Iron Crown 3rd Class. In April 1916, Mikl's regiment was deployed to South Tyrol to take part in the Austrian spring offensive, during which he was awarded the bronze Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Bravery Medal with War Decoration, for leading a successful attack on an Italian position on Monte Cengio. At the end of June, the parent regiment was transferred back to Galicia to reinforce the Austro-Hungarian forces being hard-pressed by the Russian Brusilov Offensive, and then returned to the Southern Front where it remained until the late autumn 1917, fighting in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Battles of the Isonzo. During the Eighth Battle of the Isonzo on 10 October 1916, Mikl was wounded and hospitalised. When he recovered, he was assigned to the regimental replacement battalion until spring 1917 and later was employed as an instructor at an officer's school. In January 1917, he was awarded the silver Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Bravery Medal with War Decoration. In August 1917, Mikl was appointed to command a machine gun company, and served in the Battle of Caporetto and the subsequent advance to the Piave river. For his leadership in an assault river crossing, Mikl was awarded a bar to his silver Military Merit Medal. On 15 May 1918, Mikl began a preparatory course for future attendance at the War College in Vienna, and when the war ended he was posted to the 54th Rifle Division in Galicia. Between the wars The states that would succeed Austria-Hungary were approved by the Allies on 28 October 1918, and the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was dissolved three days later. Many new nation states emerged in the territory formerly belonging to the empire, as nationalist movements called for greater autonomy or full independence. The Duchy of Styria was divided between the new states of Republic of German-Austria and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but the exact line of the new border was unclear. In November 1918, Mikl had returned to his hometown of Radkersburg, an important railway junction point, which was of economic importance to both sides. The Slovenes occupied the city on 1 December 1918. In 1919, Mikl served as adjutant in the 1st Battalion of the Volkswehr militia, which used arms provided by the provincial government of Carinthia to make an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Radkersburg from forces of the