Battle of Kumanovo The Battle of Kumanovo or Battle of Kumanova ( Macedonian and Serbian Cyrillic : Кумановска битка ) on 23 – 24 October 1912 was a major battle of the First Balkan War . It was an important Serbian victory over the Ottoman army in the Kosovo vilayet , shortly after the outbreak of the war . After this defeat , the Ottoman army abandoned the major part of the region , suffering heavy losses in manpower ( mostly due to desertion s ) and in war materiel . Background . The objective of the Serbian army plan was to destroy the Ottoman army in a decisive battle before the Ottomans could complete the mobilisation and concentration of forces . 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 . The aim was to double envelop the Ottoman army by using three armies : The Serbian Commander - in - Chief was General Radomir Putnik . According to the initial Ottoman plan , created by Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz , the Ottoman forces in Macedonia would stay in defense and , if necessary , retreat to Albania . The decisive battle would take place in Thrace , versus the Bulgarian army . However , Nazim Pasha , the newly appointed commander - in - chief of the Ottoman army , decided to surprise the Serbs by taking an offense in Macedonia . The plan also included the offense in Thrace . His goal was to win the initial battles against the surprised allies , hoping that the Great powers would then intervene and stop the war . The Ottoman mobilisation in Macedonia was slow , and the Ottoman Vardar Army , led by Zeki Pasha , had little more than a half of its manpower mobilised when the war started . The army was composed of : Prelude . Even before the war was declared , border skirmishes occurred . On the 15 October , the front of the Toplica group of the Third Army , Serbian chetniks , acting on their own , attacked the Ottoman forces ; although the Serbian deployment had not been completed yet . The Ottomans counterattack ed , but they were stopped by the Morava Division II . The fighting on the border lasted until 19 October when the Ottomans were forced to retreat . On 21 October the entire Third Army began its advance and on 22 October , without serious resistance , entered Priština . On 18 October , Bulgarian 7th Rila Infantry Division of the Second Army started its advance towards Gorna Dzhumaya , while the rest of the army advanced towards the village of Stracin and captured it on 21 October . The First Army crossed the border on 20 October and in the evening of 22 October reached the outskirts of Kumanovo . At the other side , as soon as his forces were deployed , Zeki Pasha decided to take the offensive towards Kumanovo . In the evening of 22 October , Vardar Army gathered in the valley of Pčinja River . While Zeki Pasha had the precise information about the strength and disposal of the Serbian forces , the Serbian command did not realise that the battle with the main Ottoman force would start the very next morning . Not expecting the attack , Serbs did not fortify their positions , which were topographically strong . Still , only two out of five infantry divisions were deployed in the front echelon – Danube Division I on the left wing , with Cavalry Division behind it , and Morava Division I on the right wing . The left flank was particularly vulnerable , because Srtevica , the important topographic object , was defended by local irregulars . During the night of 22 / 23 October , VI Corps ( 17th Infantry Division and Monastir Infantry Division ) crossed Pčinja and took the position in the Ottoman centre , on the hill of Zebrnjak . The main forces of V Corps ( 13th Infantry Division and Štip Infantry Division ) remained on the left bank of Pčinja , forming the right of the Ottoman ' s which was acting as a reserve and protecting the route from Stracin , while the main forces of VII Corps ( 19th Infantry Division and Üsküb Infantry Division ) were on the left side . Battle . 23 October . The morning of 23 October was foggy , and reconnaissance could not be performed properly . 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 . Troops of the 18th regiment of Danube Division I , which moved forward to capture it , were pushed back , as well as the reconnaissance forces of Cavalry Division . Observing the retreat of these Serbian units , Zeki Pasha concluded that the Serbian left wing was weak . Since there were no actions of the Second Army from Stracin , he decided to attack . Around 11 : 00 , with artillery support , V and VI Corps attacked the positions of Danube Division I . Soon , 13th and 17th Infantry Division forced the 18th regiment to retreat in disorder , but , instead of continuing the attack , Zeki Pasha waited for the arrival of Štip Infantry Division from the rear to use this division to attack the Serbian