 The two commanders travelled via Trebinje, Bileća i Vilusi, to reach Podhan - a strategic location from which they could see and shell the German troops in the town of Risan, Ledenice barracks and in five old Imperial Austrian forts nearby.They arrived on 29 October, preparing for the first battle the following morning.The advanced guard of the German Army Group E, found from the XXI Mountain Corps, had already entered Montenegro and used a narrow, meandering road that follows the Bay of Kotor fjord eventually reaching Risan.