Also, since the Austrians often occupied the higher positions the attacks usually failed to surprise them since they had been watching the preparations all along. Their assaults were almost always uncoordinated, often piece-meal and usually mounted with inadequate artillery fire to back the infantry. By attacking everywhere, they were unable to concentrate 'Mass' anywhere and they physically and emotionally enervated their own forces. In 1915, the Italian commanders attacked positions up and down the sixty mile long Isonzo Front. Mass - Applying the maximum combat power at the point of decision andĮconomy - Applying the minimum essential means at points other than at the point of decision. While Cadorna remained true to that single Principle of the Offensive, he repeatedly demonstrated ignorance of two other important, complimentary Principles: Indeed, the Austrians also had the utter exhaustion of their adversaries to thank for surviving 1915. It was, however, a tribute to the determination of the individual Italian soldier and the willingness of his leaders to spill his blood that by the end of the year, Boroevic's Fifth Army was just barely holding on to its position, requiring reinforcement by twelve divisions from other fronts. His strategy was strictly defensive and he issued only one directive: "The troops should construct positions, place obstacles in front of them and remain there." Given his highly defensible position - one requiring river crossings and assaults against high mountains by his enemy - this approach kept the General, known to his troops as the Croation Thickhead, out of trouble at first. In a half-year they would mount four major attacks against their foe.įacing them, General Boroevic practiced the Principle of Simplicity to the maximum. The Italian Comando Supremo dominated by Luigi Cadorna applied the Principle of the Offensive - that only through offensive action can decisive results be achieved - to all their strategy. In 1915 the opposing commanders on the Isonzo Front each seemed to understand a single, but different, principle of warfare to the exclusion of all others. La Grande Guerra: The Italian Front, 1915 -1918 - The Isonzo 1915
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