The Chetnik attack on Užice in November 1941 was an attack by Chetniks under the command of Colonel Draža Mihailović against the Partisan-controlled free territory in Šumadija and Western Serbia, known as the Užice Republic. The general Chetnik offensive against the Partisan territory centered in Užice followed Mihailović's agreement with General Nedić in early September and his offer of cooperation to the Germans at the end of October. Just prior to the attack, on 26 October 1941, Mihailović had signed the Brajići agreement with Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito, pledging non-aggression and joint struggle against the occupiers. On the night of 1/2 November, the Chetniks attacked Užice but were repelled by the Partisans. They retreated to Požega, pursued by Partisan forces. While fighting raged around Požega, Mihailović ordered attacks on Partisans in Čačak and other towns. On 7–8 November, the Chetniks launched a second assault on Užice, which also failed. The battles around Čačak ended on 8 November with Chetnik defeat. At the same time, the Chetniks managed to seize control of Gornji Milanovac. These events were marked by the first recorded mass atrocities by Chetniks against captured Partisans and sympathizers of the resistance movement. After the defeat of the main Chetnik columns, the Partisans pursued them toward the Ravna Gora plateau, where Mihailović’s headquarters was located. On 11 November 1941, Mihailović met with Wehrmacht representatives, offering collaboration in "restoring order" and handing over large numbers of captured Partisans, but was rejected due to the participation of his forces in the uprising. Following the major German offensive, the Partisan Supreme Command suspended operations against the Chetniks, and on 20 November in Čačak a truce was signed and a joint stand against the Wehrmacht was agreed. However, joint resistance to the occupiers never materialized. The most important consequence of the Chetnik–Partisan conflict was the accelerated collapse of the uprising. The Germans easily crushed the divided insurgent forces, which until then had achieved significant successes. After the defeat of the Partisan uprising in Serbia in late November, German forces launched Operation Mihailović against Mihailović's headquarters in early December 1941. The Partisan–Chetnik war, which began in Serbia, soon spread across occupied Yugoslavia and lasted until the end of World War II in Yugoslavia, culminating in the Chetnik defeat at Zelengora. Historian Branko Petranović assessed that the Chetnik attacks on Užice, Ivanjica, Čačak, Gornji Milanovac, and other towns of the free territory in early November 1941 marked the beginning of a "civil war in the shadow of the German offensive".
Background
Uprising in Serbia 1941
The Communist Party of Yugoslavia initiated the uprising in occupied Yugoslavia in July 1941. Within a few months, a large part of occupied Yugoslavia was under the control of the insurgents. When the partisan uprising gained momentum, Colonel Dragoljub Mihailović, who was hiding with his staff on Ravna Gora, began forming Chetnik detachments. Mihailović proclaimed himself commander of the remnants of the Yugoslav Army. He believed that he had the exclusive right to forcibly mobilize men into his units, while the partisans advocated voluntary mobilization. His detachments did not conduct any battles, but instead established contacts with organs of the collaborationist administration. Colonel Mihailović assessed that the occupier was stronger in every respect, and that fighting against him would be counterproductive. After the formation of the first Partisan detachments in Serbia, more and more people joined the partisans. Some peasants refused to support officers who were "idling" on Ravna Gora. Through Neško Nedić, Colonel Mihailović made it clear to the communists that no one had the right to organize any kind of army except his officers, who were the only ones authorized to do so. He forbade attacks on gendarmes and Germans, or carrying out acts of sabotage. At the end of June or the beginning of July, Draža Mihailović entered into negotiations with collaborators Dimitrije Ljotić and Milan Aćimović on suppressing the uprising. In August 1941, Colonel Mihailović ordered the "formation of companies of military conscripts" between the ages of 20–30. The task of these companies was to "patrol the surroundings or the fields of villages in order to prevent looting and violence" and by stronger organization to prevent the "destructive elements from gaining ground," i.e., to prevent the CPY from organizing the struggle against the occupier. In the case of a general uprising, the task of these companies was to take power into their own hands. On 9 September 1941, Mihailović issued an instruction on the formation of Chetnik detachments. These units were tasked to "patrol the surroundings in order to prevent looting and violence." It was ordered that "conflicts with the Germans and Italians should be avoided as long as possible," and likewise with the "communists". Mihailović proclaimed himself the legitimate representative of the Yugoslav Army and, on the basis of war laws, demanded the response of military conscripts.
