defenses as she possessed were on the Bulgarian frontier.
Many of her troops were engaged in endeavoring to establish Servian rule
among the neighboring peoples in her new Albanian possessions. Austria
was prepared to bring against her immediately the three army corps from
Temesvar, Serajevo and Agram, and four more corps, from Hermanstadt,
Budapest, Graz, and Kaschau, within a fortnight. Servians one hope
appeared to be the difficulty of the country, otherwise she could not
oppose for a moment the advance of 250,000 troops supported by
pieces of artillery. Then, too, Austria had warships on the Danube and
it was partly through this fact that it was decided by the Servian
Government to evacuate Belgrade and to retire to Kragujevac, sixty miles
southeast.

In spite, however, of the seeming futility of opposition, Servia,
encouraged by Russian support, prepared for a strenuous campaign against
the Austrian forces, and the first two months of the war ended without
any decisive advantage to Austria. The Servians, on the other hand,
claimed numerous successes. Their task was lightened by the Russian
invasion of Austrian territory and the determined advance of the Czar's
host, which demanded the fullest strength of the Austrian forces to
resist. As the Russians hammered their enemy in Galicia the spirits of
the Servians rose and their seasoned soldiers gave a good account of
themselves in every encounter with Austrian troops. They crossed the
Drina and carried the war into Bosnia, putting up a stiff fight wherever
they encountered the enemy, and while they sustained severe losses
in killed and wounded during August and September, the losses they
inflicted upon the Austrians were still heavier.

AUSTRIANS BOMBARD BELGRADE

The Austrian troops on the banks of the Danube became active soon after
war was declared. In the first few days they seized two Servian steamers
and a number of river boats. Belgrade was bombarded from across the
river and many of its public buildings, churches and private residences
suffered damage.

The hostile armies came into contact for the first time on the River
Drina, between Bosnia and Servia, and Vienna was compelled to admit
defeat in this preliminary engagement of the war. The Servians forced a
passage through the Austrian ranks, but only at the cost of many killed
and wounded.

When Crown Prince Alexander of Servia began the invasion of Bosnia
in earnest, in the middle of August, Austria f