I'm trying to find examples of Croat/Serb antagonism which predates the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
"Krajina Express": Serb Armoured Train!
This improvised Armoured Train was used by the Serb Krajina Army during the Bosnian War and the Croatian War of Independence.
Railroad workers at Knin initially created the train in 1991 using one engine and two cars and armed it with two captured WWII AA guns that were still kept in storage at the local Yugoslav Army depot.
Over time, the train grew a third armoured car, extra armour and its armament also saw an evolution. In its final form, in 1993, it was equipped with 2X 20mm cannons, a twin 57mm multiple rocket launcher, 2X 120mm mortars, 2X 9M14 Malyutka ATGM launchers, one WWII era M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and several machine guns.
The Krajina Express was well protected despite having been born out of improvisation: It had 25mm armour plates covered by thick sheets of rubber. The space between the rubber sheets and the armour plates was filled with sand and gravel. This improvised composite armour worked well enough for the train to shrug off a couple of ATGM hits during combat. Only two of its crew members lost their lives during the war. Said crew was deployed as conventional infantry when the train was not in use.
The Krajina Express took part in raids, patrols, provided artillery support to infantry during several battles and also took part in the siege of Bihac.
In August 1995, the Croatian Army launched operation Storm: A large scale offensive against the Republic of Serbian Krajina across a 630km front. As the front collapsed, the Krajina Express crew derailed the train into a ravine. Its remnants were recovered and are currently being displayed as a monument somewhere along the M604 Railway (Lika Line)
-RBM.
