Meanwhile a portion of the right wing of the
Serbian line was detached to keep the Austrians inside Shabatz.
Farther to the south the Serbians were not so decidedly successful.
The center of the Serbian Second Army, that directed against the
southern slopes of the Tzer Mountains and the Iverak ridges, had
arrived at Tekerish at midnight.
As dawn broke on August 16, 1914, they perceived a strong Austrian
column descending from above, coming in the same direction.
Unfortunately the Serbians were in the midst of bald, rolling foothills,
while the Austrians were up among the tall timber which clothes the
mountain slopes at this point. The Serbians deployed, extending
their line from Bornololye through Parlok to Lisena, centering their
artillery at Kik. The Austrians made the best of their superior
position.
For some hours there was furious firing, then, at about eight o'clock
the Austrian gunners got the range of the Serbian left flank with
their field pieces, which was compelled to fall back. But just
then timely reenforcements arrived from the rear, and the Serbians
dug themselves in. By evening the Serbians had lost over a thousand
men, though they had succeeded in taking 300 prisoners and several
machine guns from the Austrians.
The left wing of the Second Army had, in the meantime, arrived
against Iverak. That this division was able to arrive at such a
timely juncture was due to its having made a forced march of fifty-two
miles over the mountain roads during the previous day.
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