Return of the Savoia
An alternate Italy-Kaiserreich timeline
Part one: Defeat, humiliation and hope
Chapter one: “Operation Radowitz”
11th of March 1919
Asiago, Veneto, near the Trentino front line
“This year I think spring will arrive late…” Said Luca watching the mountains of Trentino completely covered of snow, and observing the sky filled with dark clouds. The air also was very cold. “It is better for us. So we are sure that the Austrians will not attack for almost another month… until we are ready for our counterattack.” So answered lieutenant Ballistari, always confident in an Italian victory.
The World War that engulfed the world for four years and almost half was going very bad for the Entente allies, which Italy was an active member since 1915, when he declared war to his older allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary, the so called “Central Powers”. The Italian army, under the supervision of the king Vittorio Emanuele III and the commander Luigi Cadorna, hoping for a easy victory, started to advance to Austrian territory only to soon halted and starting for over two years a trench warfare as in northern France. Despite the military equipment was poor and practically with no help from his allies, however the Italians managed to slowly advance, arriving to occupy Gorizia and stopping the German “Strafexpidition” in Trentino during 1916. But in 1917 things are starting to turning in favor of the Central Powers : In Russia the tsarist government falling and the country was soon involved in a civil war, forcing it to surrender to Germany, the USA decided to not enter to the war neither after the sinking of the Lusitania, and in the end the Austrians achieved a great victory at Caporetto, forcing the Italians to retreat on the Piave. For almost all 1918 the new commander of Italian army, Armando Diaz, used at best all the country’s capacities to prepare a great counteroffensive that shall be started in October near the town of Vittorio Veneto, but when the plan was nearly completed an unexpected event turned upside-down Italy, sealing the fate of the country…
“The assassination of King Vittorio Emanuele was a hard blow for all us.” Luca reminded that event with sadness. The 20th of October, only four days before the planned attack, Rome was in chaos when an anarchic killed with a gun the king near the Vittoriano, the monument built in honor of the first ruler of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, during a celebration. “ He had the same destiny of the father, Umberto I.” Replied Ballistari: “ The Savoia dynasty surely have a tragic destiny… maybe one day also our new king shall be encounter this end…” “ Don’t say that, sir!” Luca was a bit upset. “ If also Umberto II died, what will be of this country?” “ Italy can become a republic, no?” Ballistari maked a little smile, but he returned rapidly cold. “ But indeed Umberto is too young and inexperienced. Her mother was inadeguated for the role of regent. And the government and the heads of the army are continuing to fight to each other, forgetting that our real enemies are the Austrians…”. After the death of Vittorio Emanuele, the parliament proclaimed his fourteen-year-old son Umberto new king of Italy, with her mother Elena of Montenegro as regent, but in that situation of crisis the civil government, leading by Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, decided at that moment it was a suicide to trying an attack against the Austrians, and to the end the plan was stopped. To the truth, the government would try taking an effective control on the army, which until now was under the precedent king more independent. But Diaz and the other generals reclaimed their autonomy, and started a quarrel that lasted for almost all the winter of 1918, stopping all military operations. However, the news coming to France after the first days of march 1919, when the Germans crushed the Entente forces at St. Mihiel and resumed their march on Paris, forced government and army to find a truce, and to finally carry out the counteroffensive plan; according to Diaz, the attack shall be started around mid April, when the weather conditions are supposed to be more favorable.
“Well, I hope that the plan works and we finally ended this war… I want to return to home in Florence, to help my family” sighed Luca to the lieutenant. Luca Marracini was born in 1898, first son of two in a small decadent noble Tuscan family grown in the myth of the Risorgimento (his grandfather fight in the expedition of the Mille). His father was a lyceum teacher, so the young boy had a good education despite money problems; but in 1915 soon after the declaration of war his relative died of TBC, so Luca to maintain her mother and her younger sister decided to enlist in the army, lying about his real age. He was send to the Trentino front in the Alpini corps, under the orders of lieutenant Ballistari, proving in the first two years of war his valour and ever some command capacity, and soon was promoted sergeant. After Caporetto during the retreat of his division he was mildly injured to the arm , but when they offered to him the dismissal he decided to stay in the army until the end of the war, at risk to lost his life. He realized that this conflict was decisive for the future of the country, that losing it would mean the defeat of the Risorgimento, and surely a new submission under the Hasburgs rule. But his thoughts generally were not coincide with that of the majority of the soldiers and the population: they innocently thinked that, despite Caporetto, the assassination of the king, the struggle between the politicians and the generals, the victory was near under the rule of young Umberto II. In those months in effect the young king used most of his time to raise the general moral of the country, visiting the troops, travelling all across the peninsula, conforting the wounded and the widows, all against his mother and his counselours, who feared for his life… “He is capable to rule the country, after all. The death of his father and the general situation matured him very much.” Admitted Luca, who in certain ways was forced too to grow before the time to fight this atrocious war…
“BOUM!”
