Original scientific paper
The attack of the 5th JNA Corps on Western Slavonia in the autumn of 1991
Marijan Kostanjevac
; pričuvni časnik Hrvatske vojske
Ivan Benković
; Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy
Marijan Kretić
; Dr. Franjo Tuđman Croatian Defence Academy
Abstract
In the strategic plan of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) attack on Croatia in 1991, the most important role was assigned to the 5th (Banja Luka) JNA Corps. Its task was – relying on the rebel and armed Serbian population in Western Slavonia – to attack Croatia from northwestern Bosnia in the direction of Gradiška–Pakrac– Virovitica, to separate Slavonia from central Croatia and to cut off logistical support to the Croatian forces defending Eastern Slavonia in order to facilitate the Yugoslav army's breakthrough from Serbia towards Zagreb and Varaždin, all the way to the border with Slovenia. Had the 5th Corps reached the Hungarian border, Croatia would have lost the war and be forced to ask for an armistice. It would have been the final
cut that would have decided Croatia's fate. The Battle for Slavonia culminated in Western Slavonia. The efforts of the 5th JNA Corps to “encircle, defeat and disarm the Croatian forces and break through to Virovitica and cut off all communication between Eastern Slavonia and the rest of Croatia” were stopped by Croatian forces in Western Slavonia. The introductory part of the paper explains the role of the 5th JNA Corps in the strategic plan of the JNA attack on Croatia. The following section describes the task, intention and idea of the commander of the 5th JNA Corps, Nikola Uzelac, as he intended to surround, defeat and disarm the Croatian forces in the area of Western Slavonia. The paper focuses on clarifying the bearers of combat operations on the main direction of the attack of the 5th JNA Corps, the 343rd Brigade “R” of the JNA on the Lipica-Pakrac battlefield in the autumn of 1991, until the arrival of the 104th Brigade of the ZNG Varaždin.
Keywords
the role of the 5th JNA Corps (Banja Luka) in the plan of the attack on Croatia in 1991; task, intention and idea of the commander of the 5th JNA Corps; Lipica–Pakrac battlefield; 343rd mtbr JNA
Hrčak ID:
324042
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2024.
Visits: 0 *