New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-22
NOVIBAzAR LOST,
SERBS PREPARE
FOR LAST STAND
Final Battle Expected at
KossovO. Where Turks
Won 600 Years Ago.
[By Cable to The Tribunel

London. Nov. 2l-The disintegration
OF what was Serbia is now practically
complete. With the capture OF Novi-
bazaar. less than twenty-five miles from
the Montenegrin border, announced by
Berlin to-day. and the further advance
of the Bulgars toward Monastir, little
territory remains for the Serbs to
fight for.
Only Mitrovitza, the last stopping
place OF King Peters itinerant capital
and Pristina remain in Serb hands and
their fall Is imminent. Already the
Germans are battering at the entrance
to the Lab Valley, up which lies Pris-
tina, while the Austrians are rushlng
troops through the Sanjak toward the
temporary capital.
Just south of Mitrovitza on the
plains of Kossovo, it is believed the
Serbs are preparing for the final stand
With their retreat cut off by the Bull
gar occupation of Uskub and Baouna
Pass, they can do little else than &C
cept the gage Of battle.
And as Serbia rallied to the appeal OF
King Peter before the Austrian menace
last December, so Kossovo, with lts
memories of Lazar and the extinction
once before of Serbian independence IL
is hoped may incite the Serbs to 1resh
courage.
Kossoyo an Ancient Battlefield.
On this same plain, in 1899, the
Serbs. under the gallant Car Lazar,
made their last stand against the Turks
and Moslem domination OF the Balkans.
They lost, and in the battle the flower
of Serb aristocracy fell, together with
the King and the Turkish Sultan, Mu-
rad |. For nearly century Serbia re-
mained directly tributary 20 the Turks,
and for almost six hundred years their
menace hung constantly over the
Serbs.
That the Serbs have already succeed
ed in joining the Montenegrins is lndl-
Gated in an official announcement from
Cittinje given out to-day. Little etce-
tive fighting power, however, can be ex-
pected from this union, as Montenegro,
without railroads and shut Off from the
sea by difficult mountains, has scarcely
food and supplies to support her own
troops and population.
Many Serbians, discovering that
their situation was no better than be-
fore. Berlin says, have recrossed the
frontier and surrendered themselves TO
the Germans as deserters. Ii is SAID
that more than $4,000 Serbs in the last
week alone have thus given them
selves up.
Conditions in the mountains through
which the retreat is being conducted
are almost impossible. The roads are
covered with several feet OF snow, in
which the troops wade up to their
knees. while guns, even Of the light
est calbre, can be dragged along only
with the greatest difficulty. The cold
also is intense.
Women Accompany Troops.
Vast numbers OF women and chill
dren, together with OK carts laden with
household goods, accompany the Sero
armies. making the problem OF retrea'
more difficult and progress slow. EaSn
town that is reached is systematCaiiy
ransacked for food supplies, so ina,
the Germans find it absolutely stfiPPeu
Of anything edible. A..
Yet. despite their hardships, tne
Serbs are still fighting desperately ae,
cording to the testimony OF German
correspondents ACCOMPANYING e. S0a ~
consiSerabIe danger, like the Lab Val
lev where the Germans are. now ,eek,
mo inc; entrance. the resistance is stubborn
and persistent a., ux;.;.h :, tbe
NJ oh
me hsen powerless TO aid the
Serbs Serbs or extricate them from their dam
] SeroSs positions. Paris announces
quiet along the whole bs.1h front m ,ss but Asd i d
arders now is not so much the
saving Of the Serbs as Of their own
armies. p-,
and of Monastir, cont rning the fate
~ which there is still considerable
doubt. the left flank of the Allied ex-
peditionary force is placed in extreme
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