t of the Serbians in repelling the three Austrian invasions
will probably be found, when the later history of the war is finally
written, to take very high rank. For had Serbia fallen, the Teutonic
Empires would have been united with little delay to their Turkish
allies. Austria might then have been able to hold off the Russians by
herself, while the Germans would thereby have been so much stronger for
pressing their campaigns in Belgium and East Prussia; with what results
can only be guessed. The Austrians themselves were astounded by the
extraordinary power of little Serbia. Their last disaster, indeed, so
roused their anger that they began preparing again for another attempt
to conquer this stubborn little nation.

Calling the Germans to their aid, they began in January, 1915, to
collect a new army, 400,000 strong, which was ranged along the Serbian
frontier. But the pressure from the Russians on the Carpathian front
presently became so heavy that this body of troops was needed there, and
so Serbia was left in peace for the time being.

Thenceforward only insignificant fighting took place between the
belligerents on each side of the river, such fighting being mostly in
the nature of artillery actions. Belgrade was not again, during that
period at least, subjected to bombardment. An arrangement was made
between the Serbian and Austrian commanders whereby the Serbians
refrained from firing on Semlin, and the Austrians spared Belgrade.

There was, however, some activity on the river itself. Belgrade was now
garrisoned by a mixed force of Serbians, British, and French, the
British being mostly gunners, who had been detached, together with some
big naval guns, from the British navy. For some time before they arrived
the Austrian monitors and picket boats had again been patrolling the
Danube and annoying the Serbians, but the Belgrade garrison put an end
to the activities of these vessels with their big guns. The British
sailors especially rendered good service by means of a small picket boat
commanded by Lieutenant Commander Kerr. Though armed with only a single
machine gun, this small boat was so persistently troublesome to the
enemy that it earned for itself the name "Terror of the Danube." Of dark
nights it would poke its way into creeks and passages, alarming the
Austrians constantly and causing them no little loss. Once it even
succeeded in persuading one of the monitors to pursue it into a
carefully prepared mine