=== Mihailović's offer to Nedić === With the development of the partisan uprising, several Chetnik commanders independently joined the struggle against the occupiers. At the same time, as some of his officers were joining the uprising, Colonel Mihailović, in early September 1941, sent a delegation to meet with General Nedić in Belgrade to arrange joint action against the partisans. The delegation consisted of Lieutenant Colonel Dragoslav Pavlović, Lieutenant Colonel Živojin Đurić, and Major Aleksandar Mišić. With the approval of German General Harald Turner, General Milan Nedić agreed to cooperate with Colonel Mihailović:
Approximately three days after taking office as head of the government, Colonel Aleksandar Mišić appeared with two other officers on Mihailović’s orders and declared that Mihailović wished to fight alongside Prime Minister Nedić against the communists, requesting arms and equipment for 2,000 men, especially footwear. Nedić told Colonel Mišić that he could not provide shoes and suggested the use of peasant sandals (opanci). Among other things, he left Mihailović the task of clearing the area west of the Morava River. It should be emphasized that Nedić conducted these negotiations with my approval, since at that time there was hope that Nedić would command a large number of officers located not only in Belgrade but also in the forests. On 10 September, Mišić returned with the statement that Mihailović agreed to this task, after which Nedić sent him 200,000 dinars. After the agreement with Nedić, Mihailović’s delegation returned to Ravna Gora on 6 September 1941. In the meantime, Major Marko Olujević, deputy commander of Nedić’s gendarmerie, also set out for Ravna Gora. On his way there, on 8 September 1941, he was captured by partisans, who found on him the gendarmerie command’s plan for a joint Chetnik–gendarmerie attack on the partisans along the Zvornik–Krupanj–Valjevo–Mionica line. After interrogation, Major Olujević was executed on 10 September.
Agreement between Mihailović and the partisans
During the uprising of 1941, despite cooperation in the regions of western Serbia and Šumadija, disagreements, disputes, and even clashes occurred between partisan and Chetnik detachments. In October 1941, several meetings were held in the field between representatives of the two movements, which achieved partial success. In the meantime, the German occupier strengthened its forces directed towards western Serbia (Užice Republic) and launched heavy attacks on the liberated territory. The Supreme Headquarters of NOPOJ sought to unite all anti-occupation forces in Serbia in the fight against the occupiers, which is why it worked to resolve misunderstandings and prevent clashes with Colonel Mihailović’s movement, in order to reach a firmer agreement on future cooperation between the two movements. After twenty days of attempts to arrange a meeting with the top Chetnik leadership, representatives of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters managed to secure a meeting attended by Josip Broz Tito and Draža Mihailović. The meeting was held in Brajići, near Ravna Gora, on 26 October 1941. The basis for negotiations was a letter with 12 points that Tito sent to Mihailović on 20 October 1941, proposing the conclusion of an agreement and joint cooperation. The meeting resulted in a partial agreement that in principle guaranteed the maintenance of the status quo in mutual relations and suggested avoiding conflicts, while the Partisan side committed itself to making certain deliveries to the Chetnik side (1,200 rifles, ammunition, and some financial resources). The Partisan side adhered to the provisions of the agreement and, in the last days of October, delivered 500 rifles and 24,000 rounds of ammunition to the Chetnik staff at Ravna Gora, as well as about 5 tons of grain to the Požega Chetniks. The commander of the siege of Kraljevo, Major Radoslav Đurić, testified at Draža Mihailović’s 1946 trial that the Chetniks of Vučko Ignjatović in Požega, during the final days of the siege of Kraljevo in late October 1941, were seizing weapons and ammunition that were being transported from Užice to the front near Kraljevo.
