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Operation Southeast Croatia commenced on 15 January 1942. The 342nd Infantry Division approached the area of operations from the Drina valley to the east, with the 718th Infantry Division pushing east from assembly areas in Sarajevo and Tuzla.{{sfn|Hehn|1979|p=84}}
In the first days of the operation, the 697th Regiment of the 342nd Infantry Division, supported by NDH units, thrust out of their bridgehead over the Drina at Zvornik and cleared the high ground southwest and south of that town, and south along the Drina valley road, hindered by roadblocks and destroyed bridges. It then followed up the retreating insurgents, mopping up the [[Drinjača|Drinjača River]] valley, before pushing southwest through the mountains and reaching Vlasenica on 18 January.{{sfn|Hehn|1979|pp=84—85}} Parts of the 698th Regiment of the 342nd Infantry Division fought southwest from Višegrad along the upper Drina valley to [[Međeđa (Višegrad)|Međeđa]], while other elements pushed west towards Rogatica, followed by an [[Royal Italian Army|Italian]] [[Alpini]] battalion. The 699th Regiment of the 342nd Infantry Division advanced along the Drina valley past the confluence with the Drinjača to the area west of [[Ljubovija]], clearing roadblocks as they went. In the area of [[Milići, Republika Srpska|Milići]], they captured about 400 insurgents, mostly Chetniks loyal to [[Jezdimir Dangić]], along with a tank, two machine guns, about 160 rifles and a large amount of ammunition. The regiment then mopped up the area west to Vlasenica and one battalion cleared the route to Srebrenica.{{sfn|Hehn|1979|p=85}}
The 738th Regiment of the 718th Infantry Division was reinforced by [[assault pioneers|pioneers]], four NDH battalions, four NDH artillery batteries and two-and-a-half German [[mountain gun]] batteries. It pushed east from Sarajevo along the [[Pale-Prača|Prača]] valley then through the Romanija mountains towards Rogatica.{{sfn|Shepherd|2012|p=163}}{{sfn|Hehn|1979|p=86}} Fighting in very difficult terrain, it captured 240 insurgents and significant amounts of weapons and ammunition. It also freed 10 Italian and 57 NDH soldiers.{{sfn|Hehn|1979|p=86}} The other regiment of the 718th Infantry Division, the 750th Regiment, was reinforced by a German artillery battery, an NDH infantry battalion and an NDH mountain battery. It moved south from an assembly area southwest of Tuzla towards Olovo.{{sfn|Shepherd|2012|p=163}} It reached [[Kladanj]] on 16 January, and spent the following days clearing both sides of the road west towards Vlasenica.{{sfn|Hehn|1979|p=86}} It had been planned that the Italian [[3rd Mountain Infantry Division Ravenna|3rd Mountain Infantry Division ''Ravenna'']] would provide a cordon to the south, blocking any southerly withdrawal by the insurgents. This did not occur, as the Italians claimed the railroad near [[Mostar]] had been damaged, resulting in several weeks delay.{{sfn|Hehn|1979|p=85}}
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