Editing Christmas Uprising (section)

===Siege of Cetinje===
As Jovan Plamenac and the other rebel leaders had planned, Cetinje turned out to be the epicenter of the uprising. After several days of exchanging letters, the rebels began forming armed squads on {{OldStyleDate |31 December||18 December}} 1918. The rebels gathered in front of the House of Government on 1 January 1919 and left town for the hills. Recruits were called to arms by ringing the church bells in the vicinity of Cetinje. By 2 January, Cetinje was surrounded from all sides.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

According to Ćetković, the town was, at this moment in time, defended by around 100 members of the national guard i.e 20–30 men each from several tribes around Cetinje, 50–60 members of the youth, 50 gendarmes and policemen and 100 members of the 2nd Yugoslav Regiment under [[Colonel]] Dragutin Milutinović. The troops were lacking in ammunition, and every defender had between 50 and 100 rounds. Milutinović's troops were armed with two cannons and around 1,000 shells.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

Youth leader Marko Daković requested that Milutinović deliver arms to his troops, but since he was himself lacking in arms and ammunition, he directed Daković toward the commander of the Second Army stationed in [[Sarajevo]], ''vojvoda'' [[Stepa Stepanović]]. The telephone lines were still operational and Stepanović allowed Daković to restock from the army garrison in [[Tivat]]. During 2 January, leader of the [[Lješanska nahija|Lješanska]] national guard [[Lieutenant]] Radoje Ćetković reached Tivat and returned with around 2,000 rifles and ample ammunition.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

The following day, on 3 January, a delegation headed by Brigade Generals Milutin Vukotić and [[Jovo Bećir]] went to negotiate with the rebel leaders at their headquarters in the village of Bajice. According to General Milutinović, the negotiations were unsuccessful and he went to negotiate personally around 2 P.M. Milutinović met Captain Đuro Drašković and Lieutenant Ilija Bećir, the latter of whom he describes as insolent for having said "Either the [[Serbians]] leave Montenegro or there will be blood, there isn't and there cannot be any other way". In his return, Milutinović met his troops who begged him to attack Bajice, but their request was denied because he "still hoped that everything would end peacefully".{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

In the morning of 4 January, ''serdar'' [[Janko Vukotić]] arrived in Cetinje. He had broken through the rebels' advance guard with a force of 30 men from [[Čevo]]. Milutinović advised Vukotić to make arrangements with the National Executive Committee, to allow him to try negotiating with the rebels in Bajice. The Committee agreed, and Vukotić went to Bajice by car, accompanied with two captains and an MP of the [[Podgorica Assembly]] . The two captains returned on foot not long after with word that Vukotić and the MP had been captured. Other than the capture of ''serdar'' Vukotić and some gendarmes encountering a minor roadblock on their way to the villages of Kosijeri and Jabuka, no fighting took place on that day.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

Jailed in Bajice, ''serdar'' Janko Vukotić wrote to General Milutinović in the morning of 5 January, pleading him to allow the rebels to enter Cetinje without a struggle, while securing the area around his command with Serbian troops and the area between the Zetski Dom theater, the hospital and the barracks with troops under the command of ''vojvoda'' Stevo Vukotić. His message was pessimistic, as he believed Milutinović's forces to be severely outnumbered. Around 6 A.M., a list of demands written by Captain [[Krsto Popović]] the previous day was delivered to Milutinović, asking for the termination of resolutions of the Podgorica Assembly. The message was delivered to Milutinović by Captain Đuro Drašković and Lieutenant Grujičić. Drašković complained to Milutinović verbally about the disrespect towards Montenegrin military units by the Serbian command.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}{{sfn|Andrijašević|2015|p=261}}

In his letter, Captain Popović demanded that the organization of the emerging Kingdom of Yugoslavia be decided by the Constitutional Assembly, that anyone responsible for the events in Montenegro be tried and that new elections were held to produce a new government which would represent Montenegro in international relations. He gave Milutinović until 6 January to acquiesce and threatened to enter the town with several thousand troops. Milutinović replied to Popović promising to put an end to any irregularities by the new police authorities and agreeing to bring Popović's requests to the government in Belgrade, but declining any of his other demands. Milutinović was more confident in his ability to hold Cetinje, as a load of arms and ammunition had arrived from Tivat the previous evening.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}{{sfn|Andrijašević|2015|p=261}}

During the afternoon, ''vojvoda'' Stevo Vukotić, brother of Queen [[Milena of Montenegro]], went to visit ''serdar'' Janko Vukotić in Bajice where he was being held. ''Serdar'' Janko pleaded with Stevo Vukotić in tears, while Stevo was unwilling to accept any of the rebels' demands. Milutinović held a meeting with the Executive Committee in the afternoon during which [[Divisional General]] [[Mitar Martinović]] suggested accepting the rebels' terms. Milutinović proceeded with his defense, ignoring the Committee's stance, and put [[Michael, Prince of Montenegro|Prince Michael]]'s godfather Captain Božo Novaković in command of the volunteer troops.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

In the evening of 5 January, an artillery unit from [[Zelenika, Herceg Novi|Zelenika]] armed with two cannons and led by Commander Ljubodrag Janković tried to reach Cetinje. They reached [[Kotor]] around 5 P.M. and set off for Cetinje two hours later. The unit was held back by the rebels at the village of [[Njeguši]], after which the command in Kotor ordered them to open fire. They failed to follow their order and camped for the night on the hillside of Krstac near Njeguši. At the same time, a group of more than 600 Whites proceeded towards Cetinje from the failed siege of [[Rijeka Crnojevića]]. The group was made up of [[Kuči]], [[Piperi (tribe)|Piperi]] and [[Bjelopavlići]] tribesmen. They formed a column near Belveder, where they were ambushed by the Greens. The group entered Cetinje near the hospital late in the evening.{{sfn|Kordić|1986|pp=65-84}}

On 6 January 1919, around 250 Serbian troops and 850 volunteers from nearby [[Tribes of Montenegro|Montenegrin tribes]] fought a formation of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 rebel Greens in Cetinje.{{sfn|Andrijašević|2015|p=261}} That day, the Greens initiated a siege on Cetinje, killing some members of the Great National Assembly and killing some Whites. After that, the Greens experienced severe factionalism, in addition to facing the militarily stronger Whites.{{sfn|Morrison|2009|p=44}}