=== Mihailović's offer to the Germans === At the end of October 1941, Mihailović was informed that the Germans would launch a major offensive and that this was the best way for his "communist rival to be crushed." According to the testimony of Branislav Pantić, Draža Mihailović held a meeting on 27 October 1941, one day after the conference with Partisan representatives in Brajići, with his closest associates at the house of Major Aleksandar Mišić in Struganik. Besides Mihailović and Mišić, the meeting was attended by Dragiša Vasić, Lieutenant Colonel Dragoslav Pavlović, Colonel Branislav Pantić, and Captain Nenad Mitrović. Speaking about the internal situation and the state of the Chetnik movement, Mihailović emphasized that the Chetnik units lacked sufficient weapons and ammunition, unlike the Partisans, who were becoming stronger every day. Therefore, Mihailović announced that he had decided to turn to the Germans for help and offer them his detachments for use in the fight against the Partisans, provided that the Germans arm and supply them with ammunition. He concluded by stressing that this was the only way to suppress the growth and mass expansion of the Partisan forces, or even to destroy them. Some participants of the meeting believed that, at least for a time, one should not turn to the Germans but instead seek weapons and ammunition from Milan Nedić. Mihailović and Mišić opposed this. Branislav Pantić remembered the following words of Mihailović:
The technical arrangements of Draža Mihailović’s negotiations with the Germans were entrusted to Colonel Pantić and Captain Mitrović. The next day, 28 October 1941, they went to Belgrade, where they met with German Captain Josef Matl. At the meeting with Matl, Mihailović’s offer for cooperation with the German occupiers in order to suppress the Partisan movement was presented. “The general aim is to establish a state of peace and order as they were in occupied Serbia before 28 June 1941.” On 30 October 1941, representatives of the German occupation forces invited Mihailović to a meeting in Belgrade for negotiations, with guarantees of his personal safety. According to historian Žarko Jovanović, “in order to prove to the Germans that he was indeed a bitter opponent of the communists, that is, of the Partisan movement, and to create more favorable conditions for negotiations, Mihailović ordered his detachments to launch an attack on the Partisans.” Because of the outbreak of open conflicts between the Chetniks and the Partisans at the beginning of November, Mihailović, as he stated in his reply to the German military representatives in Serbia on 3 November 1941, was prevented from personally coming to Belgrade. This resulted in Mihailović’s somewhat later meeting with the representatives of the German occupation forces, on 11 November 1941 in Divci.
Execution of Milan Blagojević
On the eve of the planned attack on Užice, the Chetniks of Captain Vučko Ignjatović treacherously murdered Milan Blagojević, a Spanish fighter and commander of the First Šumadija Partisan Detachment. On the night of 28 October–29 October 1941, while returning from Užice to Šumadija, Požega Chetniks forcibly pulled him from a train at the railway station in Požega, captured him, and after three days of torture killed him in the village of Glumač.
=== Mihailović's declaration of intent === Colonel Mihailović announced his plan to confront the Partisans to all involved actors, including the Yugoslav government, the British mission, and the German command. In a radio dispatch to the President of the Yugoslav government-in-exile, Dušan Simović, dated 28 October 1941, Draža Mihailović announced the imminent attack on Užice, stating his motives: Mihailović feared further strengthening of the Partisan movement, which would marginalize the Ravnogor Chetnik movement in relation to the Partisans. Therefore, in the dispatch, he emphasized the necessity of seizing the two largest towns in the liberated territory, particularly Užice, due to the arms factory located there. According to post-war testimony of Captain Bill Hudson (Duane Hudson), the first head of the British military mission to the Chetnik Supreme Command, just before the Chetnik attack on Partisan territory began, Mihailović warned him that this was exclusively an internal matter:
Additionally, on 1 November 1941, Draža Mihailović sent a letter to General Hinhofer, commander of the 342nd German Division in Valjevo, informing him that the Chetnik organization was capable of destroying the Partisans and "maintaining order" in western Serbia, but only if it received "sufficient armament":
In the letter to the German commander, Colonel Mihailović emphasized that "Chetnik action is not directed against German units, as long as they do not attack the Chetniks and the people." Historian Venceslav Glišić notes that Draža Mihailović decided to attack Partisan units in the center of the liberated territory encouraged by the establishment of links with the British and Yugoslav governments, which promised him support, and by ongoing negotiations with the German command in Belgrade.
