Explanation: In WW1, several years of brutal and low-progress trench warfare predominated after the initial maneuvers. After a period of stubbornness from Italian high command, permission was granted to Italian troops to form independent companies of shock troops, as other belligerents had began experimenting with (Italian troops had actually already began doing so BEFORE permission was granted, but they were formally not supposed to).
Shock troops in WW1 typically operated by ‘infiltration tactics’, wherein small groups of highly-trained and motivated troops would quietly approach enemy lines, overwhelm them in a sudden ambush of explosives and close-combat, and then move on to the less-defended rear of either flank as less-elite allied troops pushed through the gap before WW1-era communications systems could accurate report the attack. It was widely adopted by all sides around ~1916 once it became apparent that breaking the positional stalemate any other way was… unlikely.
These shock troops were called Arditi by the Italians - ‘Those Who Dare’ - and despite their late start, they acquired an… impressive reputation for ferocity. Stereotypically, they are shown with daggers between their teeth - an actual practice of the Arditi. When they performed the usual “Crawl up, throw grenades, then leap into the enemy trenches with fucking medieval weapons” ambushes of WW1 shock troops, they kept their knife (for the Arditi, usually a stiletto for puncturing the leather collars of some Austrian uniforms) between their teeth so they could keep both hands free for throwing their grenades. Once the grenades were thrown, they would leap to their feet, grab the dagger from their teeth (slightly faster than fumbling with the sheath), and charge towards the enemy trench.
That is to say, Arditi would begin their mad dash for the trench before the grenade exploded. The thinking was that letting the grenade go off before charging, like every sane assault unit of WW1 did, wasted precious time and initiative. The Arditi aimed to be just before the lip of the trench with the momentum of a full sprint (or trench-entering equivalent, rather) when the grenade exploded - meaning the next thing some poor Austrian infantryman would experience after a grenade’s blast was some lunatic with a knife repeatedly stabbing him.
Timing was key - even just half-a-second too quick, and the Arditi would get blasted in the face with their own grenades. They did practice with live ammunition, and would… regularly have new volunteers wounded or killed in training because of the difficulty of getting this timing correct.
The title is one of the common sayings attributed to the Arditi - “Either victory, or we all die!”
…and before the reader becomes too excited by their crazed bravery, we will remind them that many Arditi went on to help D’Annunzio coup in Fiume and/or became the building blocks of fascism. While some founded an antifascist movement, the majority of them was very happy to apply their violence to new fields outside the military.
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Explanation: In WW1, several years of brutal and low-progress trench warfare predominated after the initial maneuvers. After a period of stubbornness from Italian high command, permission was granted to Italian troops to form independent companies of shock troops, as other belligerents had began experimenting with (Italian troops had actually already began doing so BEFORE permission was granted, but they were formally not supposed to).
Shock troops in WW1 typically operated by ‘infiltration tactics’, wherein small groups of highly-trained and motivated troops would quietly approach enemy lines, overwhelm them in a sudden ambush of explosives and close-combat, and then move on to the less-defended rear of either flank as less-elite allied troops pushed through the gap before WW1-era communications systems could accurate report the attack. It was widely adopted by all sides around ~1916 once it became apparent that breaking the positional stalemate any other way was… unlikely.
These shock troops were called Arditi by the Italians - ‘Those Who Dare’ - and despite their late start, they acquired an… impressive reputation for ferocity. Stereotypically, they are shown with daggers between their teeth - an actual practice of the Arditi. When they performed the usual “Crawl up, throw grenades, then leap into the enemy trenches with fucking medieval weapons” ambushes of WW1 shock troops, they kept their knife (for the Arditi, usually a stiletto for puncturing the leather collars of some Austrian uniforms) between their teeth so they could keep both hands free for throwing their grenades. Once the grenades were thrown, they would leap to their feet, grab the dagger from their teeth (slightly faster than fumbling with the sheath), and charge towards the enemy trench.
That is to say, Arditi would begin their mad dash for the trench before the grenade exploded. The thinking was that letting the grenade go off before charging, like every sane assault unit of WW1 did, wasted precious time and initiative. The Arditi aimed to be just before the lip of the trench with the momentum of a full sprint (or trench-entering equivalent, rather) when the grenade exploded - meaning the next thing some poor Austrian infantryman would experience after a grenade’s blast was some lunatic with a knife repeatedly stabbing him.
Timing was key - even just half-a-second too quick, and the Arditi would get blasted in the face with their own grenades. They did practice with live ammunition, and would… regularly have new volunteers wounded or killed in training because of the difficulty of getting this timing correct.
The title is one of the common sayings attributed to the Arditi - “Either victory, or we all die!”
…and before the reader becomes too excited by their crazed bravery, we will remind them that many Arditi went on to help D’Annunzio coup in Fiume and/or became the building blocks of fascism. While some founded an antifascist movement, the majority of them was very happy to apply their violence to new fields outside the military.
Edit: him->them