77 – Episode 77 Naples Offensive
The 1915-16 winter season did not bring smiles to either side. The Alliance seemed to have fun with Italy’s participation in the war, but suffered a major setback with the landing in Naples, and the Entente Powers made up for the almost tilted balance with the Battle of the Alps and Naples.
Nevertheless, it was true that the negotiating countries suffered losses.
From the perspective of the negotiating powers, a weight was needed to make up for Italy’s participation in the war. It would be great if the United States participated in the war, but there was no reason for Washington to do so.
“I wish a German submarine could sink an American passenger ship, but honestly, it’s useless. “Why do these people who use poison gas so much protect such things?”
Unfortunately for Britain, Germany was not conducting ‘unrestricted submarine warfare’. In accordance with international law, the Germans were taking all procedures to check whether they were the ‘target of an attack’ before an attack. It was a stupid thing to do from a submariner’s perspective, but the problem was complying with it.
In this case, it was impossible to expect the United States to participate in the war.
No matter where it was, a breakthrough was desperately needed to make up for the situation.
There would have been hope if the Eastern Front had been reopened, but that possibility has long since disappeared.
This is because the Moscow Provisional Government fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks at the end of last year.
Of course, it was not that there were those who wanted to fight against Germany, but even those forces had to fight the Bolsheviks and other forces first.
In the end, it turned around and it was ‘Japan’.
Japan had to actively cooperate.
After persistent pushing and pulling with Tokyo, the Entente Powers obtained a promise to send an expeditionary force to Italy.
In return, in addition to Germany’s loot, they even promised to tolerate the expansion of their power in Manchuria, Mongolia, and North China.
Japan’s cooperation took immediate effect.
Immediately following Operation Dardanelles, the Japanese Navy, which had been patrolling the Mediterranean Sea, massively increased its power and blocked the Strait of Otranto.
“Where are the bastards of the pseudo-powers sticking their heads out? “Aren’t you going in?”
After Italy’s entry into the war, the Austrian Navy, which had been looking out for the Eastern Mediterranean, found itself trapped in the Adriatic Sea again.
Japan’s support was also effective on the Italian front. Wherever it was close to the coast, powerful naval artillery support supported the negotiating forces.
“I wish I could have helped you like this a long time ago, but you were trembling. “Despicable monkeys.”
Although the British government was satisfied with Japan’s cooperation, it was secretly dissatisfied.
In any case, the Negotiation Army planned to launch a counterattack with ‘support’ from Asia during the upcoming summer campaign.
The newly developed new weapon, Mark 1, was also scheduled to be mobilized in this counterattack.
The British army had hopes of breaking Germany’s momentum and regaining control of the country during this summer campaign.
But the Allies had no intention of sitting still this spring.
Amid conflicting calculations, the spring campaign began.
*
On March 15, 1916, a large German army appeared in Capua, less than 20 km away from Naples. General August von Mackensen, commander of the German 14th Army, who commanded the Southern Italian Expeditionary Force, was an old soldier born in 1849.
The staff did not like the general who was conservative and inflexible. They thought it made no sense for an old cavalry officer steeped in memories of the Franco-Prussian War to lead a modern war.
But Mackensen was neither hard-headed nor stupid. Mackensen was clearly aware of the goals the German army had to achieve in this campaign.
The goal is to recapture Naples.
The problem was the troops needed to capture the goal.
The 14th Army consisted of 6 German divisions and 4 Austro-Hungarian divisions. Defeating an equal number of enemies with this vaguely mixed group was not as easy as it sounds.
‘I can trust poison gas, but even that has its limits.’
Mackensen did not consider poison gas to be an all-purpose solution.
The only thing to trust was his own capabilities as a tactician.
On the first day of the offensive, the Germans fired intermittent artillery fire over the heads of the British troops. Instead of pouring down like rain all at once, the attack hit the nerves little by little.
“Oh, let’s get some sleep.”
British people found it uncomfortable to sleep with gas masks on, but they could not take them off for fear of gas bombs. In that state, the vibrations from the artillery fire continued intermittently, so I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
The German army attacked in the same way the next day and the day after that. As shells fell at intervals every minute, those on the receiving end had no choice but to go crazy.
“I just can’t stand it. “We also shell.”
Feeling the limits of their patience, the British army also began pouring artillery fire on the German army.
They also fired only as much artillery fire as the Germans fired.
It was the beginning of a blood-curdling war of nerves.
“The soldiers will continue to rotate, right?”
“Of course, Your Excellency.”
Mackensen reduced the number of soldiers suffering from sleep deprivation by minimizing the number of soldiers sent to the trenches.
