Battle of Kumanovo
After this defeat, the Ottoman army abandoned the major part of the region, suffering heavy losses in manpower (mostly due to desertions) and in war materiel.The Serbian planners assumed that the main Ottoman force would be deployed defensively in the valley of Vardar and on the strategically important plateau of Ovče Pole.However, Nazim Pasha, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Ottoman army, decided to surprise the Serbs by taking an offensive in Macedonia.On the Serbian left flank, the observers noticed the troops of 17th Infantry Division in movement, but mistook them for the Ottoman battery withdrawing from Stracin.Assuming that the Ottoman units north of Kumanovo were merely forward detachments, it ordered the troops to continue their advance towards south, as previously planned.[18] On the left Ottoman wing, a lot of reservists from Üsküb Infantry Division had deserted during the night, upon hearing that the Third Army had captured Pristina and that it was marching towards Skopje.Although Zeki Pasha operationally surprised the Serbian command by his sudden attack, the decision to act offensively against the superior enemy was a grave error which determined the outcome of Battle of Kumanovo.[2] On the other side, the Serbian command started the battle without plans and preparations, and missed the chance to pursue the defeated enemy and effectively end the operations in the region, although it had the fresh troops of the rear echelon available for such action.Even after the end of battle, the Serbs still believed that it was fought against weaker Ottoman units and that main enemy forces were on Ovče Pole.The Ottoman plan for an offensive war had failed, and the Vardar Army was forced to abandon much territory and lost a significant number of artillery pieces without the possibility to reinforce, because the supply routes from Anatolia were cut.Two days later, it was strengthened by Morava Division II, while the rest of the Third Army was sent to Western Kosovo and then through northern Albania to the Adriatic coast.
First Balkan WarKumanovo districtSanjak of ÜsküpKosovo VilayetOttoman EmpireNorth MacedoniaKingdom of SerbiaRadomir PutnikPrince AlexanderStepa StepanovićBožidar JankovićAhmed AdemovićHalepli Zeki PashaVardar ArmyFethi PashaFirst ArmySecond ArmyThird ArmyAlbaniansmassacred by the Serbian armyBulgarian FrontKardzhaliKirk KilisseLule BurgasMerhamliKaliakra1st Çatalca BulairŞarköyAdrianople2nd ÇatalcaPrilepMonastirScutariLemnos IslandSarantaporoYenidjePente PigadiaSorovichHimaraLesbosDriskosKorytsaLemnosBizaniSerbianOttomandesertionsRoyal Serbian ArmyOttoman armymobilisationdeployedvalleyVardarstrategicallyplateauOvče PoleCommander-in-ChiefGeneraldouble envelopCrown PrinceAlexanderinfantrycavalrydivisionVranjeBulgarianKyustendilbrigadeToplicaMedveđaKosovoSandžakColmar Freiherr von der GoltzretreatAlbaniaThraceNazim PashaalliesGreat powersZeki PashaKumanovochetnikscounterattackedPristinaGorna DzhumayaStracinPčinja RiverfortifytopographicallyirregularsPčinja19th Infantry DivisionreconnaissanceregimentartilleryCrown Prince AlexanderColonelPetar Bojovićdetachmentsflank attackdesertedSkopjeoperationallyAnatoliaVardar RiverAdriatic coastSiege of Adrianopleoffense towards Prilep and BitolaMassacres of Albanians in the Balkan WarsBanzai attacks.Živojin MišićPutnikBalkan WarsNationalism in the Ottoman EmpireAlbanianCongress of BerlinEastern RumeliaSerbo-Bulgarian WarGreco-Turkish War of 1897Cretan StateIlinden–Preobrazhenie UprisingMacedonian StruggleYoung Turk RevolutionBosnian CrisisBulgarian Independence