On 5 January 1916, they received a command to protect the retreat of the Royal Serbian Army to Corfu in Greece via Albania.

Savo Lazarević was commander of Montenegrin Royal Gendarmerie which was part of Čakor Detachment during the Battle of Mojkovac.

Led by Serdar (Vojvoda) Janko Vukotić[3] with Krsto Popović as second in command, the Montenegrins inflicted heavy casualties on the Austro-Hungarians and temporarily halted their advancement.

Austro-Hungarian Army attacked Montenegrin positions early that day along with a heavy artillery bombardment on Mojkovac itself.

There is considerable disagreement about the actual conduct of the battle,[4] but the Montenegrins forced a numerically superior foe to retreat.