BY GENERAL A. VON CRAMON The attack had originally been planned for the 10th of April. High snow, however, made the realization of this plan impossible. The same occurred on the 20th of April and the 1st of May. Von Hoetzendorff raged; he claimed never to have seen so much snow on the heights of Southern Tyrol as in the spring of that year. Others, however, who also knew the ground well, declared that, even with normal conditions of temperature, the date decided upon would have been premature. The damage resulting from the constant postponement of the date of attack was naturally great. The assembling of troops in all villages of Southern Tyrol could not be concealed from the enemy. Moreover, a deserter of Italian descent, who went over to the enemy on the plateau of Vielgereuth, made valuable disclosures to the enemy regarding the intentions of the Austrians. Under such conditions it could not be asserted that the confidence of the Tyrolean leaders was particularly great. The reports of the German officers in charge of communications verified this. Powerful counter-measures on the part of the Italians were to be expected. When, at the beginning of May, the day of the attack had again been postponed, General von Falkenhayn commissioned me to ask General von Hoetzendorff whether it would not be better to dispense altogether with the offensive-which would no longer come as a surprise and would therefore be problematical—and place a portion of the troops stationed in Southern Tyrol at the disposal of the Western Front. This proposition was somewhat of a surprise to me as Falkenhayn, during the winter, had been averse to utilizing Austro-Hungarian troops on the front in France. Manifestly, this change of opinion was due to the doubtful situation at Verdun. General von Hoetzendorff declined on the ground that the offensive, prepared to the minutest detail, could not be abandoned now, more particularly as the artillery, permanently placed for the attack, could not readily be withdrawn again. Finally, on May 15th, the avalanche of VielgereuthLafraun was launched, the first attack being made by the corps of the Austrian Crown-prince Charles, to be followed two days later by the army corps of Graz, operating on the eastern wing and commanded by General Krautwald. The beginning was magnificent. The German-Austrian picked troops of the attacking group recorded a great achievement and within a few days brought in 30,000 prisoners and 300 guns. Asiago was taken. Von Falkenhayn sent a cordial telegram of congratulation to von Hoetzendorff, whose acknowledgment was equally hearty. At Teschen general headquarters everyone was beside himself with delight. We German officers also frankly rejoiced over the victory won by our ally. On the 24th of May, however, the corps of the Austrian Crown-prince came to a standstill. The enemy meanwhile utilized the situation and brought up all the artillery and infantry that could possibly be placed on the "Terra ferma," covered in every direction by lines of railroad and highways. I was informed subsequently that the troops of the 20th Army Corps had begged to be permitted to make the leap to the edge of the mountains, without "drawing breath," and before the enemy could recover. But the corps command would not permit this because it believed that the heavy artillery would first have to be brought up. In this way the Italians had been able to gain a footing once more on the Priafora and the towering rocks nearby, thus setting at naught a continuation of the Austrian attacks. On the other hand it was asserted that the command of the various army groups had so placed in rank the reserve divisions that it was impossible for them to participate at the right time. It cannot be our purpose here to enter into an investigation as to the accuracy of these charges. It is my opinion, however, that it did not require an entry into the campaign on the part of the Russians in the East to bring the Austrian offensive launched from Southern Tyrol to a standstill. This had already been checked and could only have been continued with new forces, which, however, were not available. THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND OR OF THE SKAGERRAK MAY 31ST W. MACNEILE DIXON GERMAN AND BRITISH OFFICIAL REPORTS ADMIRAL VON CAPELLE In the number of ships engaged, the Jutland battle was about equal to Trafalgar, that greatest sea-fight of past centuries, in which Nelson destroyed the fleets of France and Spain. In the tonnage of these ships, however, Jutland was some fifteen times as great as Trafalgar, and in number of men about twice as great. Of modern battles between ships of iron, instead of the old "wooden walls" of Nelson's day, the nearest in size to Jutland was that fought by Japan and Russia in the Tsushima Straits in 1905. At Tsushima, however, the Russians were wholly out of condition, beaten before they entered the fight, and Japan had only to choose her firing range and batter the enemy to pieces. At Jutland both sides fought splendidly and with not unequal skill. The size of the opposing fleets at Jutland was also more equal than is usually realized; for while the British navy was much the larger, by no means all of its ships were concentrated for this battle, while the German biggest ships were practically all on hand. The British had at Jutland twenty-eight big battleships and nine "battlecruisers" almost equaling the dreadnoughts in power; the Germans had twenty-two battleships and five battle-cruisers. Each side had a host of lesser cruisers, torpedo boats and destroyers, useful against the giants of the fleet only when they could creep close enough to launch a torpedo before being blown out of water by the huge guns which could reach a target fifteen miles away. Of the main