In the evening of August 3rd, detonator of the conflict was inevitably ticking off last moments. Wick that was set on fire by Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina was to explode in Croatia. It seemed as nothing was going on along the 700 km long front line at 3 a.m. of the August 4th. But, 2 000 Croatian cannons, howitzers, mortars, rocket launchers and recoilless cannons were ready to fire.
An hour later, UN peace forces in Croatia were officially informed that unavoidable military and police operation would start, with purpose of reestablishing constitution, law and order in sectors North and South. Anyway nothing happened in the next 60 minutes that would disturb hot and moistly dawn. And then, exactly at 5 a.m. the artillery strike like none seen before started. Serbs will remember that dawn very well. They were encouraging themselves day by day: no retreat, no surrender. Our forts will be our bloody shirts. They did not expect that so much steel will fall over their heads immediately. Although they knew Croats were superior, their propaganda claimed that krajina fighters are not afraid of Croatian slings. At the same moment all the way from north to the south the command echoed: Fire! Roar of Croatian artillery broke the morning silence waking up sleepy Serbian quasyrepublic. Salvos were following one another all in all 40 minutes with no stops, somewhere even longer. In the Serbian pillboxes, forts, barracks, commands, storehouses, reserve positions, quickly digged trenches, on the approaches of all bigger cities there was panic with everyone shouting: Croats are coming . . . they are braking through from everywhere. Terrified men in the forts were hit by bouncing rocks, wood and deafened by noise. Dust and smoke were choking surprised garrisons. The cannon and rocket launcher fire were joined by a fire of Croatian tanks and sounds of Croatian infantry arms, who started unstoppable breakthrough through thinned mine fields and chopped barb wire. In Serbian lines, where many were totally stunned by the noise of explosions, they didn't know what to do next. In only ten hours of fighting Serbs suffered mentally and started to fall apart. Instead of fortified north Croats tightened the circle around Knin that trembled from the shell detonations which were destroying military targets. In four days of major operations Croatian armed force demonstrated they are ready, with methodical and continuos pressure of their formations, to surround completely rebel "krajina" as a kindled almond which suddenly found itself in the nut cracking pincers. Objections that too much force had been used are absurd. In the liberation war exaggerated force is only the sufficient force.
