THE NEW THEATRE OF WAR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13697, 29 May 1915, Page 8

THE NEW THEATRE OF WAR.

A DIFFICULT FRONTIER

EASILY DEFENDED PASSES

A writer m the New York Evening Post recently discussed «.-« military situation that would arise if Italy went to war with Germany and Austria. He wrote : —

Curs'ent references multiply the number of Italy's available troops. In times of peace, her standing army numbers about 250,000. Her first and second reserves, which ought to be m the way of mobilising rapidly, would bring this figure to something over a million. Back of that Italy's military resources must be guessed at. Eventually her "flo-called Territorial militia might be whipped into shape, so that nearly a -million' more soldiers are to bo regarded as a (potenltialitju. Eur these 1 - la#er ./ - .the ' only aa-n-is available -probably would be those several hundred thousand oldstyle Vetterli rifles whjch Huerta endeavored to buy for Me_*|cb. .'The infantry of the line are axined with a 6.5 millimetre magazine rifle, and the field artillery is/ m process of being equipped with the 75 millimetre De Port gun.' In siege guns the Italians are strong. 7 * 1 "Tests made during the present month with their new 305 nullimetre siege '"■* oannon are sl_id to have demonstrated their superiority to* the t^o_s : ''A*s__^t*_ahVig ! uh' ofEke size. A number of ' ; these guns, fresh' from the trials at Spezia, are ready to be put into commission. The character of the frontier which Austria presents to Italy sseverely limits the field ci hxilitary^ operations, if, indeed, it does not ensure from the outset a, deadlock except along -the valley of the Ison__>. The ordinary 'li_ue*--'of com-' munica tion b etween,^ ltHy ,a_.<l : Aus*tr i% are through Alpine.- pa^es, whibn- adinit of defence by handfuls 'of /troops against armies'. : Tunnels ahd. „ bridges once dynamited woulcl, check a^ojiyasioii. . for months. The ; raJltiQad .frojn Verona to Trent, thence north' thicragh the Tyrol ; by th.c • Brenixer l to, Iniisbruck, is the only practiisjahlfe' one for an invading;: army;., m ,eittie*e. direetipii; Along this, line the. .rAwtrfaha . haye many defences: Cetdent ;'*p^tfo__*is at aommanding potions _re';;_ven now being utilised m. ' mounting heavy "guns.' In addition, masked, batteries are being put m place to oppose every foot of an advance up steep .defiles.. , Squads v of Russian ; prisoners ajnd Galiciart refugees.' are reported to be at work v fQifeady digging trenche m the Trehtino district, where the Italian offensive is expected.; This Trentino approach is. also that along which Italy, fetoS;'^ suddohv.a^*ti»i(*Jby a- German force** upon .'•..one**'.!-'- her rich cities of the nortn. ITor none of. the other familial* ways 'into Italy are open. The road, from Turin.,-, tf\ Paris by the St. Cenis tunnel >Ij_i^<ls\i^re9tly into French territory. The Simplon tunnel route from Milan thr»i_j^i the Alps crosses Switzerland, as does the St. Gothard route frOm Milan to Lucerne, and the prepa__tio-Js vmade by the determined Swiss to maintain their neutrality effectually bar that way. The Ti'cina. ihe valley" through '""which t-he last route passes" and" which "; was so often the higliM-ay of opppsin'g armies m the Italian war, is not likely : to have a- place m the record of . impending struggle. ... To block the Trentino y route Italy would be able to mass what troops she has mobilised with little delay, and 'she would be certain to occupy the' narrow mountain passes as her first niove. For once the Italian frontier : is re_ched' ! by an invader, the defences, are of the weakest. True, there are fortifications at Casala, an important? raih"oad juni.tion; at Piacenza, also a railway centre, and the largest artillery depot m Italy; at 'Venice .and ..{Alessandria. There are defences of a* sort":. at Verona and Mantua— -wliich, with Psjschi^a aiid L^gnavio, formed the •■ old Austrian quadrilateral used to such- good purpose by Radetzky m '1848^-and the basin of the Po is studded with fortified places. But as the" Cbnithissibn of 1902 rejiorfced these defences are very far from being modern or adequate. On tlie eastern frontier, ■•AuStl.-.ini'ght force the fighting, were she of a misid to anticipate Italy's first movfe. " For the two or three raili'oad arteries' leading from the heart of. -Austria .and Hungary: emerge from mouhiSain' deffles upon the low coast lands -well within th'e boundaries of the dual "monarchy*. These plains offer a suitable theatre m "which to assemble an. army quiOkly, and Italy has no defences on the •; artificial , boundary line running down to the sea from the Julian Alps. This very point might vrell. be. selected by ..Italy lor. a- forward moVementf. Railroao. 6t horiherri Italy are numerous eriqugh for a- rapid tiohcentration of troops" there by roads crossing the frontier from Undine and St. Giorgio into the district about about Trieste. This movement co_l4 be expedited by use of the Very fair high jmds leading from -Cividale and Palma- _ iova- ' down into the I-triaa peninsula. With the; co-operation of an Italian fleet this form of attack by Ttaly, especijJly were it prompt/ enosigh' to cut off the defenders' communications in' the rear, might well put the whole Istrian pi'oanontory into the hahdg of the invaders. Pola, however, is strongly fortified against land attack. V - The primary effect of a belligerent attitude on the part of Italy would undoubtedly be felt at sea. T"he powerful Italian fleet now assembled at Taranto,' naar the heel of the Italian "boot,"W9lild have two alternatives- It -could '•jjoin the Allied s^uadrohs now attempting to force the Dardanelles and capture Constantinople, or it niight . .combine, with those which have the ' Au_.tnahs foot-led up m the Adriatic^ and begin aggressive measures • against Pola, Trieste, or Flume.

Italy has witnessed since' ■"■ the war with Turkey, and the struggle m the Balkans, a great expansion of hei: navy. The first Mediterranean Power io take , up construction of Dread--noughts, ship for ship, she "may .be reckoned to-day a- stronger n^valr*^"** 1 " than Austria. Italy -is credited: ''. with fifteen effective battleships built and building, against- thirteen .or Austria. In cruisers she is twice as strong, a superiority she maintains m destroyers, •torpedo boats, and submarines, although it should be"; -rioted that Austria will have a slight ad vantage fffi $i(>rpedo boats when her immediate buff-ting 'programme is carried out. The Italian fleet is normally divided into six commands, with bases at Spezia, Naples, Venice, and Taranto. Each has- a Governmfint dockyard. Madalena, the naval stations in- ( v the group of fortified islands north'of'/Sardinia,. is also a base. The sixth command .is known as thc -Mediterranean fleet. There is a building yard at Gastellarnare, aud to strengthen Italy's resources ou the Adriatic, Brindisi wait* ._ few years ago made the base of the torpedo flotilla, while / Ancbha was (Selected as an a-dditional naval base. Other fortified points on the Italian coast line,, which measures nearly 3000 miles exclusive of Sardinia, /Elba -and, other small islands, are 1 VaiSo 4 , "Genoa, Monte Argentaro, Gaetaj,' and -„ the ■Straits pf Messina. "