Located on the border between Zaichar and Kula , the height in the area of the Great Izvor was a strategically important point for the defense of the city of Vidin . However, in preparation for the offensive, the Serbs left it without significant protection. Using this loophole, at the beginning of the war, the commander of the Turkish troops in Vidin, Osman Pasha , was the first to attack with 20 thousand soldiers and occupied the village on June 8 (21), 1876 . From the occupied positions, he began shelling the entire territory to Zaichar, interfering with the collection and supply of the enemy on the right bank of Timok. A week later, after the Timok detachment’s repeated attempts (under the command of Colonel Miloiko Leshanin ) to drive the Turks out of the valley, the Rehrb General Staff began developing an offensive plan with the goal of regaining complete control of the Timok Valley. With reinforcements that arrived in late June, the army operating against Osman Pasha increased from 34 battalions , 6 squadrons and 6 batteries to 41 battalions , 13 squadrons and 13 batteries . Their command was entrusted to General Mikhail Chernyaev .
The attack on the Turkish fortifications around the Great Izvor and on the heights of Pladnische and Zabel began early in the morning of June 23 ( July 6 ), 1876 with the main onslaught in the south-west ( 12 ½ battalions ) and north-west ( 11 battalions ). Auxiliary strike was fought by 4 battalions from Zaichar. After several hours of battle, the Serbs ran out of reserves and most of the ammunition before reaching a decisive breakthrough. At the beginning of the afternoon, many Serbs retreated to their original positions. At that moment, Osman Pasha launched a counterattack. Throwing the troops first to the right and then back to the left flank, he attacked and successively defeated the Serbian columns. Unable to help in the battle, the two wings of Chernyaev's army were divided into parts.
The battle of the Great Izvor was part of a series of failures (along with battles on the Drin and near Sienica ) that forced the Serbian command to abandon the offensive operations at the beginning of the war. The losses of the Serbian army killed and wounded amounted to approximately 2000 people , as well as 5 guns . The Turks lost, according to Serbian data, 5,000 people , but retained strategic positions, and their opponent was forced to retreat to the left bank of Timok.