Suddenly , Luca and Ballistari heard a violent explosion; when they look behind of them, they see the ammunition depot of their base engulfed into flame; but they didn’t realize yet was happening until some second after other two building were hit by artillery bullets. “We are under attack!” screamed Ballistari in evident disbelief. “This is impossible, the Austrians don’t have pieces of artillery with long range… Oh my God, look over there sir!” Luca was rewatching to the mountains seeing with horror hundreds… no, thousands of enemy soldiers advancing toward them to a fast rate, without finding any obstacle on the way. “ How it is possible… we thinked the Austrians aren’t so many to try an attack to the Trentino front…” “No, sir… look better to the flags… they are Germans! They surely are part of the divisions stationed in Russia until the ceasefire… and now they are attacking us on surprise!”
Heinz Luddenbrock, young attendant of the German general Hinderburg, the winner of the Russian campaign, watched with a binocule the steady advance of the troops to the Italian base near Asiago, a keypoint for the success of the plan known as Operation Radowitz: the invasion of Italy from the Trentino front and encircling of the majority of the enemy army, located to the Piave. The operation was ideated after the victory of St. Mihiel, when main of the divisions previously located in Russia and originally on the way to West are immediately routed to south, with the mission to crush the Italians and attack France from the Alps. The operation was supposed to be difficult because on the climatic conditions, but the Germans risk all on the surprise effect; and it works perfectly, also because the Italians positions were weak and with few soldiers. In fact, the Italian high command positioned almost all of his forces to the Piave, also having the consideration that the Austrians didn’t never try an attack on the Trentino sector, at least until mid-spring. They never conceived a German intervention despite the precedent of the Strafexpedition, because was supposed their troops concentrated all efforts on France. What a big mistake… Heinz was one of the ideators of the plan, and he has the mission to take care on the logistic and the supply assets. Heinz was proud that the plan was going very well, but in the deep of his heart he heard like he was a traitor against the Italians; in fact, he was half-italian, as his younger brother Karl. Her mother was a Lombard maid who emigrated in Germany towards the end of the previous century, from where she worked for the prestigious Luddenbrock family. Soon she fallen in love with the young son of the patriarch, and the two lovers were forced to escape to Italy because of the hostility of the family of him. Heinz and Karl were born in Milan and had a happy childhood until their parents died in a incident. Their grandfather then accepted to raise and recognize them as his heirs, but the two children were forced to denied their Italian lineage and to grow as pure Germans. Later the two brothers were enrolled in the Imperial Army just before the start of the war, but when Heinz worked to be a valiant officer, Karl was more attracted to the newborn Airforce and he become the assistant of the famous Red Baron, the baron Von Richthofen. After four years the two brothers now are involved in the same front (Heinz was before in Russia and Karl in France), the older to coordinate the attack and the younger as copilot and gunner for the Red Baron’s plane. In fact the operation gave to the airforce an important role: not only scouting mission, but also storming the italian positions with bombs. Germans engineers are developed in that period new type of planes with more hull capacity and capable to drop in air more small bombs, who in effect managed to heavily damage the Italian forts ( well defended at earth, but with no adeguate anti-air defences) at the first wave; and supported by long-range artillery the Germans were easily crushed the enemy lines. And now… are entering in Veneto. “So our soldiers are doing a brilliant job, right Luddenbrock?” Heinz was interrupting his thoughts by the coming of general Hindenburg. “ Indeed sir… the plan is working fine but we have an easy advance because of the strategical errors of the Italians… they practically moved almost their forces to the Piave, letting in Trentino few garrisons to hold the line; if their forces were more we could encounter some difficulties…” “Hmph. The Italians are no match for us; we can easily defeat them ever if they were three on us!” “ No, sir, don’t underestimate the Italians yet: don’t forget that in 1916 they were manage to stop our “strafexpedition”, which was composed by some of our best divisions. And, if you permit, we can be able to execute this plan only because of the recent victory in France… If we didn’t win at St. Mihiel, now we were moving to the western front, while according to our spies the Italians were ready to launch their offensive…” “Do you think the Italians could be winning that battle against the Austrians? They never really win a war against them… Luddenbrock, does your