ships, the British had been designed more for attack and less for defense than the Germans. That is to say, the British had bigger guns and greater speed, but the Germans had heavier armor. The results of this showed strikingly in the battle. The German main ships took a terrible pounding, many of them were badly damaged, yet only one was lost, the Lutzow, and she did not sink until several hours after the battle. The British ships were much less pounded, yet three of the main ships were destroyed. They blew up and sank swiftly, with the loss of almost all their crews. In men the Germans lost between two and three thousand, the Britons twice as many. Among the lesser vessels also the British loss was the heavier. The fight consisted of an attack by the British van, which retreated when it encountered the main German fleet. This in turn followed the British van until they reached the main British fleet, which endeavored to encircle the Germans. Then night closed in, and the Germans withdrew silently from the closing circle. A wierd and monstrous death-dance followed in the dark. The lesser ships of each side, seeking to keep track of the foe, hid their own lights and stum bled one upon the other in the blackness, burst into sudden flaming volleys, and fled away. Men fought with shadows and perished in the unknown. As to the net result of the great battle during the night, the German admiral withdrew his battered fleet cautiously toward its home ports, while the British admiral held back from pursuit for fear of terrible losses in the dark, either from mines or torpedoes. Hence there was no decision on the field. The British fleet, however, continued in even more complete control of the seas than before, for never again did the Germans risk a similar combat. Immediately after the battle Germany proclaimed that she had won a tremendous naval triumph, basing her statement on the admitted British losses and the denial of her own. As the claim was never withdrawn, there are doubtless Germans who still believe in the splendor of their victory and wonder why nothing further ever came of it. C. F. H. TH BY W. MACNEILE DIXON HAT stern and decisive conflict, which clinched, as it were, were, the naval situation, the battle of Jutland, was in respect of all particulars that make a battle great, the magnitude of the forces engaged, the scale of the operations, and the significance of the results, the fiercest clash of fleets since Trafalgar. At extreme range, to avoid the deadly torpedo attacks, the great war-vessels pounded each other amid haze and smoke screens, behind which the Germans when pressed withdrew from sight. Wounded vessels drifted out of the scene and left their fate in doubt; destroyers dashed to and fro attacking and retreating; ships, the flames licking their iron masts a hundred feet aloft, loomed up for a few moments only to vanish in the mist. As "was anticipated," the Germans put their trust chiefly in torpedo attacks, easily made against approaching, difficult to direct against retiring, vessels. Throughout destroyers on both sides played a magnificent and conspicuous part, the "hussar" tactics of a naval action. But so numerous were the vessels engaged and so dim the weather that a certain confusion inseparable from the conditions reigned the entire day. Indubitably a long-hoped-for opportunity had come to the British; the German fleet had actually emerged in strength and "upon an enterprise." Yet emerged only to withdraw, to tantalize, and, if possible, to lure the pursuers into fatal areas. The annoyance which Nelson suffered from the French Admiral Latouche Treville, who used "to play bo-peep in and out of Toulon, like a mouse at the edge of her hole," as the British Admiral expressed it, was the lot also of Sir John Jellicoe. Von Scheer repeated the tactics of Latouche. His orders were, no doubt, the same, to show the "greatest circumspection," to risk nothing. But this "fettered and timid" warfare, as a French writer once complained, must always fail. The chief hope and aim of the British fleet in the present war has been the same as Nelson's, to compel a decisive engagement; the aim of the enemy's fleet to avoid one, a perfectly legitimate and perfectly intelligible policy, with which no one can quarrel. Germany consistently refuses all actions except on chosen ground at her own front door, where she can, when the odds are against her, withdraw her ships immediately within her protected ports and slam the door in the face of her antagonist. There only will she fight, within a few miles of her own coast, in shallow waters suitable for the operation of underwater craft, and in the immediate neighborhood of her own mine fields. Had Nelson been alive to-day he could have done no more than the British Admirals have doneoffer battle to the unwilling enemy on his own terms. Germany takes only as much of the war as she wishes, Britain takes the whole, everywhere and all the time. Repeatedly Sir David Beatty has faced this situation with its attendant risks. Repeatedly with his cruising squadron he appeared within sight of the German defenses, four hundred miles from his own base. If he could engage the Germans even at heavy cost to himself, "cling to them as long as his teeth would hold," in an entangling and detaining action the Grand Fleet might reach him in time to secure an overwhelming victory. That was his hope. And let it be frankly admitted the hope was not fulfilled. At Jutland once more he took the risks—some say unwisely, for why do more than contain the German Navy useless in its ports?-he incurred the inevitable losses, the main British fleet arrived in time to strike a shattering blow, but failed to administer the coup de grâce. "I can fully sympathize with his feelings," wrote |