The Serbians were not ready for war, and were obliged to withdraw from their capital and transfer the seat of government to Nish.[42] Their troops took up a strong position on the hills to the south of Belgrade, and the Austrians massed their armies along the north bank of the Danube just below Belgrade, and on the line of the river Save. Other Austrian forces were stationed on the Bosnian frontier, along the line of the Drina.[43] When Russia made Serbia's cause her own the Austrians were faced, like the Germans, with war on two frontiers. In order to meet the bigger and more powerful enemy, they were obliged to draw off many of their best troops and attempt to hold the Serbians with about 100,000 men. When the Austrians tried to cross the Danube east of Belgrade they were beaten back by the Serbians with great loss, one regiment being almost entirely wiped out. There were numerous other small fights, and in all of them the Serbians held their own. In the middle of August the Serbians and Montenegrins advanced on Bosnia, in the attempt to reach Sarajevo, the capital; but the most serious fighting took place along the line of the Lower Save, where, on the 17th, the Austrians were badly beaten, and lost many guns and prisoners. Shortly afterwards the Austrian army of Bosnia also suffered defeat, and was driven over the Drina after a battle which lasted four days. By the end of August the Serbians were able to claim that they had cleared the Austrians out of their country, and that they were slowly advancing into Bosnia. [Footnote 35: _Soo-val´kee_.] [Footnote 36: _Kov´no_.] [Footnote 37: _M'lā´var_.] [Footnote 38: Hollow balls of iron filled with explosives, and burst by means of a lighted fuse. They are usually thrown at the enemy by hand. The grenadiers were so called because they were specially trained to throw grenades.] [Footnote 39: See p. 63, vol. i.] [Footnote 40: The German name of St. Petersburg was changed to the Russian form, Petrograd, by order of the Tsar on September 1.] [Footnote 41: See p. 32, vol. i.] [Footnote 42: 130 miles south-east of Belgrade. It was the birthplace of Constantine the Great.] [Footnote 43: See map on p. 8, vol. i.] CHAPTER X. STORIES OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS. Russian soldiers have long been famous for the contempt with which they regard wounds and death. The few stories which have been told of their exploits in the battles described in Chapter VIII. prove clearly that they have lost none of their old virtues of daring and devotion.