 The Serbian high command had to accept that there was no prospect of the Allies forces reaching them.Mackensen believed that the Serbian forces still could be surrounded and destroyed, he had hoped that the Serbs would make a stand at Kragujevac, but on 31 October, it became clear that Putnik had decided to withdraw further.While determined rearguards held off the forces pressing down on him from the north, the Serbian Chief of the General Staff ordered the rest of the army to pull back towards Kosovo.