gainst the
brutal and lying Bulgarians, they sang a sad but spirited song, the
words of which may be translated into English as follows:--

"Colonel Batsicht, the Austrians are a thousand to one, but what does
it matter? You are only one, yourself, but you are Colonel Batsicht!
Were the Austrians as many as the leaves in the forests and their rush
to attack more violent than the flood of the Vardar in the spring time,
you would even then be their equal, Colonel Batsicht!"

And the marvelous thing about the words of this wonderful battle song
is that they are true, and that one man fighting for the right with the
spirit and devotion of Colonel Batsicht is always the equal of
thousands seeking to establish the wrong. In all the history of the
world, nothing has proved this so fully and so clearly as the story of
Belgium in the World War. Standing like one man against thousands, she
saved the world and herself.

Colonel Batsicht was in command of the Thirteenth Regiment of Infantry
in the Serbian army at the opening of the war in 1914. When the
Austrians attacked in force, General Putnik decided upon a general
retirement to save his armies.

On the evening of the 27th of November, 1914, while this retirement was
being carried out, the commanding general sent the following orders to
Colonel Batsicht, "If possible, hold your ground for twenty-four hours.
If necessary, sacrifice your regiment to save the Serbian army."

Colonel Batsicht sent back word to the commanding general, "I have your
orders and they will be carried out." Then he set about preparing to
defend the heights which his regiment was holding.

At seven o'clock the next morning, sixteen battalions of Austrian
infantry, ten batteries, and four squadrons of cavalry attacked the
position. At the firing of the first gun, Colonel Batsicht looked at
his watch and exclaimed, "The twenty-four hours for which we must hold
our ground have now begun!"

The Austrians were ten against one and the battle was a furious one.
Three times the Austrians were driven back; but from their great
numbers and from reinforcements coming up, they soon reformed and
renewed the attack and were finally successful in pushing back the
Serbian right wing for a short distance. But Colonel Batsicht quickly
rallied his forces, and they stood their ground. Then the left wing
wavered and the colonel hurried to the left end of his line to
reorganize it and encourage the men. He wa