24	THE   RISE   OF   ITALIAN   FASCISM
was wounded in a minor accident during hand-grenade
practice after a few weeks in the trenches lie went back to
Milan and stayed there till the end of the Avar. I Ie never
took part in any engagement, for his life was too precious
to run the risk of a ' senseless bullet ', but his thirty-eight
days in the trenches were just enough to permit him to
return, without too much embarrassment, to his paper and
his career. This would have been finished if he had not
gone at all, but never for a moment did he consider sacrificing
himself, like Corridoni or Battisti, in the cause of victory.
The only cause he recognized was his own.
Mussolini needed something more than his own unscrupu-
lousness and lack of principle,, if he was to advance further.
For in spite of his stupendous pride (e I have never yet met
my equal/ he confided to a friend before the war), he knew
that he could do nothing alone. On November 10, 1918,
day of the c victory procession \ he rode with a lorry full of
arditi.1 After driving round the streets of Milan they all
fetched up at a large cafe in the middle of the city, where
Mussolini addressed his men. c Arditi, comrades : I have
defended you against the slanders of cowardly philistincs,
. . . With shining daggers and bursting bombs you shall
wreak vengeance on the miserable wretches who would
prevent the advance of greater Italy. She is yours * . .
yours ! ' The arditi raised their daggers and drove them into
the table round the flag which had been spread over it,
shouting : c Long live Italy 5. Thus for the time being, a
rough-and-ready bodyguard was formed*
But Mussolini was wise enough to realize that he needed
allies, and a proper organization to support him. The
Socialist Party and the branches of the General Confedera-
tion. of Labour were hostile. There was, however, the
possibility of a split in their ranks. The socialist leaders
and .the executive committee of the Confederation did not
see eye to eye. The Confederation had just revived, at the
Bologna congress at the end of January 1919, the 1917
programme,2 including the constituent assembly, Mussolini,
arditi (ardito^= brave) were a special body of shock troops In  the
Italian army, started during the war.
2 Pp. 12, 13.