ment reached a deep trench. "Our
frontiers," said their officers. "We advance to make new ones." Then
began a long, steep climb up narrow mountain paths, through snow lying
in patches knee-deep, and through a storm of sleet and rain that broke
along the Trentino boundary before dawn. As dawn broke they hurled
themselves upon an Austrian shelter trench excavated the autumn before
on the plateau. It was empty. The enemy had retired only a few hours
before. The camp-fire ashes were still warm. As the sun began to throw
the long shadows of the Alpine peaks to the west Austrian guns
crashed out their first salute from the rocky fortresses beyond. Italy
and Austria-Hungary were at war.

To comprehend the task before the Italian army it is necessary to
examine the Italian-Austrian frontier. Austria's problem was one only
of defense. Her warning had been ample and when war was declared she
was prepared to the last detail. Being the challenged party hers was
the choice of weapons, and she had equipped herself with an almost
impregnable line of fortifications. The grievance was Italy's, and
hers the duty of assault. Every advantage of position lay with
Austria.

The strategic plan of the Italian generals was determined by hard
geographical facts. The Italo-Austrian frontier is about 480 miles
long, divided naturally into three sections. On the west the Austrian
province of Trentino indents Italian territory like a wedge; next
comes the great wall of the Dolomites and the Carnic and Julian Alps;
then, on the east, a boundary line running north and south between the
main Alpine chain and the Adriatic Sea. Steep mountain heights
dominated by Austrian troops guarded the first two parts of this
frontier. Only on the eastern border, from Pontebba to the Adriatic
was Italian offensive on a large scale at all feasible; but before
offensive operations could be started here it was necessary for the
Italians to close the open gates to the north.

Here in the north lay Italy's problem at the opening of the war; and
here her armies confronted an almost impossible task. In a word, they
had to fight uphill. A salient, such as that formed by the Trentino,
may offer dangers for the side that holds it--an example of which is
the Russian position in Poland at the opening of the war; but the
Trentino situation was quite unlike that in Poland. The sides of the
Trentino were buttressed with mountains. The most tempting avenue of
invasion was the v