The Third Army was again in trouble during this day, August 19, 1914.  Its left flank continued its advance from Soldatovitcha, but the Austrians attempted to pierce their center.  But finally this sorely tried section of the Serbian front emerged triumphant.  Before evening the Austrians were driven back in scattered disorder, leaving behind them three hospitals filled with wounded, much material, and 500 prisoners.

Here ended the fourth day of the bloody struggle—­August 19, 1914.  In the north around Shabatz the Austrians had made some advance, but all along the rest of the line they had suffered complete disaster.  The two important mountain ridges, Tzer and Iverak, which dominated the whole theatre of operations, were definitely in the hands of the Serbians.  And finally, the Third Army had at last broken down the opposition against it.

Next morning, August 20, 1914, dawned on a situation that was thoroughly hopeless for the Austrians.  Even up around Shabatz, where they had been successful the day before, the Austrians, realizing that all was lost to the southward, made only a feeble attack on the Serbians, who were consequently able to recross the Dobrava River and establish themselves on the right bank.

The cavalry division, whose left flank was not freed by the clearing of the Tzer ridges, hurled itself against the Austrians in the plains before it and threw them into wild disorder.  First they shelled them, then charged.  The panic-stricken Magyars fled through the villages, across the corn fields, through the orchards.

“Where is the Drina?  Where is the Drina?” they shouted, whenever they saw a peasant.  A burning, tropical sun sweltered over the plain.  Many of the fleeing soldiers dropped from exhaustion and were afterward taken prisoners.  Others lost themselves in the marshy hollows and only emerged days later, while still others, wounded, laid down and died where they fell.

In the Leshnitza similar scenes were taking place.  From the ridges above the Serbian guns roared and poured hurtling steel messages of death down into the throngs of retreating Austrians.  Some few regiments, not so demoralized as the others, did indeed make several attempts to fight rear-guard actions, to protect their fleeing comrades, but they again were overwhelmed by the disorganized masses in the rear pouring over them.

In the Jadar valley another disorganized mob of Austrians was fleeing before the Serbians up on the Iverak ridges, who also were pouring a hot artillery fire into their midst.  Presently the Third Army joined in the mad chase.  And now the whole Austrian army was wildly fleeing for the Drina River.

There remained only one exception during the early part of the day, August 20, 1914.  This was the Austrian forces on Kik, to the northwest of Zavlaka.  The Serbian reenforcements which, it will be remembered, had originally been directed toward Marianovitche, had been afterward sent westward, and at dawn on August 20 they approached Kik in two columns.  The left column occupied Osoye without resistance, but in descending from that position, the Austrian artillery opened fire on it.