[Illustration: SERBIAN AND AUSTRIAN INVASIONS]
The Second Ban, or reserve, much inferior in armament to the first
line, brought the strength up to about 280,000 men. But this figure
is probably an underestimate. Volunteers were enrolled in immense
numbers. Some of them were men who had been exempted in the first
conscription; others were Serbs from Austrian territory. The United
States sent back thousands of Austrian and Macedonian Serbs who
had emigrated there. It is probable, therefore, that the total
strength of the Serbian forces shortly after the war broke out
was at least 280,000, if not a trifle more. To this must be added
the Montenegrin army which, though operating in a separate field,
contributed its share in driving the Austrians back; another 40,000
men of first-class fighting ability and experience.
Finally, there was the third reserve, another 50,000 men, but they
could be used for fighting only in the gravest emergency.
The infantry of the First Ban was armed with excellent Mauser rifles,
caliber 7 mm., model 1899. The Second Ban carried a Mauser, the
old single loader, to which a magazine was fitted in the Serbian
arsenals; while the Third Ban had the old single-loader Berdan
rifle. The machine gun carried was the Maxim, of the same caliber
as the new Mauser.
In artillery the Serbians were perhaps not so well off. Their cannons
had seen a great deal of service in the Balkan wars, and the larger
a piece of artillery the more limited is the number of rounds it
can fire.
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