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Pov of Herbert Plur
1917-June-16
No matter how much I observed the situation, and although morale remained high because of the recent entry of the Aricans on our side, it was impossible for to ignore that the war was still turning against us.
With the recent exit of Russia and Serbia from the war after both governnts had been forced to capitulate, the strategic picture had changed completely. Tsar Nicholas had been burned alive in his own palace, and the Serbian royal family had been captured during their attempt to escape toward the sea. That ant that, at last, all German pressure could be concentrated on us.
Or rather, on the Italians, who had been drawn into the war through promises of territories claid from Austria-Hungary. At that mont, however, everything seed to be unfolding in the opposite direction. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians had broken the Italian defenses in Veneto, then swept away the weak resistance in Emilia-Romagna. It was only a matter of ti before they took Tuscany and reached Lazio.
It also seed to be only a matter of ti before the Italians surrendered. According to our intelligence reports, they were holding etings with the Germans and Austro-Hungarians, and several local ceasefires had already been agreed upon. No matter how much we insisted that Arican aid was on its way, everything indicated that Italy was about to abandon our side.
The vital supplies and colonial reinforcents that were ant to arrive and give the Italians so breathing room had been cut off by the German offensive in the Suez.
For days we received optimistic reports from General Archibald Murray, who assured us that he would soon take Palestine and then dina, allowing the fronts to be combined. However, from one mont to the next, all the advances we had achieved in the area collapsed. The information was still incomplete, but intelligence reports and telegraphic intercepts indicated the presence of German special troops in the region.
Apparently, they were units specialized in harassnt, hardened on the Eastern Front, along with several thousand veterans. And, according to the reports, he was there. The Russians had already warned us about that German devil from the Masurian swamps, a man who had beco a logistical nightmare for them, dedicated to relentlessly dynamiting the fragile railway skeleton of the Russian Empire.
Now it seed they had sent him to the Suez to cut off our supplies.
Or, at least, to do so temporarily. Since his arrival, several German-Turkish offensives had driven us out of Sinai. In addition, every ship that tried to cross the canal ended up sunk in the middle of its waters, blocking the passage of the reinforcents intended for Italy, along with the ammunition and food the Italians urgently needed while they held their desperate defense.
To that had to be added the loss of our links with the Arabs. We did not realize it imdiately, since their missions usually lasted quite a long ti, but now our Arab allies were strangely reluctant to launch new offensives. In fact, they were requesting new negotiations over the treaty, as if they had discovered sothing they had previously ignored.
The sopotamian front was also slowly deteriorating. Now that the Ottomans no longer had to maintain a front against the Russians, they had sent a good part of their forces to that region. Added to that was the arrival of several thousand Germans, who were putting the entire campaign at risk of complete collapse.
And finally, we returned to the French front, where the situation was not much better.
The Germans had stopped attacking after their offensive at Verdun, but that operation had succeeded in trapping thousands of Frenchn and breaking the trench zone, pushing deep into the sector until we managed to stop them again. Even so, we were having all kinds of problems with the French. Their morale was low, and their willingness to cooperate in the diversionary offensives, necessary to keep Italy in the war, was becoming weaker and weaker.
Especially when the German defenses seed to have beco too solid from the mont they decided to entrench themselves as much as possible, digging extrely deep and resistant trenches and shelters, in addition to establishing nurous listening zones to detect our mines.
Although the French generals were doing everything possible to restore discipline and morale among their troops, it seed they had still not succeeded. It could almost be considered a blessing that the Germans had not launched new offensives, beyond the counterblows against our own attacks.
Because nobody knew how the French troops would react in their current state of mind.
Our only victory, if it could even be called that, consisted of proving that we had recovered a few hundred ters of land for our side, returning a small fraction of France at the cost of tens of thousands of dead. The other advantage was that the Germans had brought the Polish armies from the Eastern Front and were using them for their counteroffensives or to defend the first lines of trenches. Because of that, they were the ones suffering most of the casualties. Fortunately, they deserted whenever they had the chance, weakening the German defenses sowhat. It was a minor victory, almost miserable, but it was the only thing we had to show.
Because all our offensives followed the sa pattern: spend tons of ammunition bombarding the perfectly dug German trenches, only for the Germans to bring their machine guns out from their shelters and massacre our young n when we forced them to advance in tight lines against their positions. All of it to win one more day for the Italians and force the Germans to divert n from the Italian front.
And that damned Churchill, with his cursed idea of landships.
His tanks, which were supposedly going to force us to adapt our tactics and allow us to present a mobile defense capable of resisting German fire, had not proven to be much more than costly scrap. Barely a couple of days passed before the Germans found a way to counter them. The crew died in atrocious ways. Many tis, the German weapon pierced the armor and detonated the ammunition inside, sending fragnts of tal everywhere. Other tis, the tank caught fire, and the screams of the n trapped inside could be heard from a horrifying distance.
