In July 1991, members of the Yugoslav People's Army, who were doing their military service in the barracks named after Božidar Adžija in Bjelovar, came under siege by members of the newly formed Croatian National Guard. Located in the barracks was the 265th Motorized Brigade of the YPA as well as the newly arrived recruits. Colonel Josip Tomšić, who defected from the YPA to become the commander of the defense of Bjelovar, prepared an attack on the barracks, in which the remaining soldiers and officers who have not fled to the Croatian side remained, some of them along with their family members. The barracks, without water and electricity for several days, was attacked by approximately 2,000 troops. During the battles, the center of the city was targeted by YPA, both churches were damaged, and several civilians were killed by shells. The majority of the battles took place in the near vicinity of the army barracks where a single tank T-55 destroyed almost all the houses in Visočina Matije Gupca street; the tank was destroyed later on and its crew killed. Most of that part of the city was damaged to a certain extent. Since the YPA did not send any help, brigade commander Colonel Rajko Kovačević ordered surrender and the disposal of weapons. Upon entering the barracks, the President of the Bjelovar Crisis Staff at the time, Jure Šimić, ordered the captured members of the YPA to remove their upper clothing. He then segregated the Commander Kovačević along with his aides Miljko Vasić and the First Class Captain Dragiša Jovanović, took them 50 meters away and shot them. Major Tepić was in charge of the defense of the ammunition storage in the village of Hrgovljani just outside Bjelovar, where large quantities of explosive devices were stored. On 29 September 1991, unwilling to leave the weapons to the enemy, Major Milan Tepić blew up the warehouse, sacrificing his own life in the process. At a certain point, before the detonation, the YPA soldiers were ordered to withdraw from the main building to a safe distance. This order, issued by Tepić, was disobeyed by a conscript, Stojadin Mirković, who opened suppressive fire at the enemy from an armored personnel carrier, until he was hit by an anti-tank missile. Despite Tepić's sacrifice, Croatian forces captured over 100 armored vehicles as well as great quantities of other weapons and ammunition at Bjelovar. This was only exceeded by their haul from Varaždin.