First Chetnik attack on Užice
Until the attack on Užice, Mihailović's Chetniks moved freely in the liberated territory without any interference, except when looting villages. Thanks to the mandatory mobilization carried out in the liberated territory, the Chetnik detachments had grown significantly. By the end of October, a concentration of Chetnik forces around Užice was noted. The Zlatibor–Užice Chetnik Detachment moved from the Višegrad area to Užice, from where, on 31 October 1941, it moved to Požega and joined the main Chetnik forces. By the end of October, larger numbers of Chetnik groups were present in the Užice, Požega, and Ivanjica areas, although sharp clashes with German forces were occurring in the border areas. The Partisan Supreme Staff had reliable intelligence that the Chetniks were planning an attack on Užice. Since the majority of the fighters of the Užice Partisan Detachment were engaged in intense battles with German forces on the front, the Supreme Staff placed certain units, which had arrived in Užice in the last days of October to receive weapons and ammunition, under the command of the Užice Detachment: the Dragačevo Battalion of the Čačak Detachment, the Mining Company of the Kopaonik Detachment. Additionally, the 2nd Užice and 2nd Požega companies of the Užice Detachment, under Dušan Jerković, the detachment commander, were ordered to leave their positions toward Valjevo and move to Karan (a village between Užice and Kosjerić).
=== Battles on the approaches === Armed clashes began on the evening of 31 October when Chetniks from Karan and Ribaševina encountered fighters of the Dragačevo Battalion of the Čačak NOP Detachment in Trnava near Užice, who had been pulled from the front toward the Užice area. According to the Partisan version, the Chetniks attacked the Dragačevo Battalion company and forced it to retreat. According to the Chetnik version, the Partisans attacked them. In any case, the Karan and Ribaševina Chetniks initially succeeded in pushing the Partisans out of Trnava, but by the morning of 1 November, they were defeated due to reinforcements from the Užice NOP Detachment. On 1 November, partisan agitators managed to convince mobilized villagers in the areas of Zlatibor, Kremna, and Bioska that Chetnik leaders were planning an attack on Užice, after which most of the mobilized villagers returned home. In the village of Bioska, the Partisans disarmed the local Chetnik detachment. Additionally, in Užice, personnel of the local Chetnik command were arrested, and 20 Chetniks belonging to the town guard were disarmed. In this way, some Chetnik groups in the Užice area were neutralized before the main attack. At the same time, on 1 November, the attack leader Captain Vučko Ignjatović, commander of the Požega Chetnik Detachment, ordered various Chetnik detachments in the Užice area to attack the Partisans. In the order to the Ribaševina Chetnik Detachment for the attack on Karan, he stated that "the Partisans are abandoning positions everywhere" and therefore the Chetniks "must prevent them from doing so at all costs". Simultaneously, he ordered the commander of the Dobrodolaka Company to disarm and arrest Partisans, and instructed Lieutenant Tankosić to take control of Trešnjica, after which "the entire detachment will move tonight in three columns toward Užice". In the order to the Požega Detachment for the attack on Užice, Vučko Ignjatović explained that the Partisans, "under the guise of fighting the occupier, sought to secretly implement their political principles," that in Užice they "arrested our people in masses and at night led them out of prison never to appear again," and that they had first engaged openly against the Chetniks ("last night they attacked our detachments in Karan and Ribaševina"). Since "they cannot stand to see Serbian lives disappear one by one in the struggle for political power that a few people want to seize," the Chetniks would enter Užice to protect the people. In Ignjatović’s order of 1 November 1941 for the attack on Užice, it was instructed: "In action, be decisive, brave, and energetic as befits Serbian Chetniks," followed by: "In night battles, it is best to eliminate everything suddenly and without noise."
