Second Battle of the Isonzo

Overview

After the failure of the First Battle of the Isonzo, two weeks earlier, Luigi Cadorna, commander-in-chief of the Italian forces, decided for a new thrust against the Austro-Hungarian lines with heavier artillery support.

The overall plans of the Italian offensive were barely changed by the outcomes of the previous fight, besides the role of general Frugoni's Second Army, which this time had, on paper, to carry out only demonstrative attacks all over his front. The major role, assigned to the Duke of Aosta's Third Army, was to conquer Monte San Michele (Debela griža) and Mount Cosich (Košnik), cutting the enemy line and opening the way to Gorizia.

General Cadorna's tactics were to advance his troops in a frontal assault against the Austro-Hungarian line, overcome the enemy's barbed-wire fences, and take the trenches, after a heavy artillery bombardment. The insufficiency of war materiel – from rifles, to artillery shells, to shears to cut barbed wire – nullified the Italians' numerical superiority.

The battle

The Karst Plateau was the site of an exhausting series of hand-to-hand fights involving the Italian Second and Third Armies, with severe casualties on both sides. Bayonets, swords, knives, and various scrap metal and debris were all used in the melee fights. The Austro-Hungarian 20th Honvéd Infantry Division lost two-thirds of its effective strength and was routed due to a combination of the successive Italian Army attacks and the unfavorable terrain.

On 25 July the Italians occupied the Cappuccio Wood, a position west of Mount San Michele, which was not very steep but dominated quite a large area including the Austro-Hungarian bridgehead of Gorizia from the South. Mount San Michele was briefly held by Italian forces, but was recaptured during a desperate counterattack by Colonel Richter, who commanded a group of elite regiments.

In the northern section of the front, the Julian Alps, the Italians managed to overrun Mount Batognica over Kobarid (Caporetto), which would have an important strategic value in future battles.

The battle wore down when both sides ran out of ammunition. The total casualties during the three-week battle were about 91,000 men, of which 43,000 Italians and 48,000 Austro-Hungarians.

References

References

1. Bihl, Wolfdieter. (2010). "Der Erste Weltkrieg 1914–1918: Chronik, Daten, Fakten".