''General'' one of my n said as he opened the door to my office.
He found looking over dozens of maps and diagrams spread around , trying to find an answer to the impossible problem of breaking the German lines.
''Yes?'' I said, leaning back against my chair while fixing my gaze on the young officer.
''Field Marshal Haig has called an urgent eting. Apparently, there is ergency information that must be reviewed imdiately'' the officer said with a worried tone.
''Apparently, our offensives have not been enough to distract the Germans'' I said, grimacing as I rose from the chair with so difficulty and took my coat.
I began moving toward the place where we were supposed to et.
It did not take too long to take the train toward the rear to et with Marshal Haig, who would probably give us the news that Italy could no longer be saved. Surely, the units we had sent south, together with the French forces, had not been enough to slow the enormous German nurical superiority in the area, especially after almost one hundred and twenty-five thousand reinforcents had been blocked and forced to go around Africa to try to reach the Italian front.
When I arrived at Haig's headquarters, we found several generals already present. The marshal had an expression that reflected the general state of the front quite clearly.
''Well… as you know, I have summoned you because it appears to be official now. The Italians have signed an armistice with the Germans. I have already given the order for our troops to withdraw toward the Alps to establish a new defensive line, since there is no point in defending an area impossible to hold, especially against a German force that exceeds one million n in the region and greatly surpasses our own forces'' the marshal said, moving the pieces of the Italian expedition across the map of the European front with a pointer and bringing them toward the Alps.
''What happened to the reinforcents that were supposed to have reached the Italian capital?'' Viscount French asked, keeping a serious expression at the news.
''They were delayed'' Haig replied. ''The German offensive in Sinai left the ships waiting for passage through the canal. General Archibald Murray insisted that he could clear it in less ti than it would take to divert the reinforcents around Africa. The second German offensive proved deadly, because they still have not been expelled from the canal. So the reinforcents from the colonies arrived with a much greater delay than expected. Almost two months late, between the initial waiting period and the later diversion.''
The marshal remained looking at a battle map, annoyed by what he saw.
''The result is that Italy has fallen out of the war before we could stabilize the front. And now the Germans will be able to move a considerable part of those forces toward France.''
''And what did the Italians accept…?'' Sir Arthur William Currie asked.
''A humiliating treaty. An exemplary punishnt for a traitorous ally, at least that is what we have heard from our intelligence sources. Apparently, the Germans held nothing back against the Italians, and even so they accepted terms that, in practice, completely humiliate Italy: the cession of Veneto and Lombardy to Austria-Hungary, the handover of the entire Regia Marina to the Austro-Hungarians until the end of the war, the paynt of five billion gold marks as compensation and the surrender of their army to the forces of the Central Powers'' Marshal Haig said.
''How the hell did they accept such garbage of a treaty?'' Sir Arthur said.
''Because the Italians began the negotiations by proposing to change sides, trap our forces inside their territory and hand them over to the Germans'' the marshal replied. ''Yes, that is how treacherous they turned out to be. Fortunately for us, that was rejected by the Austro-Hungarians, who want to see Italy dismantled. After that, the Germans began threatening them with sending us the information about their betrayal if they did not give in to their terms.''
''Damn… we were lucky the Austro-Hungarians rejected the proposal. If the Italian troops had changed sides, we would have been in serious trouble in Egypt and southern France, not to ntion the troops we would have lost with such a change of flag'' I said, surprised by the audacity of the Italian governnt.
''Yes, but now we must be careful with the Austro-Hungarian navy. If it can move freely and also has the Regia Marina under its control, we will have serious problems in the diterranean. We cannot divert more ships, or the German campaign of trade interception will beco even worse'' Haig said.
''And what do we do now? The Aricans are coming, but their troops are not even expected for another few months'' Viscount French asked.
''Resist'' Haig replied. ''His Majesty and the pri minister have already been inford that conscription in the islands and the dominions must be intensified. We will also increase colonial recruitnt and send as many n as possible. A German avalanche is coming down on us. Now that we are practically alone, the Germans will surely copy our strategy in the Alps and concentrate all their effort on breaking us. We must resist and keep the French from collapsing. Otherwise, the Germans will be the masters of Europe.''
The marshal stopped for a few seconds, remaining thoughtful as he looked at the battle map and moved so German and Austrian armies to the French front, adjusting the battle lines.
''I have already spoken with my French counterparts, and they will try to do the sa: recruit as many n as they can and send them to the trenches. The United States will begin sending supplies soon, and their troops should arrive in November, first as a small expedition. The bulk of their forces will arrive next year. We must resist until then. If we manage it, we will have millions of fresh n who should help us change the course of the war.''
''We only have to resist then'' I said, looking with sadness at what that ant millions more dead.
''That is right. This ti they must not pass, or France may seek an armistice'' Marshal Haig said with a serious tone while looking at his map.
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