The Ovche Pole Offensive Operation (, ) was an operation of the

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

that occurred between 14 October 1915 and 15 November 1915 as part of the Serbian campaign of 1915 in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It aimed to seize the

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

river valley and to cut the vital railway linking

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

with

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

to prevent the Serbian Army from being resupplied and reinforced by the Franco-British Allied forces. The Bulgarian forces consisted of the Second Army (3rd Balkan Infantry Division, 7th Rila Division and the Cavalry Division with 182 guns) under the command of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Georgi Todorov. The main blow was at

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...

, where the Bulgarian 3rd and 7th divisions easily defeated the outnumbered Serbian Army. On the third day, the Bulgarian Cavalry Division also advanced, defeating the Serbian counter-attack and reaching Veles and the

. With this success, the aim was achieved. While fighting against the Serbs, the Bulgarians defeated two French divisions in the Battle of Krivolak and conclusively cut the way between the Serbs and the Allies, resulting in the fall of Serbia after the Kosovo Offensive Operation in 1915.

References

Sources

* *"Българската армия в Световната война 1915-1918",Том III;Държавна печатница София 1938.

Notes

* The number includes the Serbian forces in Macedonia at the Albanian border on 13 October 1915 - 11,650 rifles,24 cannons and 12 machine guns. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ovce Pole Offensive Ovche Pole Ovche Pole Ovche Pole Conflicts in 1915 1915 in Bulgaria 1915 in Serbia October 1915 in Europe November 1915 in Europe