The Washington herald., 1916-07-23
Withdrawal of Troops from
Galician Frontier to Invade
Italy Leaves Fatal Weak
ness IN Line of Defense.
BY JOHN l.. BALDERsrUN.


the fortune OF war. the whole plan of
organization of the Austro-H Hungarian
armies which tried to break into Italy
through the Trentino has come into the
hands Of the allies Less has been known
hitherto about the military secrets OF the
dual monarchy than those Of any bellig-
srent except Turkey. and now for the
hrst time in the whole war the inside
story OF a great Campaign can be made
public. and at the expense Of the secre-
tive Austrians
Relatively accurate figures have ap-
pesred concerning the number of men
engaged in important operations, but the
Numbers and calibers Of guns and the
shell supply available on enemy fronts
nave hitherto been guesswork. This story
OF how $4,000 infantry backed by 900
s-ineh field and mountain guns and S64
howitzers Of larger calieer failed to break
through the Italians casts light not only
on one campaign, but on the whole
theory Of offensive warfare as now prac-
ticed. after two years Of experiment, at
Verdun, in Russia and elsewhere.
Most striking Of all factors in a general
attack today Is that OF time There is
evidence that the assault on Verdun.
which opened February p, was the fruit
OF preparations commencing early in No
venbsr; it Is positively known that the
Austrian attack in the Trsntino, COM
naeacing May II. was made after hercu-
lean laoors which began in the middle OF
November, six months before the open
ing gun was fred. During the second
week in November. two crack Austrian
divisions, the Thirty-fourth and Forty
third. disappeared from the Russian
front They had occupied the battle line
from the Galician frontier along the DIVA
River to near Dubno. These TWO divisions
opened the ball in the Alps, losing in
three weeks more than three-quarters
Of their electives
Austrian Armies AnaIyEed.
First the composition Of the Austrian
armies which attacked the Italians will
be explained, then their artillery and
rnunitionment analyZed. For the great
blow, eighteen divisions were concentrated
IN the mountainous Trentino. The rest
Of the Alpine front. and the main lines
along the IsonZo, were held by fifteen
other divisions, making thirty-three on
the Italian front. This left forty di-
visions facing the Russians. who have.
by taking 10000 prisoners since the be-
ginning Of June and inhicting perula-
nent casualties estimated at $4,000 more,
put nineteen divisions out of action, IN
place Of which the Austrians have been
able to put together not more than five
new divisions. But that is a digression-
The eighteen divisions in the Trentino
were 10 Dreak lD6 NdlLSJ VI ALAo
Adige and Brenta rivers, rush down
from the mountains on the Venetian
plain. and cut the railroad line which
runs through Vicenza and Verona, feed
Ing the great Italian armies on the Is
onzo front This, the frst Austrian OBJ
Jectivs, would, it was calculated, force
the Italians to retreat from Isonzo. and
the Austrians hoped to reach the sec
ond and last railway communications OF
their enemies. the line running through
Nantua, Padua and Venice. in time to
surround and capture whole army corps.
The occupation Of Italy down to the
20, opening a way through the Riviera
into the south Of France for an Austro-
German army, was also possibility. The
realization even Of the first part Of this
ambitious program would end perma-
nNatly the menace Of a successful italian
Offensive, either into the heart Of the
Dual Monarchy across the Isonzo or into
south Germany through the mountains
of the Trentino and the Tyrol, and might
easily force Italy into a separate peace.
Ordinarily. in all European armies,
division Is reckoned at 1900 combatants,
not counting supply and communication
troops. But the eighteen divisions of
the army OF assault" or "strafe army
as the italians call II. were specially
built Up for the occasion. scheme the
Germans adopted at Eerdun. First each
division was brought up to full strength.
containing four regiments, of four bat
talions each a total OF 1900 men. Then
two reserve battalons were assigned to
each regiment. making 1000 extra re-
serves to the regiment and 5000 to the
division So instead Of 5000 fighting men
or less, each Of the "strafe' divisions
which were to punish italy for deserting
the Triple Alliance contained A0OO men
and the whole army Of eighteen divisions
was 432.eOO strong.
Held 1s2. 900 in Reserve.
These eighteen divisions were consti-
tuted into seven army corps, four corps
containing three divisions each and three
CORPS two divisions apiece, Out Of these
corps. three armies were formed, the two
armies which undertook the first on
slaught containing each one weak and
one strong corps. or five divisions of l20.-
900 men. The third army during the
opening stages Of the campaign remained
in reserve at Trent, the city where come
together the valleys Of the Adige and
the Brenta, the only feasible pathways
through the Alps for modern armies and
supply trains. Re-enforcements from this
army. which contained two strong and
one weak corps, eight divisions of 192. 900
men. could thus be hurried to either ad-
vance army down the railways which run
along the Adige and the Brenta, assum-
ing the Italians were driving back The
Archduke Charles Francis Joseph was
noninally in command Of the whole
group Of armies. with the Archduke Eu-
gene heading one Of the advance armies,
but the actual control Of operations was
in the hands not OF these princelings, but
Of Gen. Conrad Won Holtzendorff, chief
Of the Austro-H Hungarian general staff,
whose headquarters were at Trent
II is often said that this Is a war Of
artillery: how true the statement Is ap-
pears in a comparison between the can
non with which these armies actually
were armed, and the standard for noun
tain warfare which was adopted by the
Austrian stan in peace times. Normally
each anfantry division has attached a
regiment OF artillery. or thirty-six field
guns Of approximately three-inch calibre.
IN addition each regiment is assigned
twelve four-inch field howitzers. To this
divisional establishment Of forty-eight
guns Is added the corps artillery. Each
army corps, whether Of two or three d.
visions. Is supposed to possess eight six
Inch hovitzers. Under the 1914 standard
for an Alpine war, therefore, the seven
army corps is the Trsntino should have
been armed with 64s three-inch field
guns. nc four-inch howitzers. and 56 six
Inch howitzers, total Of s2O guns, 2T2 OF