The day's fighting had taken the Entente coalition forces completely by surprise. The courage displayed by the Italian soldiers had far exceeded everyone's expectations.
Valikote asked with some concern, "Have the casualty figures for all units been compiled?"
The chief of staff sighed before replying, "We've finished compiling ours. Total casualties across the army stand at 532. The French are still counting theirs; the General Staff estimates their casualties should be between 1,500 and 2,000."
Valikote asked in astonishment, "How are the casualties so high?"
As he spoke, his brow furrowed even more deeply. In a single day, they had lost the strength of an entire regiment. This casualty figure had already surpassed his expectations.
Although the Italians on the other side had suffered even heavier casualties, this was Rome! The Italians could pay tens of thousands of casualties for their capital, but the Entente coalition forces could not!
The Entente had limited troops in Rome and could not afford an unrestricted war of attrition.
Valikote knew that the casualty rate an army could bear was limited. Even an elite unit had to be pulled back for rest and reorganization once its casualty rate exceeded 30 percent in order to retain its combat effectiveness. If the rate surpassed 60 percent, it could collapse at any moment.
Though he had ten infantry divisions under his command, their total strength before today had only been 128,000 men, and now they had lost another regiment.
It would have been one thing if they had all been regular Bulgarian troops. Unfortunately, nearly 40 percent of them were French cannon-fodder units. Their combat strength was not fundamentally different from that of the Italians now fighting with everything they had, and their will to fight was decidedly ordinary.
This battle would not be easy...
The chief