“General, Please Ask the Serbs to Slow Down!”

. Serbian General Misic along with French General Franchet d’Espérey

On September 13 1918, at dawn, the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Balkans, French General Franchet d’Espérey, ordered the final offensive for the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front. Serbian Army which led the offensive on the ground played the key role in a battle studied even today at countless military academies throughout the world, as a shining example of*glorious victory. 

At 5:30 a.m. the Serbian troops began and unstoppable surge from the Greek border back in to Serbia, to free their motherland, pushing the Austrians, Germans and Bulgarians out of their country. In 12 days they advanced 800 miles on foot, forcing the French general to telegraph his counterpart in the Serbian Army, General Stepanovic: “General, please ask the Serbian infantry to slow down, the French cavalry cannot keep up the pace!”
The command issued by General Zivojin Misic to the Serbian Army at the dawn of the battle was brief and clear:
“Boldly press forward, without rest, to the utter limits of the human and horse strength. To death, just don’t stop! With the unwavering faith and hope: Heroes, forward! to the fatherland!”
On September 13 1918, the state which was at the brink of complete destruction in the fall of 1915 — occupied by the most powerful empires, left without the army, government and king — rose up from the ashes and amazed the world with its courage and willingness to sacrifice for freedom.
French General Franchet d’Espérey

“These Serbs are tough in trouble, sober, modest, unbreakable. They are the free men, proud of their nation and the masters of their fields… For the freedom of their homeland these peasants instantly turned into the most courageous soldiers, the most persistent, the best of all soldiers,” -French General Franchet d’Espérey, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied troops in WWI.

Never count out the Serbs!!!!!