Page - 923 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Attack 923 now found itself confronted with a large number of ‘tanks’, which it was in the interim incapable of opposing, either with a sufficient number of its own tanks, or with effec- tive anti-tank weapons, the Imperial and Royal Army was faced with a level of modern technology and armaments for which it was no longer a match. The June battle in the Veneto region also petered out on the Piave River to isolated individual skirmishes within the space of just a few hours, and with conceivably alter- nating success. At San Doná di Piave, the XXIII Corps (under Csicserics) succeeded in crossing the turbulent river and in keeping the war bridge intact, despite the fact that it was naturally immediately fired on by the Allied artillery and was a prime target for the bombers. However, the transfer by this corps was intended only as a demonstration in order to deflect the Allied forces away from the corps of the Isonzo Army, which were located further north. Yet the troops of these corps failed in their attempts to cross the Piave. The war bridges were shot down, and the divisions subjected to crushing artil- lery fire and held fast on the river. The Italians had created a deeply staggered defence zone, which could only be successfully attacked with the support of high-angle firearms. Where this was not possible, the infantry was unable to advance and suffered heavy losses. The Allied aeroplanes bombarded the few bridgeheads. And, in most cases, the air defence guns were so widely distributed that they were unable to be effective. Only the Imperial and Royal 6th Army (under Archduke Joseph), which began an attack even further north, already succeeded in crossing the river in the early morning. Two divisions of the corps were able to cross the Montello ridge, but they were too weak to break through the Italian front. From fear of the anticipated Austro-Hungarian gas attack, the Italians had fled their positions in several sections, not knowing that this time the gas would be almost entirely ineffective. In this way, the Imperial and Royal XXIV Corps (under Goiginger) was able to seize artillery that would otherwise have not been available at all, since it had been impossible to bring it across the Piave. The corps, which was concentrated in a small area, advanced on to the Montello ridge with two divisions with unexpected speed. Boroević demanded two further divisions from the reserve of the Army High Command to support those of Goiginger. Waldstätten refused to provide them.2229 Goiginger’s divisions remained left behind. What the armies, including the commanders on the Piave River, could not know was that on 16 June, Colonel Ottokar Pflug, Chief of Weapons and Ammunition at the Army High Command, sent a dispatch to Brigadier Waldstätten to the effect that on the morning of that day, 29 trains with supplies had left for the front ; after that, only sporadic supplies would be possible. The entire army was threatened with ‘defenceless- ness’ if immediate measures were not taken to prevent the worst possible scenario.2230 The troops had been told that between the Brenta and Adige Rivers, and elsewhere in the Italian hinterland, they would find everything they needed in terms of food and weaponry.2231 If the soldiers failed to achieve these goals, then the war would no longer