At Nish the town was decorated and the school children waited outside the station with bouquets to present to the coming reinforcements.  But the Allies did not come.

Von Mackensen’s plan was simple enough.  His object was to win a way to Constantinople.  This could be done either by the control of the Danube or the Ottoman Railroad.  To control the Danube he had to seize northeastern Serbia for the length of the river.  This was comparatively easy and would give him a clear water way to the Bulgarian railways connected with Constantinople.  The Ottoman railway was a harder route to win.  It meant an advance to the southeast, which would clear the Moravo valley up to Nish, and then the Nishava valley up to Bulgaria.  The movements involved were somewhat complex, but easily carried out on account of the very great numerical superiority of von Mackensen’s forces.

On September 19th Belgrade was bombarded.  The Serbian positions were gradually destroyed.  On the 7th of October the German armies crossed the Danube, and on the 8th the Serbians began to retreat.  There was great destruction in Belgrade and the Bulgarian General, Mishitch, was forced slowly back to the foothills of the Tser range.

For a time von Mackensen moved slowly.  He did not wish to drive the Serbians too far south.  On the 12th of October the Bulgarian army began its attack.  At first it was held, but by October 17th was pushing forward all along the line.  On the 20th they entered Uskub, a central point of all the routes of southern Serbia.  This practically separated the Allied forces at Saloniki from the Serbian armies further north.  Disaster followed disaster.  On Tuesday, October 26th, a junction of Bulgarian and Austro-German patrols was completed in the Dobravodo mountains.  General von Gallwitz announced that a moment of world significance had come, that the “Orient and Occident had been united, and on the basis of this firm and indissoluble union a new and mighty vierbund comes into being, created by the victory of our arms.”

[Illustration:  Germany’s dream:  “The Bremen-Berlin-Bosporus >-Bagdad-Bahn”]

The road from Germany, through Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria to Turkey lay open.  On October 31st, Milanovac was lost, and on November 2nd, Kraguyevac surrendered, the decisive battle of the war.  On November 7th, Nish was captured.  General Jecoff announced:  “After fierce and sanguinary fighting the fortress of Nish has been conquered by our brave victorious troops and the Bulgarian flag has been hoisted to remain forever.”

The Serbian army continued steadily to retreat, until on November 8th, advancing Franco-British troops almost joined with them, presenting a line from Prilep to Dorolovo on the Bulgarian frontier.  At this time the Bulgarian army suffered a defeat at Izvor, and also at Strumitza.  The Allied armies were now reported to number three hundred thousand men.  The Austro-Germans by this time had reached the mountainous region of Serbia, and were meeting with strong resistance.