 Having just repelled the Serbian incursion into Bosnia, the Austro-Hungarian Army regrouped and positioned itself for one final invasion before winter set in. Potiorek was again placed in charge of Austro-Hungarian forces and was given command of the Austro-Hungarian 6th Army. The Austro-Hungarian 5th Army was commanded by Liborius Ritter von Frank. In total, the Austro-Hungarians had 450,000 troops at their disposal. The Serbian Army had 400,000 soldiers ready to face the Austro-Hungarian advance. In mid-October, the Austro-Hungarians launched another thrust into northwestern Serbia; Potiorek appeared confident. "Soldiers of the 5th and 6th armies," he said. "The goal of this war is nearly attained — the complete destruction of the enemy. The three-month campaign is almost over; we must only break the enemy's last resistance before the onset of winter." The Serbs were exhausted and demoralized. In a telegram to Putnik dated 27 October 1914, Stepanović complained that the 2nd Army did not have enough shells to resist the Austro-Hungarians effectively and requested that he be removed from his command; Putnik denied the request, but ordered all units to resist the Austro-Hungarian advance for as long as possible before retreating. This strategy had worked in Putnik's favour during the summer months, but heavy rainfall in September and early October had reduced all of Serbia's roads to "muddy quagmires" that made movement of troops, guns and wagons extremely difficult. Potiorek recognized that the Serbian Army was in a difficult situation; he was certain that a third invasion would bring him the decisive victory that he so desperately wanted. In Vienna and Sarajevo, Austro-Hungarian officials began planning for the occupation and dismantling of Serbia. The country was to be plundered and its territory used to bribe the neutral Balkan states into joining the Central Powers, with the Romanians getting the region of Timočka Krajina and the Bulgarians getting Macedonia and southeastern Serbia. The Austro-Hungarians intended to annex everything west of the Morava River, as well as the cities of Scutari (Shkodër) and Durazzo (Durrës) in northern Albania. The Serbs living west of the Morava — or "the compact masses of the Serbian element", as the Austro-Hungarians called them — were to be expelled and replaced with Austrian settlers (colonisten), who would "change the psychology [of the region], making Serbia more Habsburg [and] less Serbian in outlook." Ludwig Thallóczy, section chief of the Austro-Hungarian Finance Ministry, wrote Potiorek in October, recommending "the West Europeanization of the Serbs with a strong hand" as soon as Serbia was occupied.