Battle of Trešnjica
The grouping of Vučko Ignjatović was the largest and best-organized Chetnik formation participating in the attack on Užice, and it was assigned the main strike. It was assembled in Požega and numbered around 1,000 men. In this group, in addition to mobilized villagers who were unaware of the true intentions of their officers (some were told they were going on a military parade in Užice, others to positions near Višegrad), gendarmes, non-commissioned officers, and officers were more heavily represented compared to other Chetnik detachments. Ignjatović divided his troops into three columns. The right column advanced from the village of Zdravčići via Trešnjica Hill (a height dominating the town), the central column (commanded by Major Manojlo Korać, consisting of the bulk of the Požega Chetniks) advanced from the village of Visibaba along the southern part of Trešnjica toward Sevojno and Užice, and the left column advanced from Visibaba along the Đetinja valley toward Sevojno and Užice. On the night of 1–2 November, the Chetniks advanced toward Užice. Upon encountering Partisan positions on Trešnjevica and Čakarevo Hills, held by fighters of the 1st and 4th companies of the Užice Detachment and a small number from the 6th Ibar Company of the Kopaonik Detachment, clashes occurred. At these positions east of Užice, only a small number of Partisan fighters (around 200) were present. However, part of the Požega Chetnik group was forced to advance toward Karan via the Lužnica valley, while another part attempted to advance toward the southern approaches to the town from the villages of Drežnik and Zbojištica, where a Partisan defense had also been established. As a result, the main Chetnik attack on Trešnjica Hill did not achieve the expected success. The Partisans also had the advantage of higher ground, well-fortified with cover, including trenches. Soon, Partisan reinforcements from Užice (elements of the Dragačevo Battalion of the Čačak Detachment and the Račanska Company of the Užice Detachment) arrived at the Trešnjica positions, commanded by Lieutenant Radivoje Jovanović Bradonja. The position between Užice and Sevojno, on Menda Hill, was successfully defended by fighters of the Railway Company of the Užice NOP Detachment and armed workers from Užice factories. In the battle of Trešnjica, on 2 November 1941, the Požega Chetniks were defeated, while on other approaches to Užice, they did not advance further than Sevojno and Zabučje, which forced them, after a ten-hour battle, to withdraw the same day to positions toward Požega.
Chetnik attack on Ivanjica
=== Partisan–Chetnik agreement === In the Ivanjica area, partisans coexisted with Draža Mihailović's Chetniks, while with the Chetniks led by Boža Javorski, a representative of vojvoda Kosta Pećanac in the Ivanjica region, they had been in open conflict since the summer of 1941. On 1 November 1941, representatives of the Arilje Battalion of the Užice Partisan Detachment signed an agreement with the Ivanjica Chetniks of Draža Mihailović (Morava Chetnik Detachment) to resolve the issue of Boža Javorski. It was guaranteed that Boža Javorski would be subordinated to the Chetnik detachments of the Yugoslav Army under Draža Mihailović's command: The agreement was preceded by the arrival of Chetnik Captain Milorad Mitić, envoy of the Chetnik Supreme Command, who convinced local Partisans of the Ravnagors’ desire for cooperation. The agreement stipulated that in liberated Ivanjica, Partisan and Chetnik commands would coexist on equal terms with a minimal number of armed fighters, and that each individual could freely choose which units to join.
=== Surprise Chetnik attack === On the same day the agreement was signed, partisans in Ivanjica and surrounding areas were jointly attacked by the Morava Detachment Chetniks and Boža Javorski’s detachment. It is considered that the agreement was only a pretext to facilitate the attack on the Partisans, given the role of the Morava Chetniks in the overall Chetnik attack on Užice. By attacking the Partisans in Ivanjica, the Morava Chetniks aimed to tie down some Partisan forces so that the Chetnik main force attacking Užice would face minimal resistance. The attack occurred in the early morning hours of 2 November 1941. Although surprised, the Partisans in Ivanjica quickly organized and resisted. After half a day of pressure, the Partisans managed to launch a counterattack and forced the Chetniks to retreat. According to Partisan sources, 14 Partisan fighters were killed, including Stevan Čolović, political commissar of the Arilje Battalion. According to the same sources, about 30 Chetniks were killed in the attack on Ivanjica.
== Partisan counterattack == After their defeat in the attack on Užice, the Chetniks occupied positions near Požega, determined at all costs to prevent the Partisans from taking the town and Chetnik strongholds in surrounding villages. The Požega area was important to the Chetniks not only because of its strategic position, cutting the communication route between Užice and Čačak under Partisan control, but also because of the airfield at Tatojevica, as they expected military assistance from the British. Following the battle at Trešnjica, Radivoje Jovanović Bradonja and the commander of the Užice NOP Detachment Dušan Jerković went to Užice on 2 November to report the outcome to Tito. At the meeting, it was decided that it was necessary to capture Požega to prevent further Chetnik concentration and a new attack on Užice. A detailed plan for the attack on Požega was prepared the next day in Zdravčići, a village 5 km from Požega, from where the main Partisan forces advanced. The importance the Supreme Headquarters placed on capturing Požega is confirmed by the fact that two members, Sreten Žujović and Ivo Lola Ribar, were sent to this sector.
