After the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo, the Austro-Hungarians were exhausted and could not have withstood another attack. They appealed to the Germans for help and the Germans, fearing a collapse on the Italian Front, sent 7 divisions, 540 guns, 216 mortars and about 100 aircraft from the Western and Eastern Fronts. To control these troops, a new 14th Army under General der Infanterie Otto von Below was concentrated between Tolmin and Bovec.