Page - 544 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

544 Lutsk : The End of an Illusion (II) 50 per cent of the gas bottles had a defect or were not opened due to the danger that a sudden drop in the wind might cause the gas to beat back on the Austro-Hungarian troops, who were reluctant to walk into the gas vapour. The Italians soon recovered from their shock and re-conquered several sections of the front. Officers had made their contribution by chasing the Italian soldiers back into their positions at pistol point. The upshot was that the two Austro-Hungarian divisions also lost 1,550 officers and men in the attack area. And the aim of the Imperial and Royal troops  – to acquire the western bank of the Isonzo River  – was not achieved. Also in this case, however, it was just the beginning. Even so, the Imperial and Royal Army did not carry out a further gas-cylinder attack. In the meantime, intensive work was being carried out to develop gas shells. New irritants and poisons were being developed and tested. In Germany, the leading chemists and physicists were working on new and even more effective warfare agents. Nine scientists who were awarded a Nobel Prize before, during or after the war, were completely dedicated to the work. The chemical warfare would be escalated considerably. In the meantime, the Italians had long since recovered from their shock, and Gen- eral Cadorna, who had also received a boost from the failure of the Austro-Hungarian South Tyrol offensive, launched his 3rd Army into the next Battle of the Isonzo, which would finally determine the outcome. The army under the command of the Duke of Aosta was brought up to its old strength in July, and it ultimately boasted greater num- bers than ever before, with 220 battalions in nine divisions. In the area of attack, the Italian 2nd Army was also to become operative, and it had seven divisions at the front and six in reserve. To this were added around 2,000 guns and mortars, giving the Ital- ians an almost two to one superiority over the Imperial and Royal 5th Army. When it came to the guns, the superiority was even threefold. The Austro-Hungarian command was able to learn of neither the strength of the Italians nor the timing of the attack. Bo- roević’s army had furthermore been weakened as a result of the transfers to South Tyrol. The Imperial and Royal troops, who had been fighting on the Isonzo since May 1915, in fact now experienced their first serious losses of ground in the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, which was now underway. Following a two-day assault, the Italians succeeded in entering Gorizia on 8 August and in forcing the 58th Infantry Division of Brigadier Erwin von Zeidler to evacuate the city. The domineering heights of Monte Sabotino and Monte San Michele were also lost. On 17th August, the Italian 3rd Army ceased attacking. The losses had once more been extraordinailry high, totalling around 50,000 men each in dead, wounded, captive and missing. Now one could naturally compare the loss of the bridgehead of Gorizia with the serious setbacks in Galicia, but the Isonzo front was  – whatever Cieszyn thought of it  – a section of the front that not only had its peculiarities but was also capable of emotionally attracting attention. It was a coincidence that the commanders at the