which had remained to guard against attack from this
quarter, moved over against the Austrians. The cross-fire was too
much for them; they turned and fled, leaving behind over six hundred
dead, the Serbians in this affair losing only seven killed. Jarebitze
was now occupied; the rest of the Serbians joined in the general
pursuit.

That night, August 20, 1914, the Austrians swarmed across the Drina,
fleeing for their lives. By the next day the whole river bank was
cleared of them. Serbian soldiers lined the whole length of the
frontier in this section. There remained now only the Austrians
in Shabatz to deal with. The whole Serbian army was now able to
concentrate on this remaining force of the enemy left in Serbian
territory.

Early on August 21, 1914, the attack began, and the Austrians here
fought stoutly. Indeed, all that day they held the Serbians off
from behind their intrenchments. On August 22, 1914, the Serbians
made a general assault. Fortunately they found a weakness in the
fortifications on the western side of the town. To create a diversion,
the Austrians delivered a counterattack along the road toward Varna.

By the morning of August 24, 1914, the Serbians had brought up a
number of heavy siege guns. But when the general bombardment had
already commenced, it was found that the Austrians had evacuated
the town during the night, and retreated across the river. And
so the first Austrian invasion of Serbia came to its disastrous
end.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE