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Schematic plan · World War I

Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo

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A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rugged, Bare groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingLeft wingRight wingReserveReserveGunsGuns010 km20 kmN

Germany and Austria (Ger-Aus 5th, 10th & 14th Armies, 602,000 men under Gen Conrad) attacked Italy (It 2nd, 3rd & 4th Armies, 574,000 men under Gen Cadorna) in Austria and Italy. The CAA Database of Battles records 720 hours of fighting on a front of 160 km, a frontal attack against fortified defense, and that Germany and Austria won. Losses: Germany and Austria 20,000 (3%), Italy 305,000 (53%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Germany and Austria

Gen Conrad

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry130,080
Germany centreInfantry173,440
Germany right wingInfantry130,080
Germany reserveInfantry108,400
Germany artillery (4,000 guns)Artillery60,000
Gen ConradCommander—
In this plan602,000

Italy

Gen Cadorna

UnitArmMen
Italy left wingInfantry124,800
Italy centreInfantry166,400
Italy right wingInfantry124,800
Italy reserveInfantry104,000
Italy artillery (3,600 guns)Artillery54,000
Gen CadornaCommander—
In this plan574,000

What the sources report

GermanyItaly
Strength, this plan602,000574,000
Losses, this plan20,000305,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 324, “Caporetto (Twelfth Isonzo)”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
720 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rugged, Bare
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Fortified defense
Front width
160 km (attacker), 160 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germany & Austriaattacker602,00020,00004,000Frontal attack; Breakthrough; Pursued
Italydefender574,000305,00003,600Defensive plan; Withdrew with heavy losses

Attacker’s advantages leadership +1 · morale +1 · initiative +1 · surprise +1 · combat effectiveness +2

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.