=== Partisan capture of Požega === Partisan forces advanced on Požega in three attack groups: 1) right wing, from Arilje and Gorobilje, tasked with cutting the Požega–Čačak road in case of Chetnik withdrawal from the town; 2) central wing, from Užice and Rasna, on both sides of the Užice–Požega road up to the Požega–Arilje road; 3) left wing, from Zdravčići toward Glumče, a village on the Požega–Kosjerić road controlled by Chetniks, aiming to encircle Požega from the north. The Partisan units advancing from Arilje were unable to participate due to the earlier Chetnik attack on Ivanjica. After the left and right wings approached the town, the central column crossed the swollen Skrapež River, separating them from Chetnik positions in Požega, and launched an assault on the town. The Partisan assault forced the Chetniks to retreat toward Glumče and Prijanovići. Casualties were significant. According to Partisan sources, around 30 Partisan fighters were killed in the battle for Požega, including Bogdan Kapelan, commander of the Dragačevo Battalion Čačanski NOP Detachment (posthumously awarded National Hero) and Miladin Popović, commander of the Požega–Užice company Užički NOP Detachment. Among the many wounded was Sreten Žujović.
=== Ceasefire and Chetnik ultimatum === After the Partisans entered Požega, Chetnik Captain Milorad Mitić, liaison officer of the Chetnik Supreme Command to the Partisan Supreme Headquarters, who had previously been in Užice, requested negotiations on behalf of Draža Mihailović. On 3 November 1941, he was sent to Užice together with Major Zaharije Ostojić. Tito accepted the ceasefire proposal. It was agreed that the ceasefire would begin at 17:00 the same day. The Partisan proposal included forming a joint Partisan–Chetnik commission to investigate the events of the previous days and identify those responsible for the outbreak of armed conflict. The Supreme Headquarters ordered Partisan units to cease fire, and two Chetnik officers were released. In Požega, a driver, Ljubivoje Kovačević, was assigned to take them to Chetnik positions in the village of Dobrinja, where he was captured and later handed over to the Germans, imprisoned at Banjica in Belgrade, and eventually transferred to Mauthausen, where he died in 1943. In the evening of the same day, the Chetnik Supreme Command issued an ultimatum to the Partisans to leave Požega by midnight, otherwise the Chetniks would resume armed conflict. The ultimatum was rejected. On 3 November, Draža Mihailović sent a letter to the German commander of Serbia, General Franz Böhme, stating that he was willing to respond to the call for negotiations and personally travel to Belgrade, but was currently unable due to fighting with the Partisans:
Chetnik attack on Čačak
=== Refusal to carry out orders === The Chetnik attack on the Partisans in Čačak was planned to coincide with Chetnik units attacking Užice. On the night of 1–2 November, Colonel Dragoljub Mihailović ordered Major Radoslav Đurić, commander of Chetnik forces at the siege of Kraljevo, to "immediately, under cover of darkness, leave the position facing the Germans and attack Partisan positions in Čačak and the surrounding area." The goal was:
Seize Čačak and secure it from the Užice direction. Disarm the Partisan command and send it to Ravna Gora. At the time, Chetniks and Partisans were jointly fighting the Germans on the Kraljevo front. Most Chetnik fighters, including Đurić personally, opposed Mihailović’s order. Major Đurić did not carry it out, but informed the comrades of the Čačak Partisan Detachment. At the postwar trial of Draža Mihailović, Major Đurić explained why he could not follow the order:
It could not be carried out while we were engaged in a major battle with the occupiers, with joint columns, ambulances, doctors, and mixed units. It was impossible to allow one side to be attacked during a fight against the occupiers, as fighters on both sides supported cooperation. The Čačak Partisan Detachment immediately informed the Supreme Headquarters of the NOVJ, after which it was decided that Major Đurić should personally intervene with Colonel Mihailović to withdraw the order. Mihailović maintained his decision to attack Čačak. On 3 November 1941, Mihailović issued a new order to attack the Partisans in Čačak. Chetnik commander Bogdan Marjanović asked Lieutenant Uroš Katanić to attack Čačak during the night of 3 November, but he replied that his men were exhausted. The next day, 4 November, Lieutenant Katanić refused three further orders to lead his men in an attack on Čačak alongside Captain Marjanović. Finally, Colonel Mihailović assigned the attack on Čačak to Captain Jovan Deroko, artillery commander and chief of staff of Chetnik forces on the Kraljevo front.
