 Having just repelled the Serbian incursion into Bosnia , the Austro @-@ Hungarian Army regrouped and positioned itself for one final invasion before winter set in . Potiorek was again placed in charge of Austro @-@ Hungarian forces and was given command of the Austro @-@ Hungarian 6th Army . The Austro @-@ Hungarian 5th Army was commanded by <unk> Ritter von Frank . In total , the Austro @-@ Hungarians had 450 @,@ 000 troops at their disposal . The Serbian Army had 400 @,@ 000 soldiers ready to face the Austro @-@ Hungarian advance . In mid @-@ October , the Austro @-@ Hungarians launched another thrust into northwestern Serbia ; Potiorek appeared confident . " Soldiers of the 5th and 6th armies , " he said . " The goal of this war is nearly attained — the complete destruction of the enemy . The three @-@ month campaign is almost over ; we must only break the enemy 's last resistance before the onset of winter . " The Serbs were exhausted and demoralized . In a telegram to Putnik dated 27 October 1914 , Stepanović complained that the 2nd Army did not have enough shells to resist the Austro @-@ Hungarians effectively and requested that he be removed from his command ; Putnik denied the request , but ordered all units to resist the Austro @-@ Hungarian advance for as long as possible before retreating . This strategy had worked in Putnik 's favour during the summer months , but heavy rainfall in September and early October had reduced all of Serbia 's roads to " muddy quagmires " that made movement of troops , guns and wagons extremely difficult . Potiorek recognized that the Serbian Army was in a difficult situation ; he was certain that a third invasion would bring him the decisive victory that he so desperately wanted . In Vienna and Sarajevo , Austro @-@ Hungarian officials began planning for the occupation and dismantling of Serbia . The country was to be plundered and its territory used to bribe the neutral Balkan states into joining the Central Powers , with the Romanians getting the region of <unk> Krajina and the Bulgarians getting Macedonia and southeastern Serbia . The Austro @-@ Hungarians intended to annex everything west of the Morava River , as well as the cities of Scutari ( Shkodër ) and Durazzo ( Durrës ) in northern Albania . The Serbs living west of the Morava — or " the compact masses of the Serbian element " , as the Austro @-@ Hungarians called them — were to be expelled and replaced with Austrian settlers ( <unk> ) , who would " change the psychology [ of the region ] , making Serbia more Habsburg [ and ] less Serbian in outlook . " Ludwig <unk> , section chief of the Austro @-@ Hungarian Finance Ministry , wrote Potiorek in October , recommending " the West <unk> of the Serbs with a strong hand " as soon as Serbia was occupied . 