concerns revealing are you stay with the Italians?” “No, sir, of course not!” Heinz was fast to reply, secretly burning with rage. “Only, I think sincerely that however the Italians are fighting with honor this war… Maybe you judge they too hard…” “ They have that right now, because they betrayed us leaving the Triple Alliance Pact for the Entente! And however their fate after the war is not our concern…” “ Do you say… that the Italians were included in the Austrian sphere? But, but that means that…” Heinz didn’t end his phrase; in that moment the noise of the new German planes crossing them covered all other sounds except for the artillery fires. “So finally the planes are ready for the second wave” Hindenburg was a little disappointed “ These new weapons, like the tanks, are removing all the poetry of the old times… I hope that over us your brother and his superior at least following the plan as we according before…”
On a biplane flying over Veneto with the role of copilot and gunner, Karl was euphoric after the success of the first wave: in just few hours the Italian positions in Trentino were completely crushed thanks to the determinant effort of the airforce. The success of the young Luftwaffe made him proud, but that day his superior, the Red Baron, wasn’t very pleasing. “So, how are the skies of Italy?” asked the young officer. “Boring. There are no signs of Italian planes yet. This operation is too easy…” Richthofen was very unpleased to fight in Italy under the order of Hindenburg after his victories in France; he wanted to continue fighting to the western front, but operation Radowitz was under the supervision of the Kronprinz Wilhelm (nevertheless the real command was in hand of Hindenburg) and naturally he didn’t refuse to participate. “ It’s because the Italian airforces are stationed among the Piave… I’m sure that when they are realized the impact of the our attack they soon send here some planes.” “ I hope this will happen. I want to test the ability of their pilots. I heard that their ace, Francesco Baracca, shoot down over forty Austrian planes… I want to have a fight with him.” “ You are better of him: you shoot down nearly eighty planes and neither the squadron Entente forces were create appositely against you had success in his task.” “It’s only because I have my personal angel to protect my back, no?” In the middle of 1918 Karl was assigned as copilot of Richthofen, despite initially the Red Baron doesn’t want his help: but the young Luddenbrook was an excellent gunner and he was able to shoot down many enemy planes, giving to the pilot full freedom of manoeuvrality. Their characters were different but compatible, and they managed to obtain with also the help of their squadron, the “Flying Circus”, a series of great victories over the French skies, one of the most important during the battle of St.Mihiel only few days ago. But now, this fast relocation in Italy seemed to be a trick to underestimate the prestige of the Red Baron and his companion, saw in Germany as war heroes; it seemed the high generals didn’t like that popularity. “They see a valuable enemy in you; They are spreading voices that the Kaiser after the war wanted to install you as high chief of the German army…” “I’m only twenty-six. I’m not interested to have such high ranks… However, your Italians are not coming yet…” Richthofen, by Karl’s admission (while Heinz was more submissive towards their grandfater, he was more rebellious and he refused to completely forgot his mixed blood), known that the two Luddenbrock brothers are half-italian, but he didn’t care very much. Karl was a loyal and valiant soldier, and a good friend, and it was sufficient for him. However, in that moment the high German command was divided about the future of Italy after the war: some wanted to propose a not-so-hard peace, and to making so the Italians become allies once again to prevent future moves by France; while others, like Hindenburg, were inclined to give their destiny in hands of the Austrians. Karl was worried for his native country, and to forget his thoughts said to Richthofen: “ Maybe while we wait for the Italians planes, we can fight against their fortifications… we are approaching the base of Asiago…” “Sounds good. Prepare to launch the bombs.” The plane started to going down, followed by his companions.
“What can we do, sir?” Luca seemed to recovered his cold blood, and so Ballistrari; however their faces showed the catastrophe was starting to delineate: “ We have no choices… we must fight and try to hold the position”. The lieutenant tried to give some orders, but in that moment the Flying Circus initiated his carpet bombardment; the bombs they launched were few and not powerful as artillery shoots, but they created even more panic in the already shocked garrison. Many soldiers started to flee. Luca went to his position, wanting to fulfill his duties until the end, but he was desperate: “ If we didn’t wait so much to launch the attack in Veneto....”
In that moment Luca, Ballistari, Heinz and Karl, even if they are on opposed fronts, were realizing the same statement of fact: “Italy is doomed.”