To prevent the British from noticing this fact, they even dressed the scarecrow in a German helmet and military uniform at night and left it in the trench.
“They will be tired too. “Let’s do something.”
As the nerve-wracking artillery battle continued for more than two weeks, the British troops in the trenches faced their limits. The British army was also rotating its troops in its own order, but it was not planned for such a war of attrition from the beginning.
Only then did the British commanders realize the seriousness of the problem.
“No way, these guys.”
They belatedly realized the German army’s intention.
But it was late.
On April 1, 1916, Mackensen launched a Japanese offensive on all fronts of the 14th Army. This time, large quantities of gas bombs were used generously.
Shells rained down from the front, rear, and communication posts.
“hehehe. “Keck.”
British soldiers also knew how to survive poison gas, but their bodies were too dull. Some people were poisoned by the gas and rolled on the floor before they could even get a gas mask.
Beep!
With the sound of a whistle, the allied infantry kicked out of the trenches and started running.
“Shoot! “Shoot!”
Although the British commanders on the front lines attempted to respond, the German offensive was larger and more powerful than imagined. While the British artillery intermittently responded to German artillery fire, the location of the observation unit was completely exposed and they had to fight without ‘eyes’.
It was not easy to stop the German army when artillery support was halved and the infantry’s organizational strength was reduced.
However, the first wave of German troops was stopped, but there was nothing they could do about the second wave of assault troops.
“Scrape everything.”
British soldiers were helplessly massacred by the attack of assault troops armed with flamethrowers and machine guns. If you raise your head, you will be fired at by a machine gun, and if you hide in the shelter, you will be roasted by a flamethrower.
Once one trench line was breached, the next one fell like a chain of dominoes.
Just because it was a trench in the back didn’t mean the British soldiers were fine.
Four trench lines were instantly breached by the German army’s stormy attack.
The British army hastily retreated to Naples and attempted to re-establish a defensive line.
But before that, the German army arrived even faster.
“Charge!”
The German army crushed the resistance of the British army and entered Naples.
The Italian army on the flank also went on the offensive.
“Ship guns! Request naval gun support!”
At this moment of crisis, the British army sent a liaison officer to the Mediterranean Fleet to receive gunfire support.
Boom!
The battleship’s guns, which created craters tens of meters in length with each shot, broke the morale of the German soldiers who were charging bravely. When the Italian army saw the scene, they pretended to attack and then began to run away.
“No, you just have to push one step further!”
I called the Italian general and yelled at him, but it was no use. It was difficult for the Germans to expect the Italians to show courage in front of a battleship that was struggling.
While the Italian army hesitated, the battle ships of the combined fleet came in and opened fire all at once.
“Sir. Our losses are too great. We can no longer withstand the enemy’s artillery fire.”
The German army had nothing to do with the support of the allied fleet of the negotiating forces. How could she possibly capture Naples when her battalion could be blown away by a single salvo from a battleship?
Unable to bear the sacrifices of his soldiers, Ma Kensen gave an unwanted order.
“Retreat.”
*
It failed.
I knew this offensive would fail.
Why did the Nazi army fail to stop the landing in Sicily?
This was due to the overwhelming naval power of the Allied Forces.
In front of the gun, even the massive Tank 6 Tiger had no choice but to be defeated like a toy.
Needless to say, there was no World War I-type army.
Why did you allow the attack when you clearly knew it would fail?
That’s because this attack had a political nature.
The ‘German Empire’ does not abandon its allies.
I wanted to make people aware of this fact at the cost of thousands of fallen soldiers.
And this operation could not be dismissed as a simple failure.
In any case, as a result of the offensive, all of the high ground south of Capua, which could overlook Naples, was taken.
It was possible to make the Port of Naples unusable if one wanted to.
If there is one thing that is disappointing, it is that there was no cooperation with the Italian military.
From Noble mtl dot com
You have to hope for what you want.
Italians used to be like that.
Even when he was on the side of the Entente, he did not share the situation properly and did things like cause the Entente to almost faint at the result of the ‘Battle of Caporetto’.
In any case, those idiots felt more at ease if they were the enemy.
Of course, that’s just how I felt, and in reality, it would have been difficult.
‘The settlement of the Italian front has become difficult, so the victory will be won on the French front.’
The time for the Entente countries to come out with tanks was getting closer. It could be brought out sooner than expected, or it could be delayed.
I hope not this summer if possible, but I never knew.
“Then, as planned, we will increase supplies and troops to France in preparation for the summer campaign.”
“Do it like that.”
I made Falkenhayn step away, took out a cigarette, and put it in my mouth.
‘Chariot.’
Beyond the hazy vision, the ‘Panzer 1 Production Report’ disappeared.