=== Partisan takeover of the town === The Supreme Headquarters of NOVJ announced on 4 November that Draža Mihailović and his staff "withdrew their troops from the siege of Kraljevo and directed them against the Partisans," and ordered Partisan units to clear the area of Chetniks. Two battalions of the Čačak Partisan Detachment were also withdrawn from the Kraljevo front. Chetnik forces, retreating from the Kraljevo front, attacked Partisan positions in villages between Kraljevo and Čačak. On 4 November, near the village of Samaila, they attacked a Partisan tank unit, seized a tank, and killed the commander Srećko Nikolić. The same day, they attacked the Partisan artillery crew near Mrčajevci, seizing the guns. Simultaneously, the Trnava Battalion of the Čačak Partisan Detachment, also withdrawn from the Kraljevo front, clashed with Chetnik outposts near Čačak. Partisan leaders declared Chetnik commander Bogdan Marjanović the main culprit and sentenced him to death in absentia. In Čačak, the Partisans disarmed the Chetniks and assumed control (previously there had been a joint town command).
Chetnik sources claim that on 4 November, the Partisans disarmed a detachment of 100 Chetniks, killing some, and took control of the town. On the same day, the Partisans arrested Chetnik families and seven officers who remained in the town. Partisan sources state that these arrests, involving around ten Chetnik officers and their families, were a response to the detention of Momčilo Radosavljević, commander of the Čačak Partisan Detachment, who on 5 November went to the Chetnik staff on the outskirts of Čačak to negotiate a de-escalation. On 6 November 1941, Chetnik commander Radoslav Đurić wrote to Čačak Partisan political commissar Ratko Mitrović:
On 4 November, abusing the trust of the Chetniks, the Partisans in Čačak disarmed a detachment of 100 Chetniks, during which several of our men were killed, and seized Čačak. On the same day, Partisan units opened machine-gun fire on a Chetnik detachment attempting to enter Čačak, during which one officer and several soldiers were seriously wounded. On the same day, the Partisans arrested all Chetnik families in Čačak and seven officers who remained in the town. In a report to Draža Mihailović on 6 November 1941, Chetnik commander Bogdan Marjanović also described the mutual arrests in Čačak:
In the town of Čačak, the Partisans again arrested prominent traders and officers who failed to escape. Their main commander, known as "Molo," along with Vuk Stojić and Đurakić, commissars and shady figures, as well as many of their leaders, were arrested. Therefore, last night they arrested all officer families in the town.
=== Chetnik ultimatum === On the morning of 6 November 1941, a new order from Draža Mihailović arrived for an attack on Čačak, which would be led by Jovan V. Deroko with artillery support:
“Take up positions as soon as possible to take control of Čačak and pass the necessary instructions to Captain Deroko. Captain Deroko should, with 2/3 of his men and the artillery, using carts taken from positions near Kraljevo, immediately seize Čačak. With the remaining 1/3 he should secure the route towards Raška and the Kraljevo–Čačak route, engaging in the most persistent defense on those routes. Very urgent.” The partisans in Čačak were willing to make some concessions to the Chetniks, hoping to negotiate. The commander of the Čačak Chetnik units, Bogdan Marjanović, interpreted this as a sign of weakness, concluding that the “partisans were decapitated” and frightened, so he “rejected all of it, setting demands that I was sure they would not accept, because that would mean their capitulation and surrender of arms.” On 6 November, Radoslav Đurić forwarded an ultimatum to Ratko Mitrović, which, among other things, demanded:
1. The reorganization of partisan units, which so far were based on political grounds, into existing military-Chetnik units under the command of Colonel Draža Mihailović, who has been appointed by the decree of His Majesty the King.
3. The abolition of the people's liberation committees.
4. Since our state is a monarchy, everyone must recognize His Majesty the King and fight for him and the fatherland against the occupiers.
6. Entry into the military ranks is with the rank one held in the army.