flank and rear . That enabled the Serbian 7th regiment to aid the wavering 18th regiment and to consolidate a defense . Soon after that , the Serbian 8th regiment arrived , and 7th regiment was able to move to the left flank and reinforce the defense of Srtevica , which was endangered by an attack by the Štip Infantry Division . On the right flank of Danube Division I , its 9th regiment halted the advance of the weakened Monastir Infantry Division . Around 12 : 00 , VII Corps started its attack on the positions held by Morava Division I . However , Serbian infantry and artillery were already deployed for combat , as the artillery fire from the east suggested that the battle has started . After the initial Ottoman progress , Serbs counterattacked and pushed them back to their starting positions . After the Serbian counterattack , Ottoman units were kept at bay by the well organised Serbian artillery fire until the end of day . The Serbian rear echelon divisions ( Danube Division II on the left , Drina Division I in the centre and Timok Division II on the right ) and the army artillery were not informed about the combat operations . They remained in the rear , without participating in the first day of the battle . The First Army command did not receive precise information about the battle and did not have any influence on the actual combat . Despite these facts , the Ottoman attack of the 23 October was not successful , mostly thanks to " " the high devotion of ( Serbian ) troops and lower officers " " . 24 October . Uninformed about the situation in the field , the First Army command did not realise that the attack of the main Ottoman forces had occurred , as those forces were expected on Ovče Pole . 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 . After midnight , it received a report from Danube Division I which stated that the division was attacked by the strong enemy forces and suffered heavy casualties , but at that moment it was too late for any change of orders . On the other side , Zeki Pasha decided to continue the attack with the hope that his forces would be able to achieve victory on the following day . The Ottoman attack on their right wing started around 5 : 30 . VI Corps was assigned to tie up as many enemy forces as possible by attacking from the front , while Štip Infantry Division was again assigned to flank attack . Danube Division I again had to withstand heavy pressure , but around 10 : 00 parts of Danube Division II arrived from the rear and strengthened the defense . At the same time , Cavalry Division moved to the left bank of Pčinja and slowed the advance of Ottoman forces towards Srtevica . Around 12 : 00 , parts of Danube Division II reinforced the defense of Srtevica , definitely stopping the advance of the Ottoman right wing . 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 Priština and that it is marching towards Skopje . Still , at 5 : 30 , VII Corps started the attack . However , Morava Division I counterattacked at 6 : 00 and with the arrival of Timok Division II from the rear they forced the entire Ottoman left wing to retreat . Around 9 : 30 , Drina Division II from the rear echelon of the First Army arrived to the front and attacked the Ottoman centre . Around 11 : 00 , Monastir Infantry Division started to retreat . The commander of VI Corps managed to temporarily halt the Serbian advance by using his last reserves , but in the repeated attack around 13 : 00 , Drina Division I captured Zebrnjak , the main object in Ottoman defense , and forced 17th Infantry Division to retreat . With Üsküb Infantry Division and Monastir Infantry Division already retreating , the battle was resolved . At 15 : 00 , Morava Division I entered Kumanovo . Ottoman forces retreated in disorder : VII and parts of VI Corps towards Skopje and V and parts of VI Corps towards Štip and Veles . Serbian troops missed the chance to pursue them . Aftermath . The Ottoman Vardar Army fought the battle according to plan , but despite this , suffered a heavy defeat . 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 . 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 . Nevertheless , the Battle of Kumanovo was a decisive factor in the outcome of the war in the region . 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 . The Vardar Army was not able to organise the defense on Vardar River and was forced to abandon Skopje , retreating all the way to Prilep . The First Army advanced slowly and entered Skopje on 26 October . Two days later , it was strengthened by Morava Division II , while the rest of the Third Army was sent to Metohija and then through northern Albania to the Adriatic coast . The Second Army was sent to aid the Bulgarians in the Siege of Adrianople , while the First Army was preparing for an offense towards Prilep and Bitola .