Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/499

WORLD WAR 429 WORLD WAR communication with the relief force) sent a message that he could hold out no longer without food, and that he had destroyed his guns and ammunition. A second message intimated that he had hoisted the white flag. On the 143d day of the siege 2970 British troops of all ranks and services and some 6,000 Hin- dus and their followers surrendered to the Turks. After a lull the British force below Kut resumed their attacks on the Turkish positions without affecting the general situation, and the hot summer brought operations to a standstill. Mean- time Great Britain organized another army to repair the defeats of the Nixon and Townshend expeditions, following her old precept that she lost battles but not wars. A new expedition toward out weak spots — ^without either side ap- parently having any definite plan of operations, and without achieving any important result. Austria meantime be- gan increasing her forces until in the middle of May she had sixteen divisions, or more than 300,000 men on the line between the Adige and the Brenta, as well as 2,000 guns of heavy caliber. On May 15 they attacked the Italians be- tween the Adige and the Astico. The ensuing fighting was among mountains generally, the Trentino battle line (24 miles long) running for the most part along peaks and defiles, as the front did elsewhere from the Swiss border to the Adriatic. The Austrians had the higher mountains behind them. Hence the Italians had to make their advance ZX «^MONTDIDIER ROYE FRANCO- AMERICAN OFFENSIVE JULY 18- AUCj.t 6, sa Rethel FRANCO-AMERICAN OFFENSIVE Bagdad was undertaken in December, 1916, and was marked by consistent suc- cesses as it advanced toward its ob- jective. The Austrian offensive against Italy in the Trentino before mentioned was designed to break through the Italian lines between the Adige and the Brenta, by way of reaching the Venetian plain and capturing Verona and Vicenza. The effect of such an achievement would be to compel the retreat of the Italian forces to the eastward along the Isonzo, and even result in their capture. At the least Austria by such a movement could carry her front well within the Italian boundary to the Po and the Adige. Dur- ing the spring of 1916 there had been many engagements in the Trentino — • mainly reconnoitering movements to find Cyc or defense and build their trenches and place their guns to resist an enemy gen- erally situated high above them. Thej; were going up; the Austrians were com- ing down. That was the salient feature of the Austro-Italian campaign. The Italians had to climb, and the Austrians to descend from elevated points from which they could overlook the Italian lines. Laboring under this disadvantage the Italian xA.lpini regiments gave way before the strength of the initial at- tack. The Austrians occupied a number of Italian positions and opened a breach in the narrow zone between the Adige and the Val Sugano. The next day the Austrians renewed the fight with five assaults and gained more positions. The Italian border was crossed in the Lago di Garda region, where the Italians were 28 Vol. X