Seite - 922 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

922 The June Battle in Veneto areas and initial positions. The Austro-Hungarian artillery did not begin firing until hours later. Their fire, and the poison gas that was used, had no significant effect. At 4 o’clock in the morning on 15 June, the main attack began on the plateau of the Sette Comuni. Here, Italians, British and French were lying in well-fortified positions. The front extended through to the massif of the Monte Grappa, which in the traditional manner of mountain warfare was to be attacked. Two Austro-Hungarian corps, I Corps (under Kosak) and XXVI Corps (under Hersetzky) reported that they had only found four dead, who had fallen victim to the artillery, and 36 suffering from gas poisoning.2227 Aside from several exceptions, including the Imperial and Royal VI Corps in particular, most of the corps were hardly able to move beyond their initial positions. By and large, Conrad’s hopes had already been dashed on the first day of attack. A lack of artillery support, and the attack on well-fortified and tenaciously defended positions cost many lives. It was precisely those troop bodies that wanted to give their best and also claimed limited successes that paid for this with high, indeed exorbitant, losses. The 52nd In- fantry Brigade lost two-thirds of its soldiers. By the end, only eight soldiers remained of the ‘Feldjäger’ Light Infantry Battalion No. 22.2228 The 11th Army was also able to sustain the pressure on the Italian front over the following days, but it was already clear on 15 June, when Boroević’s troops began their attack, that the offensive by Army Group Conrad had failed. The first enemy that Army Group Boroević had to face was the turbulent Piave River, which had swelled to three times its original size, and which made crossing and bridging a hellish task. The artillery had not been supplied with sufficient ammunition in order to keep up effective fire for a longer period of time. An hour before the start of the artillery preparation, the batteries became fogged in. Then gas projectiles were to be fired for two hours, followed by three hours of effective fire. The order to attack came at 3.15 a.m. Almost everywhere, the signs were the same : the ammunition was in some cases of poor quality, and there were several incidents caused by faulty ammu- nition. The artillery fire was furthermore inaccurately directed, since it could not be observed. The aerial troops faced double the number of enemy aeroplanes. The ground troops had been promised effective air cover, but the aviation companies were only able to do so in individual cases. The Italians, British and French embroiled the Imperial and Royal fighter planes, reconnaissance aircraft and bombers in countless aerial battles. The phosphorous shells fired by the Allied air defence guns set the linen cloth coverings of the aeroplanes alight, so that one machine after another was lost. The water-cooled machine guns of the fighter planes froze at higher altitudes, and communication lines hardly functioned at all. All this was not only a reflection of the operational errors and catastrophic negligence of an Army High Command and rival army group command- ers : the Imperial and Royal Army was no longer able to keep up with the Allies when it came to modern warfare and leadership. Just in the same way as the German Army