The reason why King Ferdinand I refused to give 200,000 men to General Bantner was that he felt part of the army at home should remain to guard against Russia in the north. The Russians were now fighting the White Army and the Entente armies in the Uklan region, and they could invade Romanian territory at any time. If he did not leave some troops just in case—not to mention that he, the king, did not agree, and the nobles and landlords in the country were even less likely to agree!
Moreover, if the forces in the country were drained, and the nobles and landlords colluded against him, he would be in real danger.
Therefore, in Ferdinand I's opinion, at least 50,000 troops had to remain nearby to protect his own safety.
In this way, he could bypass the parliament and transfer only 100,000 men at most to General Bantner's army.
Hearing this number, General Bantner was very disappointed. 100,000 plus his current 50,000 troops—only 150,000. That sounded like a lot, but for wars between countries, it was not much.
Moreover, the Italians had previously sent 100,000 men to attack Austria but gained nothing, and now sending 150,000 troops, Bantner feared, would yield no better results. As a result, he was very pessimistic about the progress of the war and felt defeat was likely.
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On Austria's side, Mainz did not know about the contradictions within Romania, but since Romania had not advanced for a long time, he focused on the Italians in the west.
Under the command of Walter Model, the Germans fully exploited flexible defense strategies, attacked everywhere, and shattered the Italian rear.
The Italians had originally planned to loot Austrian territory, but they were instead attacked into their own hinterlands several times. Northern Italy was turned upside down, and the people suffered greatly.
By mid-October, more than 500,000 Italian refugees from the war-torn north reached Rome after great difficulty.
But the authorities in Rome refused to let them enter, claiming that the financial system could not support them, social security would collapse, and there were insufficient police to handle so many people. Troops were sent to stop the refugees outside the city.
The refugees, angered by being blocked, occasionally launched armed attacks against the army. The army responded with machine guns and cavalry, suppressing them. This caused an uproar throughout Italy.
After the war, Italians were deeply dissatisfied with their government. The reason was simple: at the Treaty of Versailles, as a victorious country, Italy had fought hard but only gained South Tyrol. Compared to other countries, Italy had received almost nothing.
Italy had paid dearly in the war: over 600,000 military casualties and hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Millions of Italian lives were exchanged for a single region. Naturally, the people were furious. They had joined the Allies early, worked diligently, and expected promised benefits from the Entente.
The result? The Entente completely looked down on Italy, treating it as a second-rate country. Stronger European nations included Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. If the USA had participated in the war, it would be impossible to say whether Italy or the USA would rank sixth.
In the Entente's eyes, the war was mainly won thanks to the efforts of the USA, Britain, France, and Tsarist Russia. But Tsarist Russia had fallen, so only the USA, Britain, and France mattered in the distribution of spoils. Italy, in the eyes of Britain, France, and others, was a second-rate nation, and granting them South Tyrol was already generous. Giving them the entire Balkan Peninsula? Impossible.
This judgment, though reasonable in the Entente's view, humiliated Italy. The people felt deceived and resentful of their own government's incompetence. When the government even raised arms against its citizens, discontent deepened.
In northern Italy, the fashion capital, a man named Mussolini gradually formed the world's first Fascist Party and began uniting the Italian army in preparation to march on Rome.