In the Balkan front, the Austrians made another great effort to push into Montenegro this past week, with a large reinforcing army, 100 thousand men strong, rushing to the aid of the previously bloodied Austrian army. The Montenegrins, capitalising on their initial success, continued to dig in and prepare for the suspected Austrian counter-attack.
The Austrians began the battle with a great hail of artillery bombardment. For an entire day, Austrian heavy artillery pounded the Montenegrin positions in the mountains, sending hundreds and thousands of shells right on top of the poor Montenegrins. Following the bombardment, however, the Austrians were absolutely flabbergasted to see the Montenegrins still quite alive and well, despite the sheer volume of shells fired at them. Despite surviving the initial bombardment, many Montenegrins lost their lives along with some of their fortifications. This would not make the Montenegrins falter, however, for on the day of the first Austrian assault the Montenegrin army held bravely in the face of vastly superior numbers! Outnumbered 3-1 on the front lines, the gallant men of Montenegro defended their positions down to the last bullet and last man, eventually holding out by the time the day had ended, and the first Austrian assault with it.
This was not the beginning however, for on the next day, and for many after that, the Austrians continued to make daring and bold assaults up on the Montenegrins defending in the mountains. The Montenegrins, despite their excellent defensive position, were absolutely drowning in the sheer amount of men the Austrians threw at them. Many groups of Austrian infantry made it into the trenches of the Montenegrins, and horrible, dirty, grueling melee combat was a typical sight during this offensive. The battle was bloody and gruesome, with absolutely no rules.
However, despite the massive numbers of the Austrians, the heavy bombardment of the Montenegrins, and the many assaults launched by Austria-Hungary, the battle eventually devolved into a bitter stalemate. The Austrians, despite their massive push and great losses, did not succeed in breaking through the defensive line of Montenegro.
Austrian casualties, including Killed, Wounded, Missing and Deserted, numbered 77 thousand, while Montenegrin casualties numbered 44 thousand. Clearly, something new will have to be done to advance in this bloody war.
