But the General Staff had also learned something else. This was most important. If Ludendorff in France should be successful--if he should succeed in isolating the allied armies north of the Somme, or force the French back upon the defenses of Paris, or both--then the Austrian Commander in Chief with his million men would be aided by German generalship and German divisions, and, together, they would strike down the Giudicaria to the west of the Lago di Garda, with all strength and disregarding all sacrifices in order to reach the metallurgic centre of Italy in Lombardia and Emilia, thereby forcing Italy out of the war and gaining access to the back door of France. If, however, Ludendorff should be blocked in France, the offensive must still be made at the propitious moment, but its plan of attack would be to the east of the Lago di Garda, from the Astico to the sea. It would be entirely an Austrian affair, and would naturally be limited by the political and military situation in the Dual Monarchy. It is of significance, therefore, that the offensive has been launched to the east and not to the west of the Lago di Garda. Its locality reveals Ludendorff's conviction that he is at least blocked in France, if nothing else, whatever light its development may later throw upon the parlous internal conditions of the Hapsburg Empire. This admitted, the Austrian plan of campaign becomes a simple problem--simple because there could be no other. At the beginning of the war Italy attempted to neutralize the Trentino and the Carnic region by sealing the passes and then made her attack across the Isonzo. But she could never be certain that the passes had been effectually sealed. A successful Austrian invasion through them would jeopardize her armies on the Isonzo, isolate them by cutting their lines of communication. That was the danger which threatened those armies when the Austrians made their drive upon the Asiago Plateau in May, 1916, which was ultimately outflanked and forced back. That was also the disaster when last October the Austro-German armies, having penetrated the Isonzo line from the north, forced it to retire westward, forced a withdrawal from the passes in the Carnic and the Dolomite Alps, and again reached the Asiago Plateau, this time free from the danger of being flanked. [Illustration: LEADING GENERALS OF THE AMERICAN ARMY Major Gen. H. A. Greene (_Press Illus. Service_) Major Gen. Leonard Wood (© _Clinedinst_) Major Gen. H. S. Hale Major Gen. J. T. Dickman (© _Clinedinst_)] [Illustration: PROMINENT IN AMERICAN WAR LEGISLATION Senator G. M. Hitchcock _Chairman Foreign Relations Committee_ (_Harris & Ewing_) Congressman Claude Kitchin _Chairman House Ways and Means Committee_ (_Harris & Ewing_) Senator L. S. Overman Senator F. M. Simmons] [Illustration: SCENE OF THE NEW AUSTRIAN OFFENSIVE]