Simple
We give our men adequate cold-weather gear and face masks, as well as gloves. we also demand soldiers have injections to combat illness if they do attract it.
*combat results: Few germans got seriously ill during the eastern theatre. this is not the case for russia, and the Tsar abdicates after an embarassing defeat at Tsaritsyn. the left-wing provisional government led by lenin sues for peace by early 1915.*
Now we just need to figure out a counter to trench warfare deployed by the British and the French.