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Ovche Pole Offensive
Part of Serbian Campaign (World War I)
Date 14 October 1915 – 15 November 1915 Location between Vranje and Berovo, then in Serbia Result Bulgarian victory
Belligerents
Bulgaria	Serbia
Commanders and leaders
Georgi Todorov	Damjan Popović
Strength
2nd Army: 100,247 men 53,325 rifles 52 machine guns 182 cannons	2 – 3 divisions: 41,250 rifles 33 machine guns 78 cannons
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Heavy

The Ovche Pole Offensive Operation (Bulgarian: Овчеполска настъпателна операция, Serbian: Битка на Овчем Пољу) was an operation of the Bulgarian Army that occurred between 14 October 1915 and 15 November 1915 as part of the Serbian campaign of 1915 in World War I. It aimed to seize the Vardar river valley and to cut the vital railway linking Skopje with Thessaloniki 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 Georgi Todorov.

The main blow was at Kumanovo, 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 Vardar. 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

1. ^ "Българската армия в Световната война 1915-1918", Том III (1938), page 5

Sources

• DiNardo, Richard L. (2015). Invasion: The Conquest of Serbia, 1915. Santa Barbara: Praeger. ISBN 9781440800924.
• "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.

v t e Bulgaria during World War I

Prelude South-western front Serbian campaign, Macedonian front Romanian front • Outcome • Others Important persons Balkan Wars 1912–1913 First Balkan War 1913 Treaty of London Second Balkan War Treaty of Bucharest Treaty of Constantinople Neutrality 1914 Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance 1915 Negotiations of Bulgaria with the Central Powers and the Entente Bulgarian–German treaty Secret Bulgarian–German agreement Military convention between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria Bulgarian–Ottoman convention Mobilization Commanders  Bulgaria Nikola Zhekov • Kliment Boyadzhiev • Dimitar Geshov • Georgi Todorov • Ivan Lukov • Stefan Nerezov • Vladimir Vazov Entente:  Serbia: Radomir Putnik • Živojin Mišić • Stepa Stepanović • Petar Bojović • Pavle Jurišić Šturm;  France: Maurice Sarrail • Adolphe Guillaumat • Louis Franchet d'Espèrey;  United Kingdom: Bryan Mahon • George Milne;  Kingdom of Greece: Panagiotis Danglis Field Armies + Eleventh Army First Army Second Army Fourth Army Battles 1915 Morava Offensive • Ovče Pole Offensive • Kosovo offensive (1915) • Battle of Krivolak 1916 First battle of Doiran • Battle of Florina (Lerin) • Struma operation • Monastir offensive 1917 Second battle of Doiran • 2nd Crna Bend • Second battle of Monastir 1918 Battle of Skra-di-Legen • Battle of Dobro Pole • Third battle of Doiran Commanders  Bulgaria Nikola Zhekov • Panteley Kiselov • Stefan Toshev • Todor Kantardzhiev • Ivan Kolev Entente:  Romania: Constantin Prezan • Alexandru Averescu;  Russia: Andrei Zayonchkovski • Vladimir Sakharov Field Armies Third Army Battles 1916 Battle of Turtucaia • Battle of Bazargic • First Cobadin • Flămânda Offensive • Second Cobadin • Battle of Bucharest Outcome 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • Armistice of Focșani • Treaty of Bucharest • Protocol of Berlin Outcome Armistice of Salonica Vladaya revolt Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine Others Bulgarian administration in Kosovo Anti-military propaganda Ferdinand Vasil Radoslavov Aleksandar Malinov Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Protogerov August von Mackensen Boris Drangov Vladimir Vazov Georgi Todorov (general) Ivan Kolev Kliment Boyadzhiev Dimitar Geshov Ivan Lukov Konstantin Zhostov Krastyu Zlatarev Nikola Zhekov Panteley Kiselov Stefan Toshev Stefan Nerezov Todor Kantardzhiev

• Battles of World War I involving Bulgaria
• Battles of World War I involving Serbia
• Battles of the Balkans Theatre (World War I)
• Conflicts in 1915
• 1915 in Bulgaria
• 1915 in Serbia
• October 1915 events
• November 1915 events