Description
475The land forces of the Kingdom of Italy, i.e. the Army of the Kingdom of Italy The Royal Italian Army, owned by Regio Esercito), was formed shortly after the unification of Italy - in 1861 and functioned until 1946. It was on the Italian land forces that the main burden of World War I rested, that is, first of all, the fights with the Austro-Hungarian troops, which were supported by German troops. It is worth adding that in 1914 Italy was formally an ally of Berlin and Vienna, but at the outbreak of the war it remained neutral, and in 1915 joined the Entente states. The core of the Italian land forces was the infantry, which were formed into divisions. The Italian infantry division usually consisted of two infantry brigades, each of which consisted of two infantry regiments, and these consisted of three battalions. In addition, there was an artillery regiment consisting mostly of 5-8 batteries. The unit superior to the division was the corps, which consisted of 2-3 infantry divisions and had numerous additional units, including: regiments and Bersalier battalions, artillery and communication and reconnaissance units. The basic small arms of the Italian infantryman were the Model 1891 rifle and the M1870 Vetterli rifle, and the main heavy machine guns were the Fiat-Revelli Modello 1914 and the Perino Model 1908. The Italian army fought several large battles with the Central Powers, primarily a series of battles on the Isonzo River and a battle over Caporetto, which was miserably lost by the Italian side, in which it lost approx. 308 thousand. people, of which as much as 265 thousand. they are prisoners.
