Seite - 790 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

790 The Pyrrhic Victory : The Breakthrough Battle of Flitsch-Tolmein the attack would begin during the last week in October. On the eve of the offensive, one Romanian and two Czech officers deserted, and informed the Italians of the imminent attack and what details they knew of the plans. Krafft von Dellmensingen was furious : ‘With such a mish-mash of people, containing such contradictory and inferior elements, it really is impossible to conduct any further joint enterprises. These are the fruits of Emperor Karl’s amnesty for traitors to the country ! We shall be obliged to send a very serious report to our Army Command as to how matters stand in this “state”’.1840 Despite the fact that the reports were indeed alarming, the Italians remained confi- dent that they could repel the offensive. When the new battle, the twelfth at the Isonzo, conflagrated, the Italians were not surprised by the offensive itself, but by the masses of attack troops, and they had above all almost no opportunity to escape the destructive artillery fire in the narrow Isonzo valley. Sleet and fog created the ideal conditions for the gas projectors, whose deadly poison spread out mainly to the south of Bovec in the Naklo gorge. The swathes of gas were so dense that no breathable air was left. Then, the infantry attack began. In the narrow Žaga valley, the Imperial and Royal I Corps under the German 14th Army broke through the network of trenches of the Italians, who in some cases had been killed or were unable to fight as a result of the poison gas. To the south, the three German corps of the 14th Army stormed through the narrow valley sections and over the adjacent heights of the Kolovrat mountain range, Monte Matajur and Monte Mia. The challenge for the troops attacking over the mountains was not to lose contact with the divisions advancing in the valleys. However, after the first break- throughs, and after the Italian 2nd Army had given way, they pushed further and fur- ther forwards. The main thrust and the accompanying attacks had been a success. The breakthrough in the valley also made it possible to advance across the mountains. On the third day of battle, the Italian front collapsed. After 72 hours in all, the 2nd Italian Army faced destruction. Soldiers, who after years of suffering and hardship were now able to leave the area of ground that had been contaminated by violence, began to storm forwards. In the Austrian towns along the Isonzo valley, there was jubilation. ‘When we marched into Kobarid, the population already welcomed us with indescribable enthusiasm’, noted Franz Arneitz of Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment No. 7. ‘On both sides of the road stood countless numbers of people, since here, there are also refugees from the war zone. In many places, flags have been hoisted and we are greeted with never-ending calls of “Živijo Austria”, which ring out from the large crowds […]. Many soldiers from our regiment come from here, and now they are marching as liberators into their beautiful homeland […]. The command gave the people of Kobarid a day’s holiday, and then they are to follow us.’1841 On the second day of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the two armies of Army Group Boroević joined the offensive and advancing together, pushed forward towards