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The Battle of Kumanovo or the 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 desertions) and in war materiel.〔''Enciklopedijski leksikon Mozaik znanja – Istorija'', Belgrade: Interpres, 1970, page 363.〕 ==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.〔Borislav Ratković, Mitar Đurišić, Savo Skoko, ''Srbija i Crna Gora u Balkanskim ratovima 1912–1913'', Belgrade: BIGZ, 1972, pages 39–45. Serbian war plan and order of battle.〕 *First Army, under Crown Prince Alexander, composed of five infantry and one cavalry division (132,000 men), was deployed in the area around Vranje, with the task to attack the enemy frontally. *Second Army, under Stepa Stepanović, composed of one Serbian and one Bulgarian division (74,000 men), deployed in the area around Kyustendil, was assigned to the easternmost attack, with the objective of attacking the right flank of the enemy. *Third Army, under Božidar Janković, composed of four infantry divisions and one infantry brigade (76,000 men), deployed in two groups, the first one at Toplica and the second one at Medveđa, was assigned to the westernmost attack, with the task to take Kosovo and then move south to attack the left flank of the enemy. *Smaller units were sent to take Sandžak.〔 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: *V Corps, under Said Pasha, composed of 4 divisions (32,000 men), deployed in the area around Štip. *VI Corps, under Cavit Pasha, composed of two divisions (6,000 men), deployed in the area around Veles. * VII Corps, under Fethi Pasha, composed of three divisions (19,000 men), deployed in the area around Kumanovo. * Smaller units in Kosovo.〔Borislav Ratković, Mitar Đurišić, Savo Skoko, ''Srbija i Crna Gora u Balkanskim ratovima 1912–1913'', Belgrade: BIGZ, 1972, pages 45–48. Ottoman war plan and order of battle.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Kumanovo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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