Battle of Mojkovac

The Battle of Mojkovac was a World War I battle fought between 6 January and 7 January 1916 near Mojkovac, in today's Montenegro, between the armies of Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Montenegro. It ended with a decisive Montenegrin victory. In the winter of 1915, the Montenegrin Army had been fighting the Austro-Hungarian Army for three months in Serbia. In January 1916, they had to resist the invasion of their territory. The harsh weather and lack of supplies weakened the Montenegrin Army. On 5 January 1916, they received a command to protect the retreat of the Royal Serbian Army to Corfu in Greece via Albania. Savo Lazarević was commander of Montenegrin Royal Gendarmerie which was part of Čakor Detachment during the Battle of Mojkovac. The fighting culminated on 6 and 7 January 1916 (on Orthodox Christmas, also known as 'Bloody Christmas'). Led by Serdar (Vojvoda) Janko Vukotić with Krsto Popović as second in command, the Montenegrins inflicted heavy casualties on the Austro-Hungarians and temporarily halted their advancement. The Montenegrin forces had entrenched themselves around the village of Mojkovac. Austro-Hungarian Army attacked Montenegrin positions early that day along with a heavy artillery bombardment on Mojkovac itself. By noon, the Austro-Hungarian attack was repulsed, suffering heavy casualties. Fighting resumed until the Austro-Hungarian forces left the battlefield, leaving more than 2,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers dead. By the end of the day, Montenegrin forces managed to push back multiple attacks by Austro-Hungarian forces taking back control of Mojkovac and its surroundings. Much of the fighting was done hand-to-hand with fixed bayonets and knives, in knee-deep snow. On 7 January, the Austro-Hungarians launched a second attack on Montenegrin positions. The attack again failed, with heavy losses on both sides. Despite having a much stronger, bigger, and better-equipped army, Austro-Hungarian forces abandoned their positions in Mojkovac on the